Cross Country - 41st Annual Judges Classic

Posted: September 14, 2015
By ROBERT STOCKS
The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — Imagine standing inside an automatic car wash on the rinse cycle for about 15 to 20 minutes and add some mud.

That’s probably what it was like for the 150 cross country runners at the 41st annual Judges Classic. The 80 boys’ and 70 girls’ runners raced on a rain-soaked 3.1 mile Kernstown Battlefield course on Saturday morning.

But the monsoon-like conditions didn’t bother Clarke County High School’s girls’ team one bit.

The Eagles, with no seniors in their top seven, placed three runners in the top 14 to edge runner-up Loudoun County by one point (65-66) for the team title.

Clarke freshman Skylar Bragg finished as the runner-up with a time of 20 minutes, 13 seconds) to pace the Eagles to their first Judges Classic title since 2005.

In the boys’ race, Handley senior Aaron Arslan won the individual title to lead Handley to second place, finishing 17 points behind Conference 21A-rival Woodgrove, in the 12-team boys’ race.

For Clarke County, it was the team’s second meet title of the season after the Eagle girls opened with a victory at the Central Invitational on Aug. 29. And Clarke County bested Saturday’s field that included nine other girls’ teams without sophomore Catherine Lewis in its starting lineup.

Bragg and Loudoun County junior Grace Howard set the pace through the first two miles. But as both Bragg and Howard reached the two-mile mark and the 800 meter uphill portion of the race, Woodgrove sophomore Emma-Jane Kimmett surged to the front.

Kimmett pulled away over the final mile to win the race in 19:43, finishing 30 seconds clear of Bragg.

Bragg, who took first place at the Central Invitational, followed in second, finishing 15 seconds ahead of Howard.

The Eagles freshman standout said the pouring rain definitely made the hilly course more challenging.

“It was hard,” said Bragg as she was wringing water out of the bottom of her jersey. “It was kind of hard to see with the rain, but it was actually kind of fun. It was a little slippery.

“In the middle of the hill [Kimmett] started speeding up and my shoe came untied and I rolled my ankle. But overall I’m pretty pleased. I’m good with it.”

Her teammates didn’t seem fazed one bit by the elements or the other teams — who were all larger classification schools, including eight from Virginia and one from West Virginia.

In addition to Bragg, the Eagles’ scoring five included junior Sophia Snead (sixth, 20:41), freshman Madison Webster (14th, 21:04), freshman Maeve Lyman (21st, 21:37) and junior Kendall Benoit (22nd, 21:40).

Clarke’s top three of Bragg, Snead and Webster helped the Eagles edge Loudoun County because all three finished ahead of the Raiders No. 3 runner. Loudoun County’s team average time (21:02.8) was slightly ahead of Clarke’s (21:03.5) but the Eagles prevailed with their top three. Bragg finished one spot ahead of Howard (third, 20:28), Snead finished seven spots ahead of Loudoun County No. 2 runner Izzy Bowman (13th, 21:03) and Webster edged Raiders No. 3 runner Caroline Ponticelli (15th, 21:07) by three seconds.

Clarke County coach Jeff Webster said his young team really performed well considering the weather and the fact that his team didn’t have its full lineup.

“Catherine sat this one out for precautionary reasons and that was probably for the best given the conditions,” said Webster, who said Lewis is dealing with some tendinitis. “We wanted to just run our race. We competed against the course and not the clock.

“Skylar ran really strong up front and it’s just a testament to how hard everyone works. Madison [Webster] made three girls in the top 15. They didn’t let the conditions distract them. They didn’t look at [the rain] as a real obstacle and accepted the challenge.”

While the Eagles had a stiff challenge from Loudoun County, Arslan didn’t really have anyone challenge him during the final mile.

Woodgrove senior Aedan Pettit set the pace through the first two miles with Arslan just a second or two off the pace. As both runners approached the uphill climb at the two-mile mark, Arslan surged ahead, pulling away to beat Pettit by 22 seconds.

Arslan, who averaged a 5:20 pace, said winning the title during his senior year makes it special.

“I ran my race and let [Pettit] take it out,” Arslan said. “I should’ve taken the first mile out faster because I expected to be around 16 [minutes]. If I had someone pushing me I probably would’ve been down there because I felt great today.

“I felt strong the whole race and I knew what it was going to come down to. I just wanted to pass with authority and make sure I took over at that point.”

Woodgrove took the team title with 60 points and Handley followed in second with 77.

The Wolverines placed all five runners in the top 22 and their average time (17:42) was five seconds better than Handley (17:47).

While Arslan paced the Judges, the rest of Handley’s scoring five included sophomore John Delaney (sixth, 17:21), junior Bennett Crow (12th, 17:52), junior Casey Marchant (25th, 18:25) and freshman Brian Tufts (33rd, 18:41).

Handley boys coach Mark Stickley said he was pleased with his team’s effort in the tough conditions.

“I was pleased with everybody — all seven ran really well,” Stickley said. “You have to look at how well you competed and I thought we competed extremely well.

“The conditions were pretty brutal and you can’t really look at times. [Aaron] didn’t have anybody pushing him. Most of the other guys ran PR or better than they did last year. Aaron is a smart racer. I was confident at [the two-mile mark] and he was running well and he knows what he’s doing. It’s a nice win as a senior on his home course.”

James Wood, led by sophomore Jacksen Costa (10th, 17:43), placed sixth, and Clarke County, paced by Ian Dors (eighth, 17:35), came in eighth.

Millbrook, who didn’t have all-state senior Tyler Cox-Philyaw or all-state junior Alec Schrank in the lineup, placed ninth. Junior Justin Wiseman paced the Pioneers in 19th (18:06). Cox-Philyaw missed the race because he was taking his ACT exam, and so was teammate Tom Carty.

The elements proved to be the real test during the race.

The soaking rain left spectators and runners drenched and thunder and lightning canceled the JV boys’ race and post-race awards.

“I told the guys, ‘this is one race you won’t forget — you’ll always remember this one,’” Stickley said.

Handley’s girls, led by freshman Kenzie Fergus (eighth, 20:50), came in third with 103 points. James Wood (104) and Millbrook (115) completed the girls’ team top five.

James Wood juniors Sophia Dorsey (fifth, 20:38) and Autumn Hottle (seventh, 20:49) led the way for the Colonels, and senior Hannah Croyle (ninth, 20:52) paced the Pioneers.

Croyle led three Millbrook runners who finished within a six-second span. Freshman Kaycee Cox-Philyaw placed 10th (20:57) and sophomore Mellany Groll followed in 11th (20:58).

The Pioneer girls placed three in the top 15 without Millbrook senior Nadia Dahimene, who also was taking her ACT exam, in the lineup.

— Contact Robert Stocks at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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