WINCHESTER — Landon Horton thought Saturday would be a big day for him, and the Clarke County High School junior certainly delivered.
The only local boy in the Varsity A race for Millbrook’s Third Battle Invitational, Horton set a personal record and placed fourth among 113 runners at the Third Battle of Winchester Battlefield cross country course.
Members of the James Wood girls’ team were the only other local runners to compete in Varsity A action. The Colonels (eighth out of 17 teams) were not at full strength with three-time All-State performer Kate Konyar competing at the Virginia Showcase in Mechanicsville (shattering her school record in the process) and fellow senior Lauren Thompson out of town.
Local athletes cleaned up in Varsity B action, though. Sherando won the 12-team boys’ race (48 points) and Millbrook took second (56), and the Pioneers (36 points) won the eight-team girls’ race over Brentsville (82). Runners from Sherando, Millbrook and James Wood placed second through eighth in the boys’ race, and Pioneers and Warriors claimed six of the top nine spots in the girls’ race.
Horton’s sophomore year PR came at the Third Battle Invitational. On Saturday, Horton bested that time by 29 seconds and beat his mark at this year’s Oatlands Invitational by nearly 23 seconds, finishing the 3.1-mile course in 16:20.8.
“I just went out hard, and eventually, I found myself in the front pack,” Horton said. “My mindset switched to, instead of going for a fast, fast time, I wanted one of those top placements. I’m very proud of that.”
Yes, even with a PR on Saturday, Horton wanted to go faster — he was hoping to approach 16:00. But after coming through 1.5 miles in seventh place (8:12.4), he moved up to fourth. One of the people he passed in the second half of the race was Battlefield senior Owen Bauer, whom he outkicked in the final straightaway to beat him by 2.4 seconds.
“Once I passed the two-mile mark, I was in fifth or fourth,” Horton said. “[Bauer] caught up to me, but then he couldn’t hold it. I ended up making a gap between [us].”
The Virginia High School League condensed the cross country calendar this year and Clarke County has had Homecoming activities throughout the week, so Eagles coach Jeff Webster didn’t manage all of his runners the same on Saturday. None of Clarke County’s girls ran a varsity race on Saturday.
For the Eagles the postseason begins on Wednesday with the Bull Run District meet at New Market Battlefield, with the top four Class 2 teams moving on to the Region 2B meet. State meet competition typically takes place the same weekend as the first round of the football playoffs, but this year those meets will take place on Nov. 8, the last weekend of the regular season.
Horton had the green light to push himself, and Webster was pleased with what he saw.
“Landon wanted to have a midseason PR, and this is such a great venue to do that,” Webster said. “It feels like he’s in a really good spot moving forward.
“Landon has high expectations for himself, and he does a really good job of sort of managing the race. He’s also very good at looking back and sort of analyzing how he did and where he could be better. And that’s why he tends to improve the way he does.”
Webster decided to have most of his boys run in the earlier 17-team, 185-runner JV race due to Homecoming activities. Not surprisingly, Clarke County’s strong lineup won that race by 27 points. The Eagles had three of the top five runners, with junior Matthew Lisk winning by 9.6 seconds in 17:30.6 with the fifth-best local time of the day. Adam Hillerson ran in the Varsity B race and placed 18th in 18:12.8.
Like Horton, they all took advantage of a meet that lends itself to fast times because of the course layout and the strong competition.
“They all had personal bests, whether it was 15 seconds or 30 seconds, or even more in some cases,” Webster said. “It was a nice way to end the regular season for the developmental runners, and it was a great sort of springboard into the postseason for the varsity runners.”
The 16-team boys’ Varsity A race was captured by West Potomac with 54 points. Lake Braddock was second with 63. Individually, Jefferson Forest senior Macon Smith won by 14.4 seconds in 15:46.8.
The fastest local girl on Saturday was James Wood senior Alina Kieffer, but it was not a day she’d like to remember. Kieffer — who was the second-fastest local behind Konyar at last year’s Third Battle — finished 18th in the Varsity A race in 19:54.8, 17 seconds slower than she ran last year.
Kieffer said the first couple of hundred meters were a struggle. James Wood was positioned at the starting line second from the right in the 17-team field, and Kieffer said it was difficult to cut inside and group with the top runners. James Wood coach Matthew Lofton said the starting line was a little farther back than usual, and the grass was rough across the entire line. Kieffer also said she was tripped about halfway between the starting line and the woods entrance. She almost fell, which slowed her physically and tripped her up mentally.
The race didn’t improve much from there. Kieffer felt like the pace in general was slow, and she became further discouraged when she heard what her time was after the first mile.
“I genuinely thought I was pushing and giving a good effort,” Kieffer said. “I just think the beginning part kind of screwed me up. From that point, I had gotten in my head, and I was a little bit farther behind than I needed to be.”
