Stride for stride

Culpeper and Eastern View will take their cross country teams to participate in the Free Lance-Star All-Area meet today at Fredericksburg Christian School. The race will feature teams from all across Fredericksburg and the surrounding counties, which means it also pits some of the Battlefield District’s top runners.

Two runners from Culpeper’s two high schools will get a preview of what the competition will be like at the district championship meet on Oct. 28. Eastern View’s Charlie Bayne and Culpeper’s Colton Elliot are both among the top male runners in the district and both would like to claim the Battlefield title, but there is competition elsewhere.

“It will be really interesting to see all the top runners against each other at the All-Area meet,” Eastern View coach Paul Lutz said. “There are four or five runners that can compete for the district championship.”

Bayne and Chancellor’s Michael Waller each ran fantastic times last week on what turned out to be a very fast course at EVHS. They both clocked in at 16:20 for the 5K race with Bayne edging out Waller for the win in the Cyclones’ triangular meet.

“I felt really good running on the course and was really happy with my time,” Bayne said after the race. “Winning the district championship is definitely a goal for me this year.”

Spotsylvania’s Tony McBride is also among the top runners in the district so far this year. McBride finished a 5K in 16:56 this weekend. Elliot has been leading the way for Culpeper, consistently running around 17:30, but has been working toward peaking later in the season.

CCHS coach Kim Williams is confident Elliot can run with Bayne and the rest, and in cross country the difficultly of the courses can make it misleading to strictly compare times. With all four competing against each other today it could become clearer who the favorite is to win the district.

ON TOP FOR NOW: It’s way too early in the football season to get to worked up over district standings, but the Culpeper County Blue Devils have to enjoy the fact that, for now anyway, they are locked in a tie for first place in the Battlefield District.

The 21-7 victory at Caroline on Friday snapped a 16-game losing streak that dated back to Oct. 21, 2007, but now the Blue Devils are 1-0 in district play along with James Monroe, Chancellor and Courtland.

The stay at the top might be short lived with defending state champs James Monroe visiting Culpeper this week, but one shouldn’t necessarily predict the Devils will immediately fall back in to the district cellar either. After taking on the Yellow Jackets, CCHS will travel to King George (1-3, 0-1) before playing host to Spotsylvania (0-4, 0-1).

POLL SITTERS: The Associated Press released its first high school football poll of the year for Virginia and Madison County checked in the initial Group A top 10 at ninth, receiving one first-place vote.

The Mountaineers (5-0) aren’t the only Bull Run District team ranked. Clarke County was ranked third, claiming two first-place votes, behind Essex and Gate City.

In Group AA, future Orange County opponent Western Albemarle was ranked No. 7. No Battlefield District teams cracked the top 10, but Culpeper County High School’s next opponent, James Monroe, got four votes.

Virginia Prep Football Poll
Group A
  Rec.      Pts  
1.  Essex (3)              4-0       56    
2.  Gate City             5-1       52    
3.  Clarke County (2)    5-0       44    
4.  Gretna                 3-1       40    
5.  West Point (1)        6-0       33  
6.  Buckingham County   6-0       32  
7.  Eastern Montgomery   5-0       24  
8.  Clintwood               4-1       22    
9.  Madison County (1)  5-0       20  
10.  Riverheads           4-1       11  
(tie)  Sussex Central     3-1       11