Boys' cross country preview: Local schools to take on challenging Region 4D

In the first three years of the Region 4C meet’s existence, local boys’ cross country programs pretty much always knew that one of the team state qualifying spots was going to go to Loudoun Valley, which won its fifth consecutive Class 4 state title in 2019 while operating as one of the nation’s elite programs.

In the three times the meet has been held since 2019, the Vikings continued to qualify for the Class 4 meet each time, and did so at the spring 2021 and fall 2021 seasons by winning the Region 4C championship. But during that time Loudoun Valley and the rest of Class 4 have ultimately seen each state meet end with the same theme — a Region 4D team posing with the state championship trophy.

In taking three of the top five spots, Region 4D was at its best in 2022. After moving from Region 4C to Region 4D this year, Handley, James Wood, Millbrook and Sherando will now have to figure out how to carve a successful path to the state meet when each one of Region 4D’s 15 schools congregate on Nov. 1 at Kernstown Battlefield to see which three teams move on to the Class 4 meet at Oatlands in Leesburg. The top five individuals outside of those three teams will also qualify for the state meet.

Just like Region 4C — which now consists entirely of 10 Loudoun County schools — Region 4D underwent some changes beyond the addition of five Class 4 Northwestern District schools (Liberty being the other besides the four Winchester/Frederick County schools). For example, 2021 fall state champion and last year’s third-place team, Western Albemarle, is now in Class 3.

But Region 4D still features defending state champion Blacksburg and 2021 spring state champion Jefferson Forest, which was fifth in Class 4 last year. The Bruins lost their top three runners from last year — including individual state champ Conner Rutherford — but could bring back as many as three runners from last year’s state team. Jefferson Forest could bring back five state meet runners, including three of its top four.

Handley lost three of its top five runners from last year’s state runner-up team that ended Loudoun Valley’s Region 4C title reign, so Judges coach Mark Stickley believes Jefferson Forest and Blacksburg are the top two Region 4D teams heading into the season. But he believes his team has the potential to be better than last year and just might have what it takes to be in the hunt for a state title.

In seniors Will Pardue — The Winchester Star Boys’ Cross Country Runner of the Year last fall — and Garrett Stickley — The Winchester Star Boys’ Track & Field Athlete of the Year last spring — Handley has the top returning one-two combo in Class 4. Pardue finished seventh in Class 4 at Oatlands last year, one step ahead of the eighth-place Stickley. In the Region 4C meet, Stickley finished first and Pardue was second.

Mark Stickley thinks the duo can finish first and second overall in Class 4 this year. Jefferson Forest senior Alex Jordan finished 33 seconds ahead of them at last year’s state meet, but his fastest 3.1-mile cross country time is 15 minutes, 31.6 seconds, according to MileStat. Pardue’s personal-best last year was 15:10 and Stickley’s was 15:15.6.

Mark Stickley said Pardue and Stickley are faster than they were at this time last year. In a preseason time trial, Pardue recorded a time of 14:42 (50 seconds better than last year’s time trial) and Stickley finished in 14:44 (one minute better). To put that into perspective, the school record held by Handley Hall of Famer Bobby Lockhart is 14:43.2 set in 2001. Lockhart was a four-time state champion and one-time national champion. Stickley has also been impressed so far with sophomore Will Thomas — who qualified for the Freshman 3,200 meters at the New Balance Outdoor Track Nationals in the spring — and freshman Micah Combs.

James Wood also brings back a dynamic duo in senior Ethan Pratt-Perez and junior Eli Clark. Both were state meet participants last year, with Clark earning All-State honors by placing 11th in Class 4. His best time of 15:41 came at the region meet, where he placed sixth. Pratt-Perez took second at the Class 4 Northwestern District meet, where he ran a season PR of 15:24.9 and finished a step out of first.

Millbrook lost three of its top four runners, including two-time district champion and 2022 All-State runner Nick Hayden. Senior Carter Luden returns after placing 10th in last year’s district meet in 16:43.1.

Sherando also brings back a top-10 All-District runner in senior Dylan McGraw, who placed sixth at the district meet and 13th at the Region 4C meet in a PR of 16:05.8.

After placing second in Class 2 in 2021, Clarke County finished seventh last year with the Eagles’ regular No. 2 through No. 4 runners each dealing with illness at the state meet. The Region 2B champions bring back five of their top seven runners, including Cal Beckett. The senior placed fourth in Class 2 in a season PR of 16:47.25 to earn All-State honors. Juniors Jackson Ellis and Aidan Kreeb earned All-State honors in 2021.

The Eagles will have their work cut out for them if they hope to win a state title. Of the six teams that finished in front of them in Class 2, only second-place Union (three) had more than two seniors run in the meet. State champion Central-Wise had an all-underclassmen team and fourth-place Floyd County’s top six were all underclassmen, led by junior gold medalist Mason Erchull. Madison County (sixth in Class 2) will challenge Clarke County in Region 2B with potentially its top four runners and six of its top seven returning.

