Christopher Newport University Director of Athletics C.J. Woollum today announced the resignation of track and field coach Ron Garner.

Thomas Jefferson boys remain #1 after an off weekend, while many teams are chomping at the bits to get their first crack at the top ranked team as several squads moved up considerably after their performances this past weekend. The West Springfield (#4 state ranked), Clarke County (#5), and Hermitage boys (#6) all made jumps in the rankings. Culpeper senior Devin Cornwall retains his #1 ranking despite being only five seconds faster than previously #7 state ranked Mike Spooner of West Springfield (now ranked #3) on the same Great American course and with cooler race conditions. Christiansburg\' John Horst beats #1 AA ranked Griff Graves of Abingdon, but Northside senior Zack Edwards moves to the #1 spot as a result. #4 AA ranked Sherando boys and #5 AA ranked Levi Watson made a huge splash in this weeks rankings with a strong meet at Mercersburg Academy in PA this past weekend. The #1 A ranked Clarke County boys showing their surprising strong depth for a Group A school have the six top ranked individuals in the classification. Fork Union re-affirmed themselves as the #1 private school boys team with a win in the small school division at Great American as Polish import Axel Mostrag of Fork Union finds himself ranked of Hurricane Katrina displaced Stephen Chester of STAB this week after his 16:17 clocking at Great American. The Nike Race of Champions girls race shook up things between previously top ranked Midlothian, #1 AA ranked Brentsville, and pre-season #1 favored Oakton. The Brentsville girls move into the #1 spot this week with #2 Oakton and #3 Midlothian trailing. Running a 17:36 5K in the Nike Race of Champions college women\'s race did not hurt Oaktree Academy sophomore Aurora Scott\'s place as the top ranked runner in the state. #5 state ranked Becky Stewart of Brentsville and #7 ranked Kristin Wolfe of James River saw their stocks rise in the individual rankings considerably thanks to strong runs at Great American.

The Virginia women\'s cross country team is ranked #23 in the latest FinishLynx Poll, as released by the Women\'s Cross Country Coaches\' Association. The Hoos opened the season with a win at the Lou Onesty Invitational at home before taking third at the Great American Cross Country Festival last Saturday (Sep 24), upsetting then-#21 Georgia.

The Colonial Athletic Association announced today that sophomore Christo Landry (Falls Church, VA) was named Runner of the Week for the week of September 27. Landry paced the Tribe over the weekend at the Great American Festival, placing third in the Nike Race of Champions in 24:12. The team won the race by twelve points over the University of Virginia.

University of Virginia remain atop the rankings after a great team performance at Great American as they finished third and beat nationally ranked Georgia. Also in the race finishing fifth was the #2 state ranked William & Mary women as they raced without one of their top three runners in the injured Kristyn Shiring. James Madison women continued to show a gaping hole in the fifth spot at Roy Griak as the Virginia Tech women, with an off weekend, remained in the third spot ahead of JMU. Kara Scanlin of UVA made a big leap in the individual rankings as she finished ahead of William & Mary\'s top two runners in Meghan Bishop and Julia Cathcart at Great American with a 17:48 5K. In the Division III rankings, the Mary Washington women slided one spot ahead of Washington & Lee into the number two slot after narrowly defeating them by two points at Greensboro, but the Washington & Lee women did race without top runner and #3 Division III state ranked Jackie Burns. The entire year figures to be an exciting back and forth battle between CNU, Mary Washington, and Washington & Lee on who the top women\'s Division III program in the state is. Mary Washington\'s Alison Hazlett made a jump into the #1 spot as she won the Greensboro Invite convincingly in 18:43 for 5,000 meters.

William & Mary re-affirm themselves as the top ranked team in the state as they defeated the UVA men at Great American as many of the Tribe moved well up into the top 15 rankings in their debut races for the season. Josh McDougal raced like the top runner in the state across the country at the Stanford Invite with an impressive 23:24 8K win, while younger brother Jordan (23:46 8K) made the biggest leap in the individual rankings. Norfolk State, Liberty, and VCU move up in this week\'s rankings with improved team performances, while JMU and U of R fall back after subpar performances. Mary Washington men re-claim #1 Division III ranking after beating a Nathan Johnson-less Washington & Lee at Greensboro. Roanoke College men and Eric Johnson move up considerably after strong runs at their home invite.

