After just 15 minutes and eight seconds, Senior Daniel Rockey crossed the finish line at the Oct. 19 Virginia XC Showcase, setting a school record for the 5k. This record performance, alongside some personal bests and high finishes, contributed to what Coach Kevin Rhue called an “awesome” season of cross country so far. Both the boys and girls teams have high hopes going into the upcoming regional meet in Chesapeake, on Saturday, Nov. 2.
Going into the season, the roster looked a lot different for the boys team, as four-time regional champion Armaan Chopra graduated last year. Chopra, who previously held the school 5k record alongside 2012 grad Matthew Schwartzer, now runs for the University of Iowa. However, as Coach Rhue explained, runners like Rockey and senior Andrew Meek stepping up have helped “ease the transition” since Chopra’s departure and “keep us competitive, on a big stage.”
Out of 282 runners at the highly prestigious XC Showcase on Oct. 19, Meek finished 63rd, and second among PA runners. He described the showcase, formerly known as the Milestat Invitational, as “a fun experience and a cool race.” While only in his second year on the team, he explained what allowed him to become a team leader, saying “it’s a lot of hard work, but Rhue’s a good coach, he guides us and gives us the work that needs to get done. You just have to trust the process.”
For Rockey, a 13th place finish, on school record time, was considered by him to be a “breakthrough race.” Not only did he eclipse the previous PA record, he surpassed it by 12 seconds. Rockey explained that his 5k time sat around 25:35 three years ago as a freshman but added that Rhue “really helped me grow as an athlete.” Rockey said that he believed in himself at the showcase, knowing that he was on school record pace throughout the race. His goal for the rest of the season is to get under 15 minutes for a 5k, and to “try and win” at the states meet.
Rhue explained what had allowed Rockey to perform so well at meets, citing that “he’s really serious about his training.” In particular, Rockey had traveled to Colorado and Colombia in past summers, two high-altitude areas of the Americas where runners go for increased intensity in runs. In addition, Rhue described him as “a really tough racer” who has “an incredible belief in his ability.” Rhue added, “When he crossed the line and I saw 15:08, I’m like my goodness, that is quick. That was super cool to see, honestly.”
The girls team started strong with a second-place team finish at Kellam on Sept 25th, in the first Beach District 5k meet of the season. Senior
Ysabel Wells finished second out of 116 racers at the race, while solid performances from junior Caroline Haen and sophomore Rosie Perez gave PA three runners in the top five. According to Rhue, the progress the girls team has made throughout the season has been “really fun to see.”
As Wells explained, the team has been “growing a lot this season,” and they hope to “make it work going forward at the regional event.” Wells was Princess Anne’s lone competitor in the girls state championship last year, and is in her second year as a team captain.
Both teams have a sizable number of seniors competing in cross country for the last time. Meek said that once the season is finished, he is “definitely going to miss the community aspect [of the team], and getting out there every day. Being able to get together with a bunch of guys who are trying to get better at something is really motivating.” Wells explained that she was grateful for “the camaraderie” of cross country and how “we can all go out and run together, and then we do a lot more together as a team.” Rockey says he will miss Rhue, who has been a “phenomenal coach.”
Rhue described the two teams as “a really fun group to coach” and said he is excited to see what happens this weekend at regionals. With a goal of having both the boys and girls teams reach the state tournament, he hopes that they can each finish in the top three in the team rankings. The courses for the regional and state meets are Bells Mill Park and Oatlands Plantation, respectively, and have already hosted weekend invitationals in the season. Individual and team qualifiers for states from PA would compete at the season-ending VHSL Class 5 Championships held on Nov. 16.
