With individuals and teams winning races or placing high in various postseason meets, the 2025 high-school cross-country season during the fall was a big success for Arlington runners.
There also were some significant achievements for runners and teams from Fairfax County schools, especially from Potomac School on the private-school level.
From Arlington, the Yorktown Patriots girls squad and the Bishop O’Connell Knights boys team enjoyed championship campaigns.
Led by sophomore standout runner Molly Hardwick, the Yorktown girls won a Liberty District championship, finished third in the region and sixth in the Class 6 public-school state meet.
Individually, Hardwick was the district champion and placed second in the region and state. Her second in the state meet was the highest ever by a Yorktown runner.
During the regular season, Hardwick won two big races, including the Arlington County meet, which Yorktown won as a team.
“What an excellent season Molly had, and it started right from the start,” Yorktown coach Emily Stewart said.
Other top Yorktown runners were Nicky Chinchilla, Ali Mathews, Ayla Mehmood, Claire McArdle, Cecilia Floom, Aria Hedderly and Hannah Hawkins.
The O’Connell boys also won the Arlington County meet during the regular season, then capped the postseason by winning the Division I private-school state championship for the first time in 25 years.
In addition, O’Connell won the Virginia State Catholic meet and was third in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference championships.
The Brefczynski brothers — Jayse a junior and Landon a freshman — led O’Connell all season. Jayse Brefczynski won the Arlington County and Virginia State Catholic meets, was fourth in the WCAC race and fifth in the Division I state.
Other top runners for the Knights were Lance Jayme, Peter Fleenor, Ryan Street, Patrick Porter, Ian Bradley, Rai Detton, Kyle Jayme and Chris Walters.
“Everything came together this year,” O’Connell coach Jim Connor said. “The team and runners kept getting better.”
The Potomac School boys were second in the Division I private school state meet, with runners Luke Carter, Eli Levine and Trip Moser as the top finishers.
The Potomac School girls won the Division I state championship with five runners finishing in the top 13: freshman McKinley Busen in third, Sabine Barbee in sixth, Sabrina Anderson in ninth, Rio Walther in 10th and Elizabeth Widor 13th.
Oakton High School senior Caroline Sapperstein had a standout season by winning Concorde District, region and Class 6 state championships. She helped her team finish fifth in the state and second in the region.
In team competition, the Robinson Rams won the girls Class 6 state title, with the West Springfield Spartans second. In the Class 6 state boys meet, the Lake Braddock Bruins won and the West Potomac Wolverines were second.
For the Robinson girls, Karina Bird led the way with a sixth-place finish in the state, and Alexandra Bird was ninth. For West Springfield, Allie Horner was third.
On the boys side, Preston Spangler was fifth for West Potomac. For the Lake Braddock boys, Gabriel Everett led the way in 10th.
Will Fadden of Thomas Jefferson was second in the Class 6 boys state meet, with Centreville’s Danny McGlynn fourth.
The Robinson girls and Lake Braddock boys also won district and region championships, with the West Springfield girls and West Potomac boys second in each meet.
