Cross country notepad

Date published: 10/16/2008

An extra hour of driving time was well worth it for the Mountain View Wildcats last weekend.

Because of scheduling conflicts, the Cats skipped the Walt Disney World Classic meet the past two seasons and went to the Embry-Riddle competition at Daytona Beach instead.

The return trip to Lake Buena Vista (near Orlando) saw Mountain View's girls capture the team title in the elite division and senior Thomas Porter trim more than seven seconds from the meet record in claiming the boys individual crown.

Mountain View and Toms River (N.J.) recorded 1-2 finishes in the two team competition. The elite division included 75 female runners and 48 male runners.

Despite sweltering 9os heat, Dave Davis decision to split his 12 girls between the elite and junior varsity divisions paid off as the Cats edged Toms River, 61-72.

Kaitlin Davis finished third in 18:47.5, Mandy Perkins of Spruce Creek, Fla. won the race. Other high finishers for the Wildcats included Mariah Elly (ninth, 19:57.4), Liz Reinwald (10th, 20:09.4) and Lauren Braney (13th, 20:29.5).

Porter finished 46 seconds ahead of the boys runner-up with a 15:22.7 clocking. The rest of the Cats pack included: Logan O'Baker (eighth, 16:57.9), Jared Elly (ninth, 17:05.1), Grant Shoope (11th, 17:09.2), Brad Shultos (12th, 17:11.7) and Tom Wisniewski (14th, 17:20.3).

Dave Davis anticipates Mountain View competing with Albemarle and Colonial Forge for the Commonwealth District team titles at Willomere Park on Oct. 23.

NEW ARRIVALS AT PRATT

Newcomer Eastern View and the staging of junior varsity girls and boys races are some of the attractions for next Wednesday's Battlefield District meet at Pratt Park in Stafford County.

Pratt Park has been the site for Northern Neck District competition in the past, but this will be its first Battlefield championship meet. The JV races begin at 2:45, followed by the varsity girls at 4 and the varsity boys at 4:30. The top four teams and top 15 finishers qualify for the following week's Region I meet at Loriella Park.

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Email: sports@freelancestar.com.

--Kurt Nicoll

Date published: 10/16/2008