News: Girls runners-up, boys 4th in state championship meet
2015
The state championship races were held November 7th, the latest in the calendar they have ever been held. The day marks the end of a long season of work for most (several of the girls will continue to train for the Nike Southeast Qualifying race at Wake Med in late November) and all of the state's top distance runners get to toe the line against each other and see what each is truly made of.
The 4A boy’s race went off at 10:30am. The boys were hoping for their first top-5 finish since winning the title in 2010. The pace was a fast one right from the start, at least considering the conditions. Several hours of rain made for very muddy racing conditions and made the course a very difficult one on this day. When it was all said and done, the boys had an amazing 1-to-5 split of 20 seconds to capture fourth place. The Falcons were the first team with five runners across the finish line, and their team total of 97 was only 30 points behind first-place Mount Tabor. The boys team was led by Peyton Barish, Henry Pehr, Nick Veilleux, Ian Delgado, and Daniel Vo. Five of the team's top six finishers return next year, so the great pack running and high finish were hopefully indicators of good things to come.
The girls were going after their 7th straight state title. Everyone knew they would be battling strong teams from Leesville Road and Cardinal Gibbons, but it was not meant to be this year. The Falcons appeared to have the lead at the halfway point of the race, but Gibbons finished strong and edged Green Hope by 4 points for the team title, 63-67. Top-five scorers for GH were Elly Henes, Morgan Adams, Alessandra Rodriguez, Samantha Kolor, and Shannon Kelly. While the Falcons were disappointed, it marked the end of another very successful year.
Congratulations are in order for all of the runners who raced so well this year and a big thank you to all of the parents and coaches who helped make it happen. Best of luck to the girls who will race on Thanksgiving weekend at Wake Med in the Nike Southeast Qualifier. Now it is time for all returning runners to enjoy a week off or so and then get to work on being even stronger runners in 2016!