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When we talked with Buckingham High Cross Country Coach Bruce Grazier at the end of last season, he already had one goal in mind for this year. He wanted to make it a three-peat and bring home another James River District title. The Buckingham Lady Knights did that and more, as they won the district championship for the third straight time and Grazier was named James River District Coach of the Year, also for the third straight time. The Lady Knights also had the District Female Runner of the Year in freshman Ava Shumaker. Grazier took no credit for the win, however. He said it was all due to the hard work of his runners. 

“They’re just dedicated to this,” Grazier said. “They come in, work hard and show up for practice. I have no trouble getting them here.” 

The team puts in the effort and goes beyond, Grazier said. They work four days a week. That means in the weight room four days a week and running four days a week. And most of the team, Grazier said, runs on their own over the weekends. 

Beyond this year’s district run, the girls have also maintained a streak of nothing but domination. They are 18-0 in the James River District over the last three years, constantly sending runners to the regional events as well. 

Buckingham Lady Knights plan ahead

This year’s group includes seniors like Chasity Hernandez and Rylynn Morris, along with freshmen like Shumaker and other runners such as Maria Portillo, Payton Beam and Bonnie Browning and Adele Sayer. Grazier praised them all, saying the seniors did a great job of helping build the program and teach younger runners, who then grow up through the system and train those who come after. And the cycle repeats. 

“I’ve been here 17 years at this school and I love this school,” Grazier said. “I love these kids. I do it for them.” 

The 60-year-old Grazier, who spent 22 years in the Army as an infantryman and also coaches Buckingham’s JROTC Raider program, said he wouldn’t leave for anything. He loves his job and the students he gets to work with. 

He’s also built a pipeline of sorts, a training program that starts runners off early at the middle school. Then they’ve already got a lot of the basics down by the time they step onto the high school campus. The goal is to build a program designed not just to win today, but to be ready to compete for the foreseeable future. And there’s a lot of cross training going on, as students who compete with the Raider teams want to work with cross country and vice versa.

Already as a freshman, Shumaker placed 24th at regionals this month. The terrain is a bit different up in that area around Luray, there’s a lot more hills compared to how flat parts of Buckingham are. But Grazier said that’s just one more obstacle for the team to overcome, giving an early prediction for next season. 

“We’re going to conquer that,” Grazier said. “We’ll be ready.”