by Brian Hoffman
The Class 4 state cross country meet was held at the Oatlands Plantation course in Leesburg last Saturday and Salem senior Walker Peterson ran in the boys’ meet. The Class 4, 5 and 6 championships were all held on the same day in Leesburg.
Peterson finished with a time of 18::47 for 63rd overall among 100 runners in the race. The winning time was 15:46 by Conner Rutherford of Blacksburg, who led the Bruins to the boys’ team title.
“With all the rain Friday we did not get to see or jog the course ahead of time,” said Salem coach Tom Roth. “Walker improved his position within the region by beating two runners that had beaten him in the regional meet. This was a goal we had hoped to accomplish.”
Blacksburg also won the girls’ Class 4 state championship, giving the River Ridge District a sweep. Salem was not represented in the girls’ meet.