FORK UNION, VA -- At this weekend\'s Fork Union Invitational, another great battle is expected between the homestanding Blue Devils of Fork Union and Warriors of Western Albemarle, after FUMA came on top in the first of several head-to-head this season at Tuesday\'s Ragged Mountain Cup 4x2 mile relay. Cup runners-up Western Albemarle will be looking to take advantage of the longer distance on the Hardy National three mile course layout at FUMA along with the traditional meet scoring of five runners deep being used. Last year at FUMA, Albemarle senior Rachel Rose finished third in a time of 17:35.27 as she finished under the course record, but behind two eventual Foot Locker Nationals All-Americans last fall in Aurora Scott (16:46.97) and Catherine White (17:08.91). With Scott and White not returning for this year\'s race, Rose will be the heavy favorite and look to improve upon her 2005 time.
Fork Union was expected to be a much improved cross country squad this season and especially with the transfer of AA All-State cross country runner Jeremy Haney from Fluvanna County, but they returned only four proven cross country runners coming into this fall compared to last year\'s AA state runner-up Western Albemarle squad that returned virtually a full squad from last year loaded with young depth. However, in both team\'s opening at the Ragged Mountain Cup on Tuesday, Fork Union looked to be the superior team as they won by a 55 second margin in the 4x2 mile relay event. While Western Albemarle still looked to be a deep squad in the opener, Fork Union showcased what was expected with their squad this fall in having a front three of front runners in Haney, szymon Rola, and Axel Mostrag.
Fork Union had three of the four fastest splits at the Cup with Haney at 10:11 as the fastest of the day, Rola with the third fastest at 10:15, and Mostrag at 10:20 for the fourth fastest. Coach Winston Brown had three runners with faster splits than Western Albemarle\'s top runner in sophomore James Howard-Smith. The biggest news of the day for FUMA and a positive sign for things to come this season for the defending Virginia Independent Schools state champions was the improvement of fifth runner Jamie Reichlen from last fall. Reichlen, who ran 1:57 for 800 meters last spring, was known primarily as a 400 and 800 meter runner and track and struggled at the 5K distance last cross country season, ran a great opening leg on Fork Union\'s \"B\" team with a 10:49 split. Reichlen will still need to show he can run at the 5K distance as this weekend\'s 3 mile race at Hardy National will give a better gauge of how Reichlen and Fork Union will fare this fall.
All five of Fork Union\'s top five runners will be counted on to perform and be healthy week in and week out as that is far deep as they guy. Meanwhile, Western Albemarle has the luxury of going well beyond their top five to find replacements if one of their guys goes down, but their current problem is finding a true front runner for their squad. Currently, their two top runners are sophomores in Howard-Smith and Kyle Satterwhite (10:29 at The Cup), but right now have a tough time matching up with the older and more developed upperclassmen top three from Fork Union in junior Haney and seniors Rola and Mostrag. Western Albemarle had counted on past AA state 3200 meter champion and senior Will Massie to lead the two talented sophomores as Massie has ran 16:08 for 5K and 9:36 for 3200 meters. However, Massie has suffered from sporadic breathing problems, which a cause has yet to be determined. Massie is the top returning individual from last year\'s race (5th, 15:49.99). Western can definitely challenge Fork Union when Massie has his problems under control and is running well. If any one of Fork Union\'s front five runners is not having his best day on Saturday, Western can also find themselves within striking distance.
Louisa County is another team that should fare well this Saturday as they are coming off an impressive opener in finishing third at The Cup behind Fork Union and Western. They appear as a sleeper team in possibly getting out of the always competitive Region II in AA. It is not easy for a team to have more than one runner under 11 minutes at the two mile course at Panorama Farms, much less three as Coach Jerry Cutright\'s team was able to do on Tuesday with sophomore Thomas Baker (10:35), senior Ehab Hoffman (10:47), and senior Jesse Martin (10:55). While defending state champions Brentsville and state runners-up Western Albemarle look to be shoe-in\'s to qualify out of the region, it looks to be a dogfight for the remaining two spots with last year\'s third place state meet squad Sherando, John Handley, Louisa, and others.
