Caleb Kingery

Here are the top 1,000 times from Great Meadow's non-state course.

The first annual Clash with the Titans was held at Hidden Valley High School in Roanoke this past weekend on their home cross country course, which saw runners face a moderately challenging 5K course with an always fun flowing creek crossing for runners to attempt to run through. Photo by Janis Lewis The Hidden Valley girls, one of the top teams in the state according to MileStat.com's pre-season rankings, ran without two of their top four returnees but still managed to impress with a home invite victory and a close 1-2 finish between teammates Annie LeHardy (20:45) and Mary Catherine Sowder (20:46). Sowder could potentially be the team's fourth runner based on last year's results, but finished well ahead of an All-State caliber runner in Alisha Royal of William Byrd (3rd, 21:29). The William Byrd boys also had a great upfront running from Caleb Kingery and Kyle O'Conner as the Terrier duo clocked in at times of 17:47 and 17:50 respectively for first and second place finishes on the Hidden Valley 5K course. However, E.C. Glass proved to have superior depth to William Byrd and the rest of the field including three runners in the top ten led by John Adams in fourth place at 18:31. More.... Clash with the Titans Photo Gallery by Janis Lewis - 419 photos total Clash with the Titans Results: High School Boys - High School Girls - Middle School Mixed

Photo by Tom Hoerner It could be some time before the next finisher comes across the line at this year's Blue Ridge District Meet with Alisha Royal of William Byrd coming into the season as a runner head and shoulders above the rest in her district. Royal, a Group AA state runner-up for 1000 meters last March, won the 2007 district cross country title by a margin of 27 seconds. It would not be a surprise to see her defend her title again with a margin of victory over a full minute. William Byrd just missed sweeping the district team titles for both boys and girls last fall with Alleghany girls defeating William Byrd by three points. William Byrd return squads capable of pulling off the feat this year though, despite the defending champions from Alleghany still posing as solid challenger to the William Byrd girls with four returning All-District runners. Lord Botetourt's Zeke Hunsberger won convincingly at the 2007 Blue Ridge District Meet by 36 seconds, while last year's runner-up Caleb Kingery of William Byrd is top returnee from the track based on his 1600 and 3200 meter performances and could potentially close the gap on Hunsberger.