James Wood girls capture Judges Classic

WINCHESTER — Members of the James Wood girls’ cross country team expressed a fair amount of frustration as they sat and stood with some of their family members in a circle near the finish line after Saturday’s Judges Classic at Kernstown Battlefield.

After a few minutes, Colonels head coach Matthew Lofton made his way toward the group for the first time and immediately said, “Awesome job,” citing the fact that all seven girls had run under 22 minutes and 30 seconds on the 3.1-mile course.

Less than two hours later, the Colonels found out just how awesome they ran at a venue that will be very important in their future.

Led by sophomore Kate Konyar’s third-place finish, James Wood scored 100 points to edge runner-up Loudoun Valley (103) in the 29-school meet.

The immediate reaction of the Colonels’ girls’ runners was understandable. James Wood hadn’t competed as a program at Kernstown Battlefield since 2019, which is before any of their current athletes were in high school. The course features two lengthy uphill runs, so it’s not typically a place where runners improve on their previous times.

For example, James Wood took third last week at the Oatlands Invitational in Leesburg — the site of the Class 4 state meet — and six of their seven girls ran slower times in the team’s victorious performance on Saturday. Tuscarora was one of the teams that finished ahead of the Colonels at Oatlands, but the Huskies finished third on Saturday.

“The girls were frustrated with their time, and it’s one of those courses where you really can’t go off of time,” Lofton said. “You have to go off your competition, and for us to come out on top, it’s kind of hard to say you had a bad race when you still won. I get it, and I like that maybe they’re not happy with the race. It means they can run this harder and hopefully better when the time comes at the regional meet.”

Fifteen teams will gather at Kernstown Battlefield on Nov. 1 for the Region 4D meet. Only the top three teams and the top five individuals outside of those three teams that day will advance to the Class 4 state meet.

Also in the girls’ meet on Saturday, Clarke County placed eighth (268 points), Handley was 14th (385), Sherando was 15th (395) and Millbrook only entered one runner in the varsity race and did not score.

In the boys’ meet, James Wood senior Ethan Pratt-Perez finished second after waging a fierce battle with Broad Run senior Tarek Benjamkadden when they emerged out of the woods to take on the downhill finish to the race. Benjamkadden recorded a time of 15 minutes, 57.4 seconds to win by a full second over Pratt-Perez (15:58.4).

Pratt-Perez led the Colonels to 11th place with 252 points. Sherando was 12th with 267, Handley placed 13th (274), Clarke County took 17th (424) and Millbrook placed 21st (566). St. Albans (D.C.) won with 86 points and Charlottesville was second with 96.

The Colonel girls were feeling better about their performance after they had some time to relax and reflect.

“I think we worked really well together today, and we were able to get what we needed to get done today,” said junior Ruby Ostrander, one of three Colonels who earned medals for placing in the Top 20. “Our team is just really close this year. It means a lot when we’re able to win and place [high] in the meets, because we’re just like a family. It’s really fun for us.”

Running a course like Kernstown Battlefield is not a pleasure cruise, though.

“Just staying mentally good,” said Konyar when asked about the hardest part about running at Kernstown. “It’s hard to push up the hill a second time and be like, ‘I can do this.’”

Konyar is showing she’s capable of doing plenty. She took second individually at Oatlands to a Class 5 runner. On Saturday, Konyar recorded a time of 19 minutes, 22.9 seconds to finish only behind Class 4 Charlottesville sophomore Elaina Pierce (19:00.5) and Class 6 Herndon junior Meghan Sullivan (19:09).

“She continues to impress me every week,” Lofton said. “She’s really talented and she’s finding out each week who she can be beat. She’s hungry and she’s fast, and I don’t think she knows her limit. She just kind of goes for it.”

