THE SPORTS DESK
Cross Country Notepad: Youngsters setting a fast pace for Foxes so far
Spotsylvania County public schools typically don’t allow eighth-graders to play varsity or junior varsity sports.
So freshmen for the three Spotsylvania schools in the Battlefield District are sometimes behind their counterparts the same age.
King George, as well as the other Battlefield schools, allow eighth-graders on its JV cross country team. And two freshmen Foxes took advantage of the experience last season to become forces this year.
Christian Koon won the JV Battlefield championship last season as an eighth-grader. He and fellow freshman Jacob Watson are now the top two runners for King George.
Watson is No. 1. Koon is second. Two seniors round out the top four.
Foxes coach Cathy Binder said her freshmen aren’t intimated when they reach varsity. They also have had previous experience with the courses.
“They’re not nervous,” Binder said. “They already know what to expect.”
The highlight for the pair this season came at the Blue Devil XC Kickoff Invitational in August. Watson placed fourth. Koon was 15th.
They’ll run in a home quad-meet Thursday against Chancellor, Culpeper and Washington & Lee.
The Foxes will then compete in the Maymont X-Country Festival on Saturday in Richmond.
—Taft Coghill Jr.
