ROCKVILLE, MD -- The state of Virginia was well represented at this year\'s Georgetown Prep Invitational with some strong individual and team performances. The performance of the day came from Forest Park junior Stefanie Slekis, who ran away with the victory in the seeded girls\' race with a time of 18:46.98. Slekis won by five seconds over a field comprised of many schools from the Mid-Atlantic states.
Three other Virginia girls had top ten individual performances with St. Catherine\'s junior Katie Doswell (6th, 19:12.59), Fairfax sophomore Jessica Trapeni (7th, 19:26.50), and Westfield sophomore Alexis Deegan (9th, 19:29.35) all dipping under 19:30 on the difficult 5K course.
Deegan helped lead the Westfield ladies to team runner-up finish with 121 points as Maryland\'s C. Milton Wright won convincingly with 73 points. C. Milton Wright is currently ranked #4 in the NTN Northeast region. The next four Westfield finishers finished in a 16 second gap with senior Jessie Deegan (23rd, 20:14.35), senior Christina Larssen (29th, 20:20.56), junior Sabina Page (31st, 20:24.66), and senior Megan Dwyer (33rd, 20:30.91). The Westfield girls are currently ranked #8 in the state.
The James Robinson girls, ranked #6 currently in the state, finished third in the team standings with 175 points. Senior Caroline Coster led the Lady Rams with a 22nd place finishing time of 20:13.92. Teammates Jennifer Hovland (27th, 20:19.41), Susan Brooks (38th, 20:40.91), Abby Coster (41st, 20:47.06) also dipped under 21 minutes, while Christine Connors just missed the sub 21 minute performance to finish 52nd overall in a time of 21:04.68 to round out Robinson\'s top five.
The Herndon boys looked strong, through three runners, but dropped off considerably after that. The Hornets still managed a second place team performance with 210 points. Sophomores Ermin Mejesinovic (6th, 16:21.22), Abe Daganchew (10th, 16:29.31), and senior Dannny Gordon (13th, 16:39.97) comprised a strong top three for Herndon.
However, a huge gap existed after their third runner with Greg Wilds (84th, 18:01.63) and Jared Hatch (101st, 18:24.85) making up their remaining top five. This gap will need to close come championship season time.
Herndon was able to defeat #10 state ranked Potomac Falls, who finished fourth in the team scoring with 267 points. Potomac Falls had a strong top three also in Max Werner (23rd, 17:00.61), Sean Wilson (27th, 17:05.97), and Tory Patrick (29th, 17:10.27). While their fourth runner Andrew Johnson (70th, 17:45.80) was not too far behind, fifth runner Thomas Keefe (124th, 19:06.73) put them out of contention.
Two Virginians were in race contention for the individual battle in the boys\' race. Robert E. Lee\'s Dawit Legesse and Chantilly\'s Brad Siragusa were part of a small pack of runners who broke away from the field early. Walter Johnson\'s Andrew Jesien was able to pull away from the field in the final mile to win in 15:54.68. Legesse closed strong in the final mile as well to defeat a previously unbeaten Siragusa in a time of 15:59.62 to take runner-up honors. Siragusa finished third in a time of 16:10.51. Also noteworthy was a strong individual performance by Ryan Woodley of Episcopal, who is the defending private schools state champion. Woodley finished fifth at Georgetown Prep in a time of 16:18.58.
ROCKVILLE, MD -- The state of Virginia was well represented at this year\'s Georgetown Prep Invitational with some strong individual and team performances. The performance of the day came from Forest Park junior Stefanie Slekis, who ran away with the victory in the seeded girls\' race with a time of 18:46.98. Slekis won by five seconds over a field comprised of many schools from the Mid-Atlantic states.
Three other Virginia girls had top ten individual performances with St. Catherine\'s junior Katie Doswell (6th, 19:12.59), Fairfax sophomore Jessica Trapeni (7th, 19:26.50), and Westfield sophomore Alexis Deegan (9th, 19:29.35) all dipping under 19:30 on the difficult 5K course.
Deegan helped lead the Westfield ladies to team runner-up finish with 121 points as Maryland\'s C. Milton Wright won convincingly with 73 points. C. Milton Wright is currently ranked #4 in the NTN Northeast region. The next four Westfield finishers finished in a 16 second gap with senior Jessie Deegan (23rd, 20:14.35), senior Christina Larssen (29th, 20:20.56), junior Sabina Page (31st, 20:24.66), and senior Megan Dwyer (33rd, 20:30.91). The Westfield girls are currently ranked #8 in the state.
The James Robinson girls, ranked #6 currently in the state, finished third in the team standings with 175 points. Senior Caroline Coster led the Lady Rams with a 22nd place finishing time of 20:13.92. Teammates Jennifer Hovland (27th, 20:19.41), Susan Brooks (38th, 20:40.91), Abby Coster (41st, 20:47.06) also dipped under 21 minutes, while Christine Connors just missed the sub 21 minute performance to finish 52nd overall in a time of 21:04.68 to round out Robinson\'s top five.