Highlights from Carlisle, Greensboro, Stonewall Jackson, Bristol Cross, Golden Eagle

Highlights from Virginians competing at the Carlisle Invitational (PA), Greensboro Invitational (NC), Bristol Cross (TN), Stonewall Jackson Invitational, and Golden Eagle Invitational on September 28th.

 

21st Carlisle High School Invitational

In the girls Champions race at the Carlisle Invitational in Pennsylvania, West Potomac (VA) senior Katie Genuario (pictured by Don Rich) won her first invite of the year comfortably, going 18:41. Her coach told her to go out in the top 15 and at mile and a half, she was up front and thought to herself "it was time to go." She got her PR by ten seconds and helped lead her team to a 3rd place showing. Genuario was slightly faster than the top Virginians in the "Challenge" division race with Woodgrove sophomore Emma Gillies in 8th place at 18:49 and James W. Robinson junior Lauren Berman right behind her in 9th place at 18:50. Robert E. Lee's Bailey Kolonich (11th, 18:56) and Robinson's Mary Katherine Masteler (12th, 18:56) also dipped under 19 minutes for 5K at Carlisle. The Robinson girls either only started five runners or they had a runner or two drop out of the race with top runner and state champion miler Macey Schweikert not showing up in the results as the recent VA #5 ranked squad fell back to 8th place (248 pts) in the challenge race division, which could have been a 90 point swing for the Lady Rams with Schweikert and put them in second place position. The VA #25 ranked Woodgrove girls were 10th in the field with 277 pts.6

The VA #3 ranked James W. Robinson boys similar had a what if scenario in their team performance in Pennsylvania with one of their team's top runners in Nathan Schulte having a bad day and running as the team's #6 finisher in 66th place with a time of 16:46. If Schutle had a par race day, the Robinson boys would have defeated US #20 ranked Tatnall boys from Delaware  and been able to serious challenge US #9 West Chester Henderson of Pennsylvania for the invitational victory. The Robinson boys have the talent to be the state's best team in Virginia this fall, but have yet to put it completely together yet. At least their team did see a great race from John Tolbert, who dropped out at the Monroe Parker Invite which hurt their team chances of winning there. Tolbert put himself up in the top 10 in the field in a strong Carlise Invitational field in the challenge division race with a time of 15:50 for 8th place overall. Finishing in between Tolbert and Schutle to put together a team score of 152 points against many of PA's best schools were Luke Sharkey (16:20), Nicholas Hite (16:22), Brendan O'Connell (16:28), and Dustin Justras (16:32) in their first 5K race of the season. The Robinson boys at least can walk away from this meet knowing they are right there on the bubble of beating some of the nation's best teams.

Herndon's Andrew Goldman was the second highest finisher from Virgina in the field as he was able to finish in between James Robinson's Tolbert and Sharkey with a 24th place effort of 16:14. The VA #20 ranked squad from Millbrook in the 4A classification were 13th at the Carlisle Invite led by freshmen Alec Schrank (48th, 16:32). Genuario was not the only member of the West Potomac cross country team to enjoy victory this weekend as the entire West Po boys were winners in the champion division (the 2nd best race in meet) with a team score of 118 points and 16:59 average as Luca Holladay (16:32) and Eric Turner (16:41) were sub 17 minute performances to pace the Wolverines in the top 15 pack in the race.

 

On-Site Coverage

Girls Highlights

Boys Highlights

30th Annual Greensboro Cross Country Invitational

The Hidden Valley squads led Virginia down at Hagan Stone Park with the girls team taking 3rd place and the boys squad finishing 5th in the final team standings in the championship division race. The VA #16 Hidden Valley girls had a tightly bunched top 3 with Leslie Weidner (21st, 19:26), Carla Weidner (22nd, 19:27), and Heather Mwitanti (24th, 19:30) as Ali Sharpe (37th, 19:56) and Helena Harding (20th, 20:00) rounding out their team total score at 122 points. Missing from their lineup or in the results was the regular #1 runner this season in last week's Clash with the Titans winner Hailey Singleton. Hidden Valley could have possibly finished closer to North Carolina 4A top ranked Green Hope, who impressed with a low team score of 67 points.