USA Track & Field has announced the Team USA for the North American 5 km Team Challenge, hosted by the Arturo Barrios Invitational in Chula Vista, Calif., on October 23. The U.S. team will be competing against teams from Canada, the 2004 team champions and Mexico for a total prize purse of $25,000. Each team will be represented by 6 athletes, 3 men and 3 women, scoring the top two times for each sex from each team. The winning team will receive $12,000, second place $6,000 and third $3000.

Brentsville boys (11th) and Midlothian girls (11th) falter in Nike Race of Champions, while Brentsville (5th) and Oakton (6th) girls rise to the occassion. Brentsville\'s Becky Stewart (18:37) garners 11th place individually in ROC. Aurora Scott runs with the big girls and posts the third fastest high school 5K time of the day (13th, 17:36) in the college women\'s ROC. Top ranked Devin Cornwall of Culpeper places 11th in the high school boys ROC in 15:47. Junior Mike Spooner (15:52) and West Springfield roll to victories in red invitational division. Junior John Vial (16:13) and Hermitage boys do the same in white invitational division. Fork Union wins smalls school boys behind Polish duo of Axel Mostrag (16:19) and Szymon Rolla (16:22).

Josh McDougal proved once again why he is one of the most elite runners in the country as he dominated the field at the 32nd annual Stanford Invitational, setting a new course record of 23:24 on the 8k Stanford Golf Course this evening. The new course record marked McDougal

James Madison University junior C.W. Moran (Potomac Falls, Va./Potomac) has been named the Colonial Athletic Association Men

The first annual Oatlands Invitational saw a large assembly of teams at the Oatlands Plantation in Leesburg. With over 40 teams in attendance, the meet was bound to be a success with many great teams and individuals battling it out. Group A defending champs Clarke County had a dominating team performance to win the boys\' team title over a Group AAA and AA heavy meet with #6 state ranked Herndon and #6 Group AAA ranked North Stafford with a 37 second spread between their top five. Herndon sophomore Daganchew (15:45.96) won an exciting duel over #4 state ranked Brad Siragusa (15:47.1), a senior at Chantilly High School. Daganchew was ranked #6 in the state in the most recent rankings. The #3 state ranked Westfield girls took runner-up honors to Northwest High School of Maryland, but ran with only one runner from their top five, while the Clarke County girls solidified themselves as one of the state\'s top teams by beating out #7 state ranked Brooke Point for third place honors.

Two of the top men\'s and women\'s collegiate programs in the state went head to head at Great American along with a handful of other college teams in the state. The College of William & Mary men, ranked #16 currently in the state, were able to hold off a stiff challenge from the University of Virginia, to win the team title by a 12 point margin. Meanwhile, the University of Virginia women, currently unranked, defeated #21 nationally ranked University of Georgia and the College of William & Mary women to finish third overall.

After having their number owned by the Abingdon boys and sophomore Griff Graves thus far this season, the Christiansburg boys and senior John Horst got revenge at the Bristol Cross as the Christiansburg took first place team honors with 77 points, while Horst won by a 32 second margin over Graves on the 3 mile course with a 15:54 clocking. The Abingdon boys finished third in the team standing behind Daniel Boone (86 pts) of Tennessee with 93 points.

At the Greensboro Invitational, three of the top tier Virginia Division III college programs competed with the University of Mary Washington, Washington & Lee University, and Lynchburg College (men only). The Mary Washington men and women both finished first in the Division III team standings at the meet held at Hagan Stone Park in Greensboro. Mary Washington sophomore Allison Hazlett won the women\'s 5K race in a time of 18:43 to lead the squad to a narrow two point margin of victory over the Washington & Lee women. The Mary Washington men (32 pts) won by eight points over the Washington & Lee men (40 pts), but the Generals did run without top runner and defending NCAA South/Southeast Regional champion Nathan Johnson.

