Abby Faith Cheeseman Adds A Big Win With 16:44 Run At WakeMed; Noah Valyo Leads Leads 11 Under 15 Minutes In Boys Race

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

JOHN NEPOLITAN PHOTOS

Abby Faith Cheeseman didn't let a little bit of rain bother her on Saturday at the Great American XC Festival in Cary, N.C. 

The junior from the Webb School in Tennessee, ranked No. 12 in the DyeStat rankings, poured it on over the second half of the 5,000-meter race at WakeMed Soccer Complex and won the Race of Champions by 40 seconds, in 16:44.3. 

Hannah Rae Shaffer of Cardinal Gibbons NC, an NXN individual qualifier last year, was second in 17:24.2. 

Meanwhile, Tatnall School of Delaware executed flawlessly on the way to an upset team victory, scoring 68 points to beat regionally ranked teams from Cardinal Gibbons NC (second with 96 points), Assumption KY (third with 147 points) and top-ranked Southeast team Cuthbertson (fourth with 148 points). 

Tatnall split 28 seconds on its five scorers, led by Abby Downin's 12th place overall finish in 17:44.9. 

Downin was joined by Katie Payne (14th in 17:46.9), Ruby Schwelm (16th in 17:52.4), Carlita Kaliher (27th in 18:04.7) and Katrina Endres (32nd in 18:12.6). 

In the boys race, Belen Jesuit Prep of Miami, the top-ranked boys team in the Southeast, broke Great Oak's 2019 team time average with 15:14. 

Belen Jesuit scored 65 points and freshman Marcelo Mantecon beat the team's usual No. 1, Joshua Ruiz, by 11 seconds as those two gave the team single-digit scorers. Mantecon was third in 14:48.0 and Ruiz was 11th overall (ninth in the team scoring) with 14:59.3.

Belen Jesuit scored 65 points and beat Ridgefield CT, which was second with 160 points. Marvin Ridge NC finished third with 230 points. 

A pair of regionally ranked teams in the Southeast, McCallie TN and Calvert Hall College MD finished ninth and 10th, respectively. 

Taking the win and leading 11 boys under 15 minutes, Noah Valyo from Athens Drive NC won the boys race in 14:42.6. 

Two years ago, Valyo finished 20th in the seeded (non-championship) boys race at Great American. 

This time, Valyo ran with the lead pack and was able to find the gears late in the race to win. He had previously won the Friday Night Lights Festival on Sept. 8 and was third on the WakeMed course on Sept. 16 at the Adidas XC Invitational. 

Valyo covered the ground at WakeMed six seconds faster on Saturday than he did on Sept. 16, when he was beaten by Ty Steorts of Hurricane WV and Colin Whitaker of Lampeter-Strasburg PA. 

Tommy Latham of Marist GA was second in 14:44.7. After Mantecon, Jake Liebert of Wando SC was fourth in 14:48.8.