The Lord Botetourt boys were 10th and the girls were 11th as a team when the Class 1, 2 and 3 state cross country meets were held at Green Hill Park in Roanoke County Saturday. James River had two individuals run in the race.
The River runners participated in Class 2. In the girls race Kelsey Harrington of Virginia High in Bristol ran away with the individual state title, setting a new course record in 16:55 and winning by two minutes and 31 seconds over second place Solace Church of Floyd County. James River senior Abbagail Link was 33rd among 103 girls with a time of 21:41.
Two Three Rivers District foes of James River finished one-two in the team standings. Radford was first with 50 points and Glenvar was second with 87. Madison County took third.
In the boys’ Class 2 race River junior Cole Miller was 36th among 104 competitors with a time of 17:46. The winning time was 16 minutes flat by George Austin III of East Rockingham High. Union, Strasburg and Radford finished one, two, three in the team standings with Glenvar fourth.
Lord Botetourt qualified teams in both the girls’ and boys’ Class 3 races and they were the last two events of the day in the six-race extravaganza at Green Hill Park. Maggie Walker won the girls’ title followed by Western Albemarle and Hidden Valley while LB was 11th in the state.
The top runner among the girls was Mary Caroline Heinen, a senior from Maggie Walker who finished in 17:52. Botetourt’s best time was 21:20 by junior Lauren Duff, who finished 59th among 103 runners. Also scoring for the Cavaliers were freshman Gracie Barron at 21:39 for 67th, sophomore Katie Cross in 21:43 for 69th, junior Sofia Hernandez in 21:50 for 74th and sophomore Anna Hoover in 22:23 for 86th. Junior Brooklyn Hornback was 90th and sophomore Sydney Vokus, who was Botetourt’s top runner for much of the season, became ill during the race and did not finish.
In the boys’ meet Western Albemarle was the team winner, putting their top five runners across the line for a perfect score of 15. In fact, Western Albemarle’s sixth runner placed eighth and earned all-state honors despite not even scoring for the team. Christiansburg was second with 80 points, Maggie Walker was third with 130 and LB was 10th.
The individual winner was senior Jack Eliason of Western Albemarle with a time of 15:15. LB’s best time was 17:00 by freshman Tyler Meade for 35th place. Also scoring for the Cavaliers were sophomore Andres Hernandez in 65th at 17:38, junior Evan Poff in 67th at 17:40, junior Bryson Cook in 76th at 17:56 and sophomore Evan Gates in 79th at 18:00. Alex Hawkins was 84th and Cole Stetler was 100th.
“Coach (Angela) Gentry and I are very proud of the boys’ and girls’ teams,” said LB coach Robert Sullivan. “This was a very successful season and a season to remember.”
