Girls' cross country preview

The Clarke County girls’ cross country team had an outstanding season in 2022, but a program with a rich tradition is looking to make 2023 even better.

After winning the 2021 Class 2 state championship, the Eagles took second last year to Alleghany, which scored 65 points to Clarke County’s 96.

The Eagles — who weren’t at full strength at last year’s state meet due to various ailments — bring back six of their top seven runners from last year’s Region 2B champions. Clarke County will be led by junior Teya Starley, a two-time All-State performer who placed third in Class 2 last year and had a season PR of 19 minutes and 39 seconds over 3.1 miles.

The Eagles will have to work to finish on top again in Class 2. Allegany could bring back three of its top four runners, including individual state champion and sophomore Kiera Lowman. Floyd County — which also scored 96 points but finished behind the Eagles on a tiebreaker — only had one senior run at last year’s state meet, and its top two runners were underclassmen.

Clarke County coach Jeff Webster noted the Eagles will also have a new challenge from Fort Defiance, which has dropped down from Class 3 and will also compete in Region 2B. Fort Defiance placed fifth in Class 3 last year and could bring back five of its six runners from last year’s state meet. Region 2B also features 2022 state qualifiers Central and Strasburg.

Handley, James Wood, Millbrook and Sherando are moving from Region 4C to Region 4D.

Just like in the boys’ meet, Region 4D performed better than Region 4C at the 2022 state meet, grabbing three of the top six spots, though Western Albemarle is now in Class 3. Blacksburg is the defending Class 4 champion and could bring back its top four runners, and Jefferson Forest placed sixth with five underclassmen among its seven runners. Now a senior, Jefferson Forest’s Zoie Lamanna had a dominant 22-second win over Fauquier star Cassidy Scott in the individual competition.

James Wood headlines the local Region 4D teams. The Colonels bring back four of the seven runners that ran at last year’s state meet at Oatlands, where they placed seventh, 19 points behind Jefferson Forest.

The group is led by The Winchester Star Girls’ Runner of the Year in 2022, sophomore Kate Konyar. She placed fourth in Class 4 last year and third in Region 4C with a season-best time of 18:06.2. Senior Sarah Moss placed 10th in the Class 4 Northwestern District and had a season PR of 19:57.7 at the Region 4C meet to take 22nd.

Sherando lost its top two runners in Emma Ahrens — an All-State performer — and Eva Winston. The Warriors do bring back three runners who placed in the top 20 in the district last year in junior Cassidy Crittenden (ninth), senior Addy Wallin (17th) and junior Gracie Defibaugh (18th).

Handley will be led by sophomores Stephanie Truban (PR of 20:12 and sixth in the district last year) and Ella Warren, whose season ended early because of an injury. Judges coach Mark Stickley said they’ll be aided by a strong freshmen class.

Millbrook loses Madison Murphy, a two-time Winchester Star Runner of the Year and a three-time All-State performer. The Pioneers did not field a full team in varsity competition until the district meet last year, so coach Jamie McCarty is just looking for the team to grow this season.

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:

Clarke County

Coach: Jeff Webster, ninth year.

Last year: Second in Class 2 state; Region 2B and Bull Run District champions.

Key loss: Julianna Pledgie.

Key returnees: Teya Starley, Jr.; Abby Cochran, Jr.; Elena Stroot, So.; Miranda King, So.; Aubrey Wagner, So.; Ashby Hunt, So.

Key newcomers: Ashley Moran, Fr.; Molly Husted, Jr. (transfer from Dominion).

Webster’s outlook: “All of the veterans have an elevated enthusiasm for the season. In some way, I think they feel like their work last season was left unfinished. They realize their potential, and have assumed the mantle of the challenge. Strasburg and Fort Defiance will likely pose strong competition, but we are confident that we will be the team to beat at the district and regional levels, but by no means does that suggest that we look past those important milestones. It is a long season, so we intend to be disciplined and remain focused.”

James Wood

Coach: Matthew Lofton, fourth year.

