The Mathews High School Cross Country teams participated in two meets over the past week.
Last Wednesday, the MHS boys and girls traveled to Lancaster High School, with both Mathews squads beating Washington and Lee and the host Red Devils.
For the boys, Nasir Thomas was first to finish in 18:59. He placed third overall in the meet. He was followed by a large Blue Devils pack that finished fourth through 11th overall.
That group consisted of Cameron Stearns (19:48), Caleb Carson (19:48:5), Calvin Kramer (20:00), Will Hutcheson (20:08), Sean Carlson (20:09), Kirk Casper (20:10), Wade Webb (20:45) and Aaron Miles (21:01). Next to finish for Mathews were Blake Atkins (21:40), Josh Rosadino (21:44), Isaiah Bivins (21:45) and Finn Ciszewski (22:10).
The next group to finish included Carson Brown (23:04), Dylan White (23:08) and Kris True (23:17). Rounding out the team were Solomon Hess (23:57), Presley Murphy (24:16) and Matt Taylor (27:47). Mathews won the meet with a team score of 25 points, beating Lancaster (36) and W&L (83).
First to finish for the Lady Blue Devils was Britney Ottarson with a time of 24:35. She placed third overall in the meet. Right on her heels were Abbie Hudgins (24:40) and Jaysen Hall (24:55). Next was Connie Johnson (25:01), Rileigh Betz (25:01:5) and Avery Betz (25:21). The next pair to finish was Skylar Lewis (25:59) and Riley Price (26:24).
The final pack to finish for the Blue Devils consisted of Kayla Stearns (27:59), Kamryn Blake (28:13), Zoe Goodwin (28:17) and Tiffany Condron (28:52). Mathews finished first in the meet with a team score of 22 points, with W&L (50) and Lancaster (64) placing second and third.
On Saturday, the runners traveled to the Eastern State course in Williamsburg for the William and Mary XC Invitational.
The first race of the day was the JV girls, of which Mathews entered only four. While there were not enough runners to constitute a full team for the race, they performed well. Finishing first was Goodwin, in 47th, with a time of 25:59. She was closely followed by Blake (26:27) and Condron (26:55). The squad was completed by Caroline Evans (29:41).
The next race was the JV boys, which had 10 Mathews runners competing. Stearns finished first for the team, and 12th overall, with a time of 19:10. He was followed by Rosadino (20:28), Bivins (21:05) and Ciszewski (21:20). Next for the Blue Devils were True (22:36), White (22:54) and Brown (22:57). Rounding out the team score were Murphy (23:35) and Taylor (27:44). The JV boys came in fifth, with a team score of 189.
In the Varsity B Girls’ race. Mathews entered seven runners. First for the Blue Devils was Hudgins, 18th overall, in 23:59. She was followed by Ottarson (24:02), Rileigh Betz (25:04) and Avery Betz (25:12). Closing out the team score were Lewis (26:24), Stearns (26:51), and Caroline Bray (28:50). The girls tallied a team score of 151 points, for a sixth-place finish.
The final race was the Boy’ Varsity B. Mathews entered nine runners. The first Blue Devil to finish was Nasir Thomas, third overall, in 18:31. He was followed by Hutcheson (19:06), 10th overall. Next for Mathews were Carson (19:27), Kramer (19:33), Carlson (19:43), and Miles (19:59). Team score was rounded out by Casper (20:18), Webb (20:39), and Atkins (22:26).
The Blue Devils finished with a final team score of 54, coming in second place with many new season records set.
The teams were scheduled to race yesterday at Beaverdam Park against Lancaster, Rappahannock, West Point, Essex and Northampton high schools.