LEESBURG — James Wood coach Matthew Lofton has often wished over the years that Kate Konyar had someone to run with in her races.
In her final Virginia High School League cross country race, the Colonels senior got a chance to demonstrate her fighting spirit en route to adding to her state medal collection.
On Saturday in the Class 4 state meet at Oatlands, Konyar’s hard closing push kept Tuscarora junior Catherine Moschera at bay and gave her third place, the fourth time in four years that Konyar has earned All-State honors by placing in the top 10. Konyar placed fourth as a freshman, fifth as a sophomore and second as a junior.
Konyar’s 3.1-mile time of 18 minutes, 48 seconds wasn’t her fastest time at Oatlands — she recorded an 18:32 at last year’s Class 4 meet — but she had plenty of speed when she needed it over the last 50 meters.
“Right at the end, I could hear [Moschera] breathing behind me,” Konyar said. “That definitely gave me my little second wind. It was like, ‘Time to go.’ Definitely good competition.”
Moschera finished a second behind in 18:49.
Konyar did exactly what Lofton wanted from her. Everyone knew Charlottesville senior Elaina Pearce would repeat as state champion (the state’s fastest runner regardless of class recorded an 18:20.1) and Lofton figured Hanover freshman River Smith (second in 18:28.6) would also be tough to beat.
Lofton thought Pierce’s younger sister Juliana — who beat Konyar at the Region 4D meet — would be Konyar’s main competition for third, but Juliana Pearce couldn’t stay with Konyar and finished sixth. Instead, it was Moschera and Woodgrove sophomore Ashton Gordon who challenged her.
“I was not expecting the Tuscarora and Woodgrove girls to be there,” Lofton said. “They kept on closing on her, and she just held them off the whole way. It’s probably the best race I’ve seen Kate run [when challenged]. She gritted. The end of that race was awesome. She showed a lot of guts and a lot of strength.”
Lofton thought a training session the previous weekend at Oatlands helped with Konyar getting the job done in the race’s closing stages on Saturday.
“What we’ve been working on all season is strength at the end of a race, being able to sprint at the end of a race,” Lofton said. “We came here last weekend and practiced the last tenth-of-a-mile sprint after they finished on a workout on a course. [Our runners] know when they need to go here, and Kate was able to hold them off today.”
It was a fitting end to Konyar’s career.
“To be All-State and top 10 every year of my high school career, it’s just awesome,” Konyar said. “Really proud.”
Konyar led James Wood to eighth out of 12 teams with 164 points. Blacksburg repeated as state champions with 70 points, 11 better than runner-up Hanover 81.
No local boys’ team qualified for the Class 4 meet. Handley senior Will Thomas led three Judges individual qualifiers by taking 16th in 17:00.40, one place and 4.1 seconds away from earning a state medal. Blacksburg won its fourth straight title with 67 points, and fellow Region 4D school Charlottesville was again the runner-up (105).
James Wood’s eighth-place finish was its lowest in the four years its stellar senior class has qualified for the state meet, and down three spots from last year.
Lofton loved the way his team ran. But he feels Class 4 is the toughest of all six classifications, and James Wood just happened to go up against a lot of great teams on Saturday.
“I think everyone ran super well today,” Lofton said. “We were ranked eighth coming in. I thought maybe we could sneak up to seventh, and we were just seven points off of that. I think all the girls had great races and ran quicker than last year [at the state meet], ran quicker than [the] Oatlands [Invitational] earlier this year. I couldn’t have asked for better results. 4A is just so competitive right now.”
Other scoring runners for James Wood in the 102-girl race were senior Alina Kieffer (24th, 20:15, 35 seconds better than last year), junior Ally Oliver (51st, 21:34.9, one minute, 13.1 seconds faster), senior Katelyn Palmer (53rd, 21:36.1, 26.9 seconds faster) and freshman Abigail Ebert (62nd, 22:11.5). Also, senior Lauren Thompson placed 81st (22:45) and sophomore Melanie Padilla was 87th (22:53.9).