Kieffer liked her performance at the Judges Classic when she was 11th overall and third locally two weeks prior, so she generally feels good about how she’s running as the Colonels head into the stretch run of the season. The Northwestern District meet — which does not involve postseason advancement — is next for the four Winchester-Frederick County schools on Wednesday on a different course at Millbrook.
“[Kernstown is] a really hard course, but for whatever reason, I do well there,” said Kieffer of the Judges Classic. “That kind of hyped me up a little bit, and I was feeling good about coming here.”
Even though Kieffer was a little short of qualifying as an individual for the Virginia Showcase to run with Konyar and had a rough day, it meant a lot to her that she could help her short-handed team.
“I was glad I was able to support them,” Kieffer said. “And it’s our last Third Battle, so it’s a little sentimental for me and the other seniors.”
Lofton said while he knows Kieffer was disappointed, the Northwestern District meet and the Region 4D meet — also at Millbrook on Oct. 29 — will provide Kieffer with two more opportunities locally to finish the year in style.
“Obviously, the goal is to run fast at the regional meet,” Lofton said. “Luckily, we have it on a fast course this year and not the Jefferson Forest course. It will kind of put some confidence in the girls, hopefully, when they run fast at the regional meet, that they are in great shape, and everything that they’ve been doing is paying off. The girls still ran well today.”
Though it wasn’t accomplished in Frederick County, Konyar’s effort paid off in one of the greatest accomplishments of her illustrious career on Saturday. Konyar’s season earned her an individual invite to the Virginia Showcase, and she shattered the school record she set in taking second at last year’s Third Battle (18:01.7) by placing 25th out of 261 runners in 17:44.2 in the Showcase race at Pole Green Park.
“She went there to get some competition, and I’m very, very pleased with what she did,” Lofton said. “I thought she was in 17:40 shape. She was trying to get under 18 all last year, and she was so close twice. For her to get it this year is a huge relief. I think she can even be faster by the time the regional meet comes around. The tough part is whether she’ll have someone to run with.”
West Springfield junior Allie Horner won the 118-girl Varsity A race by 37.2 seconds in 17:43.5. She led the team to second place and 87 points, eight behind first-place Yorktown (79). James Wood scored 199 points.
The individual Varsity B winners were Meridian’s William Anderson (won by 2.2 seconds in 17:07.9 in a field of 81) and Brooke Point’s Rochelle Gary (won by 36.4 seconds in 20:22.2 in a field of 54). The James Wood boys scored 121 points to take fifth and the Sherando placed fourth with 94 points.
Other James Wood girls’ scorers (Varsity A): 24. Katelyn Palmer 20:16.3; 33. Ally Oliver 20:33; 54. Abigail Ebert 21:19.9; 70. Melanie Padilla 21:58.8.
Millbrook girls’ scorers (Varsity B): 3. Harper Weiss 21:02.2; 4. Marisol Lara 21:06; 7. Caydence Bayne 21:28.6; 10. Adilyn Steinmetz 21:49; 14. Aubrey Steinmetz 22:14.2.
Sherando girls’ scorers (Varsity B): 2. Amelia Rice 20:58.6; 6. Mia Adams 21:26.7; 26. Ariela Rivera 23:34.3; 27. Clara Sargent 23:35.3; 38. Regan Caplan 24:26.9.
Sherando boys’ scorers (Varsity B): 3. Chester Konisiewicz 17:18.6; 7. Austyn Zeis 17:35.3; 8. Hatcher Smith 17:39.2; 13. Gavin Flynn 18:00.2; 17. Gus Barbe 18:10.9.
Millbrook boys’ scorers (Varsity B): 2. Samuel Lapp 17:10.1; 4. Steve Luna-Pleitez 17:31; 5. Peter Warner 17:32.1; 20. Nigel Foster 18:26.3; 28. Jackson Reid 18:37.2.
James Wood boys’ scorers (Varsity B): 6. Zach Harrington 17:34.6; 12. Cade Freeman 17:54; 24. Carrick Amerine 18:28.7; 38. Abe Miller 18:38.5; 49. Henry Brant 19:26.8.
James Wood coach Matthew Lofton said Henry Brant’s performance stood out on Saturday in the Varsity B race. The sophomore was the Colonels’ No. 5 runner and 49th overall in 19:26.8, which Lofton said beat his previous personal best by about a minute.
“He also had a huge PR in our last meet,” Lofton said. “He just keeps knocking off time. He’s been training really hard this summer, and it’s really paying off. It’s good to see those guys who are putting in the extra work have it pay off. It’s really rewarding, both as a coach and I’m sure as an athlete.”
— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at rniedzwiecki@winchesterstar.com
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