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Wildcats Eastwood, Swenty Among Top 40 Boys
The Rockbridge County High School girls cross country team concluded its season by placing ninth of 11 teams at the Region 3C meet, while Wildcats Sammy Eastwood and Grant Swenty finished in the top 40 in the boys’ race last Wednesday at the Jackson River Sports Complex in Covington.
None of the Wildcats advanced to the Class 3 state meet on Nov. 16 at Virginia Tech, as only the top three teams and the top five individuals outside of those teams advanced.
The RC girls, who placed 10th at the Region 3C meet last year, were coming off a fourth-place finish at the Valley District meet on Oct. 30 at Grottoes Town Park.
At the Region 3C meet, with an average time of 23 minutes, 57 seconds on the flat and fast 5-kilometer course, the Wildcats tallied 231 points to finish ahead of Rustburg (274) and Heritage (306). RC’s Valley District rival Spotswood (41) defended its regional title, while defending Class 3 state champion Western Albemarle (74) placed second, and Waynesboro (114) finished third. Rounding out the top eight were Monticello (120), Fluvanna County (125), Alleghany (128), Turner Ashby (148) and Wilson Memorial (159).
Alleghany junior Kiera Lowman won the girls’ race in 18:03.5. Leading the Wildcats was their lone senior, Brooke Eichelberger, placing 32nd of 83 harriers in 22:20.1. She was followed closely by junior teammate Dorothy Lewis, who finished 33rd in 22:25.7. RC’s third runner was junior Evelyn McClung (58th, 24:37.7), followed by junior Kate Holston (60th, 25:09.3). Next in for RC was sophomore Hannah Ivins, finishing 61st in a personalrecord (PR) time of 25:12.6, and the Wildcats’ final harrier was junior Alice Gresham (80th, 30:50.5).
With four runners in the top 12, RC’s district rival Broadway won the boys’ race with 44 points. RC head coach Julie Tisone said Broadway, which also won the district title, “is looking absolutely fantastic, and I predict they will win states.”
Western Albemarle (68) placed second, and Turner Ashby (109) finished third. Completing the top five were Monticello (131) and Fluvanna County (133).
Broadway’s Tristan Yoder won the boys’ race in a blistering time of 15:43.4.
Leading the Wildcats was Eastwood, a sophomore, who placed 33rd of 93 harriers in 18:17.4. Following closely was Swenty, a freshman, finishing 37th in a PR time of 18:24.3. Eastwood and Swenty had helped the Wildcats place sixth in the district meet a week earlier.
Reviewing the meet, Tisone, completing her ninth season as RC’s cross country coach, said, “It was actually pretty hot, and that seemed to affect my runners.”
“Our region is really tough,” added Tisone, noting that the individual state-qualifying places in the boys’ race were already taken by eighth place. “There are a lot of talented teams and individuals out there.”
With only Eichelberger graduating, Tisone looks forward to working with the rest of her runners next year. “Our season is over, but I am very happy how we did and will be back for year number 10 next year!” she said.
