Gallery by Brad Davis
Heading into Thursday’s Class AAA cross country regional meet, Woodrow Wilson had dominated the event for the previous six years.
Make it seven.
After the girls team placed five runners in the top 10 for their title, the boys backed up that strong performance with seven runners in the top-11 to give the Flying Eagles the regional sweep.
“I couldn’t be happier. When your kids run their best races towards the end of the year, they are confident and still hungry, it makes you feel great as a coach. It makes you feel that you are doing something right,” Woodrow Wilson head coach George Barbera said. “These kids were really looking forward to this race and competing. They weren’t nervous, they just wanted to run hard and win.”
Leading the way for the Woodrow girls were Colette Lindley, Lauren Curtis and Kyndal Ince who finished two, three and four, respectively.
Cecilia Lindley came home eighth and Hannah Keiling finished 10th. Freshman Madison Farrish came home 19th and Ashton Evans was 24th to give Woodrow seven runners in the top-25.
“The girls knew they weren’t favored, and they weren’t very happy with that. They showed that tonight,” Barbera said. “This was our seventh regional title in a row, and they knew it. They are friends with kids on the other schools, so I am sure there is a little chatter going back and forth. The girls really stepped up. We have battled a few minor injuries on both sides, but they ran their hearts out.”
Freshman Aiden Kneeland led the Flying Eagle barrage on the boys’ side setting a personal best at 16.14.6 to win the boys individual championship also. It turned out to be a prophetic time.
“Aiden had one heckuva race. That is not an easy course, and he didn’t have anyone pushing him tonight,” Barbera said. “He was the front-runner today. He went out by himself and really had nobody pushing him. He told me a couple of days ago that he was going to run a 16.15.”
The regional victory was the third straight individual win for Kneeland this year.
“The hills, they killed me, but I took advantage of the flats and the downhills. (Today) was my personal best. I wanted to win, but I also wanted a PR and that was a pretty good time.”
Christian Saffouri finished second for the Woodrow boys, followed by Chris Huffman in third. Connor Cormack was sixth, Josh Cormack eighth and Robert Shirey was ninth.
Jonah Morgan came home 11th for the Flying Eagles.
Barbera was confident prior to the start of the season that his boys’ team would be a front runner in the postseason. On the other hand, while he was confident that his girls would work hard all season, he knew they faced a bit of a rebuilding year.
Turned out, the girls were just reloading.
“We had a girl like Cecilia who just started about halfway through the season where she played soccer. She came out and made it in the top-10. Then we had Hanna who has been developing over the last couple of years and she made it in the top-10. She was so excited.” Barbera said. “Then look at the improvements that Kyndall had made over the last couple of weeks. Lauren is battling a little bit of an injury, but she just gutted out that race and she really ran with a lot of heart.”
The highest drama of the evening was the finish of the girls race where Abigail Londeree from Greenbrier East was able to overtake Lindley for girls’ individual title.
The win was even more impressive considering in Londeree’s first event of the year on the same track, she was overcome with exhaustion and could not finish the race.
“I was mostly nervous, and I wasn’t as ready as I thought I would be,” Londeree said. “Once I started the race today, I was ready to go and I was excited. I used the first race back in August as motivation for this race.”
Trailing the entire race, Londeree stayed calm and made her move over the final stretch.
“Those (Woodrow) girls are so talented, and I was worried about where I would be in this race. I didn’t think I could get (Lindley), but when I hit 100 meters, I knew I could possibly get her if I gave it everything I had,” Londeree said. “I was on top of the world (when I crossed the line). It was the best feeling ever.”
“Colette was obviously very upset that she didn’t win today, but when I told her the team won, she had a big smile,” Barbera said. “She was wiped out and she gave it all she had. I think they may have all gone out a little too quick, but they did spread the field. I tell them to take that first mile out hard and just maintain. They did what they were told.”
Greenbrier East took second place in the girl’s’ event, followed by Princeton, earning both teams a spot in the state meet. Emma Toler was fifth and Abby Dixon was ninth for East, while Asia Collins finished sixth for Princeton.
The remaining individual qualifier was Alexis Graham from George Washington in seventh.
St. Albans finished second and George Washington was third in the boys’ event to earn state tournament berths.
Austin Bias from Oak Hill qualified for the state meet as an individual with a fifth-place finish, as did Princeton’s Zavhary Neal who came in tenth. Skylar Hudnall from Riverside rounded out the boys’ top-10.
The state cross-country meet will be held Saturday, Oct. 30 at Cabell Midland High School.
