Western Albemarle XC/Track

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FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL: BACK TO BUSINESS, BUT TIME TO HIKE AND PLAY

This past week was jammed packed: Grass Intervals at Coyner's Spring Park, Back to School intensity, Weight Room routine set, and Sugarhollow Run, Hike, Plunge! Hopefully you are all taking some time today to recover and regroup before our first full week of school.

Our team is now 36 strong! This is the largest team we have had in a while, and most everyone is already at a good place in their training. This season we have welcomed new team members Leanne, Lulu, Ada, Margot, Paige L, Ruby O., Hadley, Lily C-L, Lily Z, Zoey, Anisten, Grace, Ruby C, Maddie, and Sofia M!. I am so glad you are a part of our team. The present and the future of WAHS XC looks bright! Let's take a look at what we accomplished together this week...

First Grass Intervals at Coyner's Spring Park

A small but dedicated crew showed up to Monday's practice at Coyner's Spring Park in Waynesboro. This is a great venue for getting in training on grass in preparation for most of the courses we will race on during the season. After a warm up, drills, and strides, the girls did a broken tempo run.

Impressive Workouts

The first few workouts on grass are always an eye opener: grass is slower than roads and you have to get used to less stable footing, etc. The girls handled the challenges well. I was particularly impressed with some of the younger runners that probably hadn't done much, if any, interval training on grass. No complaining, no drama. They just dug in and got it done.

BACK TO SCHOOL SOPHOMORE CHICKEN LEGS PHOTO SHOOT

For the second year in a row, this group of girls has donned their Chicken Legs shorts for a photo shoot to start out the school year. I particularly love the shots near the WAHS letters. We have a large sophomore class that are entering their 2nd year of running, and I can't wait to see the changes between last XC season and this upcoming one.

ESTABLISHING OUR WEIGHT ROOM AND BANDS ROUTINE

Twice a week we get in the weight room and follow that up with our band routine. Our time dedicated to these strength and flexibility exercises is crucial to help injury prevention, especially as the intensity of the workouts starts to increase as we enter racing season. Even as early as Thursday I saw improvement in how the girls were doing the exercises. I try to pair an older or more experienced girl with a newer member of the team so that they can explain / demonstate proper technique. Let's keep it rolling in the weight room!

Paige on the box jump

Willa and Zoey on lunges

Hadley working on triceps

Anisten working on back strength

SUGARHOLLOW RUN, HIKE, AND PLUNGE!

The team tradition continues! We met down at the far end of the Sugarhollow Reservoir for this fun event. The girls were led by SJ in their dynamic stretching before dividing into groups for the Pick-A-Time Intervals workout. For this workout, each girl in the group has a "secret interval" that they have to lead at some point in the run. Nobody else in the group knows when another girl might suddenly start to surge ahead, and the rest of the group's job is to react and go with the lead girl. This workout is both challenging and fun, as you never know who might take the lead or when the pace might change. One goal of the workout is for the girls to learn to react during a race when someone starts surging. We had three different groups doing the intervals, and I was impressed how they were always able to regroup during the rest periods between intervals. This is a tough workout as there is no "stretch-break", walking, pausing, etc. All three groups seemed to handle this well. This is one of those workouts that epitomizes one of our team mottos: "We Do Hard Things Together". Great job!

SJ leads the warm-up. Each practice I am going to choose someone new to lead, giving everyone a chance to fill, even for a few minutes, that leadership role. SJ did fantastic!

After the run we grabbed our food and towels and hiked up to Snake Hole. Several families joined as well, which is always nice. Most of the girls did the Polar Plunge in the frigid water. The first to dare to enter the water was Hadley, followed quickly by Zoey, Sofia and Ruby C. SJ was the first to jump of the rock! We took "class plunge" pictures (no senior representation, but that's ok!), and a great group shot. Thanks for starting out your weekend by both running and playing hard! See below for lots of fun pictures of the day.

THANK YOU TO OUR VOLUNTEERS THAT HELPED OUT THIS WEEKEND AT THE WALNUT CREEK TRIATHLON!

There were several amazing volunteers. Ethan and Abbie Apicella worked very hard on Saturday setting up the transition area. On Sunday, Zoey Downer and her father worked the water station and directing runners on the dam, working for almost 7 hours. Cameron Huyhn was in charge of directing runners into the woods. SJ and Finleigh worked at registration before working at the finish area. Kinley Callihan get supreme honors as she was the first to arrive, before 6am, and was the last to leave, just before 1pm.

Thank you, volunteers, and Cherie, for all of the hard work you do for this event!

JARMAN'S GAP ATTACK 2024

One of our great team traditions for WAHS XC is to run from Chile's Peach Orchard all the way up to the Skyline Drive via Jarman's Gap Road. This is an elevation gain of over 1, 500 feet in 3 miles! Legs start burning, lungs are screaming, and your brain is telling you to "just stop" over and over again. But WAHS XC girls have got grit and their teammates to support them, and everyone pushed through! We had 20 girls participate in the Attack this year, even with several girls on vacation, working, or not starting until the first week of school.

We had two main groups based on summer running / mileage / injury recovery. The first group, led by Coach Margaret, did an out-and-back run in which they tackled about a mile of the ascent of Jarman's Gap. This group of 12 ran strong and pushed each other, even when it got hard. I am so impressed with how far you have come already with your training!

The second group of 8 went all the way up to Jarman's Gap, and some continued on along the Skyline Drive to get in some more mileage. The run was staggered so that when all was said and done, this year all the girls got to the top within a span of 6 minutes. In fact, I underestimated some of the runners, and barely made it up to the top before they arrived!

Daisy foils the photographer!

Daisy had a fantastic mountain run! She arrived to the top so quickly I barely had time to get my phone out to snap a picture of her quickly retreating back. She finished the run in a speedy time of 41:30.

Lark shows her strength

Lark was the first to start up the mountain, and only 1 runner (Daisy) managed to catch her! She stayed focused and showed her strength, finishing in 46:57.

8th Grade Power

We had two courageous 8th graders tackle and dominate Jarman's Gap this year. Maddie and Sofia didn't let this mountain defeat them! Maddie paced well with Cameron and ran an excellent time of 41:22. Sofia was a true powerhouse, running the 3rd fastest time of the day in 38:11! Our 8th graders are such a shining light for the future of the team, and I'm so excited to have them training with us. They've worked hard with Crozet Crew for the past few years, and it shows.

Spicy Freshmen!

Finleigh and Cameron bring the fun, but they also don't back down from a challenge! Finleigh pushed through the pain, running a time of 45:43. She arrived at practice with the most positive, upbeat attitude and that served her well when it got tough. Cameron continues to shine, running a speedy time of 41:27. She confesses to using some "colorful language" at one point to describe the mountain. I gotta say, mile 2 of Jarman's sometimes warrants that. Cameron also won our "Predict Your Time" contest: she was only 13 seconds off. What a fantastic duo!

Abbie and Anja: True Strength and Dedication

These two juniors ran the longest mileage yesterday, and still finished with smiles on their faces. Here they are arriving at the end of their run. They started up the mountain together and finished strong together on the Skyline Drive. Anja ran an excellent time of 37:41. She has come so incredibly far in the two years she has been running (and mountain biking!), and I can't wait to see what this season holds for her. The QUEEN OF THE MOUNTAIN this year was Abbie, finishing with a time of 37:11. This is almost a 2 minute improvement over her time from last year. I could not be more proud of Abbie's effort yesterday!

Jarman's Gap is hard, it makes you doubt everything at times ("Why am I doing this?", "Will anyone know if I just stop?", "I'm never running again!", "I think I'll take up competitive knitting instead"). But once you reach the top, catch your breath, and then celebrate your individual and collective success with your teammates, it makes it all worthwhile. Great job, WAHS XC!

TEAM FUNDRAISER! Each year we work the Walnut Creek Triathlon and earn money for the team. They pay us $50 per volunteer and we can bring in a lot of money which can be used for travel, team gear etc. Please sign up to work either Saturday the 17th or Sunday the 18th of August. Team members and their family members can sign up at this link.

Old and new runners: Please fill out this Google Form

Make sure you have your physical form on file with the athletic department.

Check out the "Weekly Schedule" page for more details on this upcoming week's practices.

Please reach out to Coach Katie Pugh at katiexc@gmail.com / (434) 466-1469 with any questions. Thanks!

State Meet Runner-Up

Western Albemarle finished tied for second in the Outdoor State Meet. The Warriors brought one of their biggest squads in recent history to the meet and points were scored in almost every area.

