Cross country: Bethel boys, girls outrun Woodside

[Sonny Dearth]

In cross country Wednesday, Bethel’s William Brown and Ariana Betts clocked the top times as the Bruins swept a 5-kilometer dual meet against Woodside at Newport News Park.
Brown finished in 16 minutes, 17 seconds as the Bruins’ boys won 23-38. Woodside’s Remington Roth was second in 16:43.
For the girls, Betts ran a 20:13 time to lead Bethel to a 17-38 triumph. Jourdan Pitts was the top Woodside girl at 22:18.

[davidbaer]

2 Times! There weren't any more results from this meet? Top 15 times or better yet Full Results? Full Gloucester vs. Menchville Results to come...

[Sonny Dearth]

This was just meant as a highlight. You'll find the roundup and more complete results elsewhere on HRVarsity.com and dailypress.com/sports.

[vac]

David-

MileStat.com...
http://va.milesplit.us/meets/40215/results/71845

[Dave Robicheaux]

Good start to the 2008 season yesterday, as many of the strongest runners in the District displayed their talents. Menchville and Gloucester look to be the strongest two teams, with the Monarchs edging the Dukes in a tight meet. David Gerlach, Graham Wilson, and Brandon Dyke for Menchville ran close together, with Gerlach beating his teammates by 8 seconds over the 3 mile course. The Speray brothers finished 4th and 5th overall for the Dukes. Observers should note the continued development of Graham Wilson, now a sophomore, who is the latest in a long line of runners in the Nuttycombe family. Graham finished 10th in last year's District tournament and looks to be on his way to bettering that place this year.

A couple of the best runners did not race yesterday. Orlando Burton from Heritage was noticeably absent from the Heritage squad, and the two Kecoughtan runners, Ondra and Alberti, did not run as the result of the postponement until Thursday of the Phoebus/Kecoughtan meet. All three figure to be among the top 10 in the District.

A few new names made the headlines out of yesterday's meets. Matthew Becouvarakis from Warwick ran a 19:21 to win the Warwick/Denbigh meet by over 2 minutes, while William Brown, Huber, and Flemings from Bethel and Roth and Hunter from Woodside all had strong times. And do not overlook that very young squad from Hampton -- sophomore Cory Burke led the way with a time of 18:48 at Gosnolds, with senior Jordan Overby, sophomores Donald Cleckner and Skyler Hutchinson, and freshman Jordan Edgar rounding out the top 5 finishers giving the Crabbers a sweep of Burton-less Heritage.

[06Raider]

Just a bit of commentary on the Warwick-Denbigh meet. Becouvarakis looked good in posting a 19:21 on arguably the district's toughest course. Warwick was missing 2 of its top runners and still was able to win. Both teams are very young, but show some promise.
On the girls side, neither school had a full team of 5 runners, so the DP told me they weren't going to publish the results. An 8th grader running JV for Warwick named Eliza Lavery won in 25:01...not too bad for her first meet. She's definitely one to watch in the coming years...can't wait to have her running varsity. Warwick senior Katie Harpst took second in 25:21 followed by junior Priscilla Herzberg in 25:46.

As far as the district goes, the individual races appear to be Orlando's and Hannah's to lose.

[Dave Robicheaux]

I appreciate the report from 06Raider, especially the information on some of the up and coming runners in the District. I write only to note that while Burton and Varnell certainly are among the top competitors, Gerlach, Alberti, Ondra, Brown, Roth, Speray, Wilson and others on the boys' side, and Tina Woodard on the girls', are right there at the top as well.

All of this discussion highlights the fact that the sport of cross country is growing rapidly and becoming more competitive here on the Peninsula. Thanks to the many coaches and parents who support these young men and women in what I hope will develop into a lifelong passion for running and fitness.

[R.L. Bynum]

Becouvarakis looked good in posting a 19:21 on arguably the district's toughest course.

He looked really good on Wednesday, jumping out to the lead early and leaving the competition well behind. It probably makes it tough to run a good time when you have nobody pushing you.

[06Raider]

It is especially hard to run by yourself on that course, with the big hills on each loop. He was also slowed by some pretty bad blisters.
This weekend's NN Invitational should be a good coming out party for the best runners in the district, varsity and JV.

[runfastallday]

Just a bit of commentary on the Warwick-Denbigh meet. Becouvarakis looked good in posting a 19:21 on arguably the district's toughest course. Warwick was missing 2 of its top runners and still was able to win. Both teams are very young, but show some promise.
On the girls side, neither school had a full team of 5 runners, so the DP told me they weren't going to publish the results. An 8th grader running JV for Warwick named Eliza Lavery won in 25:01...not too bad for her first meet. She's definitely one to watch in the coming years...can't wait to have her running varsity. Warwick senior Katie Harpst took second in 25:21 followed by junior Priscilla Herzberg in 25:46.

As far as the district goes, the individual races appear to be Orlando's and Hannah's to lose.


Please note that the course is arguably NOT the toughest course.
Just ask the runners! They will tell you it is tough, but by no means, the
toughest!

[06Raider]

Perhaps a topic for discussion: what is the toughest course in the district? I ran for Warwick for 4 years and ran every course in the district, to include the old Hampton course next to Hampton High that was a farm/auto repair shop and is now a housing development. Beaverdam is a tough course, but it was only 2.9 or so when I ran it. I hear they've lengthened it this year, and haven't had a chance to see it in its new form. Mariner's is, in my opinion, the toughest course...each mile has 2 fairly good hills to run up and times tend to be a bit slower than on other courses. The course at NN Park could always be counted on for some fast times though. Any thoughts from other coaches or runners?

[HelpIsComing]

Hampton looks to have a good squad this year despite the young team.
Not saying they are going to knock off Menchville or Gloucester but they have a pretty solid core, look for them to run the district in in two years and a top contender next year.

Best of Luck to all the Runners.

[davidbaer]

Any results from Kecoughtan vs. Phoebus from Thursday?

NN Invite Saturday.

Races start with the Boys A at 9am, Girls A to follow at 9:30am. B, C and JV races to follow on around 30 min. increments. Should be a large turnout of 30 teams and almost 1000 entrants!