WINCHESTER — There have been a lot of difficult moments for Handley senior Will Thomas over the last 13-plus months, but he had ample reason to smile from ear to ear on Wednesday.
Thomas will compete in the Class 4 state cross country meet for the first time in two years after placing eighth to lead all local runners at Wednesday’s Region 4D meet at the Third Battle of Winchester Battlefield course.
No local teams will compete on Nov. 8 at Oatlands for the state meet, but Thomas is part of a trio of Handley boys who grabbed the top three of the five individual state spots allotted to runners who were not on the top three team finishers.
Thomas — who has been trying to work his way into top form ever since he broke his foot at the Great Meadow Invitational in September of last year — recorded a time of 16 minutes, 16.4 seconds. Meleason finished just behind him in a surge to the finish (ninth, 16:16.5) and senior Everett Otto placed 12th (16:37.4). Each of the three runners also earned All-Region honors for placing in the top 15.
Blacksburg (first, 43 points), Charlottesville (second, 49) and Jefferson Forest (third, 91) earned the three team state-qualifying spots. Handley placed fourth (119), Sherando took fifth (146), Millbrook finished sixth (153) and James Wood placed eighth (206) in the 14-school meet. Black Knights senior Samson Palmer won the 98-boy race by 4.6 seconds in a 3.1-mile time of 15:23.7.
Thomas was not a factor in the 2024 cross country season after breaking his foot. He prepared for indoor track with cross training, but at the time he was also taking an acne medicine. As it turns out, the medicine was causing lower bone density for Thomas. Thomas said osteoblasts — special cells that help your bones grow and develop — couldn’t be created as a result of taking the medication. He said former Handley star Will Pardue, a 2024 graduate, had the same stress fracture problem while taking the medication.
“My bones, they couldn’t rebuild themselves,” Thomas said. “I had multiple stress fractures after [my initial injury]. It adds up to a year of base building, essentially.”
As a result, Thomas didn’t truly push himself in any type of race again until he competed on Oct. 18 at the Virginia Showcase at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville. Thomas recorded a time of 16:07.5, his fastest time in two years.
Thomas still isn’t at his peak, but his joy was evident on Wednesday as he interacted with other people after the race.
“I’ve missed racing,” Thomas said. “Today was so much fun. I love to compete. Competing’s my thing. With only having a few workouts under my belt and this is my second all-out race, I’m not in peaking form. I’m going to be peaking later, even after states [sometime in the future], just because I haven’t done enough workouts. But it’s so fun to see all these guys getting super fast. That means I get to ride their wave and get fast myself. Right now, I’m living in the moment.”
Thomas had no interest in letting his teammate be faster than him, though. Meleason pulled even with Thomas as they made the turn for the final straightaway, and Thomas eventually edged him out. Thomas thanked Meleason for the push later.
“Since I haven’t been racing, I don’t know how to kick,” Thomas said. “My body forgot to. When I saw him up next to me, I was like, ‘Uh oh. I’m not letting a junior outkick me.’ It unlocked that fifth gear for me. That was really good he was there. I’m pretty thankful.”
“Will came on nicely, and he followed his plan really well and ran a great race today,” Handley coach Mark Stickley said.
Meleason qualified for the state meet as an individual for the second straight year. Even better, he did it while setting a personal record. Meleason beat his time that he ran at the Virginia Showcase by 6.1 seconds.
“I felt great,” Meleason said. “I was holding on to Will, and I almost beat him. It’s great having Will back. Seeing him at the finish definitely gave me a little speed boost. With about 70 meters left, I passed him, but he held me off for the last 10 meters. Since states is at Oatlands, it’s going to be a slower course, so it’s great to get a PR here.”
Stickley liked what he saw from all of his state qualifiers.
“They all ran great, and I really expected that,” Stickley said. “They were close to PRs or got a PR. Good for those guys. They’ve worked hard this year, and they deserve to go [to the state meet].”
Stickley feels his younger runners have been performing well, but he knew it would be tough for Handley to crack the top three and earn a team state berth. Other scoring runners for the Judges were sophomores Ethan Truban (40th, 17:52) and Tristan Wheeling (50th, 18:24.6).
Sherando’s scoring runners were junior Chester Konisiewicz (17th, 16:50.5), junior Austyn Zeis (24th, 17:04.4), freshman William Norris (33rd, 17:28.3), senior Hatcher Smith (34th, 17:29.6) and senior Gus Barbe (38th, 17:48.1).
Konisiewicz was nine seconds and one spot away from earning an individual state berth.
“[Konisiewicz] was pretty disappointed, but he ran a great race and had a new PR,” Sherando coach Megan Roberts said. “He went for it. I can’t ask anything more from him.”
Roberts liked the effort from her Northwestern District championship team.
“We told them to come in and run a race they’re proud of, and run their hearts out,” Roberts said. “I think that’s what we did. We had six guys in the 17s [minutes], and it was a season PR for all of them. They’re already talking about next year and building on the momentum they’ve gotten going this year.”
The Pioneers’ scoring runners were senior Steve Luna-Pleitez (20th, 16:56.8), sophomore Samuel Lapp (22nd, 16:59.9), senior Nigel Foster (32nd, 17:27.1), senior Peter Warner (35th, 17:37.5) and freshman Jackson Reid (44th, 18:05).
Millbrook improved on last year’s 11th-place finish in Region 4D.
“I think we had five of seven runners with PRs,” Pioneers coach Jamie McCarty said. “We finished the way we wanted to finish. We knew like with the girls, it was going to be an uphill battle to [qualify for states]. But everybody ran well and gave themselves at least an opportunity. They left it all out there. I’m proud of them.”
James Wood’s scoring runners were junior Zach Harrington (21st, 16:57.3), junior Cade Freeman (39th, 17:50.3), senior Carrick Amerine (41st, 17:57.1), sophomore Abe Miller (52nd, 18:32.2) and sophomore Olah Creed (53rd, 18:35.3).
“All the guys ran great,” James Wood coach Matthew Lofton said. “Zach was finally under 17 minutes for the first time. The whole team was under 19, which we’ve never done this season. We knew it was going to our last race, so I told them to take a risk and go for [PRs], and they did. They just peaked at the right time. They made it happen. Almost every single person ran a PR, and as a coach, there’s nothing more rewarding than that. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at rniedzwiecki@winchesterstar.com
Follow on X @WinStarSports1