By Duncan Nixon, Correspondent
One of the premiere events of the local cross country running season is the Ragged Mountain run held each year at Panorama Farms in Earlysville. This year the event was held Sept. 5.
Teams of four runners per squad compete in a two mile per runner relay. Times are also recorded on an individual basis so that there is a ranking for teams and a ranking for individual participants.
This year Fluco sophomore running standout Emily Smeds recorded the fastest time of any of the female runners. She turned in a two-mile time of 12:31, which was the fastest time by eight seconds. A winning margin of eight seconds is impressive in an event such as Ragged Mountain which includes many elite runners.
Schools in this competition may enter multiple teams, and running powerhouses Albemarle and Western Albemarle each took two of the four top team spots in the relay. The Fluco top relay team took seventh place, out of 22 teams in the relay race. Therefore, the Fluco finished fifth on a school by school basis.
The other three runners on the Fluvanna relay team turned in very creditable times. The second runner in the relay for Fluvanna was senior Brianna Parker, who finished in 15:25. The third runner for the Flucos was sophomore Emily Beckman, whose time was 14:11, which was good for 24th overall out of 88 runners. The fourth leg for the Flucos was run by junior Hallie Lintecum, who completed the two miles in 15:20.
The Flucos also entered a B and a C team in this event. Although these teams finished fairly well down in the standings, three of the runners came in at under 16 minutes. Running on the B team, junior MaryAnn Chittenden finished in 15:14, a slightly faster time than two of the A team runners. Competing on the C team, junior Kieri Hart finished in 15:53, while sophomore Samantha Clarke ran two miles in 15:56.
While this is probably a building year for Coach Rose Brogan after the loss of several top runners to graduation, Smeds and her teammates appear to be able to compete on the high level that Brogan’s team has achieved for many years.