The individual battle could be even more exciting than the team battle as while Jeremy Haney of Fork Union held off Austin Ellis of Covenant on the opening leg at Tuesday\'s Cup, Ellis will be back again to challenge Haney at the three mile distance. It still is not certain who actually is Fork Union\'s number one runner as Haney definitely has the cross country credentials and personal best over Polish teammate Axel Mostrag, but with Mostrag running a 4:09 equivalent mile for 1500 meters this past summer, he clearly has the talent to be very successful this season in fall. Saturday could give a better idea of what the pecking order will be with this loaded FUMA team.
Other top individuals including Fork Union\'s Rola, Bethel\'s Daniel Cummings, Collegiate\'s Matthew Richardson, and Manchester\'s Andrew Duty. Cummings is one of the Eastern Region\'s best returning distance runners and will be expected to contend for the regional crown with Cox\'s Eddie Judge looking to be early favorite. Meanwhile, Duty had a spectacular outdoor season of track as he split a 1:54 on a 4x800 relay split. The private schools could be well represented in the top five or ten places on Saturday with the Fork Union trio and defending Virginia Independent Schools Division II state champion Ellis of Covenant all expected to be in the fray as well as Collegiate\'s Matt Richardson, the defending VISAA state champion for 3200 meters. Richardson finished ninth in last year\'s meet in 16:10.55.
Rose is probably the surest bet for the 2006 Fork Union Invitational to win as only a few talented runners in the state could keep up with the defending AAA state cross country champion and no one on that very short list will be present on Saturday. Aurora Scott\'s 16:46.97 may be out of reach for Rose, but she could make a good run after Catherine White\'s 17:08.91 and the 17 minute mark. Rose suffered an achilles injury at the end of the outdoor season that prevented her from competition at Nike Outdoor Nationals, but seems to be back to top form once again after posting the top split at the Ragged Mountain Cup on Tuesday by 48 seconds with a 11:41 clocking. Rose\'s focus this fall will be remaining healthy and running her best at the end as she is aiming to defend her state title and possibly earn a trip to Foot Locker Nationals in San Diego with a top eight finish in November at Foot locker South. Course records in September are nice, but San Diego in December would be nicer for the Albemarle star.
Albemarle as a team will be hoping to earn their second invitational win of the season coming off their win at Tuesday\'s Cup as they do feature one of the state\'s best 1-2 punch in Rose and sophomore Liz Barclay, who had the second fastest split at Panorama with a 12:29 2 mile on Tuesday. Barclay will definitely be in the running to take second ahead again behind teammate Rose on Saturday. Coach Lance Weisand\'s squad definitely has some question marks in the depth department as Rose had to overcome a 35 second deficit on anchor on Tuesday despite Barclay\'s opening leg having put them out with a considerable lead to begin with. While Albemarle could get away with it in Tuesday\'s 4x2 mile relay format with two studs, Saturday\'s race will not be scored in the same manner and number three through five runners will need to step it up a notch.
Defending Fork Union Invite champions Western Albemarle return, but are coming off one of their worst finishes at The Cup in taking third in an event that they almost every year walk out with the biggest trophy. However, the Lady Warriors were missing several of their top runners including Madeleine Gomez and Rachel Hyde and if they are ready to go on Saturday, Western could repeat again as they will be led by one of the top individuals in the meet in Valerie Wilder. Wilder posted a 12:49 split and third fastest at The Cup. Gomez is the top returnee for Western Albemarle in last year\'s race finishing 10th (19:45.78) with Wilder finishing a place behind in 11th (19;47.74).
Monticello also showed they will be a force to be reckoned with this season at The Cup taking second behind Albemarle and ahead of Western. Monticello finished third in last year\'s FUMA Invite and will be looking to improve upon that place. Monticello will be led by 2005 Fork Union Invite top 15 finishers Sarah Tobias (13th, 20:10.27) and Hannah King (14th, 20:17.22). Monticello\'s front three features Tobias (20:13 5K best), King (20:40), and Erin Thorpe (20:44) among 5K bests, but Holly Rich makes them four strong splitting a 13:05 2 mile at The Cup.
