The Mathews Blue Devil boys’ squad completely dominated 5A Gloucester High School (50 points) as well as 4A Denbigh High School (75 points) with a perfect score of 15 points in cross country action last Wednesday.
The girls’ squad won their race as well, defeating Gloucester 24-31. The boys improved their record to 11-0 and the girls improved to 10-1.
“Gloucester has a very solid program with great coaching, so this was a big win for our team,” coach Drew Greve said about the Blue Devils’ win.
History was also made last Wednesday at Beaverdam Park, as both of the Mathews High School jayvee records were broken. Caleb Carson now holds the record for the fastest 5K time run by an eighth grade boy, coming in at 19:20. Emma Hudgins buried the old girls’ record, beating it by almost a minute with her time of 22:54. Hudgins would be in the varsity top seven if she were eligible.
The boys’ squad won with a sweep on Wednesday, with Justin Adams (17:42, first), Phillip Machen (18:21, second) Tucker Blackwell (18:33, third), Nick Brown (18:38, fourth) and Jalen Thomas (18:46, fifth) scoring points for the Blue Devils. Sam Jasinski (19:17, seventh) and Lance South (19:42, 11th) completed the varsity team. The next group of boys came in at 20:03 (Tyler Zabel), 20:06 (Ryan Morgan) and Sam Gale (20:41). Zabel, Morgan and Gale have all improved their times substantially since the beginning of the season. Others who have bettered their times this year include Michael Stewart (22:23) and Sawyer Hutson (24:38).
Mathews girls also had a winning race Wednesday, starting with a one-two punch (Kate van Emmerik, 21:42 and Ellie Gale, 21:50) to lead the way to their win against Gloucester. New runner Kaitlyn Thompson (23:04, sixth), Emily Brown (23:57, ninth), Kelly Nelson (24:28, 11th), Kristen Fauber (25:42, 15th) and Logan Howlett (26:10, 18th) completed the varsity team on Wednesday. Other notable finishes include Maddy Hobert (24:31, 12th), Maria Spadaccini (27:29, 21st), and Chloe Sanderson (28:31, 22nd). Hobert, Spadaccini, and Sanderson all ran personal best times.
The Mathews Blue Devil Harriers competed at Northumberland on Tuesday against Northumberland, West Point and King William. The teams will travel to Middlesex next Wednesday to compete against Middlesex, Essex, and Washington and Lee.