Some Knights To Remember
2007-08 wasn't the first time Kellam cross country coach Bill Bernard had watched his boys run to a Beach District title. It wasn't the first time that his girls had taken the top spot either.
It was just the first time the two teams had done it in the same year.
"It wasn't something that was a goal of ours," Bernard said of his team's identical 10-0 district records this season. "We just wanted to run the fastest we could." The Knights, who last won the district in 1997, charged to a perfect 14-0 record overall, while their female counterparts pulled up at 13-1.
"Historically, I never know," the 19-year veteran coach said of his pre-season predictions. "When I think that we aren't, we do, and when I think that we are, we don't. Things worked well for us this year. The kids worked hard."
Some had to after last season; not only did the boys finish fourth, but the women failed to win the district title for the first time in five seasons.
"It just made us work harder this year (after coming in second last year)," said senior Miranda Sheldon. "I think it gave us a good taste of something we needed to accomplish. Our whole team started to look forward to this year."
Right off the bat, the boys showed that they were ready to do more than look; in their first district meet, the squad got perfect scores against Tallwood and Salem.
"After that, we really got into it," said Tristen Pietrzak. "We weren't comparing ourselves to our competition; we were comparing ourselves to each other. We just kept on running harder and harder so we could improve as a team and not really be concerned about our district standings."
The girls, on the other hand (and cleated shoe) had a reason to be, and it came at their Sept. 19 battle with Cox, the other perennial district powerhouse. Though Karlyn Lockie made it through the Virginia Beach Sportsplex course with a first-pace time of 20:41, the Lady Falcons took the next four spots to snare a 24-31 victory.
"We were all intimidated," Sheldon said, "but it helped us get our times down a lot, and that kind of motivation is what really counts."
A week later, they'd get another shot - and make it count in a big way. Karyln again charged to the top spot - a pattern that would repeat itself throughout the season - but Sheldon notched fourth and Kathlyn Taylor fifth to edge a 25-32 victory.
However, the win didn't seem like a complete conquet yet - only the final meet, on Oct. 10, would count in the district standings; therefore, the Lady Knights would have to spurt past the Lady Falcons one more time to re-capture the district title.
Meanwhile, the boys were shocking an unsuspecting district left and right. Bobby Peavey won every race, setting a new Sportsplex record of 16:21, as the squad went unbeaten in both district and non-district competition all year,
"I wanted to stay up at the front of the pack and see what I could do from there," said the junior. "Most of the time, I know the course, so I know which parts I'm strongest on, so I know when I have to be in position to win the race."
Finally, Oct. 10 rolled around, and the teams headed back to the Sportsplex to take the final set of steps toward a new district title. For the boys, it was business as usual, as Peavey came in first and Rick Southard second as the Knights racked up wins over Salem, Cox, and Bayside (a week later, Peavey won the Beach district championship, and took second at the Eastern Region meet on Nov. 1).
"We didn't want to let up, so we went out and did what we had to do," said Southard, who finished second in all but one race this season. "We couldn't afford to mess up."
Neither could the girls; if they fell to Cox, the Lady Falcons would take the district crown. From the starting gun, Karlyn did her part to ensure that that wouldn't happen, charging to her familiar spot in the lead.
"Everyone just wanted to beat them and do better than we did the last time," she said. "I got in first after first mile, and pushed harder so no one would come up and beat me."
Nearly 21 minutes after she'd started the race, Karlyn crossed the finish line, and glanced back to see if her teammates would follow quickly enough to ice the meet. Just 16 seconds after she finished, she saw a familiar face - actually, an identical one.
It was her twin sister Kailen. Fir the first time all season, the Lockie twins were one and two in a meet - and when teammates Taylor, Sheldon, and Jeanna Garland finished in the top nine, a 25-31 win over Cox and the perfect season were complete.
"We really wanted to beat them so we could win the district," said Kailen, the oldest twin by less than a minute. "That was what really mattered."
