Handley Boys Edge Wood For District XC Title

Posted: October 18, 2012

From Star staff reports

WINCHESTER — Handley High School’s boys’ cross country team claimed its second straight Northwestern District regular season title with a 27-30 win over James Wood Wednesday.

With the win, the Judges (7-1 district) earned a berth in the Region II meet on Nov. 1.

Senior Jim Thomson led the Judges, finishing as the runner-up in 17 minutes, 19 seconds on the Kernstown Battlefield course.

Aaron Arslan (third, 17:31), Cole Talton (fifth, 17:46), Noah Vogler (eighth, 18:07) and Henry Griffin (ninth, 18:18) rounded out Handley’s top five. Griffin finished three spots ahead of James Wood’s No. 5 runner Patrick Wilson, giving the Judges a three-point margin after splitting points in the top four.

James Wood senior Danny Aldstadt won the meet with a time of 17:01. Luke Farinholt (fourth, 17:36), Mark Bohler (sixth, 17:55), Andrew Shade (seventh, 17:57) and Wilson (12th, 18:42) completed James Wood’s top five.

James Wood, Sherando, and Millbrook will compete for the lone remaining Region II cross country berth at the district meet on Wednesday at Handley’s Kernstown Battlefield course.

In the girls’ race, James Wood senior Amber Hawkins won by 1:25, finishing with a time of 19:31, but the Judges swept the next five spots to beat the Colonels 20-39.

Abby Swartz led Handley in second with a time of 20:56 followed by Megan Gaynor (21:14) in third. Rosie Rosenfeld (21:24) followed in fourth, Ashden Personius (21:30) took fifth and Anna Claire Wilkerson (21:48) came in sixth.

The Colonels’ scoring five after Hawkins included Brittany Arnold (seventh, 22:07), Madeline Long (eighth, 22:44), Molly Farinholt (11th, 23:57) and Ellen Legge (13th, 24:12).

Handley and Millbrook both finished tied for the girls’ regular season district title and the tiebreaker will be decided at the district meet on Wednesday.