All About Team

Cross country, you see, is all about team. I repeat: all about team.

Sure, each individual puts one foot after another on the ground over five kilometers in the quest for that elusive personal best, but it’s not one runner or two or even three that enable a team to ascend sweaty, sore, and exhilarated to the victory stand at the end of the day.

It’s the composite effort of the five who place and the next two who affect the placing in the esoteric scoring system of the sport as well as the others who challenge each other in workouts and meets, encourage each other, and, in the noblest sense, make each other better.

Thursday on the lightning-fast 5K course at Pole Green Park in Eastern Hanover County, Collegiate’s girls team won the VISAA Division I championship, its fourth state title in program history and first since 1999.

The Cougars recorded 67 points, well ahead of runner-up Catholic High (97), St. Catherine’s (108), St. Stephen’s-St. Agnes (115), and Bishop O’Connell (129) in the 16-team field.

MK Myers (3rd in 19:26), Giles Ferrell (7th in 20:00), and Gabriela Linkonis (8th in 20:20) earned All-State honors by virtue of their Top 20 finishes.

Katherine Sutherland (22nd in 21:34), Maddie McComb (27th in 21:52), and Catherine Horner (37th in 22:23) provided the depth that ensured the victory.

“The girls came into this season with high expectations for themselves,” said Coach Matthew Richardson. “They pushed each other, and ultimately what they found was that trusting their training, trusting each other, and having fun out there allowed them to compete well and bring home the championship.
    
“Today wasn’t a day where they had to win. They had to go out and recognize it was a beautiful day to run cross country and compete well, and that’s what they did.”

Collegiate’s boys team placed second with 77 points behind St. John Paul the Great (62) and ahead of Bishop O’Connell (105), Catholic High (138), and Potomac (169) in the 18-team field.

Stan Craig (3rd in 16:07), Jonathan Yackel (10th in 17:03), Liam Harbour (18th in 17:20, and Will Edwards (19th in 17:21) earned All-State citations. 

Ian Quindoza (27th in 17:52) and Hugh Williams (41st in 18:13) ran side-by-side most of the race and pushed each other to season-best performances.

“The boys came back from the Prep League championship knowing that they had a little bit more in the tank,” Richardson said. “All season, they’ve been working hard, learning how to run a 5K, and growing as a group. 
    
“They went out today and challenged themselves, pushed one another, and dedicated themselves to running a great race, and that’s exactly what they did. They were competitive. They ran courageously. They made each other better. They competed like champions. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

The boys race, the first on the docket, opened fast on this clear, high-60’s afternoon.

The eventual top two, Ferenc Kovacs (Woodberry Forest) and Charlie Ortman (Potomac) immediately surged to the front with Craig, a junior, close behind.

“I wanted to anchor on him (Kovacs) at the beginning to make sure I was really pushing myself,” said Craig, who sailed through the first mile in 5:01.

Then, as is typical when Collegiate runners talk about their experience, he quickly shifted gears to the heart of the story. 

“I know we can all look in each other’s eyes and know everyone did their absolute best,” he said. “I love these guys. They’re amazing. I’ve been with some of them since 7th grade winter track. I’m just so proud of them. This team is truly special.”

Yackel, a senior captain, ran most of the race with Harbour and Edwards close behind.

“We came off Preps a little shaken because we were expecting to win but lost in a really close race,” Yackel said of the second-place finish to St. Christopher’s by five points. “We talked about moving on and looking forward to states. We were trying to prove ourselves. Obviously, it would have been nice to win, but everyone raced really well, and I’m really proud of them and how the season went.”

Then, he added, “Cross country means so much to me. It’s where I found my first friends in Richmond when I moved here from across the country (Portland, OR, before his freshman year). It’s been a great group of guys to grow with, and I love every one of them, and I love this team. It’s just fun to be with these guys every day.”

What makes it fun?

“The pain we go through creates such a strong bond,” he continued. “It’s all the tough workouts. It’s all the hours we spend together running. We knew this season would be special.”

Quindoza and Williams, both seniors and long-time teammates, matched each other by design for the first two miles before hitting the accelerator even harder in the final 1.1.

“The strategy was to go out conservatively, then go at it in the last mile,” said Quindoza, who’s a captain. 

What did “go at it” look like?

“Just running faster and catching kids,” he said. “I knew the whole race that one of us would be the five. We knew what we had to do, and we’d stick together in our last race.”

The script called for Quindoza and Williams to cover the first mile in 5:40. They clocked through in 5:36. The plan for the second mile was 11:40. They were right on target.

“Ian and I were talking the entire race, like ‘Stay calm. Stay conservative,’” Williams said. “I felt like everyone was going fast around me, but we knew we had to stay calm. We stuck together. That definitely pushed me faster.”

So it was a good day?

“Great day,” he said. “Awesome day.”

A half hour after the boys race concluded, the Division I girls race began.

Quickly, the eventual winner Cecelia Pugsley of Paul VI (18:35) and runner-up Molly Weithman of Bishop O’Connell (18:42) engaged each other in a dual to the finish.

“My plan was to go out fast, find the person in front of me, stick with her, and hopefully pass her,” said Myers, a junior and first-year cross country runner who won the League of Independent Schools championship a week earlier. “Unfortunately, that wasn’t what happened because the people in front of me were speed demons. I think I did pretty well for what I could do.”

Indeed.

The Collegiate 800-meter record holder (2:22.73), she hung onto third throughout, used her flat-out foot speed in the final stretch, and finished five seconds ahead of the fourth-place finisher Hailey Rorick of Catholic High.

Importantly, Ferrell and Linkonis kept her in their sights throughout.

“Everyone was pushing each other,” Myers said. “Everyone was saying, ‘Stay with her. Stay with her. Push your teammates.’ That really helped. I could hear people along the sideline cheering. I like that we we’re able to push each other and make each other faster. The I’ll-push-you-while-you-push-me thing really helped our team this year.”

The Cougars were winning handily through the top three finishers, but it takes five to compile a team score.

That’s where Sutherland and McComb became the difference makers.

“Maddie and I knew we wanted to stick together from the beginning,” said Sutherland, a captain along with Horner. “I kept telling myself to keep moving and tried to pass people and not think about anyone behind me. I just tried to get as many places as possible and make sure my teammates did the same thing.
    
So how does it feel to be a member of a state championship team?

“Really good,” she said with a smile. “It’s been a long time coming.”

Eighteen seniors – 15 boys, three girls –have run their last high school cross country race.

“When you have a group of seniors like we have, no matter how fast they are, every single one of these kids is someone you want on your team,” Richardson said. “They’re good people to spend an afternoon with, good people to spend a Saturday with. Can’t ask for more than that as a coach. 

“We’re going to miss them, but what’s so great is that they’ve left a legacy of guys and girls behind them who will continue to build a culture of excellence. That’s pretty special.”
~Weldon Bradshaw