The Pole Vaulters Came Through in a Big Way . . .

Evie Woodrow & Raina

Evie tied her recent personal best to come in second. Raina won the event with a 12-0 vault. The two plan to compete at Adidas Nationals later this June.

Helen Moak

Helen placed fourth in the outdoor state meet. This was the first time she had participated in the outdoor state meet which made her performance all the more remarkable.

Carter Torrence

Carter captured second in the 400 and third in the 200. She also ran the anchor leg on the second place 4 x 800. Even after missing the first three weeks of the season due to anemia, she still scored many points for the team.

Emerson Ritter

Emerson placed 6th in the 1600 with a six-second personal best, running 5:10.47. She placed 9th in the 800 running a personal best time of 2:22.64 and ran the second leg on the 4 x 800 which placed 2nd.

Jordan Henderson

Jordan placed 6th in the 300 hurdles, running 47.64, her second fastest time ever. She also ran anchor on the 4 x 400.

Maddie Hill

Maddie finished 8th in the triple jump and competed in the 100, 200, long jump, and on the 4x100 which finished 5th.

Elisabeth Shin

Elisabeth came in as the 13th seed and had a personal best throw of 102-01 to finish 9th in discus. It was her first trip to the outdoor state meet.

4 x 800

The 4 x 800 team ran their best time by 13 seconds to finish second to Fluvanna, with a time of 9:33.70. Team members were Grace Cook, Hailey Hodson, Emerson Ritter, and Carter Torrence.

4 x 100

The 4 x 100 team finished 5th in a time of 50.27. Team members were Elanor Shin, Caroline Pearson, Julia Hill, and Maddie Hill. This was their highest placing at the outdoor state meet in recent years.

3 Runners in the fast heat in the 3200

All three 3200 entries made the fast heat. Hazel Johnson, Lily Smith, and Grace Cook. They placed 11th, 7th and 8th respectively. Hazel has been a part of this program, just two years. She made it to the outdoor state meet for the first time this season running a huge personal best 11:59.38 at The Dogwood Track Classic. She achieved her goal to break twelve minutes. Grace has been on the team for five years. She's competed at the state and national level throughout her time at Western. She is known for her good attitude and her willingness to give it a go on her second race, to see if she can eek out points for the team. Lily has had a tremendous season and is a junior. She made a huge jump this year, running an 11:43.76 at Dogwood. She ran a super smart race at states, running just 5 seconds off of her personal best.

Hailey Hodson

Hailey Hodson was our lead off leg in the 4 x 800 and has been for many years. While she was at Western Albemarle, the 4 x 800 team only finished second twice. Once during indoors and once in outdoors. The other times, all six of them, we were first. Hailey had a lot to do with that. She set the tone by going out at a brave pace and daring the others to follow. She was also on the school record setting 4 x 400 team last year and has been a part of the 4 x 400 throughout her time at Western.

Also competing at the outdoor meet for the first time was Sarah Jane Broadbent. She ran very close to her personal best to finish 11th in the 400. She will no doubt be counted on in the future to be a part of our 4 x 800 and 4 x 400 teams.

Region 3-C Runner-Up

On a very hot day, on an extremely fast track, the Warriors ran 21 personal bests to place second behind Heritage of Lynchburg. Heritage scored most of their points in the field events. They placed 5 in the long jump, 5 in the triple jump, and 2 in the high jump. They also placed 4 in the shot put, taking the top three spots. Western's points were spread out in almost every area. We scored big in the pole vault with 5 vaulters in the top 8. In the relays our teams were all in the top 3. We placed 2 runners in the 100, 3 in the 200, 2 in the 400, 3 in the 800, 2 in the 1600, 2 in the 3200, 1 in the hurdles, and 1 in the throws—clearly a fabulous team effort on a scorching day.

Region 3-C Runner-Up

Three School Records!

Maddie Hill Destroys 100 m record!

The old record was held by Michelle Gardner at 12.87. Maddie ran 12.67 which was almost a half second personal best. She also ran a personal best in the 200 taking off .15 second to place 5th.

Jordan Henderson Crushes 300 m record!

Jordan has been after this record with a vengeance. She dropped .7 off her best time and lowered the record by half a second, placing second in that event. Jordan also anchored the third-place 4 x 400 team.

Carter Breaks her 200m record for the second time this season.

Carter broke the school record in the 200 twice this season. She lowered her 200 best on her third race of the day by .36. She won both the 400 and 200 and anchored the second place 4 x 800 team.

4 x 100 with the Win

The 4 x 100 team of Julia Hill, Caroline Pearson, Maddie Hill, and Elanor Shin ran a season-best 49.92 the fastest 4 x 100 team since 2000.

Raina Fitzwater with the Win

Raina has to be one of the most consistent pole vaulters in Western Albemarle History. Meet after meet she puts up strong performances. She vaulted a personal best 12-6 for the win, her 8th time over 12 feet this season.

Evie Woodrow 2nd with a PR!

Evie had an awesome performance, clearing 11-6 to set her outdoor personal best and place second. Helen Moak finished 4th, Caroline Pearson 6th and Harper Stone set a personal best 8-0 to place 7th.

Hailey Hodson Placed 3rd in 800. Western took 7 of the top 13 places in the 800. Emerson Ritter was 5th, Grace cook was 7th, Paige Morris, Anja Lehmensiek, and Abbie Apicella placed 10th, 11th, and 12th, all running personal best times.

Hazel Johnston placed 3rd in the 3200, running a strong race at the hottest time of the day. Juliet Kielbasa was 7th.

The 4 x 400 team of SJ Broadbent, Hailey Hodson, Paige Morris, and Jordan Henderson placed third. Jordan broke 60 on her split for the first time!

SJ dropped 1.5 seconds to place 3rd in the 400. She is just a freshman and she is capable of going so much faster.

Elisabeth Shin Makes it to States!

Elisabeth placed third in the discus with a personal best of 101-7, qualifying her for the state meet. Elisabeth also had a personal best in the shotput throwing 29-2. Audrey Miracle had a personal best of 90-3 in the discus and she had a PR in the shotput as well.

Helen Moak, 4th in Pole Vault

Emerson Ritter 2nd Place 4 x 8, 5th in the 800 and 7th in the 1600.

Julia Hill placed 6th in the 200, 8th in the 100 and ran on the winning 4 x 100.

Grace Cook placed 7th in the 800, 8th in the 1600, and ran on the second place relay.

Team Spirit

Bringing the fun and team spirit. Anja Lehmensiek, Ruby Olin, Lauren Luna, and Kinley Callahan are pictured above.

Post-Run Refreshments

Sunset Slushies were on-site to keep the runners cool after their races. The runners deserved a cool treat after all their effort in the heat.

Regional Qualifier

PR Central

The Regional Qualifier turned out to be a great day for personal records. The weather was at that sweet spot, not too hot for the distance runner, but not too cold for the sprinters and field events. Julia Hill managed two big PR's. She ran a 13.23 to get third in the 100, with teammate Maddie Hill tying her PR to get second in 13.13. In the Triple Jump Julia went 33-07 her personal best and over a foot and a half further than she's gone all season.

Raina Fitzwater

Raina won the pole vault competition, going 11-6 in the drizzly conditions. She led a group of vaulters who took 1st -4th.

Evie Woodrow

Evie tied her personal best, going 11-0 to place second. Harper Stone was third in 7-6 and Louise Foster was fourth with 7-0.

Multi-Event Athletes

Caroline Pearson

Caroline is one of those people who can do a multitude of events. This past week she had her best high jump, going 4-8 which is 4 inches better than her previous best this season. She also placed 6th in the 100 with a 13.3 and has qualified for states in pole vault.

Elanor Shin

Elanor ran a personal best in the 200, running 28.38, placing second. She also ran the 100 and high jumped. Elanor has run the 400 this season and is a regular on the 4 x 100 relay.

Louise Foster

Louise is in the mountain bike club, a pole vaulter, and a distance runner. She pole vaulted 7-0 to place fourth and then ran the 3200, finishing second. She dropped over a minute off her best time, running well under the regional QT in 12:53.67.

Future & Present

The only two teams entered in the 4 x 800 was our Varsity and JV team. The Varsity lowered their state QT by almost 25 seconds running by themselves the entire way. The JV team gave us a glimpse into the future as Cameron Huynh took it out with a 2:42 split and the rest averaged just around 3:00. Next year some of these girls have a great chance of making the 4 x 800 as we lose both Hailey Hodson and Grace Cook to graduation.

