With a solid team performance, the Hanover boys became the first in school history to win a Capital District cross country championship while Lee-Davis took the girls title last Wednesday at Pole Green Park.

  Individually, Lee-Davis senior Cody Snyder and Hanover freshman Molly Breidenbaugh were named Capital District runners of the year after taking their respective races.

  After three years spent chasing the shadows of Atlee standouts Ben DeJarnette and Andrew Catanese, Snyder finally raced into the daylight and victory.

  Snyder ran behind his Raider rival Catanese throughout the race and faced a nine meter deficit as the pair made the final turn on the 5k course.

  Though seeing his runner trailing, Lee-Davis head coach Neil Mathews felt Snyder would pull out the win as the pair reached the home stretch. “When they got to that point, when I knew they were going to go for the finish line with the sprint, I’m usually pretty confident with Cody’s kick.”

  And kick it he did. Snyder found another gear, speeding past Catanese to finish with a time of 16:02 , nine seconds ahead of the Atlee runner.

  Mathews, who was named district girls coach of the year, feels that in his senior season, Snyder has finally developed a cross country runner’s mentality. “He’s training hard and working hard but he’s always had in the back of his mind, ‘I’m a track guy,’” Mathews said. “I think this year he finally became a competitive runner. He’s put in a lot of miles and put in a lot of hard work to make himself into a strong cross country runner.”

  Breidenbaugh dominated the girls race from start to finish. Though she battled defending champion, Lee-Davis’ Bonny Turnage early, Breidenbaugh widened the margin through the wooded portion of the trail and emerged from the trees with a 50 meter lead over senior teammate Anna Gordon who also passed Turnage in the woods.

  Coming into the home stretch, Breidenbaugh’s lead grew substantially, winning the race in 18:56. Gordon, who was running 100 percent healthy for the first time in her career, took second at 19:16, Turnage was third with a time of 19:40 and Hanover freshman Annie Sadler fourth.

  “We knew coming in that Breidenbaugh was going to be a good performer,” said Hanover’s district boys Coach of the Year, Cameron Hopper.

  After competing in multiple sports throughout her middle school years, Breidenbaugh concentrated on cross country this season and came into the year in extraordinary condition. “Our job was to pull her back a little bit because she kept wanting to run more and more,” Hopper said. “She has certainly exceeded all our expectations and some.”

  Even though Hanover had three of the first four runners across the finish line they could not get the additional points needed for the team win.

  Turnage’s third place finish led a contingent of five Lee-Davis runners in the top 10 that allowed C-feds to take the team title with 31 points. Sophomore Haley Uliasz was fifth followed by junior Samantha Perkins and sophomore Jennifer Vieni. Senior Tiel Westbrook finished 10th.

  Atlee came in third led by freshmen Julia Fraser (8th), Katt Grasberger (11th) and sophomore Paige Harrar (12th). Glen Allen, Varina, Henrico and Armstrong took fourth through seventh places.

  Like the Lee-Davis girls, Hanover’s boys did not place a runner first or second but instead filled five of the top 11 slots to win the team title with 34 points. Junior James Poyer led the Hawks with a third place finish in 16:48 while senior Michael Goolsby claimed fourth at 16:59.

  Senior Baylor Dickerson (7th), junior Lucas Nachman (9th) and senior Sam Rosser (11th) rounded out the Hawks scoring.

  Last season Hanover lost to Atlee by a point then lost one of their best runners (Ryan Peterson) to transfer over the summer. But the Hawks returned an upper-classman laden lineup and still felt they could claim the school’s first title.

  “We basically looked at it as it was ours to lose,” Hopper said. “We had the talent and these guys have been running together for four or five years and have been looking forward to this day for a long, long time.”

  In second, Atlee edged out Lee-Davis 45-47 with three runners among the top eight. Sophomore Griffi Carmichael was sixth and freshman Nathaniel Hall eighth, while juniors Zachary Snider and Austin Smith took 13th and 16th.

  Though Lee-Davis took first (Snyder) and fifth (Robbie Longest), bad strategy at the start may have hurt the group finish.

  “I thought we ran pretty good, I think we just put ourselves in a hole too early trying to run a little too much strategy versus racing,” Mathews said. “We just didn’t have enough course to make up time, make up the distance we gave away early.”

  Senior Ben White (12th) freshman Adam Paul (14th) and sophomore Joey Brissette (15th) rounded out the Confederates’ scoring. Henrico, Glen Allen and Varina finished fourth through sixth.

  Atlee dominated both of the Subvarsity races. Marques Atkinson edged out teammate Sean Gardner in the Subvarsity boys race while eighth graders Kaitlyn Mason, Brittany Wilkerson, Chloe Bavin, Lindsay Jefferson and freshman Katie Gardner took the top five slots in the girls race.

  The Central Region meet takes place this Saturday at Pole Green Park. The girls race starts at 3:25 p.m. and the boys is set to begin at 4:10 p.m.
 
BOYS RESULTS
Hanover 34, Atlee 45, Lee-Davis 47 Henrico 110, Glen Allen 149, Varina 165
1. Cody Snyder (LD) 16:02; 2. Andrew Catanese (A) 16:11; 3. James Poyer (Han) 16:48; 4. Michael Goolsby (Han) 16:59; 5. Robbie Longest (LD) 17:09; 6. Griffin Carmichael (A) 17:14; 7. Baylor Dickerson (Han) 17:17; 8. Nathaniel Hall (A) 17:23; 9. Lucas Nachman (Han) 17:26; 10. Khalid Khamis (Hen) 17:29; 11. Sam Rosser (H) 17:36; 12. Ben White (LD) 17:46; 13. Zach Snider (A) 17:49; 14. Paul Adams (LD) 17:52; 15. Joey Brissette (LD) 18:02

GIRLS RESULTS
Lee-Davis 31, Hanover 41, Atlee 60 Glen Allen 130, Varina 155, Henrico 163, Armstrong 178
1. Molly Breidenbaugh (Han) 18:56; 2. Anna Gordon (Han) 19:16; 3. Bonny Turnage (LD) 19:40; 4. Annie Sadler (Han) 20:36; 5. Haley Uliasz (LD) 21:02; 6. Samantha Perkins (LD) 21:04; 7. Jennifer Vieni (LD) 21:06; 8. Julia Fraser (A) 21:07; 9. Katie Sperry (GA) 21:15; 10. Tiel Westbrook (LD) 21:17; 11. Katt Grasberger (A) 21:25; 12. Paige Harrar (A) 21:30; 13. Victoria Doss (LD) 21:38; 14. Scarlett Bavin (A) 21:44; 15. Dezi Bennett (A) 21:57