Different year, same result: Collegiate's Harris repeats as girls cross country champ
EARLYSVILLE – Sometimes lost upon the casual observer is that success in cross country is all about team.
Certainly, there’s an individual aspect. That’s a given, but in the sport’s somewhat esoteric scoring system, the magic number is the total of the places of each squad’s top-five finishers.
In the VISAA Division I championship meet contested Thursday under overcast skies over the scenic, pristine 5K course at Panorama Farms, Collegiate’s girls placed a strong second with 70 points, just behind repeat champion Potomac (56) and ahead of third-place St. Catherine’s (138) in the 14-team field.
While the Panthers went 3-4-5-15-29 to claim the title, the Cougars went 1-2 (defending champ Virginia Harris and Rosie Ferrell, respectively), and received strong performances from Claire Beville, Anne Lewis and Amelia Haske to ensure the runner-up finish.
By virtue of their top-20 finishes, Harris, Ferrell, Kailyn Harris (Trinity Episcopal), Beville, Sophie Hudson and Ella Farmer (both St. Catherine’s) earned all-state citations.
The boys championship race was even closer than the girls’ slim 14-point differential.
By placing two runners in the top 10 and relying on its well-tuned depth, Norfolk Academy claimed its first-ever state title in the program’s 62-year history with 99 points, just ahead of runner-up St. Stephen’s-St. Agnes (107). St. Christopher’s placed seventh (176), Trinity Episcopal 12th (286), Collegiate 13th (294) and Benedictine 16th (467).
Grayson Jones (second, 16:13) and LT Nguyen (fourthh, 16:22), both from St. Christopher’s, and Collegiate’s Reade Lewis (15th, 17:27) earned All-VISAA honors.
Norfolk Academy’s Brogan Brown (third, 16:19), Matt Bousman (ninth, 16:34) and Ashton Crocker (19th, 17:37) also earned all-state honors. Finn Guzik and Taylor Wise, the Bulldogs’ 4-5 finishers, were the difference-makers.
“Honestly, these guys were fighting for each other,” said Mike Pfaff, Norfolk Academy’s head coach. “Right at the starting line, they looked at each other as brothers. A lot of them have been working for this for five or six years together. These guys fought for every place. Couldn’t be prouder of them.”
Brown, a junior, ran in the top pack before Jason Day of Bishop Ireton pulled away around the midway point en route to victory (15:36).
“Going into last cross country season, we had a goal of winning a state championship,” Brown said, “but through a combination of things, we came up short of what we wanted, so it means a lot for us to make it here.
“We all look up to a lot of people that were here before. The struggle is figuring out what our legacy can be and knowing we’ve had an impact on the program. We were raised up by those people, and their inspiration brought us here.”
The girls championship race began with a tightly clustered pack jockeying for position over the undulating terrain amid the brilliant Albemarle County foliage before Collegiate’s Harris (18:43) and Ferrell (19:06) pulled away near the 2K checkpoint.
“This was just so special because I got to be with my girls,” said Harris. “We worked so hard to get to this point and had a lot of fun. This season has had some ups and downs, but it was my last cross country race in a Collegiate uniform, and I went out there with (a mindset that) I’m going to put it all out there for my girls.
“All that we ask of each other is that when we step on the line, we put everything we have into the race and leave it all out there on the course. Everybody did that today.”
Both seniors who have trained and raced together for five years, Harris and Ferrell worked off each other’s strengths and held off Potomac’s Elizabeth Widor, Sasha Altschuler and Sienna Anderson, who finished 3-4-5.
“It’s been a really big gift to be able to run together with Virginia since eighth grade,” said Ferrell, whose first-place finish with Harris as runner-up led the Cougars to the League of Independent Schools title a week ago. “That way, we’ve gotten to know each other and trust each in the way we compete and race.
“It really doesn’t matter who finishes ahead of the other because we compete out of a joy for each other.”
Collegiate’s girls won four consecutive team titles (2021-2024) before placing second a year ago.
“Potomac has a great team this year,” Cougars coach Matthew Richardson said. “They ran well. We ran well. The places just fell where they did. In the end, the real competition is against who you were yesterday, and you try to be a little bit better today.
“This is a special group of girls with a lot of senior leaders. There’s no ego in any of them. They’ve worked hard all season and competed great today. They’re proud of their teammates and proud of running for Collegiate.”