In the 1600, Lily Smith won with a PR, of 5:33.42. Hazel Johnston was second and Juliet was third, running a personal best of 5:54.23. Ruby Olin also ran a personal best and placed 6th. In the 400, Hailey Hodson got to run her first open 400 of the season. She ran 62.58 for the win with Emerson Ritter in second with a 64.06, her first time in that event.

Western dominates the 800 with many PR performances

Western took 2nd, through 6th place in the Region Qualifier. SJ Broadbent was second, Anja Lehmensiek was third, and Paige Morris was fourth. All three of them running their personal best. Lily Smith was fifth, and Abbie Apicella was 6th.

Our throwers have been improving dramatically under the guidance of Coach Boyd. Elisabeth Shin had a personal best performance in the shot put, placing second behind Maddie Burnette in 28-11. Charlotte Centofante won the discus in 92-03 and Audrey Miracle was 5th in 82-08.

Maddie Hill's Amazing Day

Maddie Hill had several break-out performances at The District Meet this past Wednesday. She had a huge personal best in the long jump, jumping 17-7 to qualify for the State Meet. She went on to triple jump 36-0, a state qualifying mark. Then in the running events, she ran a personal best in both the 100 and the 200, both regional qualifying marks. She came back on Saturday at The VTCA Championship and ran a state QT in the 200, running 26.59.

Raina Fitzwater Clears 12-6

Raina set her outdoor personal best at The Jefferson District meet this past Wednesday, clearing 12-6. This height has her ranked 2nd in the state out of all divisions. She is also the second-best pole vaulter in Western History. Just 4 inches shy of Ashley Early's school record. Helen Moak had a personal best in the pole vault of 11-0 at The Jefferson District Meet placing her second. Evie Woodrow placed third. The vaulters also went 1-2-3 at The VTCA meet with Evie placing second and Helen third.

Carter Torrence Sets 200 School Record!

Carter won The 200 at The VTCA Championships, running 25.44. Earlier in the day, she ran a season-best 57.95 to win the 400. We had 4 girls under 27 seconds in the 200 at VTCA. Maddie Hill placed 4th in 26.59, Jordan Henderson was 5th in 26.87, and Julia Hill ran 26.96 to place 6th. All four returned at the end of the meet to run a state QT in the 4 x 400 of 4:12.58.

Jordan Henderson Gets Her State QT!

After several near misses, Jordan Henderson got her State Qualifying time in the 300H at The Jefferson District Meet. On Saturday, at The VTCA Championships, she lowered that time, running 47.66, just .12 off the school record set by Faith Reed in 2017. She also ran a 26.87 in the 200 which is a regional QT and ran a leg on the 4 x 400, which qualified for the State Meet.

Emerson Ritter

Emerson Ritter, running the 3200 for the first time, qualified for the state meet, running 11:38.30. She paced the race perfectly running within a half second of 88 for each lap, finishing with an 81-second last 400. She has also qualified in the 1600 and 800.

Elisabeth Shin

Elisabeth has been having an amazing year, improving rapidly in her throws. She threw the discus just over 100 feet and is just 5 inches shy of qualifying for The State Meet. She also threw her personal best in the shot put, placing 6th with a 28-07.

Maddie Burnette

Maddie is quickly becoming one of the best shot put throwers in Western history. She has already qualified for regionals, throwing 32-06.

Charlotte Centofante

Charlotte qualified for the region meet in discus, throwing 94-03. She is also improving rapidly under the coaching of Coach Boyd.

This past week we had many personal bests. Julia Hill ran her personal best in both the 100 and 200 at VTCA, placing 3rd and 6th. In the 400, Liv Blakey ran a 68.23 at VTCA. Liv rolled her ankle early in the season and is just now back to top form. In the 800, we've had many girls hitting their best this past week. Paige Morris is closing in on a region mark, running 2:37.45. Anja Lehmensiek is right with her running 2:38.76 at The Jefferson District Meet. We've also had personal bests in the 800 with Hadley Cabell, Daisy McCown, Lauren Luna, and Sophia Cook. In the 1600 Juliet Kielbasa ran her personal best at The VTCA Meet, running 5:54.96.

Special Thanks to Contributing photographer, Mimi Hodson. Many of the above photos were taken by Mimi at The Jefferson District Meet.

Dogwood Track Classic

Many Exciting Races, PRs and State QTs

Lilly Smith & Hazel Johnson Go 1-2 in the Friday Night Section of the 3200, both setting personal best times.

A perfect night unfolded Friday night. The temperatures dropped, and we had two runners, ready to run fast times. Hazel went out with the first pack, coming through the first 400 in 82, which is a little hot for someone who had not broken 12 in the 3200. Lily, started in the second pack, going out in 85. She bridged the gap to the first pack on her third lap, eventually taking over the lead. She and Hazel pulled away from the pack growing their lead. Lilly surged ahead on the final two laps to win the event with a 30-second personal best. Hazel came in second with a 10-second personal best, having just PR'd two weeks prior.

Juliet Kielbasa Breaks 6:00!

Juliet, on the final let of the DMR, broke 6 minutes. She came back from a double fall in her meet on Wednesday, to running a big personal best. Abbie Apicella led off with a 4:20.36 for the 1200. SJ Broadbent split 64.5 on her 400 and Anya Lehmensiek ran a 2:42.79 on the 800. Their time of 14:03.14 placed them 7th.

Raina Fitzwater Placed 2nd

Jumping in some slick, cool conditions, Raina managed to clear 12-0 to end up second in a competitive field of vaulters. Evie Woodrow placed 9th with a 10-6 vault.

In the triple jump, Maddie Hill got a region mark, going 33-8.5.

Cook & Hodson

Grace Cook and Hailey Hodson ran 5:16 & 5:17 to get another state QT. Hailey has already qualified for the 800 and Grace has qualified for the 3200.

Ritter

Emerson has already qualified in both the 1600 and 800, and ran just a speck faster at Dogwood.

Torrence

Carter Torrence managed to run a state QT in the 400 starting on her knee. The music played loudly during the start and she could not hear the set command. She finished 7th overall despite her start. We can't wait to see what she does with a good start.

4 x 100

The 4 x 100 team of Julia Hill, Caroline Pearson, Elanor Shin and Maddie Hill ran a season best and state qualifying time of 51.12.

4 x 400

The 4 x 400 team of Julia Hill, Maddi Hill, Jordan Henderson and SJ Broadbent ran a season-best 4:15.72, just .05 off of state qualifying.

Harrisonburg JV Meet

This past Wednesday, the younger squad got a chance to compete at Harrisonburg High School. Western showed their depth in the relays, winning the 4 x 800, 4 x 400, and getting second in the 4 x 100. Pictured left is the 4 x 400 team of SJ Broadbent, Paige Morris, Liv Blakey, and Finleigh Broadbent. All four placed in the top 8 in the 4 x 400. SJ was first in a PR time of 63.75, Paige Morris was third with a PR time of 67.98, Finleigh was 4th and Liv was 7th. SJ and Paige also ran the 4 x 800, which placed 1st and 2nd. Both girls led off with a 2:38 split. Other team members on the teams were Ruby Olin, Cameron Huynh, Lark Steinberg, Page Lane, Anya Lehmensiek, and Daisy McCown

Cameron Huynh

Cameron is one of the most promising new middle-distance runners. She won the 800 at the Harrisonburg meet in a time of 2:43.68. She is a very dedicated member of the team with a strong work ethic. She has everything she needs to become one of the future stars on our historically strong 4 x 800 teams.

Juliet Kielbasa

Juliet had a rough race in the1600. She fell, not once, but twice. The really strange part was the fact that she fell in the exact same spot. She said she felt like it was slippery. After checking the spot for anything which could explain the cause, we came up with nothing. She was hoping to break 6:00 after having such a standout race in the 3200 this past week. Thankfully she did get to break 6:00 this week at Dogwood on her leg of the DMR. Her official split was 5:55.5.

The photos below are by Anton Largiader. Anton repairs BMW motorcycles and is a substitute bus driver for ACPS. He somehow finds time to take some amazing photos. Here's a link to a few of his albums for you to enjoy. H-burg JV WAHS and AHS At CHS

Harper Stone

Harper placed second in the pole vault, going 7-6. Harper has vaulted 8 feet and will be one to watch in the coming years. She is only in 8th grade.

