varsity.roanoke.com

TROUTVILLE -- The sun began to drop like a rock behind the mountains of Botetourt County and the wind whipped across the Greenfield cross country course with increasing speed late Thursday afternoon.

It seemed that a majority of the several hundred spectators, athletes and coaches shivering in discomfort were almost eager for the Region C awards ceremony to end.

Not those who qualified for next weekend's Group A state competition, however. They were reveling in the conditions, willing to pose for any number of pictures.

The top four girls and boys teams and the fastest 15 individuals in each bracket will advance to The Plains in Northern Virginia next Saturday, an achievement that minimized any unpleasantness associated with the weather.

"That's what we were hoping for," beamed Craig County coach Kim Kniseley, whose girls slipped in at No. 4 and greeted the state-qualifying news with a raucous cheer. "We haven't been there since Lori Crotts took us in '05." The Rockets finished behind Radford (first), Patrick Henry-Glade Spring (second) and Grayson County (third).

Radford coach Mike Carrow was especially happy, as in addition to his girls team winning the region, his boys squad placed second. The Radford boys finished behind Three Rivers rival Floyd County, but ahead of Galax and Auburn, also a Three Rivers school.

In the boys competition, Three Rivers dominated the other three districts in attendance Thursday, accounting for six of the top eight individual spots, in addition to three of the top four teams.

In fact, the top four individual boys Thursday -- Floyd County's Austin (first) and Andrew Grubb (fourth), Radford's Vijay Guruswamy (second) and Jared Miller (third), were also the four fastest in last week's Three Rivers District meet at Crockett Springs. Guruswamy had finished fourth in his district but jumped over Miller and Andrew Grubb to place second in the region.

"It went pretty well today," said Floyd's Austin Grubb, "although it was a little windy parts and the course was a little bumpy. It was closer this week than last."

Guruswamy's effort was slightly less than 10 seconds behind the winning time of 17:43.92.

With the Grubb brothers accounting for five team points, the same as Guruswamy and Miller, "they in effect canceled each other out," Carrow said. Floyd coach Dawn Weeks concurred.

"Our third and fourth runners made the difference," Weeks said.

Buffaloes Cole Conley and Eden Keith placed seventh and eighth, respectively, while Radford freshmen Matt Turk and Joey Sutphin added 15 and 16 points to their team total. Floyd finished 17 points ahead of Radford, 37-54.

Still the boys team competition was close, as the average time of the top five for Floyd was 18:26.87 compared to Radford's 18:35.92.

Patrick Henry-Glade Spring's Krista McCray was the individual winner among the girls, finishing in 21:21.31, about a half-minute ahead of Radford's Kaitlin Smith and Amber Thompson who placed second and third.

"I was excited" about the outcome," said McCray, who entered the meet ranked first in the region even though she has battled mononucleosis and other ailments this fall. "I like the rolling hills here, although I could have done without the creek. My feet are freezing right now."

By finishing 2-3-5-9 the Radford squad outdistanced PH-Glade Spring 35-60 for the girls' team title. "I told [my teammates] it wasn't a disgrace to lose to Radford," McCray said.

At Greenfield, Botetourt County

Girls team scores

1. x-Radford (R) 35, 2. x-Patrick Henry-Glade Spring (PH) 60, 3. x-Grayson County (GC) 115, 4. x-Craig County (CC) 143, 5. Galax (Ga) 163, 6. Highland County (HC) 170, 7. Giles (Gi) 183, 8. James River (JR) 196, 9. Glenvar (Gl) 218, 10. Northwood (N) 231, 11. George Wythe (GW) 233, 12. Bland (B) 296.

Girls results

1. y-Krista McCray (PH) 21:21.31, 2. y-Kaitlin Smith (R) 21:50.38, 3. y-Amber Thompson (R) 21:52.38, 4. y-Carley Smith (GC) 22:08.41, 5. y-Cecelia Scott (R) 22:10.95, 6. y-Britta Grim (JR) 22:28.12, 7. y-Deanna Hedgepath (GW) 22:50.42, 8. y-Hayley Billingsly (HC) 22:50.67, 9. y-Rachel Conniff (R) 22:53.50, 10. y-Marleigh Durham (Ga) 22:58.78, 11. y-Sarah Stanley (PH) 23:07.95, 12. y-Mindi Martin (PM) 23:17.55, 13. y-Alyssa Huntington (A) 23:18.34, 14. y-Layken Parks (GC) 23:19.25, 15. y-Gracie Meadows (PH) 23:21.91.

Boys team scores

1. x-Floyd County (FC) 37, 2. x-Radford (R) 54, 3. x-Galax (Ga) 102, 4. x-Auburn (A) 114, 5. George Wythe (GW) 196, 6. Patrick Henry-Glade Spring (PH) 196, 7. Bath (B) 209, 8. Giles (Gi) 234, 9. Covington (Co) 246, 10. Grayson County (GC) 252, 11. Chilhowie (Ch) 293, 12. Highland County (HC) 305, 13. James River (JR) 307, 14. Northwood (N) 318.

Boys results

1. y-Austin Grubb (FC) 17:43.92, 2. y-Vijay Guruswamy (R) 17:53.88, 3. y-Jared Miller (R) 17:57.17, 4. y-Andrew Grubb (FC) 18:16.62, 5. y-Travis Cockerham (Ga) 18:31.05, 6. y-Matt Persinger (B) 18:31.38, 7. y-Cole Conley (FC) 18:31.92, 8. y-Eden Keith (FC) 18:35.05, 9. y-Skyler Carbary (PH) 18:37.33, 10.y- James Kasper (Gl) 18:45.31, 11. y-Jimmy Oliver (GC) 18:47.30, 12. y-Kevin Loftin (Ga) 18:48.47, 13. y-Jake Munsey (Gi) 18:48.83, 14. y-James Hoover (A) 18:51. 47, 15. y-Hunter Mills (GW) 18:52.20.

x - team qualifies for Group A state meet

y - individual qualifies for Group A state meet

Franklin County's Teeple 10th at NW Region meet

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Franklin County freshman Melissa Teeple placed 10th in the Northwest Region cross country meet at Panorama Farms, earning a berth in next week's Group AAA state meet. Teeple finished in 19 minutes, 35 seconds. Katherine Walker of Brooke Point was the girls winner in 18:12.

Patrick Henry's Patrick Woodford was 13th in the boys race, while PH's Anna Paden Carson was 14th in the girls race. Both Patriots runners qualified for the Group AAA meet with their top-15 finishes.

Albemarle's Anthony Kostelac won the boys race in 16:10. Mountain View took the boys team title. PH finished eighth, Franklin County 13th and William Fleming 15th.

Osbourn Park won the girls championship. PH placed seventh, while Franklin County was 13th.

-- Staff report