Midlothian girls' earn fifth regional title

Deep Run junior Erica Dobbs had a fairly simple, straightforward strategy for the Central Region girls’ cross country meet: find Midlothian’s Kathleen Lautzenheiser and follow in her footsteps for as long as possible, then win a sprint to the finish line.

Executing her plan to topple the two-time defending regional champion was considerably more difficult. But as she rounded the final turn running stride for stride with Lautzenheiser, Dobbs unleashed the finishing kick that earned her all-state honors in the 1,600 meters and pulled away to win her first region title by 5 seconds Saturday at Pole Green Park.

“It’s very painful. It hurts a lot, but I heard my teammates screaming and that really pushed me to go,” Dobbs said. “I had my dad screaming at me in my head. I was like, ‘I’m almost done. Why would I put in all this hard work and not finish it off?’”

Dobbs, who had run 18:46 on the same 3.1-mile course to win the Colonial District championship last week, shaved 23 seconds off that time and dealt Lautzenheiser her second regional runner-up finish.

Maggie Walter Governor School’s Clarissa Schick finished third in 18:43, while Cosby’s Megan Moye (18:49) and Midlothian’s Marie Johnston (18:56) rounded out the top five.

“All runners go through this, when you know you could’ve had a better day and you know you’re capable of running faster,” Lautzenheiser said.

The senior still got to celebrate with her teammates when Midlothian claimed its fifth consecutive girls’ team title. The Trojans, who can become the first team to win five straight Group AAA state championships, placed three runners in the top 10 and outdistanced runner-up Maggie Walker by 13 points.

Deep Run and Lee-Davis also secured top-four finishes in the team standings and earned the right to represent the region Saturday at Great Meadow in Warrenton.

“It’s like I tell the kids, you have a huge target on your back and everybody wants to beat you,” Midlothian head coach Stan Morgan said. “That’s the way it is in any sport: when you’re dominant, somebody wants to take you down.”

Lautzenheiser certainly had a target on her back Saturday. Aided by what she described as a “comfortable” pace, Dobbs stayed patient and kept her eyes glued to Lautzenheiser until the leaders reached the course’s final steep hill.

Lautzenheiser gamely tried to keep pace, but her tank was all but emplty by the closing stretch.

“The last 100 to 200 [meters], I tried to pass her, but she passed me and she went by me pretty fast. At that point, my whole body just shut down,” Lautzenheiser said.

Jim McConnell is a correspondent for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.