Louise Foster

Louise placed 4th in both the pole vault and the 1600. Her pole vault of 7-0 is a personal best and so was her time in the 1600, 6:15.71.

Margot Cote

Margot placed 5th in the triple jump and was also a part of the second-place 4 x 100 team.

Maddie Burnette

Maddie hasn't been throwing the shotput or discus for very long, but she is quickly improving. At the Harrisonburg meet she set a personal best in both the shot put and the discus placing third in both events. Charlotte Centofante is another new thrower who is making some impressive throws, especially in discus.

Amelia Hodson

Amelia is shown accepting the baton from Margot in the 4 x 100. Amelia also ran a personal best in the open 100, running 14.53.

Grace Cook Signs with Utah Valley University

Grace got into her dream school, BYU, but part of her dream was to run for a Division One school. Utah Valley University is not only a D-1 school, but also a top-25 team. They have been on the rise, making it to Nationals this past Cross-Country Season. They were excited to have Grace continue her running with them. They are getting a dedicated runner and a caring team member who enjoys making it fun for everyone.

Senior Night

Bailey Brethren

Bailey plans to attend Virginia Tech as an Ecological Restoration major at the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences to work in ecology and conservation.

Grace Cook

Grace feels privileged and honored to live out her dream of running at a division one school, Utah Valley University.

Hailey Hodson

Next year Hailey plans on running at the United States Naval academy, and will study political science.

Hazel Johnson

Hazel has not committed to a specific college, however, she plans on majoring in Biology next year in and is interested in joining a running club.

Helen Moak

Next year Helen plans on taking a gap year with the NSLI-Y program to learn Russian in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. She plans on attending William and Mary as a Monroe Scholar the following year!

AJ Torrence

AJ is going to NC State this fall to study Political Science with the intent of either Pre-Med or Pre-Law!

Seniors have an amazing night with State Qualifiers and personal bests.

Bailey ran a personal best in the 100, running under 14 seconds for the first time.

Hailey Hodson ran her season best and qualified for states in the 800, placing third with a 2:22.19.

Hazel ran a personal best, qualifying for regionals and placing second with a 12:09.56

Grace got a state QT in the 3200 winning the event.

Helen Moak had her personal best clearing 10-6 in the pole vault, winning the event. It is also a state qualifying mark.

Lily Smith's Big PR for the Win

Lily is such a positive member of the team. She's worked so very hard and we couldn't be happier to witness the huge breakthrough she had this past week. She dropped 11 seconds off her outdoor best and won the event. She also qualified for regionals. We can't wait to see what she can do with more people in the race to push her.

Juliet Kielbasa drops over 40 seconds!

Juliet has been a dedicated team member who has put in the work. To see her drop a whopping 43 seconds was just amazing. She placed third in the 3200 and qualified for regionals.

Maddie Hill get Regional Time in the 400

Maddie has been a long time sprinter and jumper on the team. Lately, she has been running the 400 in the 4 x 400 and she's seen immediate success. Naturally, running the 400 open was a good idea and she placed third, qualifying for Regionals with a 62.88

Some of the personal bests, not already mentioned, Julia Hill has run 3 personal bests in the last week and a half., the 100-13.43, the 200-27.63, and in the open 400-63.55 on Wednesday. Eighth grader, Finleigh Broadbent ran a personal best 68.01 in the 400. Louise Foster ran a personal best in the 800, running 2:41.68. Lark Steinberg also ran a personal best in the 800, dropping over 10 seconds. Lauren Luna ran a personal best in the 1600 and the 4x400 team of Julia Hill, Maddie Hill, Jordan Stone, and Elanor Shin ran a season-best.

In the throws, Elisabeth Shin has been leading the way for the team in the discus. Just recently Charlotte Centofante has joined the ranks. At Woodberry Forest this past Friday, Elisabeth threw 87-09 to place 3rd and Charlotte was right behind her in 4th with an 85-01. Maddie Burnette, also relatively new to the team, threw 26-09 in shot put at WF and placed 3rd. Jordan Henderson, won the hurdles this past Thursday and she came back the next day to win the 400, getting a regional QT of 63.10.

CHS Quad

This past week was full of excitement with so many girls getting to race. The pole vault squad wasted no time getting their people qualified. Raina Fitzwater, Caroline Pearson and Helen Moak placed 1st-3rd at CHS, clearing 12-3, 10-0, and 10-0, respectively. All three qualify for states. On Saturday at The Rufus Knight Meet in Lynchburg, Western took five out of the top six places and added Evie Woodrow to the list of state-qualified vaulters with her vault of 11-0. Harper Stone added to the squad by placing 6th with an 8-0 vault. That was her personal best, meeting the region's standard. In other field event news, Elisabeth Shin has had an amazing week, with a 10-foot PR in the discus on Wednesday, only to beat that on Saturday, by another five feet. She also threw her personal best in the shot put on Wednesday and then improved by almost a foot on Saturday.

Jordan Henderson with State QT

Jordan ran her personal best and qualified for the state meet on Wednesday, placing second and running 48.66.

Carter Torrence gets Two State QT's

Carter is usually a 400-meter runner, but she is using some of the shorter races to work on her starts. She won the 100 and 200 on Wednesday. Her 100 time was the second fastest at Western since 2000! She ran a 12.93 and came back in the 200 to run a 26.57. Maddie Hill ran a personal best 27.0 in that event to place third.

Emerson Ritter with Two State Times and Huge Time Drops

Emerson was just starting to get rolling last spring when she managed to break her ankle while warming up for one of the early meets of the season. She has been waiting a whole year to get back to the mile. She swam most of indoors so focused on the 1000 in the handful of meets she ran. She's still learning how to maneuver in a crowded field. She ran two huge personal bests, chopping 5 seconds off her open 800 and 16 seconds off of her 1600 personal best. She ran 2:22.67 and 5:16.06 in the 800 and 1600 which qualified her for states in both events. Grace Cook also qualified for the 1600, running 5:23.66 in the 1600. So much more coverage to come from the week. Stay tuned.

Fun Times and PR's Galore in NC!

Gust Lacy

It was a windy start to the season for most of the girls competing at Gus Lacy. The meet was held at Louisa instead of Fork Union as their track is not in good enough shape to host an invitational. We get it as our track has been in disrepair for most of the past ten years. The temperatures were not bad, but the wind made for challenging conditions in the field events as well as on the track.

Pole Vault

Raina Fitzwater still managed to clear 12-0 in the windy conditions. She and Caroline Pearson secured their spot at the state meet with state-qualifying jumps. Caroline Pearson vaulted a personal best of 10-6, which is remarkable in those conditions.

Maddie Hill

Maddie Hill placed 8th in the triple jump with a 32-02.75. Maddie also placed 7th in the 100 dash, running into a headwind. She also participated in the long jump and was a part of the 5th place 4 x 100.

Julia Hill

Julia Hill participated in the long jump, triple jump, 4 x 100 and the 200. She placed 4th in the 200 with a good early season time of 27.94. The 4 x 100 placed 5th with teammates Bailey Brethren, Elanor Shin and Maddie Hill.

Jordan Henderson

Jordan placed second in the 300 hurdles, running a 48.84 which is just one tenth of a second shy of qualifying for states. No doubt she will get the qualifying time in better conditions.

Winning 4 x 800 Qualifies for States

The team of Hailey Hodson, Abbie Apicella, Grace Cook, and Emerson Ritter ran well enough to qualify for the state meet. This was the first meet back for most of them and it was nice to get the qualifying time this early in the season. Hailey came back to place 6th in the 800 with a regional QT. Grace came back to place 5th in the 1600 running a regional QT. Emerson was 5th in the 800, also getting a regional QT.

Haily Hodson

Abbie Apicella

Grace Cook

Emerson Ritter

Several other athletes competed well in what was for most, their first meet of the season. Lilly Jamison jumped 4-6 in the high jump tying her personal best. Juliett Kielbasa ran a strong 13:20, pacing smartly behind a runner who helped block the wind. She got a district QT of 13:20. Audrey Miracle, who swims during the winter, threw 76-10 in the discus and 24-07.5 in the shot put. Her shot put was a 6-inch personal best.

Lily Smith back on track

Lily Smith spent the winter swimming and in her first race back she finished 7th in the 1600, running 5:47.

Hazel Johnson

Hazel ran a regional QT in the 3200, running a good early season time of 12:46ish. Somehow she was left out of the results. Working on getting her back in.

