WINCHESTER — If Landon Horton can end his postseason in a manner similar to his regular season, he could have plenty to celebrate.
The Clarke County senior ran 3.1 miles in under 16 minutes for the first time in his career and posted the fastest time among local runners on Saturday at Millbrook’s Third Battle Invitational.
In a field of 174 runners, Horton placed fourth in the Varsity A race in 15 minutes, 55.3 seconds on the Third Battle of Winchester Battlefield cross country course. Horton’s time was 14.21 seconds better than his previous personal record set at the Judges Classic on Oct. 3 and 25.5 seconds faster than what he ran at last year’s Third Battle Invitational, when he also placed fourth.
Clarke County won’t race again until Oct. 21 at Fairview Park in Woodstock at the Bull Run District meet. Horton took second in the district and region to the graduated Evan Roberts of Madison County last year and third in Class 2 while Roberts took second. Defending state champion Bradley Hamilton of Nottoway has run times of 15:30 this year and 15:18 last year, so he’ll be someone for Horton to target in his pursuit of Ben Veilleux’s 2008 school record of 15:37 and a possible state championship.
“Today was pretty good,” Horton said. “I’m glad to get under 16. We’re going to get a nice training week break, and then we’ll start our three postseason races. I’m really excited. I’m hoping to do well at states.”
No local boys’ or girls’ team finished in the top 10 in the Varsity A races, but there were plenty of individual highlights beyond Horton on Saturday.
Clarke County sophomore Corbin Dyke (seventh in 16:02.2) was the only sophomore or freshman to finish in the top 10 of the boys’ Varsity A race. The host Pioneers featured the fastest local girl in freshman Kennedy Combs (seventh in Varsity A in 18:39.2) and the Varsity B boys’ champion in junior Samuel Lapp (16:31.2).
Horton and Dyke led the Eagles to 11th place out of 23 scoring teams with 298 points. Lake Braddock (61) won by 25 over runner-up West Springfield (86). Sherando placed 14th with 370 points and was led by sophomore William Norris (16:11.2), who was the only sophomore or freshman besides Dyke to place in the top 15.
The only people to beat Horton were defending Class 4 state champion Michael Tafe of Loudoun County (first in 15:23.5) and Class 6 runners Daniel Black of West Potomac (15:34.1) and Alexander Featherly of South County (15:40.6).
Horton was challenged late by Lake Braddock senior Calvin Benson, and the two were neck-and-neck in the finishing chute.
“We hit the turn with about 200 meters to go,” Horton said. “I was going, I was going, but he went ahead of me, and I thought he had me. But I tried one last push, and I ended up going right past him.”
Horton said there was about 40 meters left when he put Benson behind him. Benson finished two-tenths of a second slower than Horton.
While many of his teammates didn’t run at the Judges Classic, Saturday marked the third straight weekend that Horton pushed himself hard at a major invitational, a stretch that started with the Oatlands Invitational on Sept. 26 in Leesburg.
“With what he’s done the last three weeks, to come here and set another PR is really good,” Eagles coach Jeff Webster said.
While Dyke has performed well this year, the first-year Clarke County runner took a major step forward on Saturday by improving his personal record by 65 seconds from Woodgrove’s Wolverine Invitational in September.
Dyke said he wasn’t getting as many racing opportunities as he wanted last year with NOVA Athletic Club in Leesburg as a homeschool student, and he also wanted to do more with academics. As a result, Dyke and his twin brother Hudson enrolled at Clarke County this year.
Corbin Dyke thought he could do well with the Eagles, and he thought they could make him better.
“Everyone on this team is so friendly,” Dyke said. “It’s almost like a family.”
On Saturday, he thought his previous experiences with the Third Battle course could lead to a strong time.
“I just feel like being familiar with where I was going would help me,” Dyke said.
Before this season, Webster didn’t have any knowledge of the Dyke brothers’ ability outside of the fact that they came from a strong running family. Corbin in particular has adapted well to high school running.
“He’s fallen in line with what Landon does and a few others that have that [running] volume,” Webster said. “His mechanics are great. He’s not aggressively getting injured. He’s able to do all those things that even as a sophomore, sets him up for success. I’m thrilled with what he’s doing. It’s incredible to watch.”
