They fell short of repeating as girls region cross-country champions, but the Yorktown Patriots ran well enough to finish runner-up and earn a berth into the upcoming state meet.
With 61 points, the Langley Saxons won the 6D North Region high-school event Nov. 6 on the 2.98-mile Burke Lake Park course. Runner-up Yorktown scored 88.
“We thought we had a chance to win, but our goal was to get back to the state meet again, like last year,” Yorktown coach Emily Stewart said. “A lot of our runners ran personal-best times this season. This team has been putting in the work.”
The top three finishing region teams earned state berths. The state meet will be run on the Oatlands Plantation course in Leesburg on Saturday, Nov. 16.
At the region meet, senior Ellen Malloy was Yorktown’s highest finisher in seventh in 18:56. Sofie Keppler was 13th (19:27), Ali Mathews 14th (19:27), Ella Dunn 23rd (19:55), Clare McArdle 39th (20:33), Nicky Chinchilla 42nd (20:43) and Hannah Hawkins 51st (21:30).
Also in the girls region meet, the Washington-Liberty Generals placed sixth, led by Mina Dowler in 24th (19:56), Alba Edsall 27th (20:01), Hannah Bellerose 29th (20:06), Sienna Williams 30th (20:12), Ella Kaplan 31st (20:18), Meg Lubas 36th (20:27) and Therese Johansson 41st (20:39).
In the boys region meet, run on the same course and day, Washington-Liberty placed fourth and the Wakefield Warriors seventh.
Washington-Liberty was led by senior fifth-place finisher Emmett Engelhardt in 15:48.
Engelhardt was just steps off the lead with a little less than a mile to go when he started feeling overheated on an uphill portion of the course and struggled to finish, falling on the final steep downhill stretch. Engelhardt was a favorite, having won two races on the same course previously this season.
“It was a hot day and I hit the wall,” Engelhardt said. “I thought I was prepared for the weather, but I just didn’t have it.”
He still qualified for the boys state meet individually.
Also for the W-L boys at the region meet, Morgan Fritz was 17th (16:31), Jackson Fowler 21st (16:35) and Henry Brys 27th (16:54).
For the Wakefield boys, Liam Keish was 11th (16:11) and Noah Gunville 14th (16:23). Yorktown’s Reid Dalley was sixth (15:52). Keish and Dalley each qualified for the state meet.