Great Bridge junior Kristine Tobin helped lead her Lady Wildcats to the team title at the 2005 Chesapeake Invitational held at Bells Mills as she clocked a 5K PR of 18:42.55 to win the individual title. The nearest competitor to Tobin was Tallwood junior Anne Barber who also ran a PR of 19:24.6 in the race. Tobin\'s teammate, Katherine Telfeyan had a solid individual run to place third with a time of 19:32.5, while Jayna McGehee (9th, 20:33.95), Jordan Van Auken (15th, 21:10.20), and Bettina Callison (27th, 21:48) rounded out Great Bridge\'s top five for a team score of 55 points. The Ocean Lakes girls took runner-up honors (70 pts) as they were led by a strong front two in Stacey Nobles (6th, 20:22.0) and Mary Margaret Peter (7th, 20:22.65). Landstown\'s Jonathan Bunker (16:42.8) won the boys\' race over Kellam\'s William Garland (16:48.65), while the Cox boys won the team title with top 5 finishes from Eddie Judge (3rd, 16:56.45) and Charles Celesia (5th, 16:59.15).

The Roanoke College men

54 photos taken by John Herzog of the varsity A girls race from the 2005 Maymont Cross Country Festival held at Maymont Park in Richmond, Virginia on Saturday, September 24th.

47 photos taken by John Herzog of the varsity A boys race from the 2005 Maymont Cross Country Festival held at Maymont Park in Richmond, Virginia on Saturday, September 24th.

55 photos taken by John Herzog of various high school girls (non-A division) races from the 2005 Maymont Cross Country Festival held at Maymont Park in Richmond, Virginia on Saturday, September 24th.

119 photos taken by John Herzog of the various high school boys (non-A division) races from the 2005 Maymont Cross Country Festival held at Maymont Park in Richmond, Virginia on Saturday, September 24th.

20 photos taken by John Herzog of the open races from the 2005 Maymont Cross Country Festival held at Maymont Park in Richmond, Virginia on Saturday, September 24th.

26 photos taken by John Herzog of the elementary and middle school races from the 2005 Maymont Cross Country Festival held at Maymont Park in Richmond, Virginia on Saturday, September 24th.

Iron is the key for John Vial. . . . No, not pumpin\' iron, but swallowing it. No runner has cut more time than the Hermitage High junior. His quality of life, on and off the running trails, turned around when it was discovered that Vial had a serious iron deficiency. \"I was tired all the time,\" he said. \"All I wanted to do was sleep.\" Once the iron supplement was prescribed for severe anemia, Vial transformed from a runner who practically needed goggles to keep others\' dust and mud out of his eyes, to who bolted near the front of the pack.

Coaches did not seem to bite too much on the Brentsville Relays Results as many top teams competed in the untraditional cross country relay meet with each leg running half the distance of a 5K...2500 meters. Fairfax girls made a large jump in the rankings though as they are now ranked #5 in the state. Thomas Jefferson boys, Midlothian girls, Devin Cornwall, and Aurora Scott maintain their number one spots.

Liberty

Off weekends for the state\'s top two programs in UVA and William & Mary, but we will get a better indication this Saturday where these two teams stand among one another, in the region, and in the nation at the Great American Cross Country Festival as both squads will try to field their strongest seven possible.

The big head to head matchups come this weekend as teams will be trying to run at as full strength as possible at this weekend\'s Great American Cross Country Festival with plenty of future season implications on the line. The College of William & Mary men will be most likely running most of their top guys for the first time this season on Saturday\'s race and the UVA men will be inserting one or two of their top guys that they sat out from their impressive victory at the Lou Onesty Invitational two weekends ago. Both squads are aiming for NCAA Nationals qualification this fall and this one of several races coming up that could have an impact on their advancement to nationals.

