Local cross country runners got a chance to measure up against the top athletes in the region at the U.S. Army X-country event at Maymont last weekend.
  It was the underclassmen who excelled with Lee-Davis junior Cody Snyder edging out Atlee junior Andrew Catanese for a win in the Coastal Boys’ division. Snyder finished with a time of 16:25 in the 5k race, while Catanese came in second with a time of 16:29.

  Among the 117 runners in the event, Lee-Davis junior Robbie Longest and sophomore John Cario took 33rd and 34th respectively with times of 17:57 and 17:58. Other top Confederates were senior Michael Hoy (48), junior Jeffery Bishop (61), senior Travis Dawson (71) and senior Brent Goodwin (84).

  Among Atlee’s top runners were sophomores Sean Gardner (55), Zach Snider (68), Tom Bavin (78) Evan Harris (82) and Austin Smith (105) while junior Kyle Loren came in 82nd.

  Maggie Walker’s boys claimed the team title in the event with an average time of 17:19.80 while Lee-Davis came in 8th and Atlee 12th.

  In the Bronze race, Lee-Davis junior Ben White claimed 31st out of 104 runners with a time of 19:19. Teammate Elliott Hinton came in 55th. 
  While the Atlee and Lee-Davis girls did not compete in a head-to-head matchup, both teams turned in outstanding performances.

  In the Girls’ Coastal event, Atlee sophomore Katie Bland finished 18th with a time of 21:57, while fellow sophomore Rebekah Hamlett came with 30th in 22:35.

  Other top Atlee runners were freshmen Lindsay Wilkins (40) and Brittany Engels (46), seniors Katie Peak (51) and Alexa Livezey (73).

  First place team Lafayette finished with an average time of 21:12 while the Raiders came in 9th with an average time of 23:05.

  In the Invitational Girls event, Lee-Davis freshman Bonny Turnage turned in an outstanding performance, finishing 12th out of 106 runners with a time of 18:58. Senior teammates Amanda Lineberry and Stephanie Cario finished 24th and 30th respectively with times of 19:32 and 19:50.

  Other top C-feds were sophomores Melissa Daivs (62) and Samantha Perkins (69). Junior Tiel Westbrook finished with a time of 24:24.

  Blacksburg took the team title in the event with an average time of 18:51.40 while Lee-Davis came in 8th with an average time of 20:13.80.

  In the Maymont Boys JV Red 5k, Lee-Davis and Atlee took 15th and 16th. Out the 269 runners in the event, Lee-Davis’ Paul Adam finished 17th with a time of 18:17 while teammate Nathan Belote came in 98th. Atlee’s Shaowei Tu came in 49th while teammate Joe Purvis finished 93rd.

  The Lee-Davis girls took home a third place team finish in the Girls’ Freshman 5k. Haley Uliasz led the Confederates with a 9th place finish edging out teammates Tiffany Reynolds (10), Halie Warren (11), Lauren Blankenship (13) and Allie Nolan (17).
  In the Boys’ Freshman 5k, Atlee’s Thomas Franco finished 14th while teammate Matthew Peery came in 17th. The Raiders Tyler Box and Chase Steele took 25th and 25th.

  In the Boys’ Middle School 3k, 15-year-old Bizz Alidost of Mechanicsville came in 5th with a time of 11:42.

  In the Girls’ Middle School event, 13-year-old Julia Fraser of Mechanicsville finished 10th with a time of 13:08. Other top finishers from Mechanicsville were Maya Saunders (12), Scarlett Bavin (15), Katie Gardner (16), Kassidy Taylor (17) and Kathryn Grasberger (19).

  In the Open 5k, 21-year-old Lee Winyl of Mechanicsville won the event with a time of 16:28.

For complete results go to www.sportsbackers.org.