Virginia takes top honors in cross-country regional competition

Virginia 4A champ Weini Kelati and N.C. 4A champ Nevada Mareno came into Saturday’s Foot Locker South Regional at McAlpine Park unbeaten this high school cross country season.

And both were hoping to stay that way.

But Kelati, a junior from Heritage High in Leesburg, Va., and the nation’s top-ranked girls’ cross country runner by milesplit.com, began pulling away just before the two-mile mark of the 5K course and won, 16 minutes, 43 seconds to 17:05 at the 37th annual meet that attracts state champions from 14 southeastern states, as well as champions from Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and U.S. citizens at overseas military installations.

The top 10 boys and girls in the seeded races earned a trip to nationals in San Diego on Dec. 12.

In the boys’ race, three-time Virginia 3A champ and Virginia state meet record holder Andrew Hunter (Loudon Valley High) won easily and repeated as champion, running 14:26 to break the high school boys’ course record of 14:28 set in 2012 by Sean McGorty of Fairfax (Va.) Chantilly High.

Virginia 3A champ Gannon Willcutts (Western Albemarle, Crozet, Va.) and Virginia 6A champ Jonathan Lomogda (Cox High, Virginia Beach, Va.) each ran 14:59 to finish second and third, respectively.

“I wanted to run fast. I wanted to win. I just ran the first mile hard and just saw how I felt from there,” said Hunter, who came through the first mile in 4:28 and the second mile in about 9:10. “If I wasn’t feeling it, I wasn’t going to hurt myself too bad, because the ultimate goal was to win. I’m pleased.”

Hunter, who has committed to perennial national power Oregon and will be the top returnee at nationals after finishing fourth last year, became only the fifth boy to repeat as champion in the meet’s 37-year history and the first since Alan Webb (South Lakes High, Reston, Va.) did it in 1999 and 2000.

For Mareno, a Raleigh Leesville Road junior who ran the second-fastest time by a North Carolina girl at McAlpine since the course opened in 1980, she found something positive in the loss because she qualified for nationals.

“I was obviously going to go for the win no matter what,” Mareno said. “Why would you not try? ... There was a point where I was like, I think I’m safe now (as far as qualifying). I can’t hear anyone behind me. Play it safe, make sure I don’t hurt myself, make sure I don’t mentally drain myself before the big race in a few weeks … just stay here, take the loss. It’s a win, too.”

Also qualifying from North Carolina was two-time N.C. 3A champ Anna Vess of Asheville AC Reynolds, who was born in Charlotte before moving to Asheville when she was four years old. She took the last qualifying spot, finishing 10th in 17:40.

This story was originally published November 28, 2015 at 7:44 PM with the headline "Virginia takes top honors in cross-country regional competition."