Suffolk fields state qualifiers

Published 10:26 pm Thursday, November 7, 2013

Nansemond River High School’s Kara Dixon and Lakeland High School’s Juli Durand and Alexus Copeland qualified for state-level competition with their finishes during Wednesday’s regional cross country championships at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville.

None of the Suffolk schools advanced to states as teams, because only the top six teams for both boys and girls made it. With the runners of those top teams filtered from the individual results, the remaining top-10 competitors received state qualification.

In an unfiltered field of 107 runners, Dixon, a senior, placed 33rd, with a time of 22:17.60.

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“Her goal was to qualify for states, and she qualified for states,” Nansemond River head coach Kurt Straub said.

Lakeland head coach Christopher Novakoski was confident Durand, a junior, would make the cut. She finished with a 22:58.40 time, good for 39th. He was not sure about senior Alexus Copeland, though.

“I thought she had an outside chance of possibly getting in, and she was able to snag that last spot,” he said.

Her 43rd place time of 23:28.90 edged out Nansemond River junior Courtney James (23:29.40).

King’s Fork High School’s only female representative, junior Courtney Ricks, turned in a 25:12.90 time for 72nd place.

Warriors senior Airrin Davis was the top Suffolk boys runner with his 18:26.10 time placing 47th out of 112 runners. King’s Fork High School senior Darius Allen finished in 18:33.70 for 51st place.

A fall greatly impacted the time of Lakeland junior Jake Crowell, who had previously posted the best time among all Suffolk runners in the conference championships – 17:43.31. He finished 60th on Wednesday with a time of 18:50.30.

The local qualifiers will compete in the Virginia High School League Group 4A state championships at 1 p.m. on Nov. 15 at Great Meadow in The Plains.

Following are the team results:

Boys’ team results (16 teams)

1st-Midlothian High School 35, 11th-Nansemond River 313, 13th-King’s Fork 389, 15th-Lakeland 427

Girls’ team results (15 teams)

1st-Midlothian High School 41, 8th-Nansemond River 225, 10th-Lakeland 289