This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

South Lakes Boys Finish Third, Qualify for State Cross-Country Meet

Nick Guarnaccia finishes 12th; also moves on as individual.

At the start of the season, South Lakes High School cross-country coach Kevin Donovan met one-on-one with every single member of his team asking each runner what his goals were for the upcoming season.

Everyone said the same thing: Win a district title and advance to the state championshio meet.

The Seahawks accomplished their first goal last week, winning the Liberty District crown. They took step two at the Northern Region Cross Country Championships Thursday. South Lakes needed to place in the top four out of the 16 schools that made it to Regionals. The Seahawks succeded - finishing third and advancing to the VHSL State Cross Country Championship.

Find out what's happening in Restonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"It's big," Donovan said. "It's just the fifth time in school history."

The muddy terrain at Burke Lake Park, along with a constant downpour, didn't affect the Seahawks. Nick Guarnaccia finished in 12th place out of 125 runners with a time of 15:53.79. By placing in the top-15, Guarnaccia qualified individually for the state meet.

Find out what's happening in Restonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"Obviously conditions weren't good," Donovan said. "It was a really gusty race for him and it was the first time him making it to states individually. I'm happy for him it capped a great year. One of the keys to our success has been him and Will Sickenberger, who's always been right there at the front of each race we were in.

Sickenberger barely missed out on states individually, placing 17th with a time of 15:59.70.

Alex Clough set a personal-best with a time of 16:22.50, and Kevin Muir was within a second of his best time at 16:42.30.

The Seahawks team that will advance to the state level consists of Nick Guarnaccia, Will Sickenberger, Austin Leggett, Alex Clough, Andy Reinhold, Kevin Muir and Fred Kyle.

The boys teams from West Potomac and Lake Braddock came in first and second, respectively, while Herndon came in fourth. Lake Braddock won the girls meet and was followed by Jefferson, West Potomac and West Springfield.

The top boy's runner was Ahmed Bile, who ran the 2.98-mile course in 15:22.30 and Lake Braddock's Sophie Chase dominated the competition with a time of 17:38.90.

The VHSL State Cross Country Championship meet is Nov. 13 at Great Meadow in The Plains. The AAA boys race is at 11:15 a.m. Admission is $8.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?