James Wood’s depth is particularly impressive as evidenced by the fact that the Colonels placed seven runners in the Top 45 on Saturday, a feat only Tuscarora was able to match. To put that depth into perspective, the other four local schools combined to only have two runners in the Top 45. Other scoring runners for the Colonels were Ostrander (18th in 21:03.2), sophomore Alina Kieffer (20th in 21:06.5), sophomore Katelyn Palmer (27th in 21:15) and senior Sarah Moss (36th in 21:46.4).

“They train really well together, they get along together,” Lofton said. “It’s just a good, cohesive team, and it’s great seeing all their hard work pay off.”

Konyar said the Colonels are determined to return to the state meet and improve on last year’s seventh-place finish.

“We all bond really well, and we’re really excited to go to states, because we think have a good chance at doing really good,” Konyar said.

Pratt-Perez broke away from a pack of four that included Handley senior Will Pardue with about a half-mile left, and he was the first person to come down the hill. Benjamkadden didn’t allow him to get any separation though, and as they hit the final straightaway he was able to outsprint Pratt-Perez.

“I thought I was going to fend off Tarik, but he’s a hell of a runner,” said Pratt-Perez, who wound up on his back not long after crossing the finish line, then got a hug and a high-five from his mother while on the ground. “I would have preferred first [today], but I’m pretty happy with what I’ve been doing [this season]. I’m glad that regionals are here. It’s a tough course, but it felt like a true cross country race.”

Pratt-Perez finished a second behind Pardue (fourth on Saturday in 16:13.9) at Oatlands the previous week. So to beat him and perform as well as he did at an unfamiliar course is a good sign for the future. Junior teammate Eli Clark — who earned All-State honors last year and placed 12th on Saturday in 16:47.7 — came over at the start of Pratt-Perez’s interview and said, “You might want to get his autograph, because he’s going places.”

Other scoring runners for the James Wood boys were sophomore Thomas Newman (38th in 18:00.1), senior Will Simko (86th in 18:49.7) and freshman Zachary Harrington (119th in 19:38.5).

“Ethan had another great race today,” Lofton said. “We finished in front of all the local competition, and I think that’s really good motivation for us. I told them the goal should be to be the best local team. We may not be out in front [of everyone at a given meet] like the girls’ team, but let’s be the top local team.”

Clarke County girls’ scorers: 31. Teya Starley 20:31.6; 56. Abigail Cochran 22:55.6; 59. Molly Husted 23:03; 64. Aubrey Wagner 23:13.5; 65: Saniyah Caldwell 23:13.6.

Handley girls’ scorers: 33: Ella Warren 21:36.9; 76. Evelyn Mullins 23:42.3; 90. Audrey Rinker 24:03; 94. Ellie Bessette 24:19.7; 101. Bella Balio 24:45.9.

Sherando girls’ scorers: 54: Addy Wallin 22:51.2; 55. Mia Adams 22:53.8; 84. Avery Ryan 23:53.7; 97. Olivia Lee 24:25; 113. Natalie Clark 25:12.5.

Millbrook girls’ scorer: 63. Caroline McCurry 23:13.2.

Sherando boys’ scorers: 14. Dylan McGraw 16:59.1; 35. Ryan Maki 18:05.4; 47. Brock Smith 18:15; 70. Jed Bell 18:40.9; 104. Sebastian Berrios 19:27.

Other Handley boys’ scorers: 10. Will Thomas 16:45.1; 73. Noah Meleason 18:43.3; 84. Finn Slaughter 18:55.3; 108. Halston Wright 19:29.9.

Clarke County boys’ scorers: 56. Landon Horton 18:23.7; 75. Matthew Lisk 18:44.4; 79. Jackson Ellis 18:46.7; 101. Matthew Stroot 19:19.8; 123. Jacob Kitner 19:55.9.

Millbrook boys’ scorers: 93. Elijah McGee 19:10.6; 94. Steve Luna-Pleitez 19:10.7; 122. Bennett Weis 19:53.8; 129. Caden Treiber 20:02.3; 142. Graham Davidson 20:24.5.

For more coverage on Saturday’s meet, see Tuesday’s edition of The Winchester Star.

— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at
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