Louisa JV Invitational

We kicked off the Outdoor season with a meet for our younger runners. It was fun to see them get to be the stars and for us to see what the future holds.

The 4 x 400 team of Finleigh, Liv, Anja, and SJ brought home the gold, running 4:40.54.

Juliet Kielbasa

Juliet made a late surge in the 1600 to finish second with a great early season time of 6:06.79. She came back to finish 6th in the 800 with a personal best of 2:44.96.

SJ Broadbent

SJ was out to get her open 800 personal best after running an impressive relay split indoors. She got a 10-second PR, running 2:36.23, finishing third. SJ was also the anchor on the winning 4 x 4.

Willa Gerlach finished third in the 1600, running a 6 second personal best from indoor!

Finleigh Broadbent finished 4th in the 400, running 69.04, only the second time she has broken 70 in the 400. She broke it again on her relay split. She also ran a personal best 29.24 in the 200 to finish 8th.

Haper Stone, has been collecting many nicknames, Pebble is my personal favorite. She managed to tie her personal best in windy conditions. She vaulted 7-6 finishing 5th.

Liv Blakey, finished 5th in the 400, running 71.26. She ran the 200 before coming back in the 4 x 4, splitting 71.04.

Abbie Apicella

Abbie finished 4th in the 1600 and 7th in the 800, running 6:12.80 and 2:45.82. She spent the past season training and is working on getting back in race mode this season.

Anja Lehmensiek

Anja Lehmensiek ran a personal best 2:40.73 in the 800 to finish 5th. She also ran a leg on the victorious 4 x 400 team. Anja has the blend of speed and strength to be a strong 800-meter runner.

Sarina He

Sarina dropped seven seconds off of her indoor 1600 time, running 6:24.03 and finishing 5th. She came back in the 800, running 2:53.08. Look for Sarina to focus on the 1600 and 3200 this season.

New Faces on the Track

The great thing about a JV meet is the newer runners have a place to shine. Indoor does not provide many opportunities for newbies, so many of them have been patiently putting in the training. We are looking forward to seeing them race more this season. Peyton Haium, pictured left, ran the 1600 and 800. She ran 6:38 and 2:56 respectively and had a big kick at the end of the 800. Below, top left is new this season. Hadley Cabell is an 8th grader who just joined us this season. She ran 6:40 and 3:01 in the 1600 and 800. She has great endurance. Look for her to make an impact right away in the middle school meets.

Paige Lane, just above, is working hard at practice. She ran the 1600 and the 800. Daisy McCown finally got a chance to race and she went after it. She led the first heat of the 1600 almost the entire way. She ran great early season times of 6:26 and 2:56. She is a race-day competitor and will have fun watching her times drop this season.

Western Runners Run 10 miler!

Grace Cook & Lily Smith

Grace and Lily ran the 10-miler finishing just under and over 70 minutes. Lily did the race last year, but this was the first time for Grace.

SJ Broadbent & Lauren Luna

SJ and Lauren ran the 10-miler in celebration of Lauren's birthday. They averaged under 9 minute miles in the rainy conditions. Everyone was super happy to have finished.

Adidas Coverage Continued

So Many PR's

The girls managed to extend their peak for three extra weeks, which is never easy, and still managed to get personal bests. For some of these athletes, it was their first time at Nationals. In the 200, both Camille Love and Julia HIll ran personal bests. Julia ran a 26.94, breaking 27 for the first time. Camille ran a 27.51 after running a 61.13 personal best in the open 400. She placed 8th in the freshman 400.

MS 400

Finleigh Broadbent and Windsor Torrence both ran personal bests in the 400 with Windsor breaking 70 for the first time and Finleigh running 70. This past Friday, Finleigh ran a 68.45 at the Amherst MS meet placing 4th out of 61 runners.

Sara Jane Broadbent

One of the most impressive performances of the week has to be SJ Broadbent in the freshman 400. She ran a huge PR, running 63.95. She has made impressive gains this season in both the 400 and the 800. If she keeps this up, she will be vying for a spot on the 4 x 400 team and possibly the 4 x 800. Both these teams were state champions during the indoor season so making one of these teams would be a huge accomplishment.

Henderson runs PR split on 4 x 4

Jordan Henderson, after a long weekend at Nationals, managed to run her fastest 400 split of the season, running 61.5. She teamed up with Maddie Hill, Emmy Battista, and Camille Love. Running in the National Elite section they ended 10th, running their second fastest time of the season.

Oh, the fun we had!

National's Recap

Three Individuals Make Podium

Hailey Hodson Wins the National Elite 800

Hailey didn't like her relay split from Saturday morning's race. When Hailey is not happy she goes in hyper-over-drive to do something about it. She put it all into the National Elite 800, running 2:20.47, leading for the second half of her race. She did not go out in front this time which is Hailey's usual style. She got out in 32.5 then proceeded to hit 36's till the end of her race, turning her head several times in disbelief. Where did they go?

Carter gets 4th in the Championship 400

Carter Torrence won her heat, but like at the state meet she was not in the fastest heat. She was in the second fastest heat and ran an indoor best to finish in 57.53., lowering her school record from last year.

Raina places 5th in the Championship Pole Vault

Raina Fitzwater had a disappointing state meet, but she was right back on the horse or pole in this case at The Adidas Nationals in Virginia Beach. She ended up 4th in the top division with a solid height.

Relays took Center Stage in Championship Division

Mixed 4 x 400 gets 2nd

We have never gotten to run the mixed 4 x 4, but couldn't think of a nicer group to kick off what I hope will be a tradition. So many special things about this team. First, we have the Torrence sisters who are making a name for themselves in middle-distance running here in VA. Then we have the couple, Bridger Clark and AJ Torrence. Finally, we have Connor Rittenhouse who is the son of Erin who was on the first state championship XC team I coached, back in the early 90s.

They set the bar high, finishing in 3:42.64. AJ ran her fastest indoor 400 split, running 60.4.

4 x 800 gets 2nd

The 4 x 800 team went after it, running a 9:29.32, just.08 off of the school record set at NB Nationals in 2017 at The Armory in NYC. Hailey Hodson led off and got the team in first place on her leg. Then AJ ran a personal best by 5 seconds, running 2:19.58. Emerson kept the personal bests rolling, also running a personal best 2:24.81. Then Carter ran her indoor best 800 relay split, running 2:18.71 which was even more impressive because she went out in 30 seconds for the first 200 trying to chase a 2:12 half miler from New England.

SMR gets 4th

The sprint medley team of Carter Torrence, Emmy Williams, Hailey Hodson and Emmy Battista set the school record, running 4:13.42. Both of the Emmy's went sub 27 on their 200s, Carter was sub 60, her 4th race of the meet and Hailey ran an outstanding 2:19.80 on her third 800 of the weekend another indoor best.

While the Sprint Medley is not an event we run often, with the talent we have this year, we may have to go after that relay more often.

Western heads to VA BCH to run in Adidas Nationals

Western Albemarle will compete as Crozet Crew this weekend in Virginia Beach to run in The Adidas Nationals meet at The Virginia Beach Sports Center. The team will start on Friday with Maddie Hill in the National Elite triple jump at 11 am. At about 5:25, the girls 4 x 200 will race in the National Elite 4 x 200. They are in heat #8. You can watch it live at Milesplit. At 7:45 pm we will have the Torrence sisters, Carter and AJ, with Conner Rittenhouse and Bridger Clarke in the mixed 4 x 400 relay. This is a relay where the legs are run girl, boy, girl boy. This relay is special because rarely do the girls and boys get to team up to run an event.

Grace Cook will kick things off Saturday with the National Elite 2 mile at 10:40. She has had a great winter training block and she's ready to do something special.

Maddie Hill will be at it again in the long jump at noon as well as the middle school younger sisters Windsor Torrence and Finleigh Broadbent in the 400. After that, there will be The Freshman 400 with Camille Love and SJ Broadbent. The National Elite 400 is to follow with Emmy Battista and AJ Torrence. Then the Championship 400 is at 2:35 where Carter Torrence. She will take on talent from New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas, and Alabama. Rock from NJ is the favorite, but after that, it is anyone's race.

At 4:10, the younger sisters are at it again in the 200 with Windsor Torrence and Finleigh Broadbent. The freshman 200 showcases Julia Hill and Camille Love which is scheduled for 2:55.

At 6:25 Hailey Hodson and Emerson Ritter will be running the National Elite 800. More information to come. Stay tuned. It is going to be an exciting weekend.