Last year: Class 4 Northwestern District champions; third in Region 4C; seventh in Class 4 state.

Key losses: Quetzali Angel-Perez, Lillian Lovelace, Carrie Schneider (injury).

Key returnees: Kate Konyar, So.; Ruby Ostrander, Jr.; Sarah Moss, Sr.; Alina Kieffer, So.; Hallie Lescalleet, Sr.; Kaitlin Palmer, So; Kaitlin Combs, Jr.

Key newcomer: Kirin Nashed, So.

Lofton’s outlook: “We want to return to the state meet and place better than last year. The depth of our team will definitely help us when the team points are close. The girls team as a whole have all worked really well together to put in a fantastic block of summer training. With the new region, it’s going to be just as difficult to make it to the state meet.”

Sherando

Coach: Megan Roberts, sixth year.

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

Key losses: Emma Ahrens (now at NCAA Division III Concordia Wisconsin), Eva Winston, Emily Fisher, Ryleigh Combs, Michaela Koch.

Key returnees: Addy Wallin, Sr.; Cassidy Crittenden, Jr.,; Gracie Defibaugh, Jr.; Sydney Burns, So.

Key newcomers: Mia Adams, Fr.; Olivia Lee, So.

Roberts’ outlook: “We graduated a lot of our varsity squad last year, so it’s definitely a rebuilding year. Addy, Cassidy and Gracie were in our top five last year, so I’ll be leaning on them to mentor our newcomers. We have some newcomers that are starting to shine and will help the varsity squad and I think we have some newcomers that are still learning the ropes, but could really emerge as great runners later in the season. Addy has had a solid summer of training and looked smooth at the time trial. She’s someone who has always made consistent progress year to year and across the season, so knowing where she is now tells me she’s in for a great season. Gracie had a great track season with impressive mid-distance performances, so I’m excited to see her gains in cross country as well.”

Handley

Coach: Mark Stickley, 21st year.

Last year: Fourth in Class 4 Northwestern District; eighth in Region 4C.

Key losses: Emma Fout, Kadan Jones.

Key returnees: Stephanie Truban, So.; Ella Warren, So.; Mia Kern, Sr.; Bella Balio, Sr.; Ellie Bessette, Jr.

Key newcomers: EJ Mullins, Fr.; Audrey Rinker, Fr.; Sage Welpott, Fr.; Seneca Welpott, Fr.

Stickley’s outlook: “This group of freshmen should make us more competitive than we have been, especially with a nice core of returnees. I think our overall average for our top five will be very good. I don’t know if we’ll be good enough to make it to state but I fully believe we will have a chance if we can stay healthy. Individually, Stephanie and Ella are ahead of where they were last season. EJ and the Welpott twins are definitely pushing them. The next four are really close if Mia can get healthy. With the new format we won’t be able to use the district meet for comparison since it won’t have the same intensity or meaning. From a competition standpoint adding Blacksburg and Jefferson Forest offsets losing the Loudoun County schools, so I’m not yet sure if our region will be harder or not. Regardless, I like where we are. At the end of the day, the new region is comparable to the old region. The difference is the amount of travel involved. We are glad to host the region meet this year but in other years our area schools may have long trips to make for regionals. It may also be harder to see some of the other courses due to the travel distance involved.”

Millbrook

Coach: Jamie McCarty, fourth year.

Last year: Sixth in Class 4 Northwestern District.

Key loss: Madison Murphy.

Key returnees: Caroline McCurry, Jr.; Emma Gressley, Sr.

Key newcomer: Addison Stover, Fr.

McCarty’s outlook: “We are extremely young and inexperienced. When you lose someone like Madison, who will be missed from a performance and leadership standpoint, who steps up on both counts will be interesting. We have a lot of girls who have never ran a 5K, including four freshmen, and a lot of girls who were mostly JV runners last year. Our goal is to improve every week and bond together as a team. Region 4D is just as tough on the girls’ side. Blacksburg is a perennial power and several other teams will be competitive year in and year out. We are hoping to start building a program that can eventually be competitive.”

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