Both local schools, Parry Mc-Cluer and Rockbridge County, had their cross country teams compete in the 2025 Knights Crossing XC Invitational held at Green Hill Park in Salem on Saturday.
The Blues had three runners come in the top 50 in the boys race. Junior Kebryl Chandler placed fourth overall out of 436 with a time of 15:33.20, an improvement on his time from last year at the same meet (15:44.50, 7th).
Joining Chandler in a high placement was Caleb Cooper in 22nd place (16:30.70) and Logan Wheelock in 30th (16:58.30). Josh Cooper came in 47th place (17:12.70), Hinkley Lovelace in 64th (17:32.50), and Sam Carpenter in 277th (20:31.40). Newcomers on the team, Matthew Cooper and Kaleb Vassar rounded out the Blues in 294th (20:44.10) and 313th (21:05.90) respectively.
The Parry McCluer boys finished in fourth place out of 51 teams present and had 162 points.
The Wildcats boys team were only one place off of the Blues in fifth place with 271 points. Speaking on the race, Rockbridge head coach Juliet Tisone said “The runners had really good races, and focused on the second of the races.”
Leading the Cats was Trenten Cash who ran a time of 17:03.80 for a personal best and 34th place. “Trenten had a very strong race, finishing first for the team and setting a personal record,” said coach Tisone.
Tyler Ludtke was the next harrier to finish, coming in 42nd place (17:08.90). The trio of Sammy Eastwood (17:18.10, 52nd), Leif Guse (17:21.50, 57th), and Grant Swenty (18:01.40, 96th) all finished within a minute of each other.
Finishing the race for Rockbridge were the five runners of Lincoln Steele (18:29.00, 133rd), Blake McClung (18:38.60, 153rd), Hudson Saunders (19:13.10, 188th), Jude Eicholz (21:14.30, 318th), and Chase Potter (21:22.40, 325th).
Racing for the Wildcats’ girls team, Reagan Imler finished first for Rockbridge in 97th place out of 320 and with a personal best of 22.12.70.
Evelyn McClung was the next finisher in 142nd place (23:29.80). Dorothy Lewis placed in 178th place (24.34.80). Hanna Ivins (27:44.00, 264th), Audra Roney (30:40.50, 295th), and Gemma Batis (34:52.00, 314th) rounded out the race for the Wildcats.
The girls team came in 34th out of 39 with 831 points.
Looking ahead, the Rockbridge XC team will be running next at the Clash With The Titans 2025 meet held at Hidden Valley’s High School course in Roanoke on September 13th. The Blues will run again at the VA XC Showcase on October 18th.
