Battlefield’s Driscoll strong

By Robert Daski

Published: October 22, 2008

CULPEPER — The standard his older brother Jason set makes Darren Driscoll aim to reach it.
A three-time Cedar Run District runner-up, Jason ran for Battlefield before enrolling at the University of Mary Washington where he runs for its cross country team.
“I’ve always looked up at his times to try to get to,” said Darren, a junior running for Battlefield’s cross country team. “His goals are my goals.”
Darren showed in Wednesday’s Cedar Run District boys’ race that he can be as competitive as Jason. He led the majority of the race before being overtaken by Fauquier’s Talbot Armstrong, the eventual winner (16:45).
But Driscoll’s third place finish (17:02) set the stage for the Bobcats to win their second straight district title.
“I felt great,” he said. “I decided to take the lead a mile and a quarter into it. I started to pick it up and try to put the pressure on,” the other runners.
Driscoll’s teammates made sure to finish close behind. Kyle Beach finished fifth (17:11), followed by Garrick Clemente (sixth, 17:26) and Matthew Shaughnessy (seventh, 17:28).
The Bobcats recorded 38 points, 18 more than Osbourn Park.
“We’re starting to build a nice tradition,” Battlefield coach Joe Huddle said.
Battlefield did not enter the meet short on confidence. The Bobcats finished fourth at the Albemarle Invitational on Oct. 11, thanks to Driscoll who finished 24th out of 276 runners.
“I thought they’d been running well lately,” Huddle said. “We were hopeful coming into the district meet.
“OP was real strong. But with the way things had looked lately, we thought there was a good chance we might be able to win it.”
Being part of a winning team also helped. Beach, Clemente and Driscoll were members of Battlefield’s 2007 team, which beat Osbourn Park despite the Yellow Jackets having the top three finishers.
The challenge is for Battlefield to continue its momentum from the 2008 district meet with a fourth place or better showing at the Oct. 30 Northwest Region meet.
Such a placement will give the Bobcats a spot at the Group AAA state meet on Nov. 8.
“We want show the region we’re a team to be reckoned with,” Driscoll said. “We want people to know who we are.”
Osbourn Park’s Nolan Compton finished second in a personal-best 16:50.
“I just tried to keep up with my coach yelling and telling me to go,” Compton said. “I was hoping to do the best I could.”
Teammates Richard Arena and Alex Hoak were fourth (17:06) and 15th, respectively (17:45).