The Hidden Valley boys (5th, 189 pts) had one of their best team showings of the season at least in terms of times with senior Noah Long leading their group in a 7th place performance of 16:07, while teammate Sammy LeHardy also broke into the top 20 and under 16:30 with a 16:28 clocking. Still need to work on their fifth runner with a 1:43 top 5 spread, but nearly had four runners under 17 minutes with Long, LeHardy, Eli Harding (33rd, 16:51), and Matthew Camilletti (47th, 17:02).

The individual performance of the meet from Virginia belowed to South County senior Alec Jones, who was able to dip just under 16 minutes and nearly grab runner-up honors in the championship race with a 3rd place finish of 15:59. After finishing 14th at the Monroe Parker Invite a 15:45 performance on the 2.98 mile course and taking 54th place with a 5K time of 16:51, Jones had by far his best run of the fall on Saturday at Hagan Stone Park.

 

On-Site Coverage

 

Girls Highlights

Boys Highlights

BRISTOL CROSS

In the battle of bragging rights for the city of Bristol, which shares boundaries in both the state of Virginia and Tennessee, John S. Battle junior Brad Swiney had to settle for runner-up honors at the Bristol Cross meet. Swiney has been winning virtually every meet this season in Southwest VA with the exception of the loaded Knights Crossing Invitational, which he clocked his 5K personal best of 16:05 at. Swiney was defeated by another talented runner from the class of 2015 in Daniel Boone's (TN) Adam Barnard (9:27 3200/15:33 5K), who took the 2013 Bristol Cross race in a time of 16:05. Swiney trailed in 25 seconds later to hold off Barnard's teammate James Garst (3rd, 16:31) with a runner-up clocking of 16:29.

Floyd County had the top finishing teams from Virginia in both varsity races with their girls placing 5th place with 182 points and their boys slightly out performing them as they ended up in 4th place (209 pts). Audra Yarber of Abingdon was only 10 seconds off her 5K PR from Knights Crossing with a 5th place showing of 19:43 for the sophomore and last year's Southwest District cross country champion on the Steele Park 5K course 

Meet Results

Girls Highlights

Boys Highlights

Golden Eagle Invitational

Despite sitting out their top 6 runners, the Blacksburg girls were still able to win the varsity division at the Staunton River High School hosted Golden Eagle Invitational. Olivia Hodge, who ran #7 for the nationally ranked Blacksburg girls last week at the adidas XC Challenge in North Carolina, won her first invitational race with a time of 21:18 as nearly 30 seconds separated herself from race runner-up Seema Tailor (2nd, 21:46) of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke. 

Sean Farney of Altavista is a one of several contenders for the state title in the smallest classification of Group 1A and appears progressing well to challenge for the win at Great Meadow following a 17:23 victory at the Golden Eagle Invite on the last weekend of September. The Jefferson Forest boys stayed local to compete, while their varsity girls made the trip to Richmond and finished 3rd at Maymont. While their girls will return with a 3rd place trophy, the Jefferson Forest boys can proudly showcase a first place trophy from the Golden Eagle Invite as four runners in the top 13 places helped secure a team title (57 pts).

Meet Results

Maymont X-Country Festival

On-Site Coverage

Maymont X-Country Festival Coverage

Much much more to come from our on-site coverage of the 2013 Maymont X-Country Festival including full meet summary, race videos, photo galleries, and interviews. Complete high school race results can be found below!

