The preseason #1 ranked runners in Group AA in Peter Dorrell of Blacksburg and Laura Rapp of Heritage did nothing to hurt their standings in their season openers at the Knights Crossing Invitational in Salem. Dorrell proceeded to break his own course record at Green Hill Park with a 15:37 win, while Rapp was able to hold off a strong challenge to the line by Hanover sophomore Lauren Hopper (2nd, 18:41) for a 18:41 victory. Meanwhile, the Blacksburg girls competing without one of their top runners in Laurel MacMilllan looked mighty tough with nearly six under 20 minutes as they clearly are a stronger than in 2006 from top to bottom as last year's group counted on a strong front three to make up for any weakeness areas after.
The Thomas Jefferson boys showed themselves to be a team very capable of continuing Coach Matt Ryan's streak of state podium finishes in this past decade with a team title at Knights Crossing as Brian Landry led the Colonials with his first cross country race in two years with a fourth place effort of 16:04. Lebanon's Jakob Maidens made defending Group A state cross country champion Nathan Brame realize a second title will not come easy as it took a great kick by Brame to not be dealt a defeat by Maidens.
Knights Crossing Photo Gallery by Brandon Miles - 1171 total photos. Black division photos to be added.
Knights Crossing Race Videos: Red Division Boys - Red Division Girls - Black Division Boys - Black Division Girls - Middle School - Open
Knights Crossing Video Interviews: Peter Dorrell - Laura Rapp - Lauren Hopper - Nathan Brame
More to come from Knights Crossing including full meet summary, photos, and video.