Lets see how far we have come. During the year of 2007, MileStat.com and the Virginia high school cross country and track community had plenty of special, memorable, and historical moments. MileStat.com had been on the verge of shutting down last spring, but a strong and supportive turnout by the community at the MileStat.com Elite Track Gala last June as well as a new advertising partnership developed with Runner's World has breathed new life into the six year old website to hopefully stay for good. Thankfully, MileStat.com did not shut down as who would have been there to cover all the great stories from this past year. In a photo slideshow year in review, we recall some of those big events from 2007. Thanks for a great year in 2007 helping MileStat.com grow as we try to constantly improve our coverage of Virginia high school cross country and track. Happy New Year! Click To Play

As we head into 2008, here are the top performances in the state so far this indoor season.

The highly anticipated invite opener for the new Grassfield High School in Chesapeake came this past weekend at the F.I.T. Invite in Maryland. Grassfield inherited many of the key members of last year's Deep Creek girls state champion outdoor squad. Their 4x200 meter relay put up an impressive state best time of 1:44.20, while another state leader was produced by a Grassfield athlete in Curtis Campbell (pictured left by Ted Plunkett) as he turned in a time of 1:06.20 in the boys' 500 meter dash. Full meet summary...Other state bests at F.I.T. Invite:Girls 4x400 - Osbourn Park 3:57.49Girls 1600 - Tasia Potasinski (Westfield) 5:08.06Girls Long Jump - Tynita Butts (T.C. Williams) 18-5.50Boys High Jump - Jordan Hill (Albemarle) 6-6 *Ties state best*  F.I.T. Invitational Complete ResultsF.I.T. Invitational Photo Gallery by Ted Plunkett - 819 total photos 

Robert Reynolds of Lee-Davis nearly pulled off an improbable triple in the 1600, 500, and 1000 meter races at Friday's CVTF Clinic Invitational held at the Arthur Ashe Center in Richmond. Reynolds closed well over the last 400 meters in the 1600 meter run to win by nine seconds at 4:38.47. The Lee-Davis senior was toeing the line not too long after in the 500 meter dash as he used his endurance to outlast the field for a 1:11.15 victory. Reynolds nearly picked up a third win in the meet against two quality runners in Davis Barry of Patrick Henry and Brayden Burleigh of Midlothian in the 1000 meter, but a fresh Barry was able to hold Reynolds off in 2:45.08. Full meet summary...CVTF Clinic Invite Complete ResultsCVTF Clinic Invite Videos - 29 videos posted.CVTF Clinic Invite Photo Gallery - 1359 total photos posted.

Performance list for the 2007 F.I.T. (Friends of Indoor Track) Invitational to be held Saturday, December 29th at the Prince George County's Sports & Learning Center in Landover, Maryland.

Photo by wingedfootphotos.comAtlee's pole vault girls in Emma Dejarnette and Rachael Hawks ventured north for their first New York Armory experience at the Marine Corps Holiday Classic in New York. The meet is scored combining the top two finishers from a team in each event. It was no suprise after Dejarnette and Hawks both cleared over 11 feet in the same meet earlier this month at CNU (which was a first in VA state history) that they would easily win such a meet format. Dejarnette cleared 11 feet to finish second individually, while Hawks took third at a 10'6" clearance to give the Atlee girls a combined height of 21'6".  Video of the Atlee pole vault girls competing at the Armory (courtesey of MileSplit US affilliate site ArmoryTrack.com)

Complete results are now posted from Saturday's Metro Run & Walk Holiday Invitational held at Prince George County's Sports & Learning Center in Landover, Maryland. More coverage on the way as MileStat.com was on-site with coverage as expect vids and pictures to start to be posted starting on Sunday morning. The Osbourn Park girls made it a clean sweep in the relays, while the Bethel boys were impressive in the 4x200 and 4x400 meter relays along with individual wins by Javell Bullard (pictured left by Brandon Miles) in the 300 and Sherrard Marrow in the 500. Bullard's sub 35 clocking on a flat track for the 300 meter dash was particular impressive in a state leading time of 34.99. Full meet summary... Metro Run & Walk Holiday Invite Complete ResultsMetro Run & Walk Holiday Invite Videos - 44 videos posted. Metro Run & Walk Invite Photo Gallery - 1915 total photos with more to be added.

MileStat.com will be on-site with coverage at this weekend's Metro Run & Walk Holiday Invitational at Prince George County's Sports & Learning Center. Final instructions and performance list for the MRW Holiday Invite.

