By Joe Birckhead, Register & Bee

Wednesday October 25 -- The Dan River Wildcats placed both its boys' and girls' cross country teams in the regionals with impressive performances at the Group AA Piedmont District meet Wednesday at Dan Daniel Park.

"I'm very happy with our performance today and these kids have been working hard all year long," said Dan River coach Stuart Dodson. "Now we are looking forward to going to regionals and hopefully sending a couple of runners to state."

The Dan River girls team won the district team title by grabbing two of the top three spots en route to a team score of 43. Tunstall's girls also earned a trip to the Region IV meet by scoring 56 to edge out Patrick County (57) for second place. Laurel Park was fourth with a 77 and Magna Vista was fifth with a 78.

"This was great, it was the first time the girls' team has even come close," said Dan River assistant coach L.C. Moore. "The girls really stepped up. To win it was unreal."

Maria Labiosa, who was named Piedmont District runner of the year, dominated the field by turning in her career best time with a 20 minutes, 52 seconds. Brittany Millner of Bassett came in a distant second with a time of 23:07 and Dan River's Amanda Alderson placed third with a 23:24. The Wildcats' Leah Brown qualified for regionals by finishing 13th with a time of 26:06.

"I set my personal record today and that was what I was determined to do coming into the race," Labiosa said. "I won the district last year, but I ran a lot better today than I did in last year's district meet."

Labiosa has been a force in girls' cross country this season as she has finished first in every race except for the season opener. That race was also held at Dan Daniel Park, so Labiosa was determined to redeem herself on the only course she did not take home first place. "That race earlier in the year definitely made me strive harder today," Labiosa said. "At the beginning of the race two girls jumped out ahead of me and it forced me to sprint. After I got going, I just kept that pace for the remainder of the race."

Tunstall placed five runners in the top 20 to secure second place. Jessica Fugate was the Trojans' top finisher at eighth place with a time of 25:07. Other Tunstall runners in the top 20 were Jamie Moir (11th), Kristina Clark (17th), Lauren Nodtvedt (19th) and Lorien Koontz (27:54).

"It's been a long season and for us to accomplish what we did has been amazing," said Tunstall caoch Eric Thorton. "Qualifying for regionals was our goal from the beginning."

In the boys' race, Will Worley took first place with a time of 18:17 to lead Patrick County to the district crown with a score of 50. Dan River qualified for regionals by merit of its second-place finish with 63 points. The rest of the field was Martinsville 89, Laurel Park 112, Magna Vista 115 and Tunstall 133.

"Today was great, our whole season has been great because we've been undefeated all year," said Patrick County coach Sandra Rakes. "I'm really proud of these guys."

Brandon Kendrick of Dan River took second place with a 18:37 and Patrick County's Aaron Shelor was third with a 18:45. Justin Thorton of Tunstall finished sixth with a 19:00 to earn his fourth straight trip to regionals. The Trojans' Jonathan Raper and the Wildcats' Taylor Alvis finished ninth and 11th respectively to make regionals.

The top two teams and the top 15 individual runners qualified for the regional meet which will be held at 2 p.m. Friday at Tazwell High School.

Piedmont District held at Dan River Park in Danville:

Boys team scores:

1. Patrick Co. 50, 2. Dan River 63, 3. Martinsville 89, 4. Laurel Park 112, 5. Magna Vista 115, 6. Tunstall 133, Fielddale-Collinsville ns.

Individual results:

1. Will Worley, PC, 18:17

2. Brandon Kendrick, DR, 18:37

3. Aaron Shelor, PC, 18:45

4. Ben Caudill, Mville, 18:47

5. Steven Gamble, LP, 18:58

6. Justin Thorton, Tun, 19:00

7. Jeffrey Ward, Mville, 19:36

8. Will Maseley, Bas, 19:37

9. Jonathan Raper, Tun, 19:42

10. Daniel Slaydon, MV, 19:43

11. Taylor Alvis, DR, 19:50

12. Patrick Kim, MV, 19:52

13. Pablo Del Maso, F-C, 19:56

14. Chris Adkins, F-C, 20:05

15. Jon Weber, PC 20:07.

Girls team scores:

1. Dan River 43, 2. Tunstall 56, 3. Patrick Co. 57, 4. Laurel Park 77, 5. Magna Vista 78.

Individual results:

1. Maria Laboisa, DR, 20:52;

2. Brittany Millner, Bas, 23:07;

3. Amanda Alderson, DR, 23:24;

4. Catherine Weber, PC, 23:58;

5. Lauren Stubblefield, F-C, 24:49;

6. Emily McNeill, Bas, 24:57;

7. Tiffany Clanton, PC, 25:01;

8. Jessica Fugate, Tun, 25:07;

9. Tovar Tinsley, LP, 25:14;

10. Jamie Woodall, Bas, 25:41;

11. Jamie Moir, Tun, 25:54;

13. Leah Brown, DR, 26:06

14. Angela Kim, MV, 26:13

15. Melissa Stone, PC 26:23.