Millbrook girls' cross country team qualifies for state meet

LEESBURG — The depth theme continued for the Millbrook girls’ cross country team on Wednesday.

Though usual No. 1 runner Kaycee Cox-Philyaw didn’t run as fast as she usually does at the Region 4C meet at the Oatlands Plantation, the Pioneers had no problems qualifying for the Class 4 state meet for the second consecutive year.

The top three teams in each race qualified out of Wednesday’s meet for the state meet on Nov. 10 at Great Meadow, and Millbrook took second with 66 points to finish well ahead of third-place Woodgrove (81) and fourth-place James Wood (85) even though Cox-Philyaw took fourth among Pioneer runners.

Eight teams competed in each race. The Millbrook girls were the only local girls or boys team to qualify for the state meet, though Frederick County runners gobbled up most of the individual state-qualifying spots (five went to each gender).

Led by top local finisher and James Wood junior Kenzie Konyar (fourth in 19:51), Frederick County girls grabbed three state-qualifying spots. Sherando’s James Harris was the top local boys’ finisher (11th in 17:18), and three other Frederick County boys will join him at the state meet.

Cox-Philyaw was in seventh overall and well ahead of her teammates at one point in the first half of the race, but by the time runners approached the steep hill near the two-mile mark she had faded back.

That was OK from a team perspective, though. Before Cox-Philyaw approached that hill, freshman Madison Smith (ninth in 20:35), freshman Lina Guerrero (10th in 20:41) and senior Maddie Lloyd (12th in 20:45) had climbed it within moments of each other.

By the time the race was over, Cox-Philyaw had finished a respectable 22nd in 21:20, and not far behind was another Millbrook pack. The Pioneers had runners finish in 25th, 26th and 27th, with senior Sophie Edlich (25th) grabbing the final scoring honors in 21:41.

The Oatlands course proved challenging for a lot of runners. The Handley girls qualified for regionals as a team but didn’t register a team score because three runners didn’t finish, and Sherando also had a runner who didn’t finish.

“Kaycee had a rough day,” Millbrook coach Kevin Shirk said. “But it speaks to our depth that we can an off-day and still be second in the region. I’m proud of them for coming home with a trophy as the runner-up team.”

Millbrook’s depth came through when the Pioneers won the Judges Classic in September. Cox-Philyaw was slowed as a result of losing a shoe early in the race and took fifth among Pioneer runners. Another example was Millbrook’s Third Battle Invitational, when the Pioneers took third and earned their first trophy at the meet since it expanded to 30-plus teams in 2013. On that day, the Pioneers won the tiebreaker for third with Tuscarora because its No. 6 runner, senior Emily Muldowney, finished 28 places ahead of the Huskies’ No. 6 runner.

Smith said each individual runner does a good job of focusing on her own race when asked about the team’s ability to deal with possible pitfalls in a meet. And the squad’s bond helps everyone strive to do the best they can.

“We’ve become really close as a team,” she said. “I think everything’s going great so far, and hopefully we’ll do well at states.”

Smith said she thought she had a chance to perform as well as she did on Wednesday. By placing in the top 10, both she and Guerrero earned all-region honors.

“I felt pretty good on this course,” Smith said. “I felt good at the beginning. On the big hill [in the middle of the race], I did feel pretty good. I started to slow down right at the top, but then I got back into it.

“I do want to do better at states. It’s going to be a much easier course than it was here.”

Konyar didn't finish as high as she did at last year's Region 4C meet, when she took third at Kernstown Battlefield. But unlike last year, she wasn't just running for herself. The Colonels were expected to be in the thick of the team race after not qualifying for regionals last year.

"We were definitely looking out for Woodgrove, and trying to pass as many Woodgrove runners as possible," said Konyar when she was asked about Wednesday's race strategy.

Konyar did her part, pulling away from the Wolverines' Sophia Hudak by five seconds after Hudak had been right with her during the first half of Wednesday's challenging race.

"I was struggling running up the hill [around the two-mile mark]," Konyar said. "We've run Third Battle the last two meets, which is super fast and didn't run any hills. But I was happy with today."

Konyar will be joined at the state meet by teammate Elena Farinholt, a freshman who grabbed the last state-qualifying spot with a time of 20:58 to place 15th. Other scoring runners for the Colonels were Haley Witt (20th in 21:14), Audrey Sandy (32nd in 22:14) and Lauren Beatty (33rd in 22:20).

In addition to Konyar and Farinholt, Sherando sophomore Molly Robinson (14th in 20:48) also qualified for the state meet.

The Handley girls were led on Wednesday by junior Kendall Felix, who finished one spot away from qualifying for the state meet by taking 16th in 21:01.

As expected, 2017 national champion Loudoun Valley dominated the boys’ race, taking the top five spots. Jacob Hunter took first and Kellen Hasle and Sam Affolder finished within steps of him. All had times of 16:30.

Just like the girls, the James Wood boys also barely missed out on qualifying for the state meet. Fauquier took second with 113 points, Dominion was third and the Colonels — the Class 4 Northwestern District champions — were fourth with 117 points. The Millbrook boys placed sixth with 133 points and Sherando was seventh with 150.

“Both the boys’ and girls’ teams ran great races,” James Wood coach Mike Onda said. “I’m proud of them. And we still have three individuals advancing.

“We knew it was going to be close [in the team races], and obviously it was. Our runners gave it their all on both sides.”

James Wood senior Ethan Pierce finished just behind Harris to place 12th (he also had a time of 17:18) to qualify for the state meet. Other scoring runners for the Colonels were James Arce (20th in 17:46), Nathaniel Woshner (26th in 17:54), Nathan Shade (34th in 18:13) and Chris White (35th in 18:14).

"We had been training hills, and we thought we had a good chance [to qualify for states] after winning districts," Pierce said. "It just didn't happen. Fauquier had a good day.

"It's exciting [to qualify individually] though. I feel like all the hard work I put in last summer, and in the fall, has finally paid off."

Other local individual state qualifiers in addition to Harris and Pierce were Sherando junior Ty Waits (14th in 17:20) and Millbrook senior Brad Hambrick (16th in 17:30).

Harris said it means a lot to be heading back to the state meet after also qualifying as a freshman. Harris took 13th at last year’s regional meet at Kernstown Battlefield.

“The steep incline before the two-mile mark got to me a little,” Harris said. “The hill after you’ve been running for a long time kills you. Overall, I think it was a pretty challenging course, but I’m pretty happy with my place and time.

“My goal the whole season was to get to states. In practice during the season I pushed a lot harder during the workouts, ran faster during the long runs. I’m happy with today.”

Handley was led on Wednesday by junior Grayson Westfall (23rd in 17:49).

For more coverage of Wednesday's meet, see Friday's edition of The Winchester Star.

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