Twice as Nice

Both the Boys and Girls teams won the State titles this past week in the 3A State Championships. For the boys, it was the third win in 7 years. For the girls, it was the 6th one in 8 years.

Relays Come Through in a Big Way!

4 x 8

The 4 x 8 team of Carter Torrence, Emerson Ritter, Hailey Hodson, & Grace Cook, became the 6th team in 8 years to win a title. Hailey has been on the past 4 teams, part of 3 wins and one 2nd place. This win was so exciting as 4 teams broke 9:40, the National QT and the lead was held by at least 5 different teams.

4 x 200

The 4 x 200 team of Julia Hill, Emmy Williams, Jordan Henderson, and Maddie Hill placed third with their amazing hand-offs, They've worked very hard on their hand-offs and it paid off in a big way.

4 x 400

The 4 x 400 team of Emmy Battista, Camille Love, Jordan Henderson, and Hailey Hodson won the 4 x 400 to seal the state meet win. They battled it out in an exciting race to the finish where Camille outkicked a girl in the final straightaway for the win.

Carter Torrence with Two 2nd Place finishes

Carter Torrence, scored 18.5 points for the team placing runner-up in both the 500 and the 300. It was all the more impressive that she did not even get in the fast heat. Not having our region meet at a good venue played a big role in Carter not getting in the fast heat, but that did not stop her from scoring a big chunk of points in her open race and anchoring the 4 x 8 for the win.

Pole Vault Places Three in Top Eight

Evie Places Tied for 2nd

Evie Woodrow led the pole vault with a vault of 10-6. It wasn't her best, but enough to garner a second-place finish at the state meet.

Caroline Places 6th

Caroline Pearson finished in 6th with a vault of 9-6. Caroline has had a rough year with injuries and we are so happy to see her back at it and placing well.

Helen Places 8th

Helen Moak also jumped 9-6. She ended up 8th based on the number of misses. This is her first time competing at the indoor state meet.

Maddie Hill placed 5th in Triple Jump, with a 34-10.25 jump, her second-best jump of the season. Maddie was also a part of the third place 4 x 200 and she long jumped and finished 12th.

Hailey Hodson placed 6th in the 1000 with a 3:02.85, her season best by six seconds. She was also the lead-off leg on the winning 4 x 8 and 4 x 4. Emerson Ritter finished 11th in the 1000 running a personal best by 3 seconds. She was also a part of the winning 4 x 8.

Grace Cook finished 8th in the 1600 with a 5:18.29, her indoor personal best. She was a part of the winning 4 x 800 and also came back in the 3200, to place tenth.

Camille Love finished 8th in the 500 with a personal best of 1:20.04 and was the anchor of the 4 x 400. AJ Torrence was 9th in the 500 with a two-second personal best. Emmy Battista ran a 3-second personal best of 1:21.37 to finish 13th. SJ Broadbent ran a personal best in her first time competing in the state meet as a freshman.

Thank You!

A big thank you to all the parents who chipped in to drive to and from meets, make breakfasts on Friday morning practices, and all the things parents do to keep their athletes healthy so they can attend practice, meets, etc. It is a big commitment and all the coaches appreciate that support.

Districts and Regionals in one Week!

The Western girls seem to be peaking on time. The team used Districts to get as many people as possible to make it to the next level. Jordan Henderson did more than just qualify on to regional, she secured her spot at the state meet in the 55 hurdles by running a personal best 9.33, which is the third best time in Western Albemarle history. AJ Torrence also ran a personal best in the 55 hurdles at Districts and placed 5th. Her time puts her on the WAHS ALL-Time top ten.

Pole Vaulters Continue to Dominate

The district meet was another opportunity for our vaulters to show their depth. Raina Fitzwater, Evie Woodrow, Caroline Pearson, and Helen Moak took four of the top six places. Raina went on to set a new personal best in the pole vault at regionals, vaulting 12-8, a Virginia #1 height.

Maddie Hill Qualifies for State!

Maddie Hill has had an amazing week in her jumps. She set a personal record in the long jump by a foot, jumping 16-8.5 then came back to improve her triple jump by three feet! She qualified for the State Meet with both those marks.

Carter Places Second at Regionals in 55m

Carter Torrence ran a personal best time of 7.45 in the 55 m dash at regionals. That time puts her second in Western's History. She is one-tenth of a second off of Reese Mattern's record from three year's ago.

Western Runners Shine in the 500

Emmy Battista and Camille Love had a great week in the 500. Camille was the district champion running an impressive time on the FUMA track. Emmy came back in the regional meet to win the event and qualify by place for the state meet.

Sara Jane Broadbent Qualifies in 500

Sara Jane, better known as SJ, ran a brave race from the second fastest section in the 500. She pushed the pace and managed to get a third place and a spot in the 500 at states and she's just a freshman!

Julia Hill & Emmy Williams

Julia Hill and Emmy Williams finished 6th and 7th at Districts, running personal best times. They came back at Regionals to qualify for states running third and second. So exciting to have these two freshman runners headed to the state meet in an individual event.

Three 3200 m runners qualified for Regionals

Hazel Johnson, Logan Juhl, and Sarina He all qualified to run in the region meet. Hazel ran a season-best at districts and came back to place third at the region meet and will get a chance to compete in the state meet.

Emmy Battista Region 500 Champion

Emmy Battista put it all together at Regions, running a personal best in the 55 m, 7.73 then coming back to win the 500. We have five girls now qualified for the 500 at the state meet.

Louise Foster & SJ Broadbent

Louise and SJ finished 6th and 8th in the district meet, running huge personal best times. Liv Blakey also ran a personal best time and the three qualified on to the region meet where Louise and Liv finished 4th and 6th. Louise even managed to run a personal best time on the oval at Heritage. Not an easy feat.

Grace Cook & Hailey finish in Photo Finish

At regionals, Grace and Hailey finished third and fourth in the 1600, running within three one hundreds of a second of each other. They are both qualified in multiple events at states and are long-time training partners. At Districts, both Juliet Kielbasa and Willa Gerlach ran personal bests in the 1600 and qualified to run at Regionals.

Raina continues to rank #1 in the State

Raina Fitzwater placed first in the Woodberry Forest Meet and continues to be ranked tied for first in the state out of all divisions. Evie Woodrow was second and is ranked 4th in the State. Caroline Pearson was third with a 10-0 vault and newcomer, Harper Stone, finished 4th with an amazing first jump of 7-6. Amelia Hodson also vaulted 6-0 to finish 6th.

Harper Stone

Harper Stone vaulted onto the scend this past week at WFS vaulting an impressive 7-6 on her debut in that event. Harper splits her time with diving on the swim team.

Julia Hill

Julia Hill had a busy day finishing 3rd in the Triple Jump, 4th in the 55 dash, and 5th in the 300. She was also a part of the 4 x 200 team which finished 1st.

Jordan Henderson

Jordan Henderson finished second in the 300 m 3rd in the 55 hurdles, and 4th in the long jump. She was also on the 1st place 4 x 200 team with teammates Julia Hill, Maddie Hill, Emmy Williams, and Jordan Henderson.

Camille Love Lowers Time

Camille lowered her state QT in the 500 by another 1.5 seconds to win the event at Woodberry. She also ran a great second leg on the winning 4 x 400 team after participating in 3 field events.

4 x400 Lowers it's State QT

The team of Camille Love, Emmy Battista, Carter & AJ Torrence dropped another second off of the state time.

Western places 3 in top 4 of 1000

Carter Torrence had the opportunity to run the 1000 for the first time behind one of the best 1000 runners in the state. Carter, Hailey Hodson, and Grace Cook, all went under the state QT en route to placing 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.

Hazel & Logan go 1-2 in the 3200

Hazel Johnson has been racing herself into shape. After placing 4th in the 1600, she came back to win the 3200 running just off of her season best. Logan Juhl ran a strong second place, running a district QT in her first time in that event

Grace, Hailey, and Hazel go 1, 2, and 4 in the 1600

Western placed three runners in the top four in the 1600. Grace and Hailey ran state qualifying times and Hazel was using it for a speed workout for her 3200.

Big Week of Meets and Lots of Great Performances!

4 x 800 Team gets State QT

Sara Jane Broadbent

Hailey Hodson

Grace Cook

Carter Torrence

The second Polar Bear Meet at Louisa started with the 4 x 800 team putting together their best team of the season so far to get a solid time of 10:07.81 which should secure them a good spot in the fast heat at the state meet.

