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Warrior girls take team title at FUMA invite, Czernek finishes second for Devils

By Tammy Purcell/ Scrimmageplay.com Contributor

The Western Albemarle girls’ cross country team served notice that they are a force to be reckoned with once again in the Jefferson District and beyond at Saturday’s Fork Union Invitational. Thanks to a solid effort by their top five runners, the Warriors edged perennial power Brentsville for the team title, 56-75 despite the absence of usual top-performer Katie Farina.

At first glance, it looked like Brentsville might escape with the win as Allison Bartels ran away with the individual crown (18:36.48) and the Tigers placed two more runners in the top six.

The Warriors unleashed a flurry of runners up front too. Emily Moffett set the pace, covering the hilly course in 18 minutes, 52 seconds, good for fourth-place. Teammates Claire Johnson and Mattie Webb weren’t far behind, claiming 9th and 12th respectively.

But it was Western’s fourth and fifth runners, Peri Bowser and Killian O’Connell, who ultimately set the squad apart. The pair’s 15th and 16th-place efforts easily bettered those of Brentsville’s number four and five runners.

“We don’t have any star runners. We just have a really tight pack. I was really proud of them today,” said Western coach Katie Pugh, adding that her team was racing without Farina. “To be able to pull this off with one of our top five gone really gave the girls an extra boost.”

Albemarle placed four runners among the race’s top 30 entrants, led by Elizabeth Sinclair’s 26th-place effort, to claim fifth, Central Virginia’s second best team finish.

Louisa County’s Hannah Best was the top area finisher not donning a Warrior uniform, taking eighth in 18:59.

FUMA’s Czernek falls short, but makes presence felt

Fork Union’s Polish import Wojciech Czernek has been in the country all of two weeks, but it hasn’t taken him long to make a significant impact on Central Virginia’s cross country scene.

At Saturday’s Fork Union Invitational, the FUMA junior quickly established himself among the race’s leaders, even pulling away in the contest’s late stages. In the end though, Czernek couldn’t hold off a late charge by Mills Godwin’s Grant Pollack who edged him at the wire to take the meet’s individual title. Pollack blazed through the 3-mile Hardy National course in 15:16.88 and Czernek was just seconds behind in 15:18.36.

“I ran the whole race at the same pace and before the finish line I didn’t see the second guy. I was sure I was alone,” Czernek said of the race’s tight finale.

Despite the narrow loss, Czernek, who captured the Ragged Mountain Cup title just days after arriving at Fork Union, proved that he can run with some of the state’s best public and private school harriers, a fact that pleased Blue Devils’ Coach Winston Brown.

“Wojciech is strong already and once he gets sharp I think he is going to be tough to beat,” Brown said, noting that the runner spent much of the summer training for shorter track races in Europe.

Prep League foe Kevin Bennert of Woodberry Forest wasn’t too far off Czernek’s pace, claiming fourth in 15:28.82 while FUMA senior Josh Morris, a transfer from Jefferson Forest, gave the Blue Devils’ a solid one-two punch, finishing fifth just three seconds behind Bennert.

Spurred by Jimmy Taylor’s 16th-place individual effort, Western Albemarle claimed seventh in the 21-squad field, tops among area teams. Albemarle took eighth and Woodberry Forest finished ninth.

Louisa County’s Chris Springer was the top Jefferson District performer, garnering 15th with

a 16:20.75 time.

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