Girls' Cross Country Runner of the Year: James Wood's Kate Konyar

James Wood coach Matthew Lofton recalls that freshman Kate Konyar had a distinct reaction after running in the first true cross country competition of her career.

It took place on Aug. 27 at the three-mile Central Invitational in Woodstock. Three days earlier, Konyar and many other runners had used the season-opening Class 4 Northwestern District mini meet at Sherando (5,000 meters, or 3.1 miles) as a training exercise. But at the Central meet, the competitors ran much harder.

“That first race, I don’t really give kids expectations,” Lofton said. “I just kind of let them go at it, and we just kind of adjust from that.

“I remember her finishing [at Central] and saying she did not like the distance,” added Lofton with a laugh. “It was too long of a race.”

It didn’t take long for that mindset to change. It also didn’t take long for Konyar to show she was one of the most promising cross country runners in the state.

Konyar is The Winchester Star Girls’ Cross Country Runner of the Year after a spectacular freshman season in which she placed second in the Class 4 Northwestern District, third in Region 4C and fourth at the Class 4 state meet. No one in the area came within 30 seconds of Konyar’s best 3.1-mile time of 18 minutes, 6.2 seconds at the region meet at Morven Park in Leesburg on Nov. 2.

Three state championship girls’ races (classes 4,5 and 6) featuring 299 total runners were held at Oatlands in Leesburg on Nov. 12. Only 12 people had faster times than Konyar that day, including just one person from the sophomore class and one person from the freshman class.

The transition from middle school to high school can be unpredictable for cross country runners. Middle school races top out at 4,000 meters (approximately 2.5 miles).

In Konyar’s case, though, anyone who’s paid attention over the years probably wasn’t too surprised by the success she had this season. Few families know more about distance running than the Konyars.

Kate’s father Chris is a former All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference runner for NCAA Division II Bloomsburg University. The current Winchester Parks & Recreation director has organized numerous long distances races over the years and previously served as superintendent of recreation with Frederick County Parks & Rec.

Kate’s brother Kevin, a 2018 James Wood graduate, also earned All-PSAC honors for Bloomsburg and finished his cross country career in 2021. Kate’s sister Kenzie was a four-time All-State runner who earned Winchester Star Runner of the Year honors as a freshman in 2016 and as a sophomore in 2017. She is now a junior at NCAA Division I George Washington University and competed for the Colonials at the Atlantic 10 Championships and Mid-Atlantic Region Championships this fall.

Kate said she was 5 or 6 when she first started running, with her first competitive race taking place with the Kids’ Bloomin’ Mile. She would also always run with her family in the Frederick County Parks & Rec Thanksgiving 5K, but she did that for fun. There was never an attempt to run as hard as she could.

Konyar said she gravitated toward running because of her family, but she’s always enjoyed it. And seeing her siblings have success served as a great deal of motivation as she started to run at the scholastic level at Frederick County Middle School.

“They’ve been a big influence on me,” Konyar said.

That certainly showed in some of Konyar’s pre-high school accomplishments. In eighth grade, she placed ninth out of 207 runners at the Virginia Middle School State XC Championships at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, recording a 4K time of 15:20.30. She was also the overall Kids’ Bloomin’ Mile champ in the spring with a time of 5:55.7, a feat neither of her siblings had ever accomplished.

Konyar said she didn’t have specific expectations for her freshman high school season, but when the Colonels held their two-mile time trial on Aug. 12, Lofton said it was clear who the team’s No. 1 runner was going to be. Konyar finished in 12:25.

Lofton said prior to the season that he didn’t want to put too much pressure on Konyar. But in addition to being fast, it was also evident in the preseason that Konyar wasn’t the type who was going to put too much pressure on herself.

“She’s very playful and fun,” Lofton said. “She doesn’t take things too seriously until she has to take it seriously. Then it’s, ‘Game on.’”

