It was a packed week for the Albemarle Cross country team and the actions started Wednesday after school with a inter county meet against Western, Monticello, and Charlottesville. The race was at Panorama farms and for many JV girls, was their first 5k of the season. The varsity racers from Pole Green last weekend ran it as a hard workout to stay fresh for the race later in the week.
First for the patriots was Maddie Gypson who worked with teammate Jenna Coleman all race to run 21:01 and 21:02. They both were a part of the workout group but still ran impressive times and were 3rd and 4th overall. Hanna Guyton had one of the most impressive days and she 22:22, almost the same time as her season opener at Great Meadows but she was way more comfortable racing and was super positive the whole day, inspiring a bunch of teammates.
Eva Weaver and Savannah Meriwether also worked together to run 23:51 and 23:58 with Lillian Peskova right behind in 24:22. Bella Popovsky ran 27:11 and freshman Emily Uthlaut ran 27:33. Grace Kohler and Autumn Murphy also worked together throughout for times of 28:58 and 29:10. Alexis Alms came through in 30:55 to close out the workout group. All of the varsity girls ran a little easier than the effort they would normally race at but did a great job approaching the day with the same positive attitude and ready to work hard.
Stella Klosek was the first Albemarle racer to finish racing her first 5k in 30:00 for an impressive race! Shelby Owed did a great job as well, going with her to finish in 30:26. Elise Guiffre ran 39:36 and even though she ran a lot of the race solo she was able to be very consistent in her first 5k of the season. Avani Abhyankar ran 40:25 and Maddie Hephner ran 43:14.
The team placed 2nd behind Western although both teams had their top runners use the race as a workout.
Fast forward to Saturday morning and the whole Albemarle team was out again for the FUMA invitational. FUMA always draws a good selection of teams from around Virginia and this year was no exception. The Girls varsity team placed 3rd overall, and second amongst high school teams in a strong showing on the notoriously slow and tricky course despite the amazing competition and a new course record for the winner.
The varsity racers (In the colonial race) were led by Jenna Coleman and Maddie Gypson and despite a number of problems in the first mile, such as the race starting unexpectedly early and the whole top 10 going the wrong direction on the course and running extra distance they both ran excellent times. Jenna ran 19:53, the 20th fastest time ever in meet history for 9th and Maddie ran her second fastest time ever in 20:02 for 10th though she would have broken 20 if she hadn't gone off course with the lead group! Hanna Guyton continued to impress after her great race on Wednesday to run 20:59 and break 21 for the first time this season and the first time for her on this course.
Eva Weaver moved up all race to finish in a 13 second season's best and her fastest time since 2019 and third fastest ever in 21:47. Lillian Peskova ran very consistently with her time last weekend on a much faster course to finish in 23:10 and Savannah Meriwether rounded out the varsity racers in 24:00.
In the patriot race Emily Uthlaut came within 5 seconds of her PR to run a great race and make a huge step forward in her season.
Junior Bella Popovsky ran 25:31 for 57th and senior Grace Kohler 25:57. Autmn Murhpy ran 26:14 for a good showing on the tough course and a minute faster than her first race this year. Junior Stella Klosek had the biggest team PR in the 5k running 1:43 faster than her race on Wednesday with a great kick at the end.
The last race of the day was a 2 mile "sabre division" and Shelby Owed was the first Albemarle runner across the line and dropped 16 seconds off her time from the Cup to place 9th. Sophia Rankin impressed with a wicked last 200m and finished her first race in 18:29 and 16th overall. Elise Guiffre ran 21:43 and Avani Abhyankar ran 22:31. They were followed in by Maddie Hephner who ran 1:47 seconds faster than her cup time and who also had a great finishing kick to sprint past one more runner in the finishing stretch.
Overall it was a fun and exciting day as there was nothing but positivity from all of the runners and it really showed with the awesome times and finishes. Special shoutout to Rachel Leach, Alexis Alms, Anya Rothman, Elizabeth Jackson, Kulate Snell, and Bella Sonen for coming despite various injuries to cheer on the girls and take splits.
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