Eleanor Shin Tries High Jump

Eleanor Shin had a busy day. She got to do high jump for the first time and placed 5th with a jump of 4-4, she placed 7th in the long jump, she was part of the 3rd place 4 x 200 team, and placed 6th in the 300 with a time of 48.83. While she is just getting started in track, she has the potential to help out in many areas.

Bailey Brethren

Bailey placed 4th in the 300 with a time of 48.36, she ran on the 3rd place 4 x 200, and also competed in the 55 dash. Other members of the 4 x 200 were Ada Buer, Beatrice Campbell and Eleanor Shin.

AJ places 3rd

AJ Torrence has been working on hurdles this season with a focus on becoming an intermediate. She had a best time and placed third at Louisa.

Juliet Kielbasa

Juliet ran an indoor best on the 1600 to place 5th with a 6:08.38. She came back in the 1000 to place 8th.

Liv & Louise

Freshman runners Liv Blakey and Louise Foster ran PR's in the 1000. Louise placed 7th with a time of 3:37.74 with a strong finish.

Anja drops down to the 500

Anja Lehmensiek dropped down to try the sprints, competing in both the 500 and 300. She placed 4th in the 500 with a 1:31.20 and a short time later ran a 49.62 in the 300 to work on her speed.

Look for more track coverage of WFS later in the week.

Western Finishes 5th out of 120 teams at Bulldog in Lynchburg

Western had a day of strong performances to finish 5th out of schools from all over Virginia and some from out of state. The Pole Vaulters placed four in the top 5 with Evie Woodrow having another personal best, vaulting 11-6. Raina Fitzwater won the event with a 12-0 Vault, Helen Moak was 4th and Caroline Pearson was 5th.

Jordan Henderson had strong performances in the 55 Hurdles, 4 x 200 and the 300 meters where she ran a personal best of 43.76, a regional qualifying time. The 4x200 team of Julia Hill, Camille Love, Emmy Williams and Jordan Henderson ran their second best time of the season with clean hand-offs. Their time of 1:51.56 is a state qualifying time.

Emmy Battista PR's in 500 m

Emmy ran a personal best 1:24.02, just missing the state standard, but her fastest time by over a second.

AJ Torrence Qualifies for State on First Attempt in that Event

AJ Torrence also ran a personal best time in the 500, finishing in 1:22.32. Her time was a state-qualifying time.

Carter Torrence places 2nd in 500 m

Carter dropped another two seconds off of her season best to run a 1:16.37. She placed 2nd out of 173 girls in that event. Later she came back to place 13th in the 300 in 42.31 placing 13th out of over 300 girls. Jordan Henderson, Camille Love and Emmy Williams all ran personal bests in that event. Camille and Emmy Battista also placed tied for 9th in the high jump. Emmy Battista and Julia Hill both ran personal best times in the 55 dash earlier in the day.

Grace Cook Places 7th in 3200

Grace Cook got her state qualifying time in the 3200, running 11:43.10. She placed 7th in that event. Here she is with Kiera Lowman, the 2023 3A XC State Champion.

Hailey Hodson Drops another Second

Hailey dropped another second off of her 1000 time, running in a crowded field. Her time of 2:08.83 is a state QT. Emerson Ritter managed to get in another race between swim meets. She was also in a very crowded heat and got some good experience which will help her at the state meet.

New Stars Emerge at Louisa Polar Bear

We had many impressive performances at The Polar Bear Meet this past Friday at Louisa. The team was treated to temperatures in the 70's for most of the meet. The girls took full advantage and managed to get some qualifying times. Lilly Jamison, in her first time competing, in the high jump, jumped 4-6 to qualify for districts and place 5th in that event.

In the 55 hurdles, Bella Saucerman placed second running 11.24. She also ran a leg on the 4 x 200 which placed 6th, with team members Beatrice Campbell, Kelly Cummings, and Lilly Jamison.

The 8th graders ran well in the 500. Finleigh Broadbent ran an impressive time of 1:36. Cameron Huhyn and Dorothy Streit are more suited to longer races, but they gained valuable experience racing in the sprint event.

In the shot put, we had three throwers compete. Elisabeth Shin led the group with a throw of 28-5.0. This is her best throw by two and a half feet! She placed 7th with that throw. Also competing was Liya Knabe and Miriam Walcott.

S.J. Broadbent Qualifies for Regionals

SJ ran a five-second personal best in the 500, running 1:26.24 to finish 5th and ensure her spot in the region meet. Earlier in the meet, she ran an 11-second personal best in the 4 x 800 to split 2:35. The relay team placed second with Cora Matzke, Peyton Haium, and Anja Lemensiek. Anja knocked off nine seconds from her personal best to run a 2:43.

Anja Lehmensiek places 5th in 1000

Anja also knocked off seven seconds in the 1000. Her time of 3:38.94 placed 4th in the meet.

Big personal bests in the 3200

Juliet Kielbasa and Sarina He placed second and third in the 3200, running personal best times. Juliet knocked off seven seconds and Sarina knocked off twenty-two seconds, running 13:25 and 13:50 respectively. In the 300 Lilly Jamison, Miriam Walcott, and Kelly Cummings ran personal best times. Sara Price ran a personal best time in the 1600 placing 9th.

Pole Vaulters Impress at

Fred Hardy

The Pole Vaulters had a historic day at Fred Hardy. The boys had two vaulters go 14-0 to take first and second. Nathan Peterson and Ollie Woodrow took things to the next level taking first and second, both clearing 14 feet for the first time. Raina Fitzwater and Evie Woodrow also went one-two with Evie Clearing 11-0 for the first time.

Jordan Henderson finishes 5th

Jordan Henderson showed remarkable consistency in the 55 hurdles, running 9.57 in both the trials and finals. While it is just off her best time, it was good that she is getting more consistent with her races.

Logan Juhl finishes 6th

Logan Juhl placed 6th in the 1600, running a good novice time of 6:15.06. In the middle school 1600, Sophia cook took 3rd place.

Another teammate placing high was Maddie Hill with 6th place in the long jump with a 15-09.25. Finleight Broadbent placed 5th in the middle school 500. Emmy Williams had a personal best by over a half-second in the 300, running 47.62. For complete results, click here.

Six New State Qualifiers at Walt Cormack!

Western Albemarle finished fourth out of 23 teams in the Walt Cormack meet which drew teams from all over Virginia and DC, but the big news was the number of state qualifiers we had in this meet. We had several individuals who were racing for the first time this season and they did not waste any time getting themselves qualified. In the 500, Carter Torrence won the event in an impressive time of 1:16.73, 5 seconds faster than her time last week, which ranks her first in 3A in that event. Camille Love placed 5th in a time of 1:22.66 which qualifies her to the state meet and was a 5-second personal best.

Hailey Hodson Qualifies in First Race of the Season

Hailey shook off the rust after taking a 2-month break from racing to run a state qualifying time of 3:09.51. That placed her 5th in that event and ranks her 4th in 3A. Emerson Ritter, who swims in the winter while training 3 days a week for track, also qualified for the state meet, running 3:13.36.

Grace Cook 3rd in the 1600 & State Qualified!

Grace was another athlete who has been focusing on training for the past two months. She has been supplementing her training with some elliptical as she prepares to move to the next level next year at Utah Valley University. She qualified for the state meet, placing 3rd in the 1600, with a time of 5:25.75.

2 Relay Teams Qualify

The 4 x 200 and the 4 x 400 Qualified for the state meet. In the 4 x 200, Carter led off in 25.8 seconds to give the team a sizeable lead. The team kept the lead the entire way winning their heat and placing 4th. Other 4 x 200 members were Jordan Henderson, Julia Hill, and Maddie Hill. The 4 x 400 team, pictured above, also easily won their heat. Hailey Hodson led off and put the team in first place. Camille Love ran a strong leg, handing off to AJ Torrence. AJ handed off to sister Carter who proceeded to calmly run to the finish. Both teams are currently ranked 4th in 3A and will only get better once pushed.

Maddie Hill has PR Kind of Day!

Maddie Hill had an awesome day, starting off the day running a personal best in the 55m dash running a 7.77. In the long jump, she jumped a personal best 15-8 to qualify for regionals. She completed her treo of PBs by jumping a personal best in The Triple Jump with a 32-11. She placed 11th in both the long and triple jump. She also anchored the state qualifying 4 x 200. Congrats to Maddie on a full day of successful events.

Pole Vaulters Continue to Dominate

The Pole Vaulters placed two in the top four. Raina Fitzwater won the event in 11-6 and Helen Moak placed fourth in 9-6. Both Raina and Helen had previously qualified for states and continue to put up solid marks.