At the Woodstock Invitational, Konyar placed second overall, nine seconds behind Sherando senior Emma Ahrens. Konyar said she wasn’t focused on Ahrens after that, but that would be the only time Ahrens beat her.

At the Hood College High School Invitational one week later in Frederick, Md., Konyar placed 11th out of 207 runners in the 3.1-mile race with a time of 19:40.5, three places and 19 seconds ahead of Ahrens. Traditional power Loudoun Valley also competed at the meet, and the only Viking to finish ahead of Konyar was Scarlet Fetterolf.

“It kind of put in perspective where she might rank with the other schools in the district and the region,” Lofton said.

Konyar said the meet showed she was making good progress. She followed that with another notable achievement on Sept. 24 at the Oatlands Invitational, which featured the same course layout as the Class 4 state meet. Konyar placed 16th out of 551 runners in 19:16. She finished only two seconds behind Fetterolf after the senior beat Konyar by 30 seconds at the Hood meet.

“I think almost every race boosted my confidence more as I kept going,” Konyar said.

Konyar would not race in another meet until the postseason. The Judges Classic was canceled on Oct. 1 because of heavy rainfall, and Konyar missed Millbrook’s Third Battle Invitational on Oct. 15 because of illness. Lofton said he had some concerns about Konyar around the Third Battle meet, because she missed close to a week of action.

Konyar was concerned while she was sick, but when she returned to practice healthy she didn’t fret about not having competed in a race in four weeks. The way she viewed it, her body would be fresh for the Oct. 22 Class 4 Northwestern District meet, also at Third Battle.

She certainly looked strong, as she ran under 19 minutes for the first time and finished in 18:43.9. Konyar did that without any real push, because Fauquier’s Cassidy Scott finished 32 seconds ahead of her, and Ahrens placed third, 15 seconds behind her.

Konyar followed that up with an even more impressive showing at the Region 4C meet. In finishing third in 18:06, she beat Fetterolf by seven seconds. Then at the state meet, Scott was the only runner from Region 4C with a faster time. Konyar finished 16 seconds behind Scott at the region and state meets.

“My postseason, I was really proud of all the races,” said Konyar, who added that she was blessed with the coaching she had this season.

Lofton liked how Konyar ran throughout the postseason.

“She led part of the state meet for about 400 to 800 meters [in the beginning of the race],” Lofton said. “She’s not scared to be aggressive and just go for it.”

Konyar was a big addition in multiple ways. The Colonels lost three runners who are now running in college from last year’s team, so James Wood was in need of someone who could consistently place high and take on the responsibility and expectations that come with being a team’s No. 1 runner in a race.

That, as well, as her personality helped James Wood have an even better postseason than last year. The Colonels repeated as district champions, and this year they placed third at the Class 4 meet to qualify for the state meet after missing out by one place last fall. James Wood’s seventh-place finish in Class 4 was also notable because the Colonels finished ahead of Loudoun Valley, who beat James Wood at the region meet.

“When she crosses the line, she waits for her teammates and is cheering them on,” Lofton said. “She fits with the rest of the girls on the team who are fun and easy to get along with.

“When you get someone who is the fastest runner but is also very likable, that really, really helps with the dynamic of a team. Because there’s too many times where the star athlete is not likable, and that’s tough on a team, because it’s hard to get along. That’s the complete opposite of what she brings.”

Konyar said she enjoyed the team dynamic and success greatly this year.

“We were all really close and bonded really well,” she said. “I think it really helps when you have a really supportive and cooperative team. I’m proud of everyone. We all did very good.”

Kenzie never ran under 19 minutes as a freshman, so the fact that Kate did it twice this year is another example of just how quickly she’s coming along as a runner. As Kate moves along, she knows she’ll have a supporter in her sister. Kenzie was at the Class 4 state meet, which took place one day after she ran in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regionals hosted by Penn State University.

“She’s really proud of me,” Kate said. “My whole family is very supportive.”

— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at
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