By Ben Sheridan / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
For the Albemarle girls cross country team, the goal is to keep up running and improving.
Albemarle coach Cathy Coffman said they’re preaching a laser focus on day-by-day improvement and that approach helped boost the Patriots girls’ top relay to the Ragged Mountain Cup Girls Relay title.
That squad from the Patriots comprised of Arianna DeBoer, Sarah Leech, Beth Shifflett, and Meme Zarzyski finished with a team time of 51:23 to claim the team title.
“It’s great but (it’s also) really early to get too excited, there’s 85 days left (in the season), still a lot of days to improve, run, and stay healthy,” Coffman said.
Western Albemarle’s top relay team took second with Sterling Hull, Jenna Stutzman, Ella Taylor and Kate Ratcliffe posting a time of 51:52 in what ended being an ultra-tight finish to the girls relay. In third place was Louisa’s top team of Cierra Caicedo, Alayna Campbell, Sydney Madison and Maeve Myers who clocked in at 54:06. To complete the top five was the Warriors’ No. 2 relay team with a 54:31 split and the Patriots’ No. 2 squad with a time of 54:51.
As for the individual title, the Patriots’ Arianna DeBoer snagged that win, finishing the course in 12:04.
“I’m really happy, and with having all my friends here with me it was a really great time,” DeBoer said.
Her teammates from her relay squad also had strong performances, as all three finished among the top nine individuals. The Warriors had three in the top seven, including third-place finisher Hull with a time of 12:28 and fifth-place finisher Stutzman at 12:40.
In second place was Louisa’s Caicedo at 12:13 and in fourth place was Fluvanna’s Emily Smeds at 12:34 to round out the top five. The Patriots’ Leech finished sixth, the Warriors’ Ratcliffe came in seventh, the Patriots’ Shifflet and Zarzyski in eighth and ninth, and Louisa’s Campbell finished in tenth place to round out the top 10.
