The FVHS mens and womens cross country teams both won the conference in a 5k race, Oct. 15 at Wake Med Soccer park.
Senior Nandan Sachin led the way for the mens team, securing second overall.
“[Being] conference champions is a big thing because we haven’t had a conference championship in a really long time,” said Sachin.
Sachin ran a 17:26 for his 5k, reaching the finish line just under a minute after the first place finisher from Cleveland did. The top two in his race finished a whole two minutes before the rest of the runners, highlighting the rivalry between them.
In cross country, team scores are determined by adding up the finishing positions of the top five runners on each team, with the lowest score winning.
The Bengals scoring runners were Sachin in second place, junior Connor Driscoll in sixth place, senior Brady Thomas in eighth place, sophomore Joshua Selig in 11th place and junior John Ihnatolya in 12th place.
Placing just outside of the team’s top five were sophomore Andrew Longo in 13th, sophomore Jude Althaus in 18th, sophomore Thomas Luke in 25th, freshman Grohoski Gabriel in 28th and junior Noah Crowl in 31st.
Senior Raegan Redwine led for the womens team, also placing second overall.
“This year we really stepped it up as a team and had so much dedication and put so much time into winning the conference,” said Redwine.
Redwine ran a 20:06 for her 5k, finishing a mere 30 seconds after the first place runner from Clayton. Redwine came in one second before the third place finisher and two seconds before the fourth place runner, showing just how competitive that second place finish was.
The womens team’s scoring runners were Redwine in second place, junior Kyleigh Harp in fourth place, sophomore
Ella Lund in seventh place, junior Kate Gallagher in 11th, and sophomore Sydney Murphy in 12th.
Placing right outside of the team’s top five were sophomore Alyssa Morton in 13th, sophomore Reese Norton in 14th, junior Olivia Dowling in 20th and freshman DeBruin Tyler in 21st.
Overall, winning the conference for both teams was a big step forward for the FVHS cross country team, and the number of non-senior runners on both teams shows that next season could be even better.
The Bengals now turn their attention to the 7A Central Regionals, taking place this Saturday, Oct. 25 at Wake Med Soccer Park.
