On November 11, the boys and girls cross country teams made Western Albemarle High School history. For the first time ever, the boys and girls cross country teams won a state championship in the same year.

The girls team faced a very tough challenge at the state championship meet. They only ousted Hidden Valley High School by one point, 55-56. The boys team dominated the competition scoring an impressive 47 points and 54 points lower than second-place Abingdon High School.

The boys team was led by sophomore Joe Hawkes who finish second overall in the 5K race. Hawkes (15:48) was closely followed by sophomore teammate Jack Eliason (16:10), who finished seventh overall and thirteenth place finisher freshman Joseph Taylor (16:21). Senior Will Koester (16:39) and sophomore Stuart Terrill (16:43) rounded at the top five on the team

The girls team was led by senior Zoe Clay. Zoe Clay (18:41)  also finished second overall in the meet. Junior Alyssa Santoro-Adajian also place top five in the meet overall with a time of 18:56. Juniors Emily Winder (19:50), Caroline Mcgahren (20:06), and jenna Hill (20:09) also scored for the Western Albemarle girls.

Both the boys and girls team were ecstatic with their success at states. “We had a lot of injuries throughout the year. To finally have the whole team and race was really great,” said Joe Hawkes.

The boys team especially struggled with injuries throughout the year. The state championship meet was the only meet where all of the team’s top runners were healthy for the same meet.