A slew of Virginia high school and collegiate teams will be headed to compete at the Great American Cross Country Festival in North Carolina. Quite a few teams will be trying to establish themselves nationally. Competing in the high school girls Race of Champions division will be NTN Southeast ranked #7 ranked Oakton, #6 ranked Brentsville, and #5 ranked Midlothian. The Oakton boys ranked #2 in the Nike Team Nationals Southeast Rankings, will be competing in the seeded Invitational, while the #3 NTN Southeast ranked Brentsville boys are slated to compete in the Nike Race of Champions. At last year\'s Great American, strong team performances by the J.R. Tucker boys and Oakton girls elevated them into the running for Nike Team Nationals berths. In the college races, the University of Virginia and College of William & Mary men\'s and women\'s squads will be looking to make splashes on the national scene with strong races in the collegiate Race of Champions races. A slew of Virginia high school and collegiate teams will be headed to compete at the Great American Cross Country Festival in North Carolina. Quite a few teams will be trying to establish themselves nationally. Competing in the high school girls Race of Champions division will be NTN Southeast ranked #7 ranked Oakton, #6 ranked Brentsville, and #5 ranked Midlothian. The Oakton boys ranked #2 in the Nike Team Nationals Southeast Rankings, will be competing in the seeded Invitational, while the #3 NTN Southeast ranked Brentsville boys are slated to compete in the Nike Race of Champions. At last year\'s Great American, strong team performances by the J.R. Tucker boys and Oakton girls elevated them into the running for Nike Team Nationals berths. In the college races, the University of Virginia and College of William & Mary men\'s and women\'s squads will be looking to make splashes on the national scene with strong races in the collegiate Race of Champions races. Two years ago, the UVA men used an impressive team performance at Great American to put them in the NCAA Nationals race thanks to an at-large berth.

William and Mary moved up three spots to No. 16 in the MONDO National Cross Country Poll this week despite having a bye-week from competition last weekend. This is the highest position for the team since being ranked 15th in the 2003 Preseason Poll. In the regional poll, the Tribe lost ground and slipped to No. 2 behind N.C. State.

Going into the 2005 season, the VMI men

18 schools are slated to compete at this Saturday\'s Knight\'s Cross Invitational, which will be held at Green Hill Park in Salem, Virginia.

Photos taken by Lee Dick at the JMU Open Invitational held at the New Market Battlefield in New Market, Virginia. 21 photos total from the men and women\'s college races.

Three of the state\'s top division III programs in the state went head to head at the NYU Invitational held at the historic Van Courtland Park course in New York City. Christopher Newport University, Lynchburg College, and Washington & Lee University were all in attendance at this year\'s race. The Christopher Newport University women (2nd, 112 pts) and Washington & Lee University men (3rd, 120 pts) came away as the top finishing teams, while CNU senior Emily Low (20:11 5K) and Washington & Lee senior Nathan Johnson (27:28 5mile, 4th overall) were the top Virginian finishers.

The 2005 Brentsville Relays saw a large gathering for the unique, under-the-lights, 4x2500 meter cross country relay race with 53 schools in attendance. Many of the state\'s top ranked teams went to head-to-head in the non-traditional cross country race. The girls\' \"A\" race only pitted together four of the top five ranked teams in the state in #1 ranked Midlothian, #2 ranked Westfield, #3 ranked Brentsville, and #5 ranked Lake Braddock. However, the top team would be none of the four schools as Maryland\'s Eleanor Roosevelt girls took top honors as their four member relay finished with a time of 46:29 thanks to a 8:55 leg from Dominique Lockhart. Top ranked Midlothian finished five seconds behind in second place with a 46:34 as M.C. Miller (9:04) had the fastest split for the Lady Trojans. With the homefield advantage, Group AA #1 ranked Brentsville finished third in a time of 46:38 as Becky Stewart had the meet\'s fastest split of 8:53. Westfield finished well behind Midlothian and Brentsville in fourth (47:48), while Lake Braddock finished a distant eighth (48:37) behind Fairfax (5th, 47:50), Colonial Forge (6th, 48:01), and Maryland\'s C. Milton Wright (7th, 48:32). Six teams total dipped under the previous course record of 48:20. The Brentsville boys (39:33) were victorious on their home course as they won by a 24 second margin over Colonial Forge (39:57). Henry Mileus posted the fastest split for the first place Tigers with a 7:47 clocking. Eleanor Roosevelt\'s Milkias Gelagle had the top split of the evening in the boys\' race at 7:27.

