varsity.roanoke.com

MARK TAYLOR The Roanoke Times

Jay Jarrels of Spotswood (second from left) waits to make his move on teammate Samuel Pankey (No. 805) and Harrisonburg's Keith Thomas (No. 785) during the Region III cross country championship at Greenfield Recreation Park on Wednesday. Jarrels won the race, with Pankey second.

MARK TAYLOR The Roanoke Times

Jefferson Forest High School's Mary Deis won the Region III cross country championship. at Greenfield Recreation Park in Daleville on Nov. 4, 2009.

DALEVILLE -- Approaching the home stretch at the Region III cross country championships, race leader Mary Deis of Jefferson Forest resisted the temptation to sneak a peak over her shoulder.

"I could hear them cheering for Erin [Wheeler of Northside] so I knew she was back there," Deis said. "But I try not to look back.

"Whenever I see people look back it's almost like they think they're going to get caught."

Deis wasn't getting caught, finishing the tough course at Greenfield Recreation Park in 20:46.80 -- about 17 seconds ahead of runner-up Wheeler -- while pacing the Cavaliers to the team title.

Last week in the Seminole District championship, Deis' brother, Robert, won the boys race to complete a family sweep.

There wouldn't be a brother-sister double Wednesday, but Robert Deis managed to finish fifth in a fast field led by Jay Jarrels of Spotswood.

Led by Jarrels and runner-up Samuel Pankey, Spotswood won the team title, edging the Cavaliers by a surprisingly narrow margin of 10 points.

"We gave Spotswood a run for their money," said Jefferson Forest coach Jerome Loy. "They were adding up their scores.

"They weren't sure."

In third was William Byrd, which makes a return trip to the state meet a year after putting an end to a long drought.

"We were fourth last year so we're improving," William Byrd coach Eric Royal said. "That's what I like to see."

Kevin O'Connor and Nick Leffell led the Terriers, finishing sixth and seventh, respectively.

E.C. Glass was fourth.

Qualifying behind Jefferson Forest on the girls' side were Brookville, Harrisonburg and Wilson Memorial.

Loy had brought his teams to the Greenfield course in October for an invitational, and that look at the course paid dividends.

"If you came here and this was the first time you'd run it, you'd want to quit after the first mile," Loy said of the course, which features some brutal hills early on.

Mary Deis said the difficult early part of the course required extra focus.

"I was trying to push all things out of my mind that weren't running related," said Deis, a sophomore.

As the course tamed in its second half, she was able to steadily stretch her lead over Wheeler, who had moved into second as the course leveled out.

"My strategy was to stay focused and not worry about where other people were," said Wheeler, a junior.

Wheeler was the lone Viking to qualify for the state race last year. This year she'll be joined by senior Casey Clark, who was 13th.

Olivia Jackson of Jefferson Forest also earned all region honors, finishing 11th.

Though he had run the course before, winning at the invitational earlier this fall, Jarrels admitted he struggled early in the race.

"The first half I wasn't in the game, mentally," said Jarrels, a senior who said he was a little shaken at the number of runners at the front of the pack.

After settling down he surged into the lead and finished at just a shade over 17 minutes, not quite four seconds ahead of teammate Samuel Pankey.

Alleghany will send two runners to the state meet. Cimarron Nicely was eighth and Zach Carroll was 14th.

Stuart Robertson of Staunton River also earned a trip to the state championship, finishing ninth, while Nick Keely of Rockbridge County earned a state berth with a tenth place finish.

Region III

At Greenfield Recreation Park, Daleville

Boys team scores

1. x-Spotswood (S) 73, 2. x-Jefferson Forest (JF) 83, 3. x-William Byrd (WB) 122, 4. x-E.C. Glass (ECG) 140, 5. Brookville (B) 163, 6. Fort Defiance (FD) 210, 7. Robert E. Lee (REL) 215, 8. Rockbridge County (R) 217, 9. Alleghany County (A), 10. Harrisonburg (H) 224, 11. Turner Ashby (TA) 246, 12. Heritage (H) 266, 13. Waynesboro (W) 299, 14. Staunton River (SR) 327, 15. Lord Botetourt (LB) 374, 16. Broadway (BW) 423.

Boys results

1. Jay Jarrels (S) 17:00.91, 2. Samuel Pankey (S) 17:04.81, 3. y-Keith Thomas (H) 17:14.86, 4. y-Dillon Sowers (REL) 17:22.92, 5. Robert Deis (JF) 17:27.62, 6. Kevin O'Connor (WB) 17:30.55, 7. Nick Leffell (WB) 17:31.88, 8. y-Cimarron Nicely (A) 17:33.92, 9. y-Stuart Robertson (SR) 17:35.11, 10. y-Nick Keely (R) 17:37.5, 11. Michael Hoerner (S) 17:41.89, 12. Todd tenPass (JF) 17:44.22, 13. Dylan Beck (ECG) 17:44.44, 14. y-Zach Carroll (A) 17:46.06, 15. Benjamin Jackson (JF) 17:55.81

Girls team scores

1. x-Jefferson Forest 48, 2. x-Brookville 93, 3. x-Harrisonburg 107, 4. x-Wilson Memorial 113, 5. Northside (NS) 138, 6. E.C. Glass 159, 7. Turner Ashby 193, 8. Amherst County (AH) 235, 9. Stuarts Draft (SD) 245, 10. Fort Defiance 254, 11. Rockbridge County 266, 12. Spotswood 281, 13. Lord Botetourt 293, 14. William Byrd 368, 15. Alleghany County 395.

Girls results

1. Mary Deis (JF) 20:46.80, 2. y-Erin Wheeler (NS) 21:03.83, 3. Leigha Schimmoeller (JF) 21:23.83, 4. y-Allison Corbo (BW) 21:27.19, 5. Cathleen McCarron (B) 21:32.88, 6. y-Claire Capasso (TA) 21:33.20, 7. Tabea Zimmermann (H) 21:43.17, 8. Maria Rose (H) 21:55.23, 9. Katie Barnes (WM) 22:06.5, 10. Elizabeth Barnes (WM) 22:06.50, 11. Olivia Jackson (JF) 22:10.17, 12. Kaitlyn Brown (B) 22:11.42, 13. y-Casey Clark (NS) 22:14.17, 14. y-Anna Liskey (S) 22:30.59, 15. y-Allison Alexander (FD) 22:33.08.