Other impressive times were turned in by AJ Torrence and Jordan Henderson who ran regional qualifying times in the 300, running 44.27. AJ dropped over a half second on her 300 time from last week. Jordan ran a season-best 44. 66 and her second fastest time of all time.

Carter Torrence Wins 3 Events at East Coast Elite Meet

Carter Torrence put on a show winning the 55 dash, the 300 and the 500. In the 55, she ran the second fastest time in Western Albemarle History. She also qualified for the state meet in all three events. AJ Torrence got 6th in the 55 dash and the 300, running a regional qualifying time in the 300. Lots of young runners got great experience running on a nice track at Roanoke College. Sarina He dropped 8 seconds from her 1600 time and Liv Blakey dropped 4 seconds from her 500 time. SJ Broadbent also got some good experience participating in the 500 and 1000 double.

8th Graders get a chance to compete in a big meet at Roanoke College

Finleigh Broadbent

Finleigh placed 5th in the middle school 500 and 8th in the 300, running a solid middle school time of 1:37.91.

Cameron Huynh

Cameron ran the 1600 and the 1000, placing 7th in both events. It was a tough double as there was not much time between events.

Western Pole Vaulters Top in The State

Raina Fitzwater

Raina cleared 12-6 at The FUMA Mini Meet on December 13th which ranks her tied for first in all divisions in the state of Virginia.

Evie Woodrow

Evie Woodrow became the fourth Western pole vaulter to qualify for the state meet, after vaulting 10-6 which puts her tied for 5th in all divisions of the state.

Julia Hill, Amelia Hodson, Emmy Williams and Maddie Hill Place 2nd in the 4 x 400

Amelia & Julia

Amelia also ran a leg on the 4 x 200.

Emmy

Emmy also ran a leg on the 4 x 200.

Maddie

Maddie also placed 3rd in the triple jump.

Camille Love

Camille got 3rd in the 500 dash.

Jordan Henderson

Jordan placed 3rd in the 300 with a regional qualifying time of 45.14. She also competed in long jump for the first time.

Pole Vault Qualifies 3 to States in First Meet

In the very first indoor meet of the season, the pole vaulters wasted no time in qualifying team members for the state meet. Raina Fitzwater led the way, clearing 12 feet to place first. Helen Moak set a big personal best to place second with 10 feet. Caroline Pearson placed third with a 9-foot vault. Raina's vault ranks her 2nd in the state of Virginia out of all divisions of schools. Caroline Pearson also placed 5th in the 55 hurdles.

4 x 400 with the Win

Izzie Park, Camille Love, Jordan Henderson, and Emmy Battista teamed up for the win in the last event of the day. Jordan Henderson earlier won the 55 hurdles. Camille Love placed second in the 300, placed 6th in long jump and ran a leg on the third place 4 x 200. Izzie also placed 5th in the 500.

Emmy Battista

Emmy had a great day leading off the winning 4 x 400, winning the 500 and placing 6th in high jump.

Maddie Hill

Maddie Hill placed second in triple jump, 4th in long jump and ran a leg on the 4 x 200.

Julia Hill placed third in triple jump, 8th in long jump and ran a leg on the 3rd place 4 x 200.

Emmy Wiliams placed 4th in the 300 and ran a leg on the 3rd place 4 x 200.

Anja Lehmensiek and Louise Foster ran on the winning 4 x 800 and placed 6th and 7th in the 1000. Other members of the 4 x 800 were SJ Broadbent and Logan Juhl. SJ also placed 6th in the 500.

Sophia Cook ran a strong race in the middle school 1600, running a huge personal best time of 6:43.60.

Other athletes placing high in events were Maura King who got a 5th in the 300, 8th in the 55 dash, and a 6th in the triple jump. Elisabeth Shin placed 6th in the shot put. Chloe Sachno and Hanna Kim took 4th and 5th in the 3200, both running personal best times. Cora Matzke got 8th in the 1000. Sarina He and Sara Price placed 7th and 8th in the 1600. The Warriors will head back to FUMA on the 13th before heading into the holidays.

Take a Look at Our Top Returning Athletes as

Indoor Track Meets Start this week

Western Albemarle enters this season, in a new division. The team will compete in the 3A division versus the 4A division they've been competing in. The Warriors bring back many high-placing athletes from last year's team. Starting from the top left we have Carter Torrence who won the 500 last year in Indoors and placed fourth in the 300. She also anchored our record-setting 4 x 400 team, placing 2nd indoors and outdoors at the state meet. Carter has the school record in the 200, 400 and 500 and is hoping to add another record this season. Raina Fitzwater returns as one of the top pole vaulters in the state. She was second in the last indoor season and came back to win the pole vault in the outdoor season. Also pictured above, is Hailey Hodson who placed third in the 1000 and was a part of the 4 x 800 team which was second this past indoor season and first during outdoor. She was also a part of the second-place 4 x 400 team. Hailey also ran a leg on the 4 x mile team at Nationals which set a school record.

Evie Woodrow comes back after placing 5th this past indoor state meet and 3rd in outdoors in the pole vault.

Caroline Pearson is another top pole vaulter returning. She placed 6th at the outdoor state meet after coming back from being injured during the indoor season.

Grace Cook returns after placing 9th at last year's state meet in the 3200. She was also on the winning 4 x 800 team at Regionals and 3rd at the indoor regionals in the 1000.

Julia Hill returns after triple jumping over 33 feet last year as an 8th grader. She has a great shot at making it to the state meet this season.

Other members coming back from last year who have a good chance of contributing are

Jordan Henderson, who was on the 2nd place 4 x 400 team from this past indoor state meet. She was also 8th in the 55h and 8th in the 300 at regionals.
AJ Torrence, who ran a leg on the 2nd place 4 x 800 at the indoor state meet.
Emmy Battista, and Maddie Hill, who were on the second place 4 x 200 team from indoor regionals. Maddie was also 4th at the Region meet in the 300.
Hazel Johnson, who placed 6th at regionals in the 3200.

Emerson Ritter Competes at Footlocker Regionals

Emerson Runs her 2nd Fastest Time In Crowded Field in Charlotte, NC

Emerson was the lone runner to compete this season from Western Albemarle. She traveled to Charlotte to compete among the best at Footlocker South. She broke 19:00 for the second time in her career and got to experience running with some of the top runners in a crowded field. The race is known for going out fast and it is hard not to get caught up in the excitement.

Team Virginia won in the team division, which included lots of familiar names: Allie Zealand in 3rd, Maddie Gardiner in 5th, Reese Dalton in 8th, Zoie Lamanna in 9th, Sadie Adams in 11th, Aidan MacGrath in 21st, & Madeline Gypson, 31st from Albemarle. So 4 of the top 7 were from Central Virginia. This has really been an amazing year for Central Virginia with all the local teams placing high at states and doing well in the postseason. Click for Complete Results.

Hailey Hodson Signs with

The Naval Academy

This past Tuesday, Hailey signed with The Naval Academy. Her family and friends were there to support her. We all are so proud of her as this accomplishment came after much hard work, dedication, and fearless determination. We know she has a bright future as she represents The Navy next year in Track. During Hailey's time at Western, we have only lost the state 4 x 800 one time when we placed second to Blacksburg last indoor season. We came back this past spring and won it again, the 5th time in 3 years. Hailey was also a member of the 4 x 400 team which placed second in the state meet and set the school record at both Penn Relays and then again at The Dogwood Track Classic. She was a part of the 4 x Mile Indoor Team which set the school record this past indoor season at New Balance Nationals in Boston. Hailey was a part of two State Championship XC teams, the last of which just occurred earlier this month. While Hailey is known for her ability to pump up the relay team and set the tone by running a brassy first leg, she has also placed individually and earned all-state honors in the 1000 and 800. We look forward to seeing her cap off her career at Western this winter and spring.

Abbie and Anja: True Strength and Dedication

These two juniors ran the longest mileage yesterday, and still finished with smiles on their faces. Here they are arriving at the end of their run. They started up the mountain together and finished strong together. Anja ran an excellent time of 37:41. She has come so incredibly far in the two years she has been running (and mountain biking!), and I can't wait to see what this season holds for her. The QUEEN OF THE MOUNTAIN this year was Abbie, finishing with a time of 37:11. This is almost a 2 minute improvement over her time from last year. I could not be more proud of Abbie's effort yesterday!