With four of their top five runners within the top eight places, the Fort Defiance boys were able to easily win the Lee-Davis Invitational held at Pole Green despite a poor fifth. The Indians were led by race winner Daniel Alfonso as the junior was the only runner to dip under the Pole Green 5K course with a 16:54 clocking. Senior teammates Derek Hizer (3rd, 17:07) and Matt Bailey (4th, 17:11) were not too far behind their fellow underclassman, while freshmen Josh Ott (8th, 17:34) had a solid run as Fort Defiance\'s fourth runner. While the Indians (43 pts) were able to win with plenty of breathing room as a 45 point margin distanced them from second place Mills Godwin (88 pts), they will have to find a stronger fifth runner in order to be competitve on the Group AA state stage as senior John Wampler was the team\'s fifth finisher in 27th place at 19:03. The Douglas Freeman girls took the team crown on the girls\' side with five runners in the top 16 spots with junior Meredith Cox (2nd, 20:27), freshmen Jamie Machich (8th, 21:18), junior Sonja Lokensgard (9th, 21:20), sophomore Annie MacKinnon (11th, 21:29), and junior Laura Wallace (16th, 21:57). The Kellam girls finished 12 points out of first as they were led by third place run by senior Tara Connor (3rd, 20:36). Maggie Walker senior Samantha DeAlto took a four second victory over district rival Cox to win the girls\' individual title in a 20:23 clocking.

Culpeper County senior Devin Cornwall and Albemarle junior Rachel Rose rolled to dominating victories on the challenging Woodberry Forest Invitational 5K course. Cornwall, fresh off his newly earned #1 ranking in the state and course record breaking performance at Loriella Park two weeks ago, won the boys\' race with ease by a 38 second margin with his 16:26.31 clocking. The Western Albemarle boys (45 pts) won the team title as they were led by race runner-up Will Massie who covered the course in a time of 17:04.50. Rose won by even a wider margin of 62 seconds with her swift time of 18:51.39. Rose was not on anyone\'s radar coming into this fall as a challenger to the state crown but with her early season performances she currently finds herself ranked #2 in Group AAA. Second place finisher Samantha Stafford (19:54.03) of Western Albemarle had to settle for a second place finish for her team as well as the #7 state ranked Brooke Point (47 pts) girls narrowly defeated the #6 state ranked Lady Warriors (48 pts) by a mere point to score a mild upset over the defending Group AA state champs.

Kicking off their season in small home opener on their home course at the New Market Battefield, the James Madison University men and women\'s cross country teams had impressive individual and team showings. In a field of five teams, the JMU men tallied 20 points to win the meet as they were led by race winner CW Moran as the Dukes junior covered the challenging 7.9 kilometer course in a time of 25:30.4. The Lady Dukes (26 pts) were able to take a close victory over 21st nationally ranked Georgetown (30 pts) as the Lady Hoyas sat out some of their top runners. In a field of five teams, the JMU women were led by senior Shannon Saunders who defended her victory in the home invite from a year ago as she finished in a time of 18:46.90 on the 5.1 kilometer course.

The VMI men

Both the University of Mary Washington women\'s and men\'s cross country teams finished in first place at the McDaniel College Invitational on Saturday in the teams\' first races of the season. For the women, who placed first among eight schools, Sophomore Alison Hazlett finished first overall, with a time of 19:43. Classmate Christy Falcone took third, at 21:10, and Stephanie Grimes placed fifth, at 21:28. Amy Pasler placed tenth at 21:47, and Liz Gerber took eleventh, at 21:50.

59 photos taken by John Herzog of the large school varsity girls race from the 2005 Lee-Davis Invitational held at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, Virginia on Saturday, September 17th.

64 photos taken by John Herzog of the large school varsity boys race from the 2005 Lee-Davis Invitational held at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, Virginia on Saturday, September 17th.

31 photos taken by John Herzog of the small school varsity girls race from the 2005 Lee-Davis Invitational held at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, Virginia on Saturday, September 17th.

31 photos taken by John Herzog of the small school varsity boys race from the 2005 Lee-Davis Invitational held at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, Virginia on Saturday, September 17th.

