The Mathews High School cross country team competed in two very intense meets over the past week. Racing above their division last Wednesday, they traveled to Pocahontas State Park to battle it out with such blazing fast teams as James River High School and Midlothian High School. The MHS boys came in sixth place out of nine teams; the girls came in seventh.

On Saturday, they competed in the Maymont Cross Country Festival in Richmond. The girls’ team earned a spot on the podium by ranking third in the Varsity Silver race and the boys placed fourth.

These two races mark the first losses on the regular season for MHS cross country, although on Wednesday many runners set a new personal record for their 5K race times. Justin Adams finally broke the 17-minute barrier finishing in 16:47. This time earned him fifth place overall. The next Mathews runner, Jalen Thomas, came in at 18:13, his personal best. The remaining top five runners were Sam Jasinski (18:24), Lance South (18:54) and...