MECHANICSVILLE – Saturday night, the party was on. The RVA Relays returned to Pole Green Park, and local runners held their own against teams from as far away as Delaware and Ohio.
The nearly annual nighttime cross country race, which was not held last year because of COVID-19 concerns, came back with a bang with enthusiastic crowds, music, dancing along the route of the race, and an excellent commentary performance by the race’s master of ceremonies, Atlee head cross country coach Neil Mathews.
“It’s the biggest meet that we’ve hosted for the RVA Relays. It’s the biggest that I’ve been part of,” Mathews said. “It keeps getting bigger. We’re getting more teams and a lot more talent. But in the end, it looks like the same teams are up front that are typically up front – the deeper teams. It’s fun for everyone, it has something for everyone – every type of team – but it definitely favors the deeper, larger teams.”
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While the day featured several races, the main events were held under the lights: the boys and the girls championship A races. The A teams, each consisting of five runners running legs of 2.5 kilometers, put on quite a show. The crowd did its part to encourage the runners along the way.
The Grafton boys won the boys championship A race with a combined time of 38:02 on the 12.5-km course. Glen Allen was second, with Patrick Henry being the third-best finisher out of the 48-team field. A team from Ohio, Mentor, was fourth, and a team from Delaware, Salesianum, finished fifth. Atlee, Deep Run, James Wood, Riverbend and Colgan rounded out the top 10. Hanover finished 11th and Mechanicsville 20th.
While the Patriot boys finished third, the team filed the two fastest splits. Trevor Mason topped the field with a 7:06 finish, and Luke Taylor was just a smidgen behind with a 7:08 time. Hanover’s Ethan Coleman ran the fourth-fastest split in 7:19.
Mason said the party atmosphere helped spur the runners on.
“After COVID, we haven’t had a big meet like this in a while, and the atmosphere out here was crazy – super fun,” he said. “It gave me a ton of energy to run super-fast tonight.”
Mason ran the third leg for the Patriots. Taylor brought it all home, and he appreciated the encouragement of the crowd.
“It’s just so cool to have all these people out here on the course and cheering you on,” Taylor said. “There’s nothing quite like it. It’s a long, long difference from those COVID races we had.”
Mason said he was feeling a bit off before the start. But that changed.
“Honestly, going into the warmup I didn’t feel too good,” Mason said. “Passing people during the race gave me a ton of energy and I felt solid all the way to the finish.”
Taylor said he took it easy during his warmup. But that changed once he had the baton.
“On the warmup, I kind of focused up, took my time,” he said. “Then I got out there and started running people down. I wasn’t focused on running my time. I just focused on racing my race.”
Mason was pleased with the team’s finish overall.
“I’m super happy with it – third for the team, I wasn’t expecting that,” he said. “I’m ecstatic about that. It makes me excited about what we can do for the rest of the season.”
In the girls championship A race, Hanover led the way among local teams with an eighth-place finish in the 42-team field. Deep Run won in 44:42, followed by Jefferson Forest, Western Albemarle, Mentor, Jamestown, Glen Allen and Midlothian. Forest Park finished ninth and Maggie Walker 10th. Patrick Henry finished 23rd, Atlee 28th, and Mechanicsville 40th.
Mentor’s Savannah Dennison ran the fastest split of the night in 8:10. Hanover’s Allie Crytser led local runners with the fourth-fastest split with a time of 8:23. Patrick Henry’s Logan Nuckols ran the 11th-fastest split in 8:45.
Mathews was proud of how the race attracted strong competition from out-of-state, and of how local runners held their own against it.
“We’re starting to gain that reputation, so we’re picking up out-of-state teams that are pretty tough,” Mathews said. “We appreciate those North Carolina schools, Delaware, Ohio coming down to run. That’s pretty neat.
“We’re excited that it’s growing like that, but it also shows that, when you look at the results, that our Richmond-area schools, and – specifically right here that run their regional meet here – they know this area well.”
It was a long day for Mathews and crew putting on the race, but he had no doubts about how he felt.
“I had a blast,” he said.
Dave Lawrence can be reached at dlawrence@mechlocal.com.