35 photos taken by John Herzog of the junior varsity girls race from the 2005 Lee-Davis Invitational held at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, Virginia on Saturday, September 17th.

40 photos taken by John Herzog of the junior varsity boys race from the 2005 Lee-Davis Invitational held at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, Virginia on Saturday, September 17th.

In the second meet of the season, the Virginia Tech men\'s and women\'s teams both garnered first-place honors Friday evening at the VT Alumni Meet. The 4.7k race on the women\'s side featured freshman Tasmin Fanning, who edged her sister, sophomore All-ACC performer from 2004, Jessica, to capture the women\'s crown. Running in the first meet of her collegiate career, Tasmin Fanning posted a time of 17:12.91. On the men\'s side, senior David Atkiss won the 7.7k race with a time of 24:34.66 in his last home meet of his Tech career.

UVA women maintain their top spot after winning the Lou Onesty Invite in their home opener. The William & Mary women finished second in the meet, but ran without two of their top runners in Julia Catchart and Kristyn Shiring. First set of Division III women rankings are also released.

The UVA men looked impressive enough in their home opener at the Lou Onesty Invitational that they actually scooted ahead of William & Mary in this week\'s rankings as they placed four runners ahead of one of the Tribe\'s top harriers in Keith Bechtol, who had a slight off day at Panorama. However, William & Mary will look to be regaining the top spot at next weekend\'s Great American in a true head to head matchup with UVA as the race will most likely be the season debut for likely Tribe \"A\" squad members Christo Landry, Jeff Hedley, Matt Keally, Adam Tenerowicz, Ian Fitzgerald, and Jason Schoener. Great American will be the debut race for UVA\'s Ryan Foster though as well, so the Cavs should be racing at full strength as well. The UVA men are well represented in the individual rankings with four in the top ten, but once again Great American on the 24th of September will give a better indication of where some of the top individuals in the state stand.

The release of the first MONDO Division I National Poll brought good news for coach Alex Gibby

Rankings compiled through tallied polls of rankings sent in by coaches on a weekly basis. If you are a coach and interested in participating in next week\'s rankings, send your rankings into MileStat.com at milestat@yahoo.com

Road racing in Virginia during the summer has become a place where high school runners test their training, race competitively, and enjoy the chance to race against some of the top

University of Richmond senior John Ciccarelli (Southbury, Conn.) was named the Atlantic 10 Men\'s Cross Country Performer of the Week and freshman Katie Van Horn (Glendora, N.J.) was tabbed the A-10 Women\'s Cross Country Rookie of the Week, after their performances at the Lou Onesty Invitational on Saturday.

In honor of the life and accomplishments of Mr. Kelly Watt, Albemarle High School will be hosting the first Annual Kelly Watt Open. The race will be held Saturday, November 19th at Panorama Farms. The race will be run on the Cup 2 mile course. The only difference is that the Watty will finish in the regular chutes. The proceeds will go to the Kelly Watt Memorial Scholarship Fund, that will be given out annually to a deserving AHS student. The race will not be a scored meet, and no team awards will be given. The race should give athletes a measure of how far they have come in a season, and also a way to honor Kelly running the course where he won his first personal championship. The entry fee is ten dollars. (Eight dollars will go to the Kelly Watt Memorial Fund, with two dollars go to Panorama Farms).

The George Mason men\'s cross country and track and field teams has added an Olympian to the coaching staff as Juli Henner has been named assistant coach for the program. Henner, a 1996 Olympian in the 1500-meters, comes to Mason from Georgetown where she was an assistant coach to the men\'s and women\'s teams for five years.

Virginia cross country student-athlete Soeren Lindner was named the men\'s cross country runner of the week, as announced by the conference office today (Sep 12). Lindner finished second overall at the Lou Onesty Invitational on Sep 10, leading Virginia to the team title as the Cavaliers opened up their 2005 season with the meet at Panorama Farms. Lindner ran 24:31.46 en route to the runner-up finish, and was the lead in a Virginia pack that finished 2-3-4-7.

