It was a special day at Oatlands Plantation in Leesburg Virginia on Friday as the Albemarle girls made history in winning the school's first team title in girls cross country in the 67 years since the school's founding. The girls edged out rivals Midlothian (54 points) and Deep Run (83) who were favored to take the title, with a score of 48 points. They also secured an undefeated season with 6 total meet wins and 5 team scores of 17 points or fewer*.
Senior Star Arianna DeBoer cemented her legacy into the Albemarle history books as she earned her third individual state title, and first in cross country, with a 18:47 win on the tough course and became just the third Albemarle Runner to win this meet.
She bid her time during the race before overtaking the lead runner in the last mile and leaving a little room to celebrate her big win with her arms up in the air. Cassidy Guyton was Albemarle's second runner and finished an incredible season with a 7th place and All State Honors. Cassidy has worked tirelessly through her high school career but had just missed going to a state meet every year in both cross country and track.
This year, as a senior she burst onto the scene and dropped 1:38 off of her 5k PR over the course of this season and her first mile of this race was within a second of her track mile PR. Sophomore Jenna Coleman also garnered All State honors with a 8th place finish and a 20:13. Jenna moved here from Pennsylvania last year and was an integral part in getting the team to the win with her consistently high finishes and fearless attitude. The title was sealed though when Maddie Gypson, Olivia St. Amand, and Madeline Kronebusch came in as a tight pack and get past some crucial Deep Run and Midlothian scorers.
Maddie, the lone freshman on varsity just decided to commit to the sport after playing soccer for a number of years and she helped hold our scoring pack together to make the difference in the team score. Olivia also has a soccer background and consistently balances both sports and her crazy amount of training paid off with a 23rd place finish, moving up seven places from last year's meet. Madeline Kronbusch, a senior, had her best race where it counted and she finished her highest ever at XC states in her 4 years of running at the meet with a 28th place finish.
Bella Sonen finished out the Albemarle runners, throwing in a last minute kick to out lean a Patrick Henry runner and place ahead of Deep Run's 5th, 6th, and 7th runners.
Race alternates Lillian Peskova, Savannah Meriwether, and Eva Weaver also made the trip to Leesburg to support the girls and stay ready to race in case any of the top 7 couldn't make it to the line. Hanna Guyton and Halle Barredo earned the praise of being the best team managers in Albemarle History after battling injuries all season but showing up every day to support the girls who could run every day. They were irreplaceable and their energy and guiding words made the difference at every race.
All season it has been hard to get a gauge on the title favorite for 5A this season as there weren't any large invitational meets where teams outside of each other's districts. Deep Run and Midlothian had multiple match ups being in the same region which made many discount the Albemarle girl's chances but they ran with complete confidence and showed their strength built up from miles at Panorama farms over Oatland's brutal hills.
Their showing was even more impressive considering that out of all of the classifications that ran this course (4A, 5A, and 6A), they would have only lost to Loudoun Valley from 4A, a top 20 nationally ranked team during last year's season and one of the most dominant running dynasties in Virginia history. Albemarle also had a faster team average than every team in the other 3 classifications who raced on a significantly faster course for their state meet.
It was truly an incredible day for the Patriots and the product of hard work from many generations of Albemarle runners.
A note from the author:
My goal ever since joining this team a year and a half ago has been to earn the team title at XC states. After being sidelined with an injury last year and watching us come a strong 3rd I knew we had a chance at the title this year if everything went right. I expected us to be good, as we were returning some top notch talent from the year before and some promising new runners but I could have never expected how good we would be. From what I can tell, the teams in 5A this year where some of the strongest ones that the classification has ever seen but we still rose above them all. Winning this title has been a dream to me for what feels like forever over a long quarantine and months of not even knowing if we would have a state meet. I've woken up pretty much day hoping that we could one day reach it but I know that it's been a dream for a lot of people for much longer. The Coaches and former runners of Albemarle laid the groundwork for this team to be ready to step up and earn this title and it could not have happened without them. We've all had our ups and down this season but there has always been someone there for each one of us and to help us forward. I am constantly amazed and inspired by these people who surround me every day and each hard day that I've put in was worth it to see the tears of joy from everyone when we heard our names called. I will miss all of my senior teammates who are graduating from team this year but I am so excited to start our title defense with some of the strongest girls I know. I can't wait for what's to come.
- Bella Sonen
* For those wondering, the team scores earned this season were 15, 17, 16, 16 and 48 with the Ragged Mountain Cup being unscored in the traditional XC way, but with 7 out of the top 8 girls we would have won with another perfect score.
コメント