Sophomore Anne Thorne placed 18th in the Knights Crossing Red race for Lord Botetourt.
Photos by Jon Fleming
The Lord Botetourt and James River cross country teams opened the fall season with two big meets last week. The rescheduled Bengal Clash at the Smith River Complex in Martinsville was held on September 3 and the big Knights Crossing meet at Green Hill Park in Roanoke County was Saturday.
The Knights Crossing featured over 3,000 runners in a variety of races. Lord Botetourt ran in the “Red” division for Virginia public schools and out-of-state schools.
“The Knights Crossing was a huge success for our team,” said LB coach Elizabeth Edmonds. “We saw so much improvement across the board, with many runners running personal best times.”
On the varsity boys side Eric Duncan led the Cavaliers, placing fourth with a time of 15:38. He was followed closely by Ethan Thorne, placing 6th in 15:43. Next for the Cavaliers was Preston Vaughn, John Moughrabi, and Joel Butler. The varsity boys team placed 21st out of 57 teams
“Our boys packed well together,” said Edmonds. “They worked hard to stay close together and it paid off.”
The girls team was led by Anne Thorne, who medaled with an 18th place finish in 18:56. She was followed by Madeline Gantzhorn, Addison Purser, and Lizzie Meadows.
“Our girls showed great times, with many personal best times,” said Edmonds.
The JV boys finished up the day as Brody Nunley led the team, followed by Lucas Carswell, Jacob Malue and Graham Dietrich.
“Knights Crossing is a fast, very competitive race,” said Edmonds. “It allows runners to run personal bests early in the season. As coaches, we are excited to see where we will be as the season continues. We see a ton of potential in all of our runners, and ready to get race season into full swing.”
James River ran in the “Black” division for smaller Virginia public schools and private schools. The boys were led by Aiden Bartilis, who finished 45th in the Black race with a time of 18:29. Braden Jones was 21st in 18:36 and also scoring for the Knights were Mark Voight, Tristian Capo-Lopez and Barrett Pace.
For the girls, Sarah Laughridge led the Knights with a time of 30:55. The next four finished within three and a half minutes of each other with Jordyn Ives, Jacey Walker, Holly Weddle and Whitteigh Ronk.
Tuesday in Martinsville, LB used the “Bengal Clash” as a workout.
“We were trying to make sure all of our runners were ready to race on Saturday at Knights Crossing,” said Edmonds. “We ended up having two of our boys go first and second overall. Eric Duncan placed first with a time of 16:25, followed closely behind with Ethan Thorne in second place with a time of 16:32.”
The girls team was led by Anne Thorne, who placed 8th with a time of 21:38.
Bartilis led the James River boys with a 25th place finish in 18:46, good for 25th place. Laughridge finished 10th in the girls race with a time of 27.50 and Kaylee Dunbar was 15th at 29.50.
This Saturday Lord Botetourt is scheduled to run at Hidden Valley High while James River competes in a race at Wilson Memorial High in Fishersville.
