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

Struggling to breathe on a windy, 40-degree day with two big hills to climb would not be a recipe for success for most runners.

James Wood High School’s Kate Konyar long ago established that she’s not like most runners.

The sophomore was not 100 percent healthy in either of her postseason races this year, but it would be impossible to tell if you only looked at her times.

Konyar — The Winchester Star Girls’ Cross Country Runner of the Year for the second straight season — had no one around her when she tapped her chest and indicated to James Wood head coach Matthew Lofton that she couldn’t breathe during her second run up the hill at the Region 4D cross country meet at Kernstown Battlefield in bitter conditions on Nov. 1.

Despite not having anyone to push her as she battled an ear infection and burning throat, she sure pushed herself. Upon crossing the finish line, Konyar quickly collapsed on her back and spent a long time on the grass before finally rising. Her time of 19 minutes, 29.8 seconds was not only 19 seconds ahead of the fourth-place finisher, but it was within 15 seconds of her time on Sept. 30 at Kernstown Battlefield in the Judges Classic, when the conditions and her health were much better.

That time of 19:29.8 wasn’t near her school-record and area-best time of 18:12.8 that she recorded on Oct. 14 on a flat course for Millbrook’s Third Battle Invitational. But, it’s a time that only two other area runners (James Wood’s Ruby Ostrander and Clarke County’s Teya Starley) managed to achieve on any course this season.

Ten days later, Konyar still wasn’t feeling 100 percent. But her time of 18:59 at the Class 4 meet at Oatlands in Leesburg was 23 seconds faster than she ran last year, when she placed fourth. Konyar took fifth at this year’s Class 4 meet.

“Before races sometimes she’ll just kind of be like, ‘I don’t want to do this,’ or ‘I’m nervous,’” Lofton said. “But she knows she’s going to go out there and fight. So it’s kind of overwhelming to her, the beginning of the race, because it’s like she’s going into battle. I don’t want to compare it to war, but in that kind of analogy she knows it’s going to hurt because she pushes herself that hard.”

Lofton notes that Konyar has a fun-loving personality and likes to goof around with her friends often. But when it comes time to be serious for a workout he can count on her to flip the switch.

Konyar was at the forefront of a stellar year for the Colonels in 2022 — they won the Class 4 Northwestern District meet, placed third in Region 4C, and seventh at the Class 4 meet. The example that Konyar sets with her work ethic helped push James Wood to even greater heights this year. The Colonels won their third straight district title (this year’s meet combined the Class 3 and Class 4 teams), took second in Region 4D, and fourth in Class 4.

“They all know that she’s going to be working hard to kind of lead the rest of them,” Lofton said. “I think that motivates the other girls to run fast and say, ‘Hey, we’re here, too, and we’re here to help you out.’”

Konyar appreciates the team aspect immensely, and enjoyed seeing how much her teammates improved this year.

“This year, we all came together as a team a lot better,” Konyar said. “Last year, we were still very good, but I think this year was a little bit different. We all improved so much. We all are very close friends, which is very rare to have a whole team be close like that, but we have that.”

James Wood opened the season with a 68-point win at the Central Invitational on Aug. 26, placing all seven of its runners in the Top 25. Only a team’s top five runners score at a cross country meet, and the Colonels showed immediately that their No. 6 and No. 7 runners could pick up points for just about any team.

“Just to have a great start like that was motivating,” said Konyar, who placed second in that three-mile race in Woodstock.

That would be the first of many races in which the Colonels’ depth played a prominent role this year. James Wood had seven of the top 47 spots (and five of the top 36, with Konyar taking third) in capturing the Judges Classic by three points on Sept. 20. With Konyar winning the race, the Colonels grabbed seven of the top 14 spots at the Class 4 Northwestern District meet to win by 41 points. James Wood had seven of the top 23 finishers in Region 4D.

The season concluded at the Class 4 state meet with another excellent showing. At last year’s state meet, the Colonels had three runners among the top 41 finishers with Sarah Moss, now a senior, as the No. 2 runner in 39th place. This year, all five scoring Colonels finished in the top 41, with junior Ruby Ostrander taking 15th as the No. 2 runner.

Konyar expressed hope during the season that James Wood could win a state title, but the Colonels certainly showed growth this year despite not reaching that goal. With six of its top seven back next year, James Wood could continue to ascend.

“Even though we didn’t win, we still worked hard and we’re very happy with how we came out, because we did the best we could,” Konyar said.

Individually, Konyar was pleased with her progression this season. At the Oatlands Invitational in rainy and windy conditions, Konyar took second in 19:21 one week before she ran 19:15 at the Judges Classic.

At the Third Battle Invitational on Oct. 14, Konyar set the school record. (Konyar ran faster at last year’s Region 4C at Morven Park in Leesburg, but the consensus was that the course did not measure out at 3.1 miles that day. Lofton believes it might have been just short of three miles.) Konyar didn’t get to run at last year’s Third Battle Invitational because of illness, but she took full advantage of this year’s opportunity, placing fifth out of 156 runners.

“I was stoked,” Konyar said. “It was very exciting. I’m so glad I had the support around me to do it.”

That was the last race for Konyar under optimal conditions. Since the Northwestern District meet didn’t count for postseason purposes, James Wood didn’t run the race at 100 percent, though Konyar still cruised to a 31-second win in 18:59.3. Konyar then battled through illness for two outstanding postseasons runs.

“Whenever things happen like that, you just have to overcome it and try your best,” Konyar said.

Lofton said Konyar’s performances last year gave her a tough act to follow, but she made improvement happen.

“She’s just getting better each year, and it just kind of shows even when she’s under the weather that she’s still running really well,” Lofton said. “It’s not uncommon for high school girls to kind of plateau or kind of hit their peak early on in their high school careers. To get even better her sophomore year, hopefully that’s a good sign that she’s hopefully going to break that norm.”

Konyar said Lofton and assistant coach Tyler Cox-Philyaw definitely helped in her success.

“I just want to say that my coaches really helped me get as far as I could,” she said. “I appreciate them greatly. This was Tyler’s last season, so I’m definitely going to miss him.”

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