Baker, Ayers run to county championships

By Jerry Holsworth -- sports@nvdaily.com

STRASBURG -- Central's Cole Baker and Strasburg's Colin Christenson staged a fierce battle for supremacy at Monday's Shenandoah County cross country meet at Strasburg High School.

The cross-county rivals traded the top position in the boys race several times before Baker out-kicked Christenson for first place at the finish.

"I got in front of him in the backstretch, but he came right back and took the lead," Baker said. "I decided to stick with him and wait for the last 100 meters."

It was those last 100 meters that determined the race.

"I just tried to stick with him, and risk everything on who wanted it the most," Baker said. "I didn't think that anyone wanted it more than I did."

That proved to be the case, as Baker (17:15) nipped Christenson (17:16) at the finish by the barest of margins.

"He had a tremendous race," Falcons coach Melissa Wright said. "I know that Cole wanted to finish first today, and he put himself in a position to do just that. He really did a great job at the end of the race."

Central's boys posted six of the top 10 finishes to defeat the Rams 25-34 for the boys title. Stonewall Jackson was third with 61 points.

Central also got strong performances from Brandon Poff (third, 17:19), Joe Nilson (sixth, 17:54) and Marshall Brill (seventh, 18:07). The Rams were led by Dylan Morey (fourth, 17:30) and Patrick Kohlhaas (fifth, 17:40). The Generals' top finisher was Donnie Sobanko (12th, 18:42).

Strasburg dominated the girls competition, getting what would be considered a perfect team score with 15 points. The Rams' top six runners took the top six places.

Leading the Rams was Katlyn Ayers (18:40), who dominated the field, winning her race by finishing almost three minutes ahead of teammate and runner-up Kirsten Campbell (21:03).

"I went out and tried to run the course as hard as I could," Ayers said. "The weather was perfect, and I really felt good all the way through. What was really amazing, though, was how our team finished. Taking all six of the top places is the equivalent of a perfect score in cross country."

With Ayers dominating the field, the best race of the day among the girls was the battle for second place between Campbell and teammate Rachel Taylor (21:07). With the freshman pair neck and neck with less than 50 meters to go, Campbell kicked into high gear to nip Taylor at the finish.

The Rams trio was followed by teammates Paige Shaw (fourth, 21:26), Gabe Giersch, (fifth, 22:23) and Sarah Elbon (sixth, 22:35). Central's Latisha Souza was the top finisher for the Falcons (seventh, 22:44), and Stonewall's Mandy Miller (ninth, 23:18) led the Generals in the race.

"We're really happy, but not just with the places," Rams coach Jeff Rudy said. "We're also really excited about the times, too. Those times are very competitive, not just for today, but for the rest of the season, too. At this time of year, everyone is worried about illness and injury.

"Those times show that we're not only heading into the postseason healthy, but we're peaking, too."

Strasburg was followed by second-place Central (47 points) and Stonewall (58).

"I thought our kids did the best they could," Stonewall coach Mary Clahahan said. "We had several people miss this meet because of illness and our one-act play tonight.

"Add to that the fact that we're racing against two of the top teams in the state, and I thought that our runners performed as well as could be expected."