Cross Country: Third Battle Invitational

October 17, 2011

By Robert Stocks

WINCHESTER- Millbrook High School's Crystal Nelson made her first Third Battle Invitational a memorable one on Saturday.

The Pioneers senior standout's only battle came against the clock, and she shattered the course record by 39 seconds.

Nelson pulled away from the pack from the start, creating a six-second gap in the first 400 meters before the runners entered the woods for the first time.

By the time she emerged from the trails that loop through the woods, Nelson extended her lead over Skyline's Noa Sager and teammate Karly Knechtel to almost a minute.

Nelson finished the 3.1-mile course with a record time of 18 minutes, 15 seconds, breaking last year's record set by former Sherando standout Krista DeCeault (18:54).

Nelson adds the Third Battle title to an already impressive season resume that includes victories at the Great Meadow Invitational, Judges Classic, Octoberfest Invitational, and Albemarle Invitational. She said she was aiming for the race record Saturday.

"That was my goal for today," said Nelson, who also won the Northwestern District mini on her home course earlier this season. "I'm hoping [the record] stays for a while.

"It was pretty windy but other than that it's a pretty fast course. I knew I had Karly behind me so mentally that pushed me along."

Knechtel followed Sager in third shortly after the mile mark, but she surged into second during the second mile. She finished seven seconds ahead of Lee-Davis' Bonny Turnage, crossing the finish line in 19:45 to give the Pioneers a 1-2 finish.

"Right after the two-mile mark I decided to really push the last mile and try to get my time back where it should be so I passed [Sager] there and just tried to hold that place," Knechtel said. "My goal was definitely to finish second so Crystal and I could finish first and second. I was going to try to go for a time goal but it was pretty windy today and it was muddy so it was not a [personal record]."

While Nelson and Knechtel made it a 1-2 finish for local runners, Handley, paced by senior Cindy Quarles' fourth-place finish (20:02), continued its stellar season by taking the title in the 8-team girls' race.

The Judges showed their depth with Quarles and Ashden Personius (fifth, 20:14) leading five runners in the top 25. Abby Swartz (10th, 20:59), Hannah McKiernan (17th, 21:30) and Ellie Selzer (23rd, 22:04) completed Handley's scoring five. The Judges finished with 57 points, edging out runner-up Millbrook (62) by five and third-place Lee-Davis (65) by eight. James Wood (89) and Sherando (106) rounded out the top five.

Quarles said the team's depth and regular season Northwestern District title gives the Judges a lot of confidence heading into the Northwestern District meet at Millbrook on Oct. 26.

"Our freshmen have really picked it up this year and led us to where we are today," Quarles said. "We were really just running for ourselves to try to get PRs today because this is a nice course to PR on because it's so fast. It just so happened that we got first and one of our top seven wasn't even here today, so we're really excited going into to districts hoping that we can win here again."

Quarles, Swartz, McKiernan and Selzer all set personal records Saturday, getting their second race experience on the Pioneers' course that will host the district meet in 10 days.

All five district teams competed in Saturday's race, and Skyline's boys' team, the defending district champions, dominated by placing all five runners in the top 15.

Led by overall winner Thomas Madden (16:01), the Hawks' team score of 27 was 32 points better than runner-up James Wood (59).

Madden and teammates Clay Jones (16:34) and Sean Park (16:47) swept the top three spots in the race followed by James Wood's Joe Davet (16:50) and Danny Aldstadt (16:59) in the top five.

Skyline's Marshall Eckert took eighth (17:12) and Thomas Harrison (17:30) followed in 13th.

Madden, who did not race at the Northwestern District mini at Millbrook on Aug. 31 because of an injury, took the lead from the start but was pushed by Handley's Chris Arslan through the first 400 meters.

But by the time the runners exited the woods just past the mile mark, Madden held a 20-second advantage over Davet.

"I wanted to run faster [time-wise]," Madden said. "I guess being alone on the trails I wasn't paying attention and just got slower and didn't notice it.

"Taking the top three is definitely an accomplishment. We're going into the postseason confident for districts, regionals, and especially states."

Davet and Aldstadt's top-five performances helped the Colonels take home the runner-up trophy. James Wood's Luke Farinholt (12th, 17:30), Jacob Sunderlin (16th, 17:46) and Dylan Wilson (22nd, 17:56) rounded out the team's scoring five.

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