Slow start

Ron Counts, Staff Writer
Published: September 10, 2008

Nerves were high before Wednesday’s cross country meet that drew the entire Cedar Run District to Culpeper High School.

“The thing everyone is worrying about is we don’t know who the front runners in the district are this year,” CCHS senior Daniel Austin said. “The two-time defending champ graduated so it’s kind of a toss up as to who is going to take the lead.”

Osbourn Park’s district champion, Tyler Simmons, may have graduated, but after the 138th boy crossed the finish line it became abundantly clear that the Yellow Jackets haven’t lost a step.

Osbourn Park finished way out in front of the rest of the district with a score of 39. Battlefield finished second (60), followed by Loudon Valley (91). The Blue Devils finished with a score of 122, which was good enough for a fifth-place finish.

“I feel disappointed beyond belief,” said CCHS senior Steven Reynolds, who finished the 3.1-mile course in 27th place with a time of 19:02. “It’s our fault, we haven’t studied the course enough. We just weren’t used to it.”

Not all the Blue devils were disappointed. Austin’s aggressive start made him Culpeper’s top finisher, with a time of 17:52 and a 7th place finish.

“The course ran great and the race went as I expected,” Austin said. “We did well, but we’re still working out the kinks. I think in a couple races you’re going to see a much better performance out of us.”

Senior Alex Wyman, who finished 25th with a time of 18:58, was the second Blue Devil to cross the finish, followed by Reynolds, Jacob Abber (19:16) and Kyle Lombardi (19:57).

“Daniel Austin is one of the top 10 runners in the district,” CCHS coach Kim Williams said. “Some of my guys did great, others struggled.”

A few of the strategically placed hills near the end of the course that winds through the woods beside CCHS gave many runners fits, according to Williams.

“It’s a mental thing,” he said. “This was a learning experience and a character building experience. Now we just have to go out and not make the same mistakes next time.”

Freshman Devilette off to fast start
Before the season began, Alex Harding, first-year coach of the CCHS girls team, said he thought freshman Rachel Harding was going to turn some heads.

She proved her older brother right on Tuesday.

In her first high school race, Harding was Culpeper’s top female finisher, with a time of 23:29 that earned her 25th place.

“This is one of the toughest courses around,” Harding said.

“For Rachel to come out and show what she can do at this point, and to practice in this environment speaks wonders.”

CCHS senior Cassie Elliot wasn’t far behind Harding, with a 28th place finish and a time of 23:55, followed by Sara Clemmer (28:25).

Osbourn Park dominated the girls meet as well — boasting Ariel Karabinus (20:30), Kayla Tyrell (21:10) and Ashley Wybersky (21:17) — the top three overall finishers.

“We just really have to focus and make sure we’re conditioning right,” Elliot said.

The girls and boys teams will be in action again on Saturday at 12:30 p.m., when they travel to Woodberry Forrest.

Ron Counts can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 166 or

EVHS Cross Country

The Eastern View cross country teams traveled to Osbourn High Wednesday, and both the boys and girls came away with fourth place finishes.

Boys
Charlie Bane was the Cyclones top finisher, with a time of 17:27 and a 3rd place finish. Mike Letts finished 23rd with a time of 19:34, followed by Patrick Wallach (19:43).

Girls
Logan Clore led the Cyclones with a 12th place finish and a time of 22:30. She was followed by Justine Weaver (22:42) and Mandy Martel (23:11).