Virginia Intermont College

Sophomore Aurora Scott kicked off her season in high gear as she simply demolished the Hardy National 3 mile course record at the Fork Union Invitational with a blazing time of 16:46.97. Scott recently left Western Branch High School in Chesapeake and enrolled at Oaktree Academy, a half home-schooling and half classroom Christian school in Chesapeake. Scott, a Foot Locker finalist last fall as a freshmen seems primed for even bigger things this fall. In remembrance of Kelly Watt, who lost his life last month after a heat stroke on a run, Fork Union coach and meet director Winston Brown honored last year\'s Fork Union Invitational boys\' race champion by renaming the varsity colonial divisions of this year\'s race the Kelly Watt race divisions.

Well Great Meadows Invitational certainly shook up any perceived order and structure held in pre-season rankings as the Midlothian girls knocked off not one, but two Nike Team Nationals ranked squads in SE #3 Oakton and SE #7 Brentsville. Coach Morgan\'s Lady Trojans won by 6 points over Brentsville (89 pts) and defeated Oakton (93 pts) as well with a team score of 83 points. A bunch of new faces are found on this year\'s Midlothian squad with more than a several freshmen and a transfer making immediate impacts. Forest Park senior Stefanie Slekis was a convincing winner in the girls\' race as she won by 33 seconds over Oakton\'s Kayley Byrne (19:12.25) in a time of 18:38.55. The Brentsville boys, a NTN SE #3 squad, also were upset at Great Meadows as the defending Group AA state champions (82 pts) finished second to the Oakton boys (70 pts). The Oakton boys were led by race champion James Phillips who had a strong individual run of 15:54.71 to win the boys\' 5K race.

Abingdon sophomore Griff Graves continued his streak of victories in Southwest Virginia as he notched another victory over Christiansburg senior John Horst. Running in his third race in eight days, Graves beat Horst by 14 seconds on Horst\'s home course at the Blue Demon Invitational with a winning time of 16:08. The time broke the old 5K course record held by Horst at 16:19. The Blacksburg girls (66 pts) took it to the Cave Spring girls (73 pts) for the second week in a row. The Cave Spring girls had looked better on paper based off of personal bests going into the season, but the Blacksburg girls have been the better team thus far this fall.

The annual Northern Region kick-off invitational, the Monroe Parker Invitational, once again stacked up some of the region\'s best teams and individuals against one another and has given a clearer picture of what is in store for this cross country season. The defending Group AAA state champions and NTN SE #8 Lake Braddock girls (98 pts) were upset by the Westfield girls (62 pts) by a large margin of 36 points. The Westfield girls were led by a third place finish by junior Alexis Deegan in 18:21, while sophomore teammates Tasia Potosinski (5th, 18:48), Brittany Sevachko (15th, 19:32), Carly Stephens (23rd, 19:45), and Chrissy Esposito (26th, 19:55) finished out a solid top five for the Lady Bulldogs. Meanwhile Lake Braddock\'s Erin Klein dipped under 18 minutes on the 2.98 mile Burke Lake course to win the girls\' race convicingly in a time of 17:57 as W.T. Woodson junior Sarah Hadiji took second in 18:17. Chantilly senior Brad Siragusa started off his 2005 cross country season just as he started his 2004 cross country season with a decisive victory at the Monroe Parker Invitational. Siragusa crossed the line in a time of 15:18, which was just four seconds slower than last year\'s time, but he took an important 13 second victory over West Springfield junior Mike Spooner (15:31), who is considered by many to be one of the contenders for the Group AAA state crown this fall along with Siragusa. Coach Ryan\'s Thomas Jefferson boys left little doubt that they are the top team in the state and the defending Group AAA state champions as they simply bullied the field as they finished 78 points ahead of second place West Springfield (141 pts) with a 63 point team total. Leading Thomas Jefferson on Saturday was a sophomore in Paul Norland as he finished fourth overall with a time of 15:40.

The University of Virginia men\'s and women\'s cross country teams both looked impressive in winning the team titles in their opening home hosted meet, the Lou Onesty Invitational. The Cavalier men won by a 39 point margin over second place Duke University, while their female counterparts took first by 22 points over a William & Mary women\'s squad not at full strength.

