James Wood's Konyar leads way at Third Battle

WINCHESTER — With the Class 4 Northwestern District cross country meet coming up next Wednesday, James Wood sophomore Kenzie Konyar looks ready for the postseason based on her performance at the Third Battle Invitational.

Konyar, the Conference 21 West champion from a season ago, placed fifth overall with a time of 18 minutes, 27 seconds on the 3.1-mile Third Battle of Winchester course.

Through the first mile of the race, Konyar was third, running stride for stride with Hampshire (W.Va.) senior Hannah Lipps (18:16), who finished as the runner-up.

“I took it out really fast because I felt pretty good and through the two-mile [mark] I just focused on trying to hang with that lead pack,” said Konyar, who earned all-state honors as a freshman last year. “The last loop back [in the final half of the race] I kind of fell off, but I was still pushing and everybody else was still pushing to the finish. I just went with it.

“It’s a huge PR, and I’m super excited. I didn’t expect to do that well [time-wise], and I’m so happy with it. It’s like a 13-second PR.”

Tuscarora senior Emma Wolcott won the race in 17:56, finishing as the lone sub-18 minute time. Wolcott helped the Huskies finish as the runner-up with 104 points.

West Springfield won the girls’ title with 89 points, and Fauquier (192) followed Tuscarora in third.

Konyar was the lone area girl to medal (top 20) for the second year in a row.

“We were shooting for under 18:30 — that’s what her goal was for today,” James Wood coach Mike Onda said of Konyar. “For her to be able to hit that, we were really happy with that.

“I think she’s sitting really good right now, especially for our district. Regions will obviously be a challenge and state too, but she’s looking good. She’s focused on the postseason.”

Millbrook’s girls’ team was the only area squad to place in the top 10.

The Pioneers, led by junior Kaycee Cox-Philyaw (27th, 19:31), finished ninth (with 327 points) in a field of 32 girls’ teams. In addition to Cox-Philyaw, junior Maddie Lloyd (37th, 19:43), sophomore Shannon Mulvaney (77th, 20:31), junior Sophie Edlich (82nd, 20:35) and junior Joanne Keenan (113th, 20:57) completed Millbrook’s scoring five.

“I thought they ran pretty well and pretty competitively,” Millbrook coach Kevin Shirk said. “We were missing two girls with minor injuries, Emily Muldowney was out and Mellany Groll was out. With that said, I thought they ran really, really well. Lots of PRs in there, I think maybe our whole top five or four of our top five [set personal records].”

Clarke junior Skylar Bragg also ran a strong race, finishing 26th overall (out of 223 girls) with a time of 19:30 to lead the Eagles in 20th place. Madison Webster (62nd, 20:16), Catherine Lewis (93rd, 20:41), Maeve Lyman (137th, 21:27) and Arianna Montgomery (199th, 22:44) rounded out the Eagles’ scoring five.

Konyar paced the Colonels to 22nd place. The rest of James Wood’s scoring runners included Haley Witt (64th, 20:19), Brooke Sandy (134th, 21:22), Audrey Sandy (151st, 21:41) and Kendall Pierce (186th, 22:09).

While Konyar led the way among area girls, Handley senior John Delaney took ninth (15:53) to finish as the only area runner in the top 20 in the boys’ race.

Delaney was seventh with a trio of runners at about the one-mile mark, but dropped a couple spots over the final two miles.

“To be honest, [my performance] was nowhere near what I was hoping for,” Delaney said. “I actually ran a little bit faster last year, so time-wise it’s definitely a disappointment.

“The whole last mile-and-a-half a pack of four was jostling for a position and that’s how it ended up shaking out. I wish I would’ve just thrown in a tougher surge in that back 1,000 [meters]. If I had run a tougher surge, my time wouldn’t have been a lot greater, but place-wise I would’ve beaten a few of those guys. If I could change something, it would definitely be back in that last 1,000.”

James Wood, led by Kevin Konyar (34th, 16:27), placed 22nd out of 39 boys’ teams. Joshua Arce (71st, 17:01), Bryce Ratlief (138th, 17:26), Nathan Shade (146th, 17:30) and Colin Staneart (198th, 17:59) completed the Colonels’ top five.

Delaney, who was one of 10 runners to finish under 16 minutes, paced the Judges to 24th place. Grayson Westfall (115th, 17:16), Joseph Rosenfeld (169th, 17:40), Bennett Cupps (186th, 17:54) and Brian Tufts (199th, 18:00) rounded out Handley’s scoring five.

Clarke County, led by Nick Dawson (41st, 16:38), came in 29th. Connor Hanson (104th, 17:13), Kyle Erickson (157th, 17:35), Chase Ervin (181st, 17:48) and Emmett Maiberger (262nd, 20:00) counted for the Eagles.

Abingdon senior Karl Thiessen won the race in 15:15, clocking the fourth-fastest time in race history after finishing third last year.

Jeb Stuart won the boys’ team title with 136 points. Loudoun Valley (143) and Tuscarora (188) rounded out the top three.

There’s no charge for fans to attend the meet, but Millbrook asks for donations for the battlefield. Shirk said the school donated $6,348.23 — its largest sum ever — to the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation.

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