Chesapeake XC Competes At State Championships

The Chesapeake High School boys and girls cross country teams attended the state championship at Hereford High School on November 9.

Though individual runners had qualified, the girls team had not competed at states in six years.

“This has been a great year because we’ve had both the boys and girls teams qualify for states, and that’s been a long time coming for the ladies,” said assistant coach Joe Hatcher.

The boys team finished in 19th place with 434 points, and the girls took 14th with 323 points.

The course at Hereford, commonly known as Bull Run, is one of the hardest in the nation. Head coach DeWitt Kneass knew the runners were up to the challenge.

“This is Bull Run, and it’s one of the toughest courses in America, and they are familiar with it,” said Kneass. “You have to be tough to be in this sport. It’s all mental, and that’s why I love cross country.”

In the girls race, sophomore Nia Quinn ran the course in 20:41.75 and placed 21st to medal in the top 25. Sophomore Bailey Healy (36th) finished in 21:09.17, followed by freshman Bridgette Van Valkenburgh (75th), junior Lainie Mikeska (102nd), sophomore Rachel Snyder (123rd), senior Lindsey Weisgerber (124th) and senior Holly Boggs (128th) for an average time of 22:19.

In the boys race, junior Hayden Healey finished in 17:14.95 and placed 28th followed by senior Liam Rhodes (50th), senior Connor Wolfe (110th), senior Brennan Penafiel (135th), freshman Jaden St Pierre (137th), sophomore Malachi Newsom (144th) and junior Grayson McMeen (160th) for an average time of 18:28.

“I thought we ran great. We were much faster than we were last year and our girls haven’t qualified,” said Kneass. “They ended up finishing 14th from nowhere. They are young, and both teams have a great future.”

Of the combined 14 varsity runners, only five are graduating seniors. The future is bright for this Chesapeake team.

“We have the potential to just keep getting better and better,” said Quinn. “We’re all capable of improving, and that is really exciting.”