Lafayette High will add its first cross-country state championship trophy to its awards case Monday after the Rams’ boys team took first place at the inaugural 3A meet held on Great Meadow’s 3.1-mile course in The Plains on Saturday.
The Rams, led by senior Jason Menzies in third, placed three runners in the top 15 to finish with a team-best score of 52 points. Runner-up Western Albermarle finished with 72 points while third-place Brentsville County, which edged the Rams by nine points in last week’s 3A East Region meet, totaled 73.
The top Bay Rivers District performer was York’s Dawson Connell, who placed second individually after crossing the finish line in 15 minutes, 55 seconds.
Lafayette’s other top performers behind Menzies were Andrew Loper, who finished in 16:15 to place sixth, and Konrad Steck in (16:19) 11th.
In the girls’ meet, Warhill’s Miriam Buscher placed seventh in 19:08 to become the school’s first all-state cross-country performer.
Lafayette’s Adrianna Hooks finished in 19:14 to lead the lady Rams to a sixth place team finish, and York freshman Emily Philpott also earned all-state honors with an 12th-place finish of 19:17.
Below we highlight how area runners fared at the 4A and 2A meets as well. Click here for complete team and individual results from the 3A and 2A state meets. Click here for the 4A meet results.
4A State Meet
In the boys’ race, Tabb High’s Baron Keiffer and Severin Blenkush placed fourth and 12th, respectively, to pace all other Bay Rivers District runners and garner all-state honors. The Tigers finished sixth as a team to lead fellow Bay Rivers’ programs Grafton (10th) and Jamestown (12th).
Grafton’s Rachel Bloxom was the only district runner to earn all-state honors after placing seventh with a time of 19:07.
She led the Clippers to a sixth-place finish as a team while Tabb and Jamestown finished 11th and 12th, respectively.
2A State Meet
Bruton’s Carley Shannon completed Great Meadow’s 5-kilometer course in 19 minutes, 16 seconds to finish in fourth place and earn all-state honors for the third year in a row.
