LEWISBURG (WVDN) – The Greenbrier East girls’ cross-country team edged out Woodrow Wilson to take the regional championship on Thursday afternoon, Oct. 20, at Spartan field in Fairlea.
East girls will now advance to the state championship at Cabell Midland High School in Ona on Saturday, Oct. 29, where they’ll face the best AAA runners in the state.
The East girls were predicted to take second place in the Region III AAA race, with Woodrow Wilson predicted to win, but a strong finish by Abbey Londeree in second place, Abby Dixon in fourth, Annie Whited in 11th, Luella Mansheim in 12th, and Maddie Lilly in 13th clinched the first-place win.
That strong, top 15 cluster of East runners was supported by Carter Wolfe in 33rd and Emmajo Palmer in 36th place.
Senior Londeree put a nice cap on a great season, coming in second overall at 21:06.5 at a pace of 6:48 of the 3.1-mile race, setting a PR on her home course.
Dixon, a junior, was right behind her at 21:38.6 with a pace of 6:58; freshman Whited finished the race at 23:22.1; sophomore Mansheim finished at 23:24.0; and freshman Lilly was just over three seconds behind her at 23:27.5.
The East girls finished with 42 points, edging out Woodrow Wilson who had 45 points. Woodrow’s top runner, Lauren Curtis, came in fifth place at 21:42, with Cecilia Lindley right behind her in sixth at 22:04.
As the second-place overall winner, Woodrow also advances to the state championship.
In addition to the top two teams, the top 10 individual runners qualify for the state meet.
That includes St. Albans’ Abigail Torman who came in first place overall at a time of 20:40. Other individual qualifiers were George Washington’s Ava Mitias, Oak Hill’s Chrissa Mayfield; and Princeton’s Hayley Collins.
The East girls were buoyed by a home-course advantage and new coach Robert McClintic, whose theme for the whole season has been “close the gap.”
The top-five girls did indeed close the gap at Thursday’s meet, finishing in a tight cluster, and the girls are ready to take on states.
