After taking second in Class 2 last year, the Clarke County boys’ cross country team looks like it can make a major run at its second Virginia High School League state title in three seasons.
The Eagles return all five of their senior scoring runners from last year’s team that scored 91 points to finish just 11 points behind Glenvar at Green Hill Park in Salem. The Highlanders lost their top two runners from last year’s team.
After taking second to Stonewall Jackson at the Bull Run District and Region 2B meets, Clarke County surpassed the Generals at the Class 2 meet when the Eagles were at full strength. However, with five of their top six runners back from last year’s team that took third in Class 2, Stonewall Jackson figures to be strong competition for Clarke County.
The Eagles will be led by Landon Horton, The Winchester Star’s Boys’ Cross Country Runner of the Year in 2025 after placing third in Class 2 in a season-best time of 16 minutes, 9.8 seconds over 3.1 miles. Horton took second in Region 2B and in the Bull Run District to Madison County’s Evan Roberts, who has graduated. Defending champion and senior Bradley Hamilton of Nottoway (15:45.90 at the state meet) does return.
Other Winchester Star All-Area First Team selections for Clarke County were Matthew Lisk (17th in Class 2 in 17:18.2, season PR) and Adam Hillerson (18th in Class 2 in 17:19.5, season PR). Carter Starley (40th in Class 2) and Brody Ellis (47th) also return for Clarke County.
No area team qualified for the Class 4 state meet last year, but Handley coach Mark Stickley believes his team should be much stronger than last year’s team that placed fourth in Region 4D, one spot from qualfying for states.
The Judges lost Will Thomas, who posted the area’s fastest 3.1-mile time, had the area’s best finish in the Class 4 meet (16th) and is now at NCAA Division III Roanoke. Handley does bring back its other four scoring runners from the Region 4D meet — including two individual state qualifiers — and added two major additions.
Senior Noah Meleason placed 40th in Class 4 and ninth in Region 4D (16:16.5, season PR), and senior Everett Otto placed 42nd in Class 4, 12th in Region 4D and had a season PR of 16:20.6. Each earned First Team All-Area honors in 2025.
Otto (16:11) and Meleason (16:17) ran the sixth and eighth fastest time trials, respectively, in program history earlier this month on Handley’s flat road course. The two fastest times were achieved by freshman Emerson Redcay (16:01, fourth all-time) and senior Avery Mlller (16:06, fifth all-time).
Stickley said Redcay broke all of Bobby Lockhart’s records at Daniel Morgan Middle School. (Lockhart was an 18-time state champion and two-time national champion while running cross country and track at Handley from 1998-2002.) Redcay placed second in the mile in 4:24.71 at the New Balance Nationals Outdoor meet for middle school athletes in June. Last fall, Redcay won the Virginia Middle School 4,000-meter state meet last year by 11 seconds in 12:43.
Stickley said Miller has not run cross country since early in his sophomore year to focus on Handley’s band, but he’s coming off a strong track season in which he ran a 2:02 split on the Judges’ 4×800 team.
Sherando placed fifth in Region 4D last year. The Warriors feature senior Chester Konisiewicz, who placed 17th in Region 4D (16:50.5, season PR) last season and earned First Team All-Area honors. Sherando also brings back Second Team All-Area selections in senior Austyn Zeis (24th in Region 4D) and sophomore William Norris (33rd in Region 4D), who set the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Kids’ Bloomin’ Mile record in the spring.
Millbrook (sixth in Region 4D) lost three of their five scoring runners from the Region 4D meet. The Pioneers will be led by junior Samuel Lapp (First Team All-Area, 22nd in Region 4D in 16:59.9, a season PR) and sophomore Jackson Reid (44th in Region 4D).
Senior Zach Harrington led James Wood (eighth in Region 4D) at the Region 4D meet last year but is playing golf this year. The Colonels do return Second Team All-Area selection Cade Freeman (39th in Region 4D). James Wood’s roster added an overall Kids’ Bloomin’ Mile champion in 2025 winner Lucas Rambo, a freshman.
All five local teams will open their season on Saturday. Clarke County, Handley, James Wood and Sherando will be at the Central Invitational at Fairview Park in Woodstock and Millbrook will compete at the Blacksburg Relays.
The following is a glance at each area team:
Clarke County
Coach: Jeff Webster, 12th year.
Last year: Second in Class 2 state and Region 2B.
Key losses: Lucas Hornbaker, Warren Maiberger.
Key returnees: Landon Horton, Sr.; Adam Hillerson, Sr.; Matthew Lisk, Sr.; Brody Ellis, Sr.; Carter Starley, Sr.
Key newcomers: Corbin Dyke, So.; Hudson Dyke, So.; Ryan Sheppard, Fr.; Max Stonemetz, Fr.; Wyatt Fowlds, Fr.
