Neville: Kudos to local athletes

I have lots of kudos to give out this week. (I like that word kudos by the way.) The Mountain View High School boys’ cross-country team captured its second straight Northwest Region meet Oct. 30 in Charlottesville. The Wildcats were led once again by senior Thomas Porter who won the boys’ race with a time under 16 minutes.

Mountain View's team will advance to the Group AAA state meet Nov. 8. Colonial Forge High School’s boys’ team is also going to the state meet after finishing third. Griffith Ashooh, led the team, finishing fourth. The Eagles’ Taylor Torino placed 14th.

North Stafford High School’s Daniel Pelletier also qualified for the state meet after his fifth place. Mountain View's Bradley Shultis finished eighth with his teammate Logan O'Baker right behind him in ninth.

The Mountain View girls’ team will also be running together at the state meet after its third-place finish at the Northwest Region meet. Junior Kaitlyn Davis, who won the girls’ race with a time under 19 minutes, led the Wildcats.

Davis, as well as teammate, Lauren Braney , Colonial Forge's Colleen Wade, Brooke Point's Kellie Hall and North Stafford's Emily Debrito, will be running at the state meet.

Congratulations to the Colonial Forge volleyball team. On Nov. 1 the team captured its fifth straight Commonwealth District tournament championship after blanking Albemarle High School 3-0 in the tournament final. Senior Sarah Frohnapfel led the Eagles with 10 kills. Coach Keith Mesa lost six seniors but the winning tradition has carried over.

"The kids kind of expect to win. They kind of play to a certain level,” Mesa told me after Colonial Forge topped North Stafford in the opening round of the tournament.

The Eagles have their sights set on returning to the Group AAA state tournament. The Commonwealth district has qualified three teams for the Northwest Region tournament led by district champ Mountain View.

North Stafford and Stafford high schools have also extended their seasons into the playoffs. Stafford and Mountain View both advanced to the Group AAA state tournament last year with Stafford playing in the state championship game.

So again kudos to all those individuals and teams and good luck in upcoming regional and state competitions. I told you I liked that word kudos and I needed to find another way to get it in.

Mike Neville is sports director at the local Comcast cable channel. Contact him at info@stafford countysun.com.