Kieffer not only blew away her time from last year at the state meet, but she also set a course PR by topping her time as a sophomore, when she placed 24th in 20:17 in her first state meet.
Kieffer thought she might have gone out too fast when she saw she clocked 5:48 for the first mile. But she managed the rest of the race well. And when she climbed the steep hill near the 2.5-mile mark, she was plenty encouraged.
“I’m super happy with my race,” Kieffer said. “I was aiming for top 25, top 30. I knew there was a really good field this year, so I knew I wouldn’t kind of be up there with those top 15 girls. I wanted to be right behind them.
“The really big hill was rough. But when I got to the top of the big hill, I kind of looked around, and I was like, ‘Wait, this is who I want to be with. I’m where I want to be, so now I’ve just kind of got to tough it out.’ And then I definitely picked it up the most in this finishing stretch.”
Oliver and Palmer were the next finishers for James Wood, and as usual, they finished close to each other. They were two places and 1.2 seconds apart. As evidenced by their times on Saturday and performances throughout the season, they’ve worked well together.
Oliver’s improvement has been significant. With the graduation of Ruby Ostrander (now running in the top seven for NCAA Division I Radford University), Oliver knew the Colonels would need more from her this year. Her personal record last year was 20:54, and this year it’s 19:45.
Oliver had a lot of motivation at the Region 4D meet, when she earned All-Region honors by taking 14th. Lofton noted that MileStat had the Colonels projected fourth, one spot from a state meet berth, and that sparked a fire.
“I was a lot more consistent this year,” she said. “I wanted to do well for my team and really move up since we lost [Ostander] to graduation. I wanted to help our team make it to states, and kind of progress as a team to get better. It just made me really fight and do good. During regionals, I really wanted to get our team to states, so I just ran as hard as I could.”
Lofton appreciates her efforts.
“Especially in the last couple of races, she’s come on so strong,” Lofton said. “She’s seen herself be able to perform well, and it’s given her confidence.”
Oliver said she’s appreciative of a senior class that has also seen Kirin Nashed compete for the varsity over the years.
“They took me in when I first came in as a freshman, and they helped build me and everything,” Oliver said. “I’m so grateful to have them. I’m going to miss them so much.”
The seniors are going to miss running for James Wood.
“I think our team has one of the closest bonds,” Palmer said. “I talk to other girls, and they’re really kind. But nobody is as close as we are as a team, which really helps as a runner to have your support group.”
Konyar said, “I’ve been with most of the senior girls all of my four years. And the new team with the freshmen, it’s just been amazing. I don’t know how I’m going to go on to a college team.”
Konyar is narrowing down her options for college teams. Kieffer is heading to NCAA Division I Longwood University.
Kieffer said she got emotional at the starting line, thinking about her first state race.
“This team has given me everything,” Kieffer said. “Genuinely, every single race they’re always there for me. It means so much, because I wouldn’t be here without them. And this team wouldn’t be here if we didn’t all come together and just push when it mattered.
“I’m so, so sad to leave them, because I’m never going to get the same, exact feeling as I had on my high school cross country team.”
Lofton said they’ll be missed for their character in addition to their running.
“Great, great group of girls,” Lofton said. “I’m going to miss them a lot. They just bond so well together. They took in our newer runners this year and treated them like they’ve been on the team for four years with them. You can’t ask for a better group to bring to the state meet. It’s probably the best group we’ve had as far as how cohesive they are.”
Handley junior EJ Mullins competed in Saturday’s girls’ meet as an individual. She placed 60th in 22:06.3 to finish fifth among local runners.
In addition to Thomas, juniors Noah Meleason and Everett Otto ran for the Judges. Meleason placed 40th in 17:40.5 and Otto was 44th in 17:42.3.
Jamestown sophomore Jonathan Grimm won the 103-boy race by 5.5 seconds in 15:40.4.
For more coverage of Saturday’s meet, see Wednesday’s edition of The Winchester Star.
— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at rniedzwiecki@winchesterstar.com
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