Webster’s outlook: “All of our veterans have returned with high expectations for this season. They will be supported by a number of incoming runners who are already showing much potential.”
Handley
Coach: Mark Stickley, 24th year.
Last year: Fourth in Region 4D.
Key loss: Will Thomas.
Key returnees: Noah Meleason, Sr.; Everett Otto, Sr.; Ethan Truban, Jr.; Samuel Plitt, Jr.; Tristan Wheeling, Jr.; Avery Miller, Sr. (last ran on the team as a sophomore); William Mayfield, So.
Key newcomers: Emerson Redcay, Fr.; Dylan Defoe, So.
Stickley’s outlook: “The boys are proving to be much more competitive than I expected and could be the best boys’ team since the 2022 team that placed second at state. The top four look outstanding with two state qualifiers back, then adding Emerson and getting Avery back. All four ran faster in our recent time trial than Noah did a year ago. Ethan, Samuel and Tristan are also way ahead of last year, giving us a solid 5-7 that was missing a year ago. They are driven to qualify for state and look to be competitive with Blacksburg, Charlottesville and Jefferson Forest.
“Emerson comes to Handley as the best runner since Bobby Lockhart, having broken all of his records at Daniel Morgan. His mile PR of 4:24 from the New Balance National championship meet where he finished second is the fastest on the team. He has raised the bar for the three seniors who were already driven to improve. Noah and Everett have both increased their mileage and intensity from a year ago and Avery seems almost possessed after two years away and a stellar track campaign. They will drive each other to be better. Ethan seems to have emerged as the number 5 but Tristan and Samuel are right on his heels. All three are much improved over last year.”
Sherando
Coach: Megan Roberts, ninth year.
Last year: Fifth in Region 4D.
Key losses: Andrew Ahrens, Gus Barbe, Hatcher Smith, Gavin Flynn.
Key returnees: Huntley Combs, Sr.; Chester Konisiewicz, Sr.; Austyn Zeis, Sr.; Quintin Priest, Jr.; Noah Farringer, So.; William Norris, So.; Andrew Schaefer, So.
Key newcomer: Charles Russell, Fr.
Roberts’ outlook: “Although losing four varsity runners to graduation is tough, we have a great bunch of young runners that are ready to rise to the occasion and are eager to step into those spots. We have some sophomores (Noah Farringer, William Norris, Andrew Schaefer) and a freshman (Charles Russell) who have been consistent this summer and are hungry to run some fast times. The three sophomores all dropped time compared to their time trial from last year. All of our upperclassmen returners made good progress in outdoor track and have been working hard this summer, so we’re excited to see that development continue into this season. Chester is working hard toward some big personal goals this season, and we expect him to be right in the mix and competing well at invites throughout the season. Huntley, Austyn and Quintin’s dedication to summer training has them primed for breakthroughs this season.”
Millbrook
Coach: Jamie McCarty, seventh year.
Last year: Sixth in Region 4D.
Key losses: Peter Warner, Steve Luna Pleitez, Nigel Foster, John Robbins, Shawn Fameni.
Key returnees: Sam Lapp, Jr.; Jackson Reid, So.
Key newcomers: Evan Sidlowski, Fr.; Emilio Espinoza, Fr.; Tyler Luna Pleitez, Fr.; Benjamin Diaz-Bedregal, Fr.
McCarty’s outlook: “We are in a rebuilding year. Graduation hit us hard after last year. Sam had a great track season and is a great leader for us. He is going to have a lot of new faces to work with this season. We bring in four freshmen with a lot of talent, but lack experience at the high school level, so we hope to ease them in and not make the learning curve too steep. We hope that we can get some experience during the season, and try to finish in the top half of the region.”
James Wood
Coach: Matthew Lofton, seventh year.
Last year: Eighth in Region 4D.
Key losses: Zach Harrington, Carrick Amerine, Santiago Sanchez, Creed Olah.
Key returnees: Cade Freeman, Sr.; Henry Brant, Jr.; Abe Miller, Jr.; Nathan Reynolds, Jr.; Alec Kluge, So.
Key newcomers: Lucas Rambo, Fr.; Charles Krupica, Fr.; Zeke Lawler, Fr.; Mikey Ebert, Fr.
Lofton’s outlook: “We lost four guys from last year’s varsity team, but we gained 10 ninth-graders, plus Nathan Reynolds is back from a year-long injury. The guys, especially the newcomers, put in a wonderful summer of training. I believe this year we will be more competitive in the district/region. Having a younger team leaves a lot of room for big improvements. Cade Freeman and Henry Brant have been training hard since the end of June, long before we were meeting as a team. The rest of the varsity squad, especially our new ninth-graders, have put in a great summer of training.”
— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at rniedzwiecki@winchesterstar.com
Follow on X @WinStarSports1