Maggie Walker is a team that will be easily overlooked this fall being in the same region and area as Nike Team Nationals contender Midlothian, but will have a squad that can match up well against some of the best teams in the state. Junior Maggie Walker Natalie Davis is the top returnee for Coach Jim Holdren\'s squad as she ran a 18:48 5K last fall and during track dipped down to 5:14 for 1600 meters. Bigger things will be expected for Davis in her second season of cross country after giving up playing field hockey in the fall last year.
Maggie Walker should have another runner up with Davis in the front pack at FUMA in Susannah Piersol, the younger sister of former Green Dragons star John Piersol. Piersol had a modest cross country season last fall with as she did not dip under 20 minutes until Foot Locker South with a 19:46 clocking, but really started to emerge in the track season. Piersol qualified for AAA state competition for 3200 meters during both indoors and outdoors as she ended up clocking a 11:30 best on two occassions during the spring including the AAA State Meet. Piersol also dropped her 5K time on the track with a 19:26 clocking at the MileStat.com Gala. Piersol looks to lead a Maggie Walker squad with a handful of key returnees.
Another sub 20 5K returnee for Maggie Walker is junior Abby Thibeault. Thibeault has a 19:57 best and ran 12:12 for 3200 meters. Megan Donaher (20:37 5K) and Caroline Vines (2:28 800) add extra depth to the Maggie Walker roster.
First race begins on Saturday at 9:00 am with the middle school 2.5K race and the final race of the day going off at noon time. The meet will feature great awards once again with Dri-Fit shirts to top ten individuals and a jacket being awarded to individual champions. Parents are to be reminded that there is a $2.00 parking fee.
FORK UNION, VA -- At this weekend\'s Fork Union Invitational, another great battle is expected between the homestanding Blue Devils of Fork Union and Warriors of Western Albemarle, after FUMA came on top in the first of several head-to-head this season at Tuesday\'s Ragged Mountain Cup 4x2 mile relay. Cup runners-up Western Albemarle will be looking to take advantage of the longer distance on the Hardy National three mile course layout at FUMA along with the traditional meet scoring of five runners deep being used. Last year at FUMA, Albemarle senior Rachel Rose finished third in a time of 17:35.27 as she finished under the course record, but behind two eventual Foot Locker Nationals All-Americans last fall in Aurora Scott (16:46.97) and Catherine White (17:08.91). With Scott and White not returning for this year\'s race, Rose will be the heavy favorite and look to improve upon her 2005 time.
Fork Union was expected to be a much improved cross country squad this season and especially with the transfer of AA All-State cross country runner Jeremy Haney from Fluvanna County, but they returned only four proven cross country runners coming into this fall compared to last year\'s AA state runner-up Western Albemarle squad that returned virtually a full squad from last year loaded with young depth. However, in both team\'s opening at the Ragged Mountain Cup on Tuesday, Fork Union looked to be the superior team as they won by a 55 second margin in the 4x2 mile relay event. While Western Albemarle still looked to be a deep squad in the opener, Fork Union showcased what was expected with their squad this fall in having a front three of front runners in Haney, szymon Rola, and Axel Mostrag.
Fork Union had three of the four fastest splits at the Cup with Haney at 10:11 as the fastest of the day, Rola with the third fastest at 10:15, and Mostrag at 10:20 for the fourth fastest. Coach Winston Brown had three runners with faster splits than Western Albemarle\'s top runner in sophomore James Howard-Smith. The biggest news of the day for FUMA and a positive sign for things to come this season for the defending Virginia Independent Schools state champions was the improvement of fifth runner Jamie Reichlen from last fall. Reichlen, who ran 1:57 for 800 meters last spring, was known primarily as a 400 and 800 meter runner and track and struggled at the 5K distance last cross country season, ran a great opening leg on Fork Union\'s \"B\" team with a 10:49 split. Reichlen will still need to show he can run at the 5K distance as this weekend\'s 3 mile race at Hardy National will give a better gauge of how Reichlen and Fork Union will fare this fall.