August 29, 2012
By ROBERT STOCKS

WINCHESTER — James Wood boys’ cross country coach Mike Onda expects another tightly contested race in the Northwestern District.

Onda’s not ready to say his Colonels are the favorite, but he’s not saying that his team doesn’t have the potential to win the district, either.

He thinks his team can contend for the title, but he knows that’s not going to be easy.

“I don’t think any team is head-and-shoulders above the rest of the teams and it should be really competitive,” Onda said. . “Their goal is to get both teams [boys and girls] out of district and see where the chips fall after that.”

Skyline won the district meet, finishing 14 points ahead of the Colonels last year at Millbrook’s Third Battle course, but the Hawks lost four of their top seven runners to graduation from last year’s team that placed fifth in Group AA. Skyline Group AA individual state champion and senior Thomas Madden returns, but the Hawks must replace district runner-up Clay Jones, Sean Park (third at district), Marshall Eckert (ninth) and Sean Johnson.

The Colonels should have plenty of competition from Handley, who earned the district’s other regional berth by winning the regular-season title.
Handley boys cross country coach Mark Stickley expects the Colonels will be the team to beat — and said Wood ran better at the end of the year than his team did a season ago.

“James Wood has guys who have run in top seven for a while so I see them clearly as the favorite,” Stickley said. “I don’t think we’re a darkhorse, but we should be pretty decent.

“[The Colonels] are experienced and running well. James Wood deserved to go [last year], and we didn’t. We were lucky we got to go [to regionals].”

Out of the district’s top 15 runners who earned regional berths last year, only seven return. But four of those seven returning regional qualifiers are Colonels, including Danny Aldstadt, Jacob Sunderlin, Luke Farinholt and Dylan Wilson, so it’s not hard to see why the Colonels might be the preseason favorite.

Millbrook coach Kevin Shirk expects a tight district race among the four area high school teams.

“We know coming in that Sherando is returning its entire squad and although they finished at the bottom of the district last year, they could contend for the district title this year,” Shirk said. “Handley is typically strong, as is James Wood, but we should stack up very well with them through [the No.] three-four runners. Like most years, it will come down to who has the best No. 5.”

Following is a glance at the area teams:

James Wood

Coach: Mike Onda, ninth year

Last year: Runner-up in the Northwestern District meet

Key losses: Joe Davet, Nick Stasiak, Blake Armstrong

Top returnees: Danny Aldstadt, Sr.; Jacob Sunderlin, Sr.; Dylan Wilson, Sr.; Luke Farinholt, Jr.; Mark Bohler, Jr.; Ryan Platt, Soph.; Zach Bowen, Soph. Andrew Shade, Soph.

Key newcomers: Eric Arkfeld, Jr.; Kieran Orndorff, Soph.; Jonny Bohler, Fr.

Outlook: If any team enters the season with a bit of chip on its shoulder, it’s probably the Colonels. The only title James Wood ended up with last year is this one: “the best district team to not qualify for Region II.” This year, the Colonels hope to pass that title on to another team by earning one that gives them not only a team plaque — but a ticket to Region II.

Last year, the Colonels finished as the runner-up at the district meet, but regular-season district champ Handley (third at the district meet) and district meet champion Skyline (who finished fifth in Group AA behind state champ Thomas Madden) took the regional berths.

WIth Aldstadt (sixth in the district), Wilson (14th), Farinholt (11th) and Sunderlin (10th), the Colonels have four regional (individual) qualifiers returning and enough depth to contend for the district crown.

“We have a really solid group, and I think they have a shot of doing really well in the district — if not winning it,” Onda said. “Skyline still has Madden coming back but they had some guys graduate, but Skyline and Handley are both going to be strong teams.”

Opener: Sept. 8, at Judges Classic, 9 a.m.