Indians sweep Lee, Broadway

STAUNTON – Fort Defiance came away with a win in both girls and boys cross country, defeating Robert E. Lee and Broadway on Wednesday.
The Indians won with 20 points for the girls, putting the Gobblers in second with 48 and the Lee Ladies took third with 64 points.
Whitney Fulk led the way for Fort with a time of 21-minutes, 13-seconds.
“I just kind of got going from the beginning, worked throughout the race, and was cruising at the end,” said Fulk.
Fulk controlled the race from the launch with an early lead.
“Whitney knew the race was hers if she wanted it,” said Fort Defiance coach David Stewart.
Following behind Fulk was Fort’s Faith Lucas with a time of 22:53.
“Faith was supposed to take it easy to get ready for Saturday [Augusta County Invitational] but it’s hard for her to take anything easy,” Stewart said. “The closer she works to catch Fulk, the better we’ll do.”
Broadway’s Lanae Kreider rode the heels of Lucas, just six seconds behind at 22:59. But Fort came in again and took fourth place with Annie Shrechise’s time of 23:00.
“Annie hung with the Broadway girl for most of the race, but fell behind at the finish,” Stewart said.
Liz Goodlow came in fifth for Lee at 23:56.
“We went out faster than normal and Liz settled in at the two mile,” said R.E. Lee coach Stephanie Bivona. “We have a couple of girls waiting for the weekend to run.”
The Fort boys took a victory of 29 points from rival Lee with 31 and Broadway with 80 points.
Although Lee took first and second place from Andrew Lightner (18:05) and Zach Kearney (18:06), Fort’s Andrew Phillips came in to take third with a time of 18:07.
“Andrew had to do that because we knew that if Lee went 1, 2, 3 then they’d win by one point,” said Fort Defiance coach Ron Witherow.
It came down to Fort’s Phillips and Lee’s Dillion Sowers at the tail end of the race. With only a few feet to go, Sowers and Phillips pumped their arms hard and dashed across the line.
“I thought we were in trouble with about 50 yards to go but we were able to get Dillion at the line,” Witherow said. “Andrew really stepped up today.”
Justin Soy brought it home for Broadway with a time of 20:49.
All of the teams will be taking part in the Augusta County Invitational on Saturday.