By Stephen Henderson
It was a great day for a cross country event in Patrick County last Tuesday afternoon. The Patrick County High School Cougars hosted a six-school event at Rotary Field in Stuart. The course is one of the most challenging of all district schools, offering long, flat runs, tough hills and a wide open finish line for contestants.
Franklin County won the boys’ race with 35 points. Bassett was second with 37, while Halifax placed third with 98. The Patrick County Cougars placed fourth with 101 points. Bassett’s Connor Kinkema was the overall winner for the boys with a time of 17:32.22.
In the girls’ race, Franklin County picked up first with 30 points. Tunstall was second with 50 points, and Bassett was third with 61. Julia Garcia from Franklin County was the overall winner with a time of 20:58.78.
In the boys’ race, Cougar Monroe Morse finished third overall, first for the Cougars, with a time of 18:03. Jared Biedrycki finished 19th, second for PCHS, with a time of 20:13, and Brandon Rohrback placed 26th, third for PC with a time of 20:57. Tristian Moore placed 44th, Tommy Pauly finished 56th and Riley Brim was 74th.
Patrick County girls only had four runners competing, not enough for team standing. However, Armonte Carter was the first Lady Cougar over the finish line, sixth overall, with a time of 23:33. Ashton Collins was eighth in 23:46. Arielle Taylor finished 12th and Vanessa Mabe placed 24th.
“Overall, I think we showed well despite a difficult course and some runners not competing due to injuries or sickness,” said Coach Lynne Deckel.
“I was especially pleased with Monroe’s (Morse) tenacity to go out with the top two runners from the gun and hold onto them for as long as he did. Additionally, the spread between Jared (Biedrycki) and Brandon (Rohrbach) has greatly lessened which will really improve our team scoring if they continue in the direction they are going,” she added. “Brandon has improved leaps and bounds this season, and I think this was a meet where things started to click,” Deckel said.
“Ashton (Collins) ran fearlessly for the girls and that’s something she’s been working on all season. The girls are coming together nicely and really running and working as a unit. We just have to keep working and trust the process as Regionals is not much farther away,” she added.
This Thursday the Cougar cross country teams will compete in the Millennial Charter Academy meet in Kernersville, N.C.
