Coach Rose Brogan’s girls’ team scored a nearly perfect win. If a team takes the first five places in a cross country meet, it scores a perfect low score of 15. The final score of this three way meet was: Fluvanna County High School 16, Madison County High 51 and East Rockingham High School 76.
The first place finisher in this meet for the Flucos was senior Stephanie Bossong, who completed the 5K (3.1 mile) course in 21:35. Fifty eight seconds behind Bossong was Fluco sophomore Devon Burger. Sixteen seconds behind Burger was Fluco junior Nikki Douma. Fifteen seconds behind Douma was fourth place finisher junior Brooke Haislip. Accordingly, Fluco runners took the first four places in this event. The Flucos almost had the top five spots, as sophomore Peyton Olinger was beaten out for fifth place by only five seconds.
Coach Tom Casto’s boys’ team also scored an easy win in its three way competition. The final scores were: Fluvanna County High School 27, Madison County High School 46, and East Rockingham High School 47. Leading the boys’ team to this victory were standout runners Chris Markham and Travis Moe. Markham, who is a senior, completed the course in a very impressive17:57 for first place, while Moe who is a sophomore was right on Markham’s heels with second place time of 18:02. The third place finisher was more than a minute behind Moe. Finishing in sixth and seventh respectively for the Flucos were freshman Jonathan Corbin and sophomore Austin Early. Senior Michael Mattson was eleventh to round out the top five finishers for the Flucos.
Although it is still early in the season, the Fluco cross country runners have been making a strong showing to date. On Aug. 28, both teams traveled to the Panorama Course in Albemarle County to take part in the 2012 Ragged Mountain Cup event. This event is a kick-off to the Fall season, and it consists of a four person team, two mile relay competition. In the girls’ event, 22 teams competed and the Fluco A team finished a very impressive second. The girls’ A team consisted of Nikki Douma, Devon Burger, Stephanie Bossong and Brooke Haislip. Douma had the third best two mile time for all 88 runners, while Burger was right behind with the fourth best time. They ran 12:53 and 12:55 respectively. Bossong had the eighth best time, and Haislip had the 24th best time, so all four A team runners were in the top 25.
On the boys’ side the Fluco A team was seventh out of 33 teams. and the B team was14th. Coach Casto split his two top runners, with Chris Markham running on the A team and Travis Moe running on the B team. Markham had the fifth best time over two miles and Moe had the 12th best time. They ran 10:50 and 11:10 respectively.
Coaches Casto and Brogan both advise that they are pleased with the way their teams are progressing. Both teams have a mix of experienced and younger runners, so the future appears to be bright for Fluco running. Casto advises that he currently has a squad of 15 runners in the 8-12 grades. Brogan reports that she has 36 runners, an amazing level of participation, from these same grades.
The Fluco cross country squads run at home only once this season. They will host Jefferson District rival Monticello High School at Pleasant Grove on Oct. 3 at 5 p.m. They have a big Jefferson District meet at Powhatan High School on Oct. 24, with a 3:30 p.m. start time.
