Fulk takes 2nd at Region III meet

WEYERS CAVE — On her home course in her final Region III meet Whitney Fulk went into the chute to a chorus of cheers from the hometown crowd.

The Fort Defiance senior clocked a 19-minute, 56-second time — finishing 40 seconds behind Region III champ Janel Reeves of Brookville. Fulk has been pushed all season by an improved Southern Valley field that included her teammate Faith Lucas and Waynesboro’s Meredith Figgatt.

“It’s better than I thought I’d do,” Fulk said. “I just wanted to do better than last year. I have no idea what to expect for states but it would be awesome to be top 20, top 30, but I don’t know.”

The extra pressure paid off during the Region meet. Fulk will be one of three Southern Valley runners making an appearance at the Group AA meet in Great Meadow. Figgatt finished the day with a 20:24 for seventh place and Lucas took 11th with a 20:39 run.

“The better the district gets, the more competitive everyone gets and that’s just outstanding,” said Fort coach Dave Stewart.

Figgatt, a freshman, was making her first appearance in the Region III meet.

“It was good,” Figgatt said. “It was really hard, but good. It wasn’t my best, but it’s OK because I have another one to come.”

Waynesboro first-year coach Julie Stevens said she was impressed with Figgatt’s performance on Thursday.

“I’m very proud of how she did today,” she said.

Robert E. Lee’s Dillon Sowers was the only other Southern Valley runner to make the state meet.

No Southern Valley squad, girls or boys, made the cut.

Sowers ran a quick pace behind Spotswoods’ Kris Gorbea to pick up a 16:38 run for sixth place. Gorbea ran a 16:34 and finished in fourth.

“I was trying to stick with Kris, and looking at the standings before, he had a faster time than what I wanted to run, but I thought I could keep with it,” he said.

But no one could catch Turner Ashby’s Alex Ott, who shattered the one-year old course’s record with a 15:39 run. Jefferson Forrest’s Joshua Morris took second with a 15:51.

“I don’t think I had sight of Ott,” Sowers joked.

Waynesboro’s Edward Ennis has been sick since the Southern Valley meet on Oct. 22. Battling a chest cold, he stayed in the top-15 for the first two miles before he just couldn’t push any more. Still, he finished in 26th and was 19 seconds off the all-region pack. 

“It just moved to my chest and I can’t breath right,” he said. “I had to take two days off and then I decided I had to run through it. I left everything on the course; I had nothing left. I had no more to give. I couldn’t do anything more and I know that.”

Ennis was the only senior on the Little Giants’ squad, and has been the under spoken leader of the team during this year’s resurgence that saw both squads qualify for regions.

“If our whole top-seven tries as hard as they can, we’ve got a shot at districts,” Ennis said.

Sam Eldredge was the next Giant to cross the line in 67th place.

Last year’s Southern Valley champion, Lucas Moffett from Stuarts Draft, finished five seconds behind Ennis in 27th place. Moffett has been battling a lingering hamstring injury for most of the season. After making the Group AA meet in 2007, a stress fracture kept him from running in the state meet.

The Leemen were the closest team to making the cut from the Southern Valley, finishing in fifth spot with 187 points. The Trailblazers took the Region III championship with 46 points. Fort Defiance finished in 10th with 240 points and Waynesboro took 12th with 296 points.

Fort’s Andrew Phillips placed 30th with a 17:48 to lead the Indians’ squad.

For the girls, Jefferson Forest took the top spot with a 38-point total. Fort finished in sixth with 156 points, Waynesboro placed seventh with 180 points and Stuarts Draft finished with 231 points in eighth.

Cougar freshman Contessia Deavers finished in 24th with a 21:35 time to lead the Draft effort.

The Group AA meet will be run on Nov. 8 at Great Meadow, starting at 10 a.m. Group AA will be followed by Group AAA and Group A will wrap things up.