THE SPORTS DESK
Prep Cross Country Notepad: Game Knights making do with less
Spotsylvania High School’s girls cross country runners did the best they could to recruit more members so they could form a full team.
The Knights’ efforts weren’t successful, so they have to settle for a four-girl squad.
But even with that lack of depth, Knights coach Erica Lemley has something to look forward to.
She wants to see how junior Emmie Schmitt progresses this season as she looks to build on strong freshman and sophomore seasons.
“I’m looking for some improvement in her racing skills,” Lemley said. “She’s in really good shape at the moment. I’m looking to see her race to her potential.”
Schmitt was the 2010 individual champion in the Battlefield District as she helped lead the Knights to a team championship.
She placed second to King George’s Haley Armentrout last season. Armentrout is now a senior. She and Schmitt will square off in a regular-season meeting today at King George.
“That is her competition,” Lemley said of Armentrout, “along with a few other girls.”
Lemley said that although Spotsylvania’s boys and girls programs have experienced success in the district, it still has been difficult to generate much interest.
She said the boys are in better shape than the girls this year, following a second-place overall finish in the district in 2011.
Ted Bailey, who was sixth in the district last year, leads the boys team. Bailey won the 3,200-meter race at the district outdoor track and field championships last spring.
“Our boys are looking pretty strong,” Lemley said.
—Taft Coghill Jr.
