The Mathews High School boys’ and girls’ cross country teams had a stunning season opener on Sept. 3 at Essex against Essex and Washington and Lee.

Both teams won and made it look easy on a tough course against even tougher competition. The teams have aspirations to place at states later this year and that was evident in their strong performance this early in the season.

The boys were led by Justin Adams who finished first overall with a time of 17:52, a very impressive time for the first meet of the season. Following him were Jalen Thomas, Sam Jasinski, Caleb Carson and Lance South, as the top scoring runners. Rookie Caleb Sadler took everyone by surprise by finishing seventh in his first race with a time of 21:57. If he continues to run like this, he has a strong possibility of competing at the state meet as a freshman.

Rileigh Betz finished second overall and first for the Mathews girls with a time of 25:29. Close behind her were Reilly Price, Logan Howlett, Tiffany C...