By Ryan Sonner, Northern Virginia Daily

CHARLOTTESVILLE--For Handley’s Bobby Lockhart, it was just another day in the park. Dardin-Towe Park, that is. That is where Lockhart continued his mastery in cross country with a Region II title Thursday. He flew through the 3.1-mile course in a record time of 15:29. Somehow, though, Lockhart was disappointed in his performance.

“It wasn’t very good at all,” Lockhart said after the race. “I didn’t run like I’m capable.”

He did run well enough to vault the Judges to a third-place finish with 103 points, good enough for a spot in next week’s Group AA state meet at Great Meadow. Winning, as expected, was defending state champion Western Albemarle with a score of 40. The Warriors placed five runners in the top 15. Louisa was second with 96 points.

Handley’s girls also qualified for states for the first time in recent memory with a fourth-place finish, gathering 112 points. Joanna Britland sparked the Judges with a surprising third-place finish and crossed in 19:52. Potomac Falls won the meet with 48 points, Turner Ashby was second with 59, and Western Albemarle came in third with 93 points.

Britland’s success was dampened by an injured Jamie Lockhart, Handley’s number one runner. Lockhart was slowed by heat exhaustion and failed to finish the race.

“She overheated pretty badly,” Handley coach Mike McKiernan said. “Bad luck just strikes sometimes.” Britland’s finish put a smile on McKiernan’s face, though. “She ran the best race of her life,” he said. Given the situation with Jamie Lockhart, McKiernan was pleased with his team’s effort. “They dug down and reacted like champions,” he said. “I’m very proud of them.”

Britland also felt like the race was her best effort. “I’m really happy with what I did,” she said. “I ran better than I ever have before.” The key to Britland’s high finish was overall confidence and a willingness to stay with the front pack of runners throughout the race. “I felt good the whole time and I tried to stay up front,” Britland said.

Also qualifiying for the state meet was Warren County’s Emily Harrison. She crossed in 20:13, good enough for ninth place. For the Judges, Natalie Kujala finished 27th in 21:24, Maggie Glaze was 30th with a time of 21:33, and Amy Webb was 39th in 21:52.

Central’s Amanda Hanson capped an incredible high school career with a disappointing 53th place finish with a time of 22:42.

“Amanda had a rough day,” Central coach Joe Huddle said. “I don’t think that’s the kind of race she wanted to end with. It wasn’t for a lack of effort, though.” Central finished 12th as a team with 308 points.

Back on the boys side, Handley coach Scott Burns was not pleased at all with his middle runners. The Judges’ No. 2 runner, Chris Rogers came in 14th in 17:07, but their No. 3, James O’Kane finished ahead of Rogers in ninth with a time of 16:51. No. 5 Zach Dorsey was 39th in 18-flat and No. 4 Tony Morrero was 53rd in 18:24.

“We ran pretty good at one and two,” Burns said. “But from there back, we ran poorly. We just didn’t get the job done.” Central’s Kyle Weatherholtz finished 25th in 17:34.

Bobby Lockhart had aspirations of finishing at least 30 seconds faster than what he actually finished. “I was hoping to go 14:50,” he said. “It was humid out there and the heat got to me.” One other factor contributed to Lockhart’s “poor” finish. “At two and a half miles, I started getting cramps,” he said. “I don’t get them ever.”

While Burns and his runners look for answers before next week’s state meet, McKiernan and company are expecting nothing less than a high finish.

“I feel real good,” he said about his team’s chances. “Only if we have everyone healthy. Our strength is our depth.”

Boys team scores:

1. Western Albemarle 40, 2. Louisa 96, 3. Handley 103, 4. Fort Defiance 119, 5. Loudoun Valley 139, 6. Loudoun County 156, 7. Charlottesville 161, 8. Turner Ashby 216, 9. Potomac Falls 226, 10. Harrisonburg 231, 11. Central 265, 12. Monticello 285

Individuals:

1. Bobby Lockhart, Handley 15:29 – course record

2. Jorge Ruiz, Harrisonburg 16:00

3. Evan Kays, Stuarts Draft 16:04

4. Daniel Kane, Louisa 16:09

5. Phillip DeJong, Western Albemarle 16:22

6. Jon Tew, Loudoun Valley 16:23.3

7. Charlie Hurt, Western Albemarle 16:23.7

8. David Bolton, Loudoun County 16:34

9. James O’Kane, Handley 16:51

10. Peter Burch, Western Albemarle 16:54

11. Owen Morrison, Western Albemarle 16:55

12. Josiah Cadle, Western Albemarle 17:01

13. Zachary Lipscomb, Louisa 17:04

14. Chris Rogers, Handley 17:07

15. Neil Coleman, Potomac Falls 17:08

Girls team scores:

Teams: 1. Potomac Falls 48, 2. Turner Ashby 59, 3. Western Albemarle 93, 4. Handley 112, 5. Loudoun Valley 125, 6. Louisa 126, 7. Stonebridge 160, 8. Fort Defiance 169, 9. Charlottesville 266, 10. Spotswood 291, 11. Monticello 299, 12. Central 308

Individials:

1. Katie Endres, Potomac Falls 19:24

2. Chelsea Henderson, Stonebridge 19:43

3. Joanne Britland, Handley 19:52

4. Betsy Kain, Turner Ashby 19:53

5. Rachel Haley, Turner Ashby 20:00

6. Melissa Caudill, Loudoun County 20:03

7. Christy Dannenberg, Potomac Falls 20:06

8. Meredith Cleveland, Potomac Falls 20:12

9. Emily Harrison, Warren County 20:13

10. Teresa Davis, Louisa 20:16

11. Maria Geary, Harrisonburg 20:17

12. Delaney Moje, Western Albemarle 20:28

13. Jessica Fanning, Loudoun Valley 20:31

14. Joanna Long, Loudoun Valley 20:34

15. Lynette Robinson, Louisa 20:35