Conference 21 Cross Country Meet

Posted: October 31, 2013
By ROBERT NIEDZWIECKI

LEESBURG — Following the 2012 season, Millbrook’s cross country coaches explained to their boys that the Pioneers had the potential to be one of the two or three best teams in Group 4A if they maximized their ability.

After leaving no doubt as to who the best team in Conference 21 was Wednesday, that goal is looking increasingly realistic.

The Millbrook boys put on a spectacular display at the Oatlands Plantation, taking seven of the top 12 spots to win the first-ever Conference 21 meet with 32 points, 19 less than runner-up Dominion (51), in an eight-team field.

“I couldn’t be happier with how the boys finished,” Millbrook coach Kevin Shirk said. “We were shooting for five in the top 10, and we got five in the top nine.

“And then we thought maybe if our 6 and 7 gambled a little bit and went out a little bit faster than usual, one of them could squeeze in the top 15. So to see both of them come around the final corner in the top 12 is amazing. I couldn’t believe it.”

The Pioneer boys were one of four local teams that qualified for the 4A North Region meet, which will take place next Wednesday in Fredericksburg.

Sherando (117 points) grabbed the fourth and last qualifying spot in the boys’ race, and in the girls’ competition, James Wood (third with 82 points) and Millbrook (fourth, led by top local finisher Nadia Dahimene at third overall, with 89) will also head to Fredericksburg.

The only local runner not on one of those four teams heading to the region meet is James Wood senior Luke Farinholt, who placed fifth overall. (Any runner who placed in the top 15 qualified for regionals and earned all-conference honors.)

But the uncomfortably (from a running perspective) warm day belonged to the Millbrook boys.

Freshman Alec Schrank placed second in 16 minutes and 39 seconds, 10 seconds behind Dominion senior Trent Lancaster.

Seventeen seconds after Schrank crossed the finish line, the meet started looking more like a Millbrook practice. Sophomore Tyler Cox-Philyaw placed sixth (16:56), senior Israel Lockhart seventh (17:10), junior Max Bader eighth (17:22) and junior Cal Lockley ninth (17:23).

Senior Nathan Burgreen then came in at 17:27 for 11th and junior Garrett Bloodworth was a second behind in 12th (17:28). The performances of Burgreen and Bloodworth didn’t count toward Millbrook’s team score, but they did walk away with medals. They also would have placed 1-2 on Wednesday for three other teams.

For Millbrook, the great thing is that its runners truly are interchangeable. Shirk didn’t expect Lockley to be one of the runners in the top 10, and Bloodworth showed his confidence before the race as well.

“He’s like, ‘Should I take the gamble, too?’ We said, ‘Go for it,’ and that’s what he did,” Shirk said. “He just went out there and just killed it. Both [Lockley and Bloodworth] did amazing today.”

Schrank said the performance was definitely better than what the Pioneers were expecting, but it was a demonstration of how well they work together.

For example, it was Cox-Philyaw who surged to the front at the race’s outset. But when he saw Schrank fall about five feet back early on, he motioned to Schrank and told him to move up so they could keep on Lancaster’s tail.

Though Lancaster would eventually pull away, Schrank said the early challenge to stay on Lancaster helped him to a strong race.

“I just tried to stay with him the whole way,” Schrank said. “That was good competition, and it really helps to be pulled along by someone like that.”

Sherando might not have had its runners near the top, but the Warriors showed some impressive depth of their own.

Though the Warriors didn’t have anyone earn all-conference honors, they stayed close together and fed off each other. Sophomore Tom Powers placed 17th (17:43), senior Ryan Hindle 21st (17:49) junior Justin Hammer 22nd (17:55), senior Daniel Snapp 23rd (17:56) and sophomore Trevor Whiteside 34th (18:16) to help Sherando beat Loudoun County by 15 points for the final regional qualifying spot.

Sherando first-year coach Jamie McCarty thought a regional spot was definitely attainable.

“We felt pretty comfortable going into this week,” McCarty said. “They put in the work, and this is what we geared all season for. As a whole, I thought we ran well.”

McCarty said his runners definitely push each other to get better. Powers finished as Sherando’s top runner for the first time this year, and McCarty said he believes Powers is the fourth different Warrior to take that honor.

“All my team members are pretty awesome,” said Powers, who transferred from Randolph-Macon Academy this year. “This [performance] shows that our team is pretty well-rounded.”

James Wood’s Farinholt (16:56) finished with a flourish, as his final surge helped him nip Cox-Philyaw practically by a nose at the end.

“I felt like [top 5] was about where I was going to be,” Farinholt said. “I was pretty happy with my race. I felt pretty good the whole way, and I had a good finish.”

James Wood (159 points) only finished seventh as a team on the boys, but the girls’ race that preceded it couldn’t have gone much better for Colonels coach Mike Onda. The Colonels finished only behind Woodgrove (led by individual champion Emma Gillies, the Wolverines scored 64 points) and Loudoun County (66).

Led by freshman Sophia Dorsey (eighth in 20:29), James Wood had four all-conference runners. Freshman Autumn Hottle was 12th (21:00), sophomore Zoe Schopick was 14th (21:14) and senior Brittany Arnold was 15th (21:19). Freshman Maria Harter rounded out the team’s scoring performance by taking 33rd in 22:29.

“Placing four in the top 15 was very good for us,” said Onda, who liked his team’s chances of qualifying coming in. “I’m very pleased for them, because they’ve been working hard and pushing each other.”

Dorsey said the Colonels had to overcome a bit of a rough start to the race. She said their team didn’t hear any instructions to take their mark and get set before the gun went off, and they were still doing stretching exercises when it did fire.

“We weren’t even sure [we could] go,” she said. “I was not prepared.”

Dorsey was one of the many who wasn’t prepared for the heat either, but she was plenty proud of her team for weathering the weather and the start to make it to regionals.

“I’m so excited,” she said. “We were really hoping to move on to regionals, and when people were telling me we had all these high places, I was really excited. I can’t wait to go to regionals.”

James Wood had a pretty good idea after the girls’ race it was going, but Shirk lost track of a few runners on opposing teams and wasn’t sure until the entire meet was over that his girls’ team was also advancing. Millbrook finished 10 points ahead of Dominion (99) for the last regional spot.

“It was a nail-biter,” Shirk said. “For weeks we’d been telling them that it was going to come down to a few points. It was a good, solid team effort.”

The Pioneers needed it. Shirk said Millbrook was actually hoping No. 2 runner Rylee Learn would return for the conference meet after missing about six weeks of action with two different injuries, but a recent unexpected stress fracture diagnosis in her foot has sidelined her for the year. Also, Millbrook’s normal No. 5 runner, Madeline Treiber, missed the race because of illness.

Dahimene led the way with a time of 19:59 to finish 39 seconds behind Gillies and nine seconds behind Dominion’s Georgie Mackenzie. Millbrook sophomore Hannah Croyle was ninth (20:33), senior Sophia Lee was 13th (21:04), junior McKenzie Schrank was 25th (22:06) and sophomore Bethany Hagenbuch completed the team scoring by taking 39th (23:08).

Dahimene said she felt like she could place in the top three, but she also felt that she might have ran her first too mile too quickly.

Late in the race, she was still trailing Dominion’s Nicole Harrison, but with a little more than a half mile to go she surged past her to get her place goal.

“When she was in front of me, I was thinking, ‘I really want to get her,’” Dahimene said. “[Harrison] helped me push at the end.”

Dahimene was also happy about the company she’ll have at regionals.

“I think the team did really well today,” she said. “I’m really proud of them.”

Sherando’s girls were led by freshman Hannah Lothrop (24th in 21:58).

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