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The Rockbridge County High School boys and girls cross country runners had several strong performances at the Adidas XC Challenge on Saturday in Cary, N.C. The RC boys placed 34th of 37 teams, while several RC girls raced well.
In the boys’ invitational race, the Wildcats scored 857 points. Myers Park won with 150 points, Enloe placed second with 166, and Durham Academy (230) finished third. Rounding out the top five were North Lincoln (246) and Cary (265).
Croatan’s Noah Guerrero was the boys’ individual winner, finishing the 5-kilometer course in 15 minutes, 36.8 seconds.
Sophomore Sammy Eastwood led the RC boys, placing 62nd of 327 harriers in a personal-record (PR) time of 17:13.5. In total, the Wildcats had five PRs.
“It is still a good race to get a PR because it has rolling hills that keep the runner mentally engaged, and there is really high energy at the race because it is such a huge race,” said RC head coach Julie Tisone.
RC’s second runner was freshman Grant Swenty, finishing 160th in a PR time of 18:31.6, and junior teammate Trent Cash came in 228th in 19:18.5. Wildcats following Cash were sophomores Luke Eichholz (230th, 19:20.4) and Finn Miller (250th, 19:39.2), junior Graham Niebur (307th, 21:13.8) and freshman Ethan Saunders (312th, 21:33.4).
The Wildcats had four runners in the girls’ invitational race – not enough (five) to have a team score. Durham Academy’s Audrey Crowder won the girls’ race in 18:05.3.
Junior Dorothy Lewis led the RC girls, placing 89th of 249 harriers in 21:55.7. RC’s second runner was senior Brooke Eichelberger, coming in 95th in 22:07.5. Also competing for the Wildcats were juniors Evelyn McClung (216th, 25:29.4) and Kate Holston (218th, 25:38.2).
Pleased with her runners, Tisone said, “They all ran strong, even-paced races.”
McDowell was the winning girls’ team with 89 points, Luray placed second of 32 teams with 110 points, and Durham Academy (157) finished third. Completing the top five were River Bluff (179) and Corinth Holders (208).
Today, Wednesday, RC will hold its only home meet of the season at Natural Bridge State Park, where the Wildcats will face district rivals East Rockingham, Harrisonburg, Spotswood and Turner Ashby. The meet will start with the girls’ race at 5:15 p.m., followed by the boys’ race. Before the girls’ race, the Wildcats will honor Eichelberger, their lone senior. To get to the course from U.S. 11 South, take a left on Golf Course Road and go to the Children’s Discovery Center.
The Wildcats will compete again on Saturday at the East Coast Elite XC Meet held at the Virginia Tech Buford Meredith XC Course in Blacksburg, starting at 9 a.m. The meet will allow runners to preview the course for the state meet on Nov. 16. RC will then face district rivals in a meet on Tuesday at the Rockingham County Fairgrounds in Harrisonburg, with Broadway playing host.