Webster said Corbin Dyke putting up times similar to Horton could have a big impact on a team that came into the year with all five of its scoring runners back from last year’s Class 2 state runner-up squad. Other scoring runners for the Clarke County boys on Saturday were senior Adam Hillerson (93rd, 17:31.4), Carter Starley (108th, 17:39.1) and Brody Ellis (126th, 17:52.8).
“The boys are shaping up,” Webster said. “A couple of them got under 18 for the first time. They’re excited [for the postseason], more so than they were. [Under 18] was a concept, and they actually saw it happen today.”
Lapp — who won by 12.5 seconds in the Varsity B field of 119 runners — was the only Millbrook boy to compete in varsity action on Saturday. James Wood placed third in Varsity B (18 scoring teams) with 117 points to finish behind Washington-Liberty (102) and Brentsville (103).
In girls’ action, Millbrook’s Combs ran under 19 minutes for the first time this season and was one of just three freshmen or sophomores in the top 15 of the Varsity A race on Saturday.
Combs was an accomplished runner in middle school who led all local runners by placing eighth at last year’s Virginia Middle School 4,000-meter state meet. She’s excelled with the 5K high school distance, and she’s enjoyed being on a veteran team that returned four of its five scoring runners from last year’s Region 4D meet.
“I’ve got a really good team to look up to with a lot of upperclassmen with a lot of experience,” Combs said. “It’s been fun.”
Combs’ previous best time was 19:04, which occurred the previous week in her second-place finish at the Octoberfest Invitational at Great Meadow in The Plains. On Saturday, she had her mind set on eclipsing that mark, and she shattered it.
“I was so close last week,” Combs said. “I’ve been wanting to break 19, and I finally did that today.”
Millbrook coach Jamie McCarty said it was big for Combs to set a PR on Saturday, but he thinks her ability shows up most on courses with rougher terrain than the Third Battle course. McCarty noted that Varsity A champion Allie Horner, a senior at West Springfield, ran the state’s fastest girls’ time of 17:05 to win by 15 seconds in the field of 165 on Saturday.
“I think the more challenging courses fit her a little bit better,” McCarty said. “But she was able to get up there in a fast race today. I feel pretty good about her performance today, and for the whole year.”
Horner led West Springfield to the A title with 79 points, 23 ahead of Yorktown (102). Millbrook scored 364 points to place 14th and Clarke County took 21st with 456 out of 23 scoring teams.
West Potomac captured the Varsity B girls’ race with 80 points to win by five over runner-up George C. Marshall (85) in a field of 16 scoring teams. Sherando was ninth with 243 points (senior Mia Adams was the top local finisher, taking sixth in 20:41.1) and James Wood placed 13th (286). Brooke Point senior Rochelle Gary won by 8.7 seconds in 19:53.3 in the field of 111 runners to repeat as champion.
Other Sherando boys’ scorers (Varsity A): 92. Chester Konisiewicz 17:29.0; 99. Huntley Combs 17:35.4; 103. Quintin Priest 17:36.9; 111. Austyn Zeis 17:40.9.
James Wood boys’ scorers (Varsity B): 7. Nathan Reynolds 16:55.5; 22. Henry Brant 17:37; 27. Alecsander Kluge 17:48.4; 32. Lucas Rambo 17:55.6; 34. Zeke Lawler 17:58.5.
Other Millbrook girls’ scorers (Varsity A): 60. Marisol Lara 20:37.8; 69. Adilyn Steinmetz 20:48.6; 124. Aubrey Steinmetz 21:57.6; 131. Emma Murphy 22:10.2.
Clarke County girls’ scorers (Varsity A): 86. Virginia Beckett 21:15; 91. Morley Hudson 21:18.6; 93. Maggie Myer 21:21; 107. Emma Husted 21:39.4; 119. Mia Timberlake 21:52.4.
Other Sherando girls’ scorers (Varsity B): 28. Lily Pangle 21:36.8; 67. Ariela Rivera 23:26.3; 71. Clara Sargent 23:30.8; 89. Penelope Ouzts 24:25.6.
James Wood girls’ scorers (Varsity B): 48. Abigail Ebert 22:29.1; 53. Emily Holaday 22:40.9; 62. Madeleine Primus 23:07.3; 70. Ally Oliver 23:29.9; 77. Emerson Hart 23:41.5.
For more coverage of Saturday’s meet, see Wednesday’s edition of The Winchester Star.
— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at rniedzwiecki@winchesterstar.com
Follow on X @WinStarSports1