To simply say Atlee High School ran away with the Capital District cross country titles would be a gross understatement. The Raiders parlayed a dominating performance in the boys and girls subvarsity races into solid team efforts in the varsity match-ups, claiming a four-way sweep against district competition on Wednesday at Pole Green Park.

  Atlee head coach Jim Triemplar, who was aptly recognized as both boys and girls District Coach of the Year, felt the subvarsity squads provided the motivation for the varsity wins. “I was really pleased with what our subvarsity kids did,” he said. “We talk about how that sets the tone for the varsity…The varsity people should look in their mind and say, ‘Hey, we’re getting the same training, we should run well too’.”

  The subvarsity girls, led by freshmen Kaitlyn Mason, Brittany Wilkerson followed by juniors Paige Harrar and Katherine Leitch took the top four slots and the Raiders placed seven runners in the top-10 to run past Lee-Davis 17-43.
  While the girls’ performance was impressive, the boys were even more so, putting the first seven runners across the finish line and 11 of the first 12 to beat Lee-Davis 15-51. Senior Sean Gardner led the way for Atlee followed by junior Fitz Rogers, freshman Andrew Franco and junior Tyler Favale.

  The momentum carried over to the boys varsity race where Atlee sophomore Nathaniel Hall finished with a time of 16:12.00 to claim Boys Runner of the Year honors and edge out Glen Allen’s Stanley Davis by a 14-second margin. Atlee junior Griffin Carmichael was third at 16:47.00.

  In all, the Raiders placed seven runners in the top 12 slots to claim a 41-66 victory over Lee-Davis. Glen Allen took third (66) followed by Hanover (77), Henrico (148), Varina (162) and Highland Springs (167).

  Hanover senior James Poyer took fourth followed by Lee-Davis junior Paul Adam, Varina’s Darrick Thornhill, Glen Allen’s Alex Byrd and Hanover’s Lucas Nachman. Lee-Davis’ Grayson Morgan and Houston Stevenson were ninth and 10th but Atlee solidified their team win by placing five runners in the 11-16 slots; Zach Snider, Evan Ratke, Michael Spagnolo, Bizz Alidost and Austin Smith. Hanover sophomore Caleb Haneline broke up that group by finishing 13th.

  “Spagnolo stepped up and ran real well,” Triemplar said. “Zach Snider looked like he was ready to fade but he stepped up and was able to finish it. Evan Ratke had a good finish so I’m pretty pleased.”

  Such could not be said for Lee-Davis coach Neil Matthews and Hanover coach Cameron Hopper.

  “We didn’t run very well,” Matthews said accepting responsibility for the outcome. “I just think we weren’t prepared to run.

  “In all three races today our kids went out, we ran tentative,” he said. “We didn’t compete and that’s why we ended up in the team scoring where we did.”

  Likewise, Hopper expected a better overall performance from his defending district champion boys. “The guys I still haven’t figured out,” he said. “I was a little bit disappointed.”

  At worst, Hopper expected Poyer and Nachman to finish second or third instead of fourth and eighth. Both runners were on the heels of Hall for the first half of the race but they began to fade. “They were doing the best they could,” Hopper said. “Still, a little disappointed in our top two runners because they can certainly do a whole lot better.”

  But Hopper found much less fault with his girls as sophomores Molly Breidenbaugh and Annie Sadler claimed a one-two finish in the district varsity race.  “You can’t get much better than that,” Hopper joked.

  Breidenbaugh had dominated district competition all season but her performance in the championship was something else. A third of the way through the race, Breidenbaugh took a substantial lead over Sadler and Lee-Davis’ Bonny Turnage. By the time Breidenbaugh exited the woods for the final third her lead was nothing short of astounding. So much so that on-lookers began to wonder if the rest of the field had somehow gotten lost.

  “I knew there wasn’t that much competition for me but I love racing so I wasn’t just going to go and run an easy race,” Breidenbuagh said.

  With no one even remotely in site, Breidenbaugh crossed the finish line with a Pole Green Park Capital District record time of 18:35.00; a jaw-dropping 1:11.34 ahead of her second place teammate. “I knew there was going to be some distance but I didn’t know it would be that much,” she said.

  Though his star set a new record, Hopper was even more pleased with Sadler, who barely edged out Glen Allen’s Katie Sperry in a sprint down the stretch for a near photo finish; a margin of 00:00.17 of a second. “Annie ran pretty impressive,” Hopper said, noting that Spears beat several girls she had lost to throughout the regular season. “She came back and just raced a great race, gutted it out at the end and nipped the Glen Allen girl by just a fraction of second.”

  Hanover’s Rachel Gaunt was 11th.

  Lee-Davis’ Victoria Doss and Bonny Turnage claimed third and fourth while teammates Samantha Perkins and Haley Uliasz took 14-15. But Atlee took the team win 40-47 over Hanover by filling seven of the eight slots between the C-feds pairs. Junior Dezi Bennett was sixth followed by Scarlett Bavin, Katie Gardner, Chole Bavin and Katie Bland. Julia Fraser was 12th followed by Katt Grasberger.
  Lee-Davis finished third (56) followed by Glen Allen (104), Henrico (136), Highland Springs (181) and Varina (194).

  “We ran well as a pack and that’s important,” Triemplar said of his Raider girls but added a need for improvement this Saturday. “To advance in the regional we’re going to have to have somebody move up. Right now we’re not getting that low number.”

  Breidenbaugh, who will be one of the favorites in this Saturday’s Central Region meet at Pole Green Park, feels all of her fellow Hanover County competitors hold an edge. “I feel bad for people who never get to come here,” she said. “Lee-Davis, Atlee and us, we get to come here pretty often so it gives us an advantage.”

  For complete district results go online to www.mechlocal.com

BOYS
(3.1 miles at Pole Green)
Atlee 41, Lee-Davis 66, Glen Allen 68, Hanover 77, Henrico 148, Varina 162, Highland Springs 167

Top 10: 1. Hall (A) 16:12; 2. Davis (GA) 16:26; 3. Carmichael (A) 16:47; 4. Poyer (H) 16:57; 5. Adam (LD) 17:00; 6. Thornhill (V) 17:06; 7. Byrd (GA) 17:08; 8. Nachman (H) 17:18; 9. Morgan (LD) 17:23; 10. Stevenson (LD) 17:29.24; 11. Hunt (A) 18:55; 12. Christian (A) 19:06; 13. Gilleland (LD) 19:13; 14. Longest (LD) 19:15; 15. Chudoba (LD) 19:16.

GIRLS
Atlee 40, Hanover 47, Lee-Davis 56, Glen Allen 104, Henrico 136, Highland Springs 181, Varina 194

Top 10: 1. Breidenbaugh (H) 18:35; 2. Sadler (H) 19:46.34; 3. Sperry (GA) 19:46.57; 4. Doss (LD) 20:10; 5. Turnage (LD) 20:16; 6. Bennett (A) 20:25; 7. S. Bavin (A) 20:32; 8. Gardner (A) 20:35; 9. C. Bavin (A) 20:38; 10. Bland (A) 20:44; 11. Gaunt (H) 21:00; 12. Fraser (A) 21:12; 13. Grasberger 21:21; 14. Perkins (LD) 21:46; 15. Uliasz (LD) 21:52.
 

Boys subvarsity results
Girls subvarsity results
Girlsvarsity results
Boys varsity results