Handley, James Wood, Sherando and Clarke County will each open their seasons on Aug. 26 at the Central Invitational in Woodstock. Millbrook will begin with a tri meet involving Meridian at Kettle Run on Aug. 30.

The following is a glance at each area team:

HandleyCoach: Mark Stickley, 21st year.

Last year: Second in Class 4 state; Region 4C and Class 4 Northwestern District champions.

Key losses: Pierce Francis (now at NCAA Division I Marist), Max Ware, Elliott Redcay.

Key returnees: Will Pardue, Sr; Garrett Stickley, Sr.; Will Thomas, So.; Skip Dickson, So.; Finn Slaughter, So.

Key newcomers: Micah Combs, Fr.; Avery Miller, Fr.; Halston Wright, Fr.; Noah Meleason, Fr.

Stickley’s outlook: “Will Thomas, after a phenomenal track season, should give us the best 1-2-3 punch in the state. The key for us will be bringing around a 4 and 5. Right now Micah looks like a strong No. 4 and is running ahead of Pierce at this time last year. Will Thomas was three and a half minutes faster than last year in the team time trial while Micah ran the fastest freshman time ever. Finn currently is No. 5 but Skip and the other freshmen will be challenging him for that spot. To be the best we have to knock both Jefferson Forest and Blacksburg off and now that we are in the same region we’ll be eyeing each other more closely. The state meet could be a replay of the regional meet which fortunately is on our Kernstown course this year.”

James WoodCoach: Matthew Lofton, fourth year.

Last year: Third in Class 4 Northwestern District; fourth in Region 4C.

Key loss: Jacob Oliver (now at NCAA Division II Barton College).

Key returnees: Ethan Pratt-Perez, Sr.; Eli Clark, Jr.; Colton Staneart, Sr.; Will Simko, Sr.

Key newcomers: Brayden Pineda, So.; Zach Harrington, Fr.

Lofton’s outlook: “Our top group of returning runners have all put in a fantastic summer of training. This year’s region is going to be tougher than last year’s. Three of the teams in the new region placed in the top five of last year’s state meet. Our goal, which won’t be easy, is to advance to the state meet.”

MillbrookCoach: Jamie McCarty, fourth year.

Last year: Second in Class 4 Northwestern District; sixth in Region 4C.

Key losses: Nick Hayden (now at NCAA Division I Columbia), Austin Conley, Tyler Mallen.

Key returnees: Carter Luden, Sr.; Caden Treiber, Sr.; Teague Mendez, Sr.; Peter Warner, So.

Key newcomers: William Weiss, So.; Steve Luna, So.

McCarty’s outlook: “This year we have a lot of youth and we will be hoping to gain some experience and get better as the year progresses. Caden and Teague have done a great job leading our summer workouts. We have a lot of unanswered questions, but it will be fun to watch us develop as the season progresses. Region 4D is going to be a tough region. This year two of the best teams in the state reside there. We are hoping to get better every week and challenge for a top-five spot.”

SherandoCoach: Megan Roberts, sixth year.

Last year: Fifth in Class 4 Northwestern District.

Key losses: Ben Freilich, Chris Walsh.

Key returnees: Dylan McGraw, Sr.; Brock Smith, Sr.; Ryan Maki, Jr.; Jed Bell, Jr.; Julean Mendez, Sr.; Adrian Banks, Sr.

Key newcomers: Ward Heffern, Fr.; Sebastian Berrios, Jr.; Andrew Ahrens, So.; Huntley Combs, Fr.

Roberts’ outlook: “The top guys have had a solid summer of training and our newcomers have been following their lead. Based on our time trial, all of our guys are coming in stronger than last year and the newcomers are solid. We just need to keep working hard and teach the newcomers how to race a 5K. We’re seeing solid improvement across the board. Dylan has had a great summer of training and is looking forward to big gains. Jed and Ryan ran a great time trial. Brock couldn’t attend the time trial, but has been cranking out great runs. They are all working hard and setting a great example of the work ethic needed to excel and our newcomers are seeing that and feeding off of it. We’ve always had a district or conference meet, so the all-in region format is going to be very strange. There are some very strong teams in the region, some of which we haven’t raced much in the past, so we’ll have to learn more about those teams as the season progresses.”

Clarke CountyCoach: Jeff Webster, ninth year.

Last year: Seventh in Class 2; Region 2B champions; second in Bull Run District.

Key loss: James Dalton.

Key returnees: Cal Beckett, Sr.; Jackson Ellis, Jr.; James Casey, Jr.; Matthew Stroot, Sr.; Jacob Kitner, Jr.; Aiden Kreeb, Jr.

Key newcomers: Brody Ellis, Fr.; Landon Horton, Fr.

Webster’s outlook: “We aim to show progression from last year’s performances, remain healthy and injury free, and to defend our regional title and contend for a state title. Many returning runners are looking very strong. Madison County will likely pose strong competition.”

— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at
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