James Wood edges Millbrook in boys' district cross country race

WOODSTOCK — With about 1,000 meters left in Tuesday's three-mile Class 4 Northwestern District boys' cross country meet, James Wood sophomore Liam McDonald said teammate Nathaniel Woshner told him, "Go, Liam."

Woshner is usually James Wood's No. 1 runner, and the sophomore's ability to urge on his teammate was no small thing in a race where every point mattered.

James Wood defended its district championship with 58 points at Fairview Park, just two points ahead of second-place Millbrook.

Though Woshner ran well by taking eighth in 16:39.1, McDonald's ability to finish ahead of Woshner was key on Tuesday. There were a couple of runners who finished in between the duo who would have added a couple of points to James Wood's score if McDonald had finished behind Woshner. The Colonels would have won the tiebreaker with Millbrook, but McDonald's fifth-place finish in 16:30.9 made the team's victory definitive.

"We were training really hard this week to try and defend our championship," McDonald said.

McDonald said that he was definitely encouraged by Woshner's words.

"I just wanted to beat him in one race, honestly," said McDonald with a laugh. "He wanted me to beat him. He gave me confidence, honestly. I couldn't ask for a better friend.

"Our team is really close together, and we have a really good pack. That's what let us win today. We couldn't have done this without everyone on the entire team."

The four local boys teams claimed all four Region 4C team-qualifying spots in the eight-team meet. Sherando — led by individual runner-up James Harris — was third with 78 points and Handley was fourth with 84 points, 34 clear of fifth-place Liberty. The region meet will take place Nov. 7 at Kernstown Battlefield.

The rest of James Wood's top five featured sophomore Caleb Kemer (11th in 16:41.6), junior Chris White (15th in 17:00) and freshman Ethan Bowman (19th in 17:15.8). Kemer and White joined McDonald and Woshner on the all-district team for placing in the top 15.

"[Woshner] seemed a little off today, but he'll be back next week," said James Wood coach Mike Onda on a day in which a number of runners had some issues with the warmer temperature. "Everyone ran well, and we were able to hold off Millbrook. Four in the top 15, two in the top 10. I'm happy with that. I'm really pleased with where the team is, and hopefully, we can get faster in the next week and get them peaking to get out of regions."

Millbrook's top five featured senior Chris Simonelli (fourth in 16:25.3), sophomore Carter Johnson (12th in 16:41.6), senior Silas Schroer (13th in 16:43.4), junior Chance Crosen (14th in 16:48.6) and freshman Nicholas Hayden (17th in 17:12.2).

"Based on season-bests, we were probably underdogs by 10 points coming in," Millbrook coach Kevin Shirk said. "We thought it would be a pretty close race. We had really good races out of Chris Simonelli and Nicholas Hayden. We slipped a little in our two-three-four spots, but still, those guys ran really well.

"For what we had coming in this season [losing six of the team's top seven runners to graduation], I don't think anybody can be disappointed with where we just ended up at the district meet."

Sherando's scoring five was the junior Harris (second in 16:00.2), junior Jonathan Gates (seventh in 16:37.8), senior Luke Waits (22nd in 17:23.9), freshman Ben Freilich (23rd in 17:33.7) and sophomore Graham Schultz (24th in 17:35.5).

Harris took second at the district meet for the second straight year. Liberty's Sam Rodman opened up about a 10-meter lead after two miles, then Harris said Rodman started to pull away at the 2.4-mile mark. Rodman wound up winning by 13 seconds in 15:47.1.

"My legs started to give out on me [at 2.4 miles], and I could barely move," Harris said. "I just fell at the finish line. It was not a good race for me.

"Coming into the race, I felt fast. After the gun went off, I felt confident. I was about 4:55 through the first mile. But at 2.4 miles, I just couldn't go [with Rodman]."

 Still, it was a solid performance by Harris and the Sherando boys as a whole. No. 2 runner Ty Waits wasn't able to run because of a knee injury.

"The message to the team was that some of them were going to have to step it up and make up the difference [without Ty]," Sherando coach Megan Roberts said. "We really saw that out of Luke Waits, Ty's brother. Jonathan Gates had a great day and Ben Freilich ran well. Our 4-5-6 runners really stepped up and made up the difference."

Handley's scoring five runners were senior Grayson Westfall (third in 16:13.7), sophomore Ryan Stickley (sixth in 16:35.5), senior Bennett Cupps (10th in 16:41), freshman Max Ware (32nd in 17:50.2) and senior Ben Babb (38th in 18:08).

"I think the guys ran as well as they could have run," Handley coach Mark Stickley said. "The top five ran fantastic. Grayson ran a smart race, Ryan ran out of his mind. I was really shocked by how well he ran. Bennett, I was just so happy for him to finish, because we weren't sure if he'd be able to do that with a bad knee. He did a great job."

Westfall said he was basically running by himself the whole race.

"I kind of got stuck in a gap in between groups, so I focused on myself," said Westfall. "I'm satisfied with what I did."

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