The Salem and Glenvar cross country teams will be running in the 15th annual “Knights Crossing Invitational” this Saturday at Green Hill Park in Roanoke County.

The event, hosted by Cave Spring High School, is one of the largest of its kind in the state of Virginia. This year 71 high schools and 54 middle schools will be participating in the event. High schools scheduled to attend include Abingdon, Alleghany, Amherst, Appomattox , Appomattox Christian Academy, Auburn, Bassett, Blacksburg, Broadway, Brookville, Carlisle, Cave Spring, Charlotte Latin (North Carolina), Chatham, Christian Heritage Academy, Christiansburg, Draughn (North Carolina), The Covenant School, Eastern Montgomery, E.C. Glass, Faith Christian, Floyd, Fort Defiance, Franklin, Galileo Magnet, George Wythe, Giles, Glenvar, Graham, Greenbrier East (West Virginia), Gretna, Hargrave Military Academy, Harrisonburg, Heritage, Hidden Valley, James River, Jefferson Forest, John S. Battle, Lee, Liberty, Liberty Christian Academy, Lord Botetourt, Magna Vista, Morristown-West (Tennessee), Nelson County, North Cross, Northside, Oakton, Parkway Christian Academy, Parry McCluer, Patrick Co., Patrick Henry, Pulaski Co., Radford, R.E. Lee, Roanoke Catholic, Roanoke Valley Christian, Rockbridge, Rustburg, Salem, Scottsboro (Alabama), Staunton River, Turner Ashby, University School of Johnson City (Tennessee), Waynesboro, William Byrd, William Fleming, Wilson Memorial, Woodrow Wilson (West Virginia) and Virginia Episcopal.

The first race is at 8 am and it’s an Open 5K race for both men and women. The rest of the schedule is as follows: 9:00 am Elementary School Championship 1K Race – (Boys/Girls) 9:15 am Open Race Awards 9:30 am Girls Middle School Championship 3K Race – (Medals to Top 25) 10:00 am Boys Middle School Championship 3K Race – (Medals to Top 25) The “Red” race is for larger schools and all out of state teams! 10:30 am Girls Red Race 5K – (Medals to top 25) 11:15 am Boys Red Race 5K – (Medals to top 25) The “Black” race is for smaller schools and all private schools! 11:45 am Girls Black Race 5K – (Medals to top 25) 12:30 pm Boys Black Race 5K – (Medals to top 25) The “White” race is for all runners who are not in the Red or Black races! 1:15 pm Girls White Race 5k – unlimited 2:00 pm Boys White Race 5k – unlimited Both Salem and Glenvar ran in races last week.

The Spartans and Highlanders both ran in the Blue Demon Invitational at Christiansburg Primary School. The Glenvar girls took third out of eight teams and got a trophy for their efforts. Carly Wilkes was second overall at 20:49.2 and Rachel Millirons also medaled with a seventh place finish at 21:33.6.

Also scoring were Becky Linkous, Gabriella Stanley and Rachel Smith. “The course was very demanding, mostly hills, and it was very warm,” said GHS coach Amanda Wade. “This was the first time Glenvar has ever run in this meet and I was elated with the girls’ results. There was a lot of tough competition.”

The Salem girls placed fourth. The Spartans were led by freshman Katelyn Crumpacker, who ran the challenging course in 22:20, beating her time from last year by 40 seconds on a day where the average time was over a minute slower than 2017 due to the heat. Alyssa Ingerson, Claire Peterson, Alexis Stover, and Anna Pitts rounded out the top five. The JV team placed 2nd overall, led by Carolna Bowen, Hannah Cecil, Elizabeth Bocock, Madison Baxley, and Faith Nimmo. The Salem boys were seventh among 11 teams. Zach Hoyer had Salem’s best time, followed by Gaven Conner, Christian Crawley, Aiden Sable and Walker Chambers, Nathan Helems and Adam Warren.

The JV Boys’ team placed 5th and the first finisher was Thomas Henzey. The middle school race was a 2 mile run and Walker Peterson placed 6th. Glenvar did not have a full varsity boys’ team in Christiansburg. Churchill Wilkinson, Logan Wade and Zachary Stultz competed for the Highlanders. Also, Glenvar’s girls won the Giles Invitational last Wednesday, August 29. Wilkes was second overall, Millirons was fourth and Linkous was 10th. “The girls are off to an outstanding start,” said Wade. “We began summer training much earlier this year, along with adding two additional practices per week compared to last season. My girls are determined to have a successful year. The boys placed 10th as a team at Giles with Adren Jacobs, Bryant Loftis, Brendan Killeen, Blaise Ingram and Logan Wade.