During the week of November 13th - 19th, the Virginia Intermont College (VIC) Cross-Country team will take part in Chasing Tradition, an online journal that will take a behind the scene

First rankings released for the season. This year\'s rankings will also include NAIA schools to include the defending national champion in Virginia Intermont College. Expect better rankings next week with coaches having a better idea of where teams and individuals stand after this week\'s races. University of Virginia\'s Lou Onesty Invitational at Panorama Farms this Saturday will have a handful of top programs butting heads for the first time. Coaches remember to send in your rankings by every Wednesday evening. Women\'s rankings will be posted soon.

James Madison University senior Shannon Saunders and the University of Virginia women sit a top our initial collegiate women\'s rankings. Saunders will be looking to make a consecutive return trip to the NCAA National Meet, while the UVA women would like to make the journey to Indiana after missing out the past few years. Division III rankings to be posted soon.

MileStat.com is asking for support from all coaches around the state in doing this upcoming season\'s cross country rankings once again. In years past, we devised a fairly thought out concept on how to rank the top cross country teams and runners in the state. We ask the coaches in the state of Virginia to send in their votes for the top teams and athletes in their classification on a weekly basis. We feel that this process of ranking teams and athletes is the most accurate and fairest as a single person doing the rankings may be swayed by other outside factors or show bias. In a coaches poll, there will end up being a majority consensus on who the top teams and athletes are. The poll system is very similiar to the one used by the NCAA in college football and basketball. And for those coaches that fear of their picks being made public, no need to fear, you are participating in this poll completely anonymous. Only yourself and I know that you are participating in the rankings. And for coaches that also worry that they may not know enough about whats happening in the state to make somewhat educated picks...USE MY WEBSITE! It is a great tool to research who are the top teams and how they stack up against each other. Also, the more coaches we have participating in the weekly rankings, the better the rankings will be.

Culpeper senior Devin Cornwall kicked off his season in a big way as he broke the 10 year old Loriella Park 5K course record as he won the Chancellor Invitational in a time of 16:02.70. Cornwall demolished the old record by 20 seconds as he posted the fastest time on a course that is considered by some more than 30 seconds slower than the Great Meadows state course. While Cornwall finished 16th in last fall\'s Group AAA cross country state race, busting out such a tremendous performance at Loriella has to make him a sudden early favorite for the state crown along with other top state meet returnees such as Patterson Wilhelm (E.C. Glass), Brad Siragusa (Chantilly), and Mike Spooner (West Springfield).

Plenty of rumors had been circulating over the summer about Griff Graves, a talented high school freshmen in Alabama last year who ran a 9:30 3200 and 15:39 5K, had transferred to Group AA\'s Abingdon High School in Southwest Virginia. Well the rumors became truth at the Run Fer Da Hills Invitational as Griff Graves proved his legitimacy as a strong favorite to win this year\'s Group AA state crown as he defeated one of Southwest Virginia and Group AA\'s best in Christiansburg senior John Horst with a winning time of 15:41 on the challenging three mile course in Bristol, Tennessee. Horst finished 11 seconds behind Graves with a solid clocking of 15:52. Graves\' time was one second slower than current Georgetown University runner and Marion High School alumn Fleet Hower ran in 2001. Hower would go onto become a Footlocker All-American in that same season.

The University of Richmond swept the men\'s and women\'s races against Virginia Commonwealth and Hampton at the 2005 Spider Alumni Open held Saturday. Richmond junior Amanda Russell (North Bay, Ontario) defended her Spider Alumni Open title, finishing first in 11:06.79 in the women\'s two-mile race, while Spider senior John Ciccarelli (South Bury, Conn.) won the men\'s 5K in 15:11.3.

76 photos taken by John Herzog of the Spider Alumni Open held at St. Catherine\'s Fields in Richmond, Virginia on Saturday, September 3rd.

Kristin Hart (Herndon, Va.) was the top collegiate finisher on the women\'s side in her first cross country race at Virginia Tech, helping the Hokies win their season-opening meet Saturday morning. The Virginia Tech men finished second, narrowly missing out on a first-place finish.

Christopher Newport\'s women\'s cross country team finished third while the men placed fifth at the Sea Gull Opener Saturday.

Radford

The VMI men