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Freshmen finishers
Staff photo by JAMES A. McCRAY III
Chris Casavecchia placed first overall for the Hurricanes in Wednesday’s tri-meet sweep over Chopticon and Lackey.
Huntingtown cross country boys, girls sweep
By JAMES A. McCRAY III
Staff writer
She is a freshman, she is a freshman and she is a freshman, too.
Looking through the top 10 girls finishers of the Huntingtown Hurricanes during Wednesday afternoon’s cross country meet hosted by the Chopticon Braves and also featuring the Lackey Chargers, the Hurricanes finished in the top seven places and in nine of the top 10 places.
However, of the nine top-10 finishers, six were freshmen runners.
The Huntingtown girls swept the meet with identical 15-50 scores over Chopticon and Lackey and sticking to form, freshman runner Hannah Russell won the overall girls race in 21 minutes 21 seconds.
“It felt good, really good,” Russell said of her run. “Compared to our courses, this course was flatter. There were a lot more places where you could pass people. Our course has a ton of hills.”
Two of Russell’s teammates, Bridgett Redding (22:37) and Jaymie Scrivener (23:03), both of whom who are freshmen, finished second and third overall.
Huntingtown junior Sydney Budd broke up the freshmen finishers with her fourth-place finish, but finishing in fifth, sixth and seventh were Kristen Bunn, Madeline Smith and McKenna Kiesling, all Huntingtown freshmen.
“It felt pretty good because my teammate came in first place,” Redding said of the race.
Russell added on the top group, “We practice really hard in practice. We all work together and we’re all really a close team and close friends.”
And in symmetrical form, two seniors rounded out the top 10 for the Huntingtown girls (3-4, 3-4 SMAC) in Catherine Hetmansky (ninth) and Taylor O’Brien (10th) for head coach Raffaele Simpson.
“Confidence is great and I think this is what we needed,” Simpson said. “It was just really to get us over that hump. We’re just looking to see what kind of results come from this. People are stepping up, people are breaking into the varsity top seven and they are pushing each other.”
High confidence is a trend among the Hurricanes girls.
“[Today] raises it because it feels like if we stay together as a team, then we can go a long way,” Redding added. “We just have to keep working hard, listening to our coaches and taking all advice.”
The lone runner to crack the Huntingtown girls’ top 10 finishes was Dominique Schuster of Chopticon (2-6, 2-6), who finished the race in 25:03 and placing eighth overall.
The Lackey girls fell to 0-7, 0-7. Jessiree Elder was the top finisher for the Chargers with a time of 26:48.
H-town boys sweep
If you saw Huntingtown Hurricanes cross country runner Michael Core coughing on the course, it was not because he was coming down with a virus but because of another reason.
“It was kind of tough because the bugs were everywhere,” Core said. “I swallowed a lot of bugs. You cough and it messes up your breathing.”
However, Core’s second-place finish, preceded by a victory from teammate Chris Casavecchia (18:19), helped the Hurricanes (5-2, 5-2) sweep the meet with a 15-48 victory over Chopticon and a 15-50 win over Lackey.
“It feels so good, I am so happy,” said Casavecchia, who picked up his first individual win of the season. “I just felt really good. Keeping the pace was hard. It’s hard being up front and keeping the pace because it’s easier to pace off of people. But, I just kept pushing it because I wanted to win.”
Much like their girl counterparts, the Hurricanes boys placed runners in nine of the top-10 places in the race in easing into the victory.
“They have been working hard and that was really our goal today,” Simpson stated. “We have been off for about two weeks, so it’s good to bounce back, have a meet like this and it just sets the tone for next week’s meet.”
Chopticon (2-6, 2-6) split the meet with a 15-50 win over Lackey. James Nelson was the top runner for the Braves, finishing sixth overall in 19:37.
“It felt really good,” Nelson said of his top-10 finish. “It probably was an easy course because I know it so well.”
Lackey dropped to 0-7, 0-7. River Raines (20:21) placed 14th overall for the Chargers.
“My biggest goal is to break 20 minutes,” Raines said. “It’s going to take endurance and staying hydrated, drinking water not just in practice but outside practice. All of that because I know endurance is a big thing and avoiding cramps, especially in the middle of a meet.”
jmccray@somdnews.com
Results
Boys
Huntingtown 15, Chopticon 48; Huntingtown 15, Lackey 50; Chopticon 15, Lackey 50
1. Casavecchia (H) 18:19, 2.Core, (H) 18:57, 3. Sugg (H) 19:02, 4. McCall (H) 19:04, 5. Carroll (H) 19:24
Girls
Huntingtown 15, Chopticon 50; Huntingtown 15, Lackey 50; Chopticon 24, Lackey 32
1. Russell (H) 21:21, 2. Redding (H) 22:37.64, 3. Scrivener (H) 23:02, 4. Budd (H) 23:10, 5. Bunn (H) 23:38