Athlete Spotlight: Molly Breidenbaugh (Trinity Episcopal)

Trinity Episcopal School senior Molly Breidenbaugh is the defending Virginia Independent Schools Division 1 state champion in cross country as well as a reigning 3200 champion on the track, which she ended up lowering her time down to 10:46 in the spring. After a successful first year and smooth transition to Trinity Episcopal School following spending her first two years at Hanover High School in Mechanicsville, Breidenbaugh has her sights set on even bigger goals this year including hopefully a trip to San Diego in December for the Foot Locker Nationals if she can be one of the top 10 finisher at the South Regional qualifier in Charlotte on Thanksgiving weekend.

Maymont Festival Virtual Meet Boys Preview

  Chantilly boys will be looking to bounce back from a defeat by the Battlefield squad at the Oatlands Invitational last weekend with a victory at the Maymont Festival this weekend in their first appearance at the meet. The previously VA #1 ranked squad and last year's Group AAA state champion team will have two individuals expected to finish high up in the field between Ryan McGorty and Dakota Lange, but will need even better races from #3 and #4 runners Adam Huff and Peter Malander as well who ever steps up into the #5 position to win against a very tough team from Maryland in Severna Park. 

Maymont Festival Virtual Meet Girls Preview

Virtual meet girls previews (includes this year and last year's season best 5K times) for the 2013 Maymont X-Country Festival which has 116 schools entered in the meet. One of the state's better and more exciting rivalries between West Springfield's Caroline Alcorta and Lake Braddock's Hannah Christen will be renewed again on Saturday at Maymont in the invitational division race. 

Videos

2013 Maymont Festival - Invitational Girls 2013 Maymont Festival - Invitational Boys 2013 Maymont Festival - Caroline Alcorta Interview 2013 Maymont Festival - Nathaniel Hall Interview
2013 Maymont Festival - Molly Breidenbaugh Interview 2013 Maymont Festival - Pat Hally Interview 2013 Maymont Festival - Miles Clikeman Interview 2013 Maymont Festival - Freshmen Girls
2013 Maymont Festival - Freshmen Boys 2013 Maymont Festival - Private School Championship Girls 2013 Maymont Festival - Private School Championship Boys 2013 Maymont Festival - Coastal Girls
2013 Maymont Festival - JV Red Girls 2013 Maymont Festival - JV Red Boys 2013 Maymont Festival - Coastal Boys 2013 Maymont Festival - JV White Girls
2013 Maymont Festival - JV White Boys 2013 Maymont Festival - Private School JV Boys 2013 Maymont Festival - Silver/Bronze Girls 2013 Maymont Festival - Silver/Bronze Boys

Girls Highlights

Boys Highlights

 

Stonewall Jackson Invitational

Julia Wood of Rappahannock County was not far off from joining a short list of past state cross country champions who have broken 20 minutes in recent years at the Stonewell Jackson Invitational held at the New Market Battlefield on Saturday. Wood was a runaway winner in the varsity girls race by 73 second margin of victory over fellow sophomore Blaise Sevier (2nd, 21:18) of George Mason with her 20:05 performance. Multiple state champions Kaitlyn Ayers of Strasburg (2009) and Hannah Rose of Wilson Memorial (2011) both clocked times of 19:51, while Wood's performance is the 3rd fastest on the meet list over the past dozen years or so.

George Mason, the #2 ranked girls squad in Group 2A, were able to withstand challenges from private school Paul VI Catholic (2nd, 88 pts) and Group 4A squad Central of Woodstock (3rd, 104 pts) for the team title at the Stonewall Jackson Invite with a cumulative team score of 72 points. George Mason had three girls break into the top 15 places with Sevier, Kaitlin Kutchma (7th, 22:03), and Grace Eye (13th, 22:16).

The team order was flipped in the boys race between Paul VI and George Mason with one of the state's best Catholic schools program in Paul VI led by race champion Andy Stepka claiming the first place team trophy with 55 points. Stepka has had a great start to his senior year of cross country, which continued with a 12 second win over George Mason's Truman Custer (2nd, 17:54) by posting a time of 17:42 on the New Market Battlefield 5K course on Saturday.

On-Site Coverage

 

 

Meet Results