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The Rockbridge County High School cross country teams competed in the Augusta Invitational on Saturday in Fishersville, where the RC girls placed eighth of nine teams and the boys finished 13th of 13 teams.
RC head coach Julie Tisone said it was “a good middle-sized invitational that we used to work on race strategies.”
The course was very hilly, including parts of the Valley Cup Relays, which the Wildcats competed in for the first meet of the season on Aug. 20, as well as a mile through the woods.
Waynesboro’s Macy Rowe won the girls’ race, completing the 5-kilometer course in 19 minutes, 30.3 seconds.
Leading the RC girls was Brooke Eichelberger, placing 16th of 75 harriers in 22:53.4. RC’s second finisher was Evelyn McClung, finishing 38th in 25:19.4. Next in for the Wildcats was Hannah Ivins (53rd, 27:39.3). Wildcats following Ivins were Alice Gresham (64th, 30:18.5), Cate Skaggs (71st, 33:01.1) and Gemma Batis (72nd, 33:14.9).
In the boys’ race, won by Fort Defiance’s Parker Blosser in 16:39.8, Grant Swenty led the Wildcats, placing 54th of 128 runners in 20:22.7.
RC’s second runner was Luke Eichholz (75th, 21:31.6), followed by Hudson Saunders (90th, 22:25.1). The only Wildcats with a personal best time was Edison Rahl (100th, 22:51.4). Wildcats following Rahl were Graham Niebur (101st, 22:59.7), Ben Gresham (102nd, 23:08.5) and Chase Potter (103rd, 23:10.4).
The RC girls scored 195 points to place eighth. Waynesboro won the meet with 72 points, edging Fort Defiance (74) and Wilson Memorial (74). Rounding out the top five were Turner Ashby (78) and Patrick Henry (Roanoke) (80).
In the boys’ race, the Wildcats scored 357 points. TA (80) won, Wilson Memorial (111) placed second, and Stonewall Jackson (Quicksburg) (120) finished third. Completing the top five were Fort Defiance (135) and Grace Christian School (157).
Wildcats In Valley Quad Meet In a Valley District quad meet last Wednesday at East Rockingham High School in Elkton, the RC girls placed second of two teams, while the boys finished fourth of four teams.
Harrisonburg won the girls’ race with 18 points, while the Wildcats scored 43 points. Broadway (25) won the boys’ race, East Rockingham (61) placed second, while Harrisonburg (67) and RC (91) rounded out the standings.
The individual winner of the girls’ race was Harrisonburg’s Brooke Saunders, finishing the 5K in 20:54.
Dorothy Lewis led the Wildcats, placing third of 18 harriers in 22:41. Eichelberger followed in seventh in 24:16, and McClung came in 10th in 26:49. Wildcats following Mc-Clung were Kate Holston (12th, 27:07), Ivins (14th, 28:11), Alice Gresham (15th, 31:20), Skaggs (17th, 35:38) and Batis (18th, 38:33).
In the boys’ race, won by Broadway’s Tristan Yoder in 15:22.5, Sammy Eastwood led the Wildcats, placing 11th of 43 harriers in 19:06.
The Wildcats’ second runner was Fisher Howald (19th, 19:33), followed by Swenty (23rd, 21:10). Wildcats following Swenty were Finn Miller (24th, 21:11), Eichholz (25th, 21:21), Ben Gresham (27th, 21:37) and Saunders (29th, 22:00).
RC will travel to Cary, N.C. this weekend to race in the Adidas XC Challenge on Saturday.
The Wildcats are scheduled to hold their only home meet of the season next Wednesday, Sept. 25, at RC with the girls’ race scheduled to start at 5:15 p.m., followed by the boys’ race. Before the meet, the Wildcats will honor Eichelberger, their lone senior.
