THE PLAINS, VA -- The Page County boys and team front runner Todd Somers will be trying to accomplish a feat they have been trying to pull off for the past four years...win state titles together.
Since the arrival of Somers, Page County has been the most dominant team in Single A. Saturday's race will be a culmination of four years of success for Somers and his team. As a freshmen, Somers led Page County to it's first ever state title with a third place finish (17:00). In his sophomore year, Somers reaffirmed himself as the future of Group A with a state runner-up finish (16:42) as Page County won it's second consecutive state crown. Last year, the team hit a bump in a road as annual Group A power Brentsville defeated Page County by a mere five points at the state meet. However, Somers was able to win his first ever individual state title. With rival Brentsville having moved onto Group AA competition this fall, it left Page County in the driver seat once again and they have remained steady there all fall.
However, this season has been no cakewalk for Page County. They have received plenty of push from Region B rival Madison County with their multiple encounters throughout the season. In the two teams most recent encounter at the Region B Meet, Madison County was only able to reel off a eight point margin in victory over the runner-up Madison County squad. Page County was led by race champion Somers at 16:28, who has a season 5K best of 16:04. Nearly four other runners received All-Region honors with Nathaniel Nelson (4th, 17:18), Ethan Price (9th, 17:51), T.J. Stoneberger (15th, 18:11), and Jeff Frazier (17th, 18:18). Meanwhile, Madison was led by regional runner-up Travis Hunnicutt at 16:50. Hunnicutt is the most likely challenger to Somers if he has an off day, though Somers was a good distance ahead of Hunnicutt at the regional meet. Madison County ran Page County strong through four at the regional meet with All-Region performers Micheal Coleman (6th, 17:35), Chuck Love (11th, 17:55), and Bryan Bean (14th, 18:05). However, Page gained the advantage in the number five spot with Madison's number five finishing in with Devin Milbourne in a 22nd place finishing time of 18:32. Madison County has a very realistic chance to defeat the favored Page County squad, but will need a better performance out of Milbourne and have their number two through four runners find a away to get ahead of Page's runners who seemed to be just ahead of them at the regional meet.
No other team outside of Page County and Madison County is likely to challenge for the state title, but Region B state meet qualifiers Clarke County and George Mason, Region C champs Patrick Henry, and Region A champs James Monroe all have a shot at taking third place honors on Saturday and standing on the podium with Page and Madison.
A few other individuals besides Somers and Hunnicutt to mindful of for Saturday's state race include George Mason senior Andrew Montgomery, James Monroe sophomore Will Jacobs, and Radford senior Trey Worrell.
Montgomery has always performed exceptionally well at the state meet and found himself right on Somers' footsteps in each race since his freshmen year. In last year's state race, Montgomery finished a meager two seconds behind Somers for state runner-up honors as Somers was able to outkick Montgomery for the win on the final stretch. Sophomore year, Montgomery (16:49) finished seven seconds behind a state runner-up Somers (16:42) with a third place finish. Freshmen year, in their first ever state competition race, only a second separated a third place Somers (17:00) and fourth place Montgomery (17:01).
Just as Somers was the future of Single A when he was a freshmen and sophomore, James Monroe's Jacobs has stepped into a similar role with his impressive performances as an underclassmen. The regional champion of Region A, Jacobs has a season best 5K of 16:18. Jacobs had flashed similar quick times heading into last year's state meet, where he fizzled. With his consistently strong performances thus far this season, he should not follow the same path on Saturday.
Worrell is not given much notice because he has not been able to race any of the competition found in Region B, which is considered to be the toughest region of the four found in Group A. However, based on his dominance in Region C, he can run with the best of the Region B. Worrell clocked a 16:32 5K in his win at the Region C Meet.