This season, Potomac Falls girls and boys Cross Country have established themselves as the Sterling Queens and Kings of the cross country course.
On Sep. 3, Potomac Falls High School (PFHS) Cross Country accomplished something they have never done before: a double win at the annual Algonkian Cup tri-meet against Dominion and Park View. Both the girls and boys teams earned PFHS possession of the two highly coveted Algonkian Cup trophies, which will be on proud display in Panther Territory for the school year.
Every year, the Potomac Falls, Dominion, and Park View cross country teams gather at Algonkian Regional Park to compete for the unofficial title of Fastest Team in Sterling. Historically, PFHS has not had much success at claiming this name. The last time the girls team won the Algonkian Cup was in 2023, and it was not until the fourth annual meet in 2024 that the boys were able to finally beat Dominion.
For this reason, the opposing teams, particularly Dominion, went into the meet with little confidence in Potomac Falls’ ability to win. Dominion went so far as to post edits poking fun at the PFHS boys team on social media. When the boys team saw the posts, they thought “no talk – just takeover,” according to senior Julian Hasbrouck.
Both the girls and boys teams had multiple PFHS runners place in the top five of their respective races. In the girls race, juniors Jada Stone and Evie McCombs placed second and fourth, respectively, and freshman Camden Hansen was third overall. On the boys side, senior Gavin Jackson was the champion and senior Eli Wike came in third place.
Stone attributes the team’s success to consistent hard work during the preseason. “We put in a lot of work over the summer, and everyone just seems really motivated recently,” Stone said.
Stone ran her 3.1 mile race in a time of 20:30. “I think that I got out pretty well, and it may have been fast, but it was nice because I established my place. I really pushed and didn’t have as many negative doubts, and I didn’t slow down as much as normal,” Stone said.
Head Coach Tom Kalka also named the team’s motivation to win as a major contributing factor to the Algonkian Cup sweep. “We wanted to win more than Dominion did. Every time I saw a Dominion runner and a Potomac Falls runner closing in on the finish line, the Panther would edge out the Titan by sheer grit,” said Kalka.
McCombs attributes focus to her finish, with a time of 21:25. “I think everyone is really focused and knows what they want and what their goals are for this season. Going forward, I personally would really love to go to States before I graduate, so that is what I’m working toward,” said McCombs.
Going forward, Kalka wants to send not just a couple runners, but the whole team to the State Meet on Nov. 8. “On the boys’ side, we have had two individual runners at States in the past. This year, we want the entire varsity team to go. On the girls’ side, we need to continue to develop our young talent to set us up for success,” Kalka said.
After the Algonkian Cup, the boys team is now ranked fourth in the state while the girls team is eighth. With these rankings, it is fully feasible that the entire PFHS XC team will qualify for States.
The Algonkian Cup team sweep was bigger than the top five runners—it was a recognition of the team-wide effort to be the best. When the announcer proclaimed Potomac Falls girls and boys the 2025 meet champions, the entire team came together to celebrate. “My favorite part of the meet was everyone not knowing that we won, and then everyone was like ‘Oh my gosh, really?’ when they announced the scores,” said Stone.
“Getting together and getting to celebrate the win and all the hard work that we’ve put into this season was really awesome. I’ve been very proud of us,” said McCombs.