Virginia's 55, 300, and 500 meter state record holder Francena McCorory breaking the indoor national 400 record in 2006 at the Nike Indoor Nationals. Compiled below are the Virginia high school state records. It is important to understand that these records below are not endorsed by any governing body such as the VHSL as they include performances in meets, which may be considered outside of the sanctioned seasons and meets of state governing bodies such as Nike Indoor Nationals or in professional/college/open meets.Mile and two mile times are converted to 1600 and 3200 meter times based off the state conversion standards of subtracting 1.6 seconds from mile to 1600 meter times and subtracting 3.4 seconds from two mile to 3200 meter times.The modern day high school athletes from Virginia are doing well for themselves against the best of the past with a total of 17 state indoor records having been set since 2000. Francena McCorory and Alan Webb both have ownership of a trio of state indoor records.Untraditional championship season indoor events are not included in the current state record list, but will likely will be added in the near future such as 60 meter dash, 60 meter hurdles, 200 meter dash, 400 meter dash, 800 meter run, 1500 meter run, 3000 meter run, 5000 meter run, sprint medley relay, distance medley relay, 4xmile relay, hammer throw, etc. Virginia State HS Indoor T&F Records List  

MileStat.com Athletes of the Week posted for week 1 and week 2 of the indoor season.

Photo by John Herzog State leaderboard as of December 19th. Two individuals are state leaders in multiple events with Logan Collins of Orange County in the 1000 (2:33.82) and 1600 (4:17.60) meter run as well as DeShana Briggs of Booker T. Washington in the 500 (1:18.35) meter dash and high jump (5-8). Booker T. girls also have the fastest times in the 4x200 (1:46.35) and 4x400 (4:02.93) meter relays along with Raven Wilson as Virginia's fastest currently at 300 meters with a 41.25 season best.

The second annual St. Christopher's Invitational set for January 25th and 26th in Richmond, Virginia is now closed from accepting any more teams after capping out at their 50 boys and 50 girls team limit. Meanwhile, the Virginia Tech Invitational is still open for entries through December 23rd on directathletics. It is encouraged to register as soon as you can in order to not be shut as well as there are event number limitations at Tech versus team entry limitations at St. Christopher's. Virginia Tech Invitational Information (PDF File) 

In order to make the MileSplit US national indoor rankings more accurate with indoor only performances, polar bear meets and outdoor meets during the indoor season are now excluded from the "indoor" rankings list. However, since such meets can be used as qualifier meets in Virginia for district, regional, and state championships as well as some district and regional meets being contested outdoors, a separate "winter season" rankings has now been created including meets held both indoors and outdoors during the indoor season to use as complete Virginia state rankings lists.  VA Boys Database Event Winter T&F Rankings: 55m - 300m - 500m - 1000m - 1600m - 3200m - 55H - 4x200 - 4x400 - 4x800 - PV - HJ - LJ - TJ - SP VA Girls Database Event Winter T&F Rankings: 55m - 300m - 500m - 1000m - 1600m - 3200m - 55H - 4x200 - 4x400 - 4x800 - PV - HJ - LJ - TJ - SP  VA Boys Database Event Indoor T&F Rankings: 55m - 300m - 500m - 1000m - 1600m - 3200m - 55H - 4x200 - 4x400 - 4x800 - PV - HJ - LJ - TJ - SP VA Girls Database Event Indoor T&F Rankings: 55m - 300m - 500m - 1000m - 1600m - 3200m - 55H - 4x200 - 4x400 - 4x800 - PV - HJ - LJ - TJ - SP

Photo by Jesse HutchesonThe season is young, but many Virginians are positioning themselves well high up on the national indoor track and field rankings including a US #1 5'8" clearance by Deshana Briggs of Booker T. Washington (pictured above by Jesse Hutcheson) at the CNU Winter Frolic in Newport News. Others had exceptional starts as well including Norfolk Collegiate freshmen Nefertiti Smith emerging as a new jumping events star to fill the void of the great class of 2007 female jumpers in Virginia now graduated with a US #1 39'3.50" triple jump mark at CNU on Saturday. Full meet summary & coverage. MileStat.com was on-site with coverage at this past weekend's CNU Winter Frolic with video coverage from Brandon Miles and photo coverage from Jesse Hutcheson.CNU Winter Frolic Complete ResultsCNU Winter Frolic Photo Gallery by Jesse Hutcheson CNU Winter Frolic Videos by Brandon Miles - All of Friday's videos posted. Saturday's event videos will all be posted on Tuesday. 

There were quite a few elite performanes at the Asics Elite Invitational held at Liberty University's Tolsma Track Center in Lynchburg on Saturday, December 25th. Blacksburg senior Peter Dorrell, likely highly motivated from coming up just short of making it to Foot Locker Nationals this cross country, has steamrolled through the month of December in indoor. Dorrell followed up his 4:19 1600 meter opener last weekend at Liberty with a 9:16 3200 meter performance this weekend on the same track. Both are early season national leading performances in the two distance events, but his 1600 meter time was topped this weekend by Logan Collins of Orange County who blitzed a personal best time of 4:17 at the Asics Elite Invite. The best in the Eastern Region are already rolling in December as Keith Ricks of King's Fork matched Torry Womack's 6.37 clocking at CNU on Friday night with a 6.37 win himself at Liberty on Saturday. Full meet summary...Asics Elite Invite Complete Results 

Highlights from Friday's action at CNU Winter Frolic:Friday Results Photo by Jesse Hutcheson Western Branch nearly swept all of the sprint and hurdle finals with Kevin Newsome in the boys 55 meter hurdles (7.44), Torry Womack in the boys 55 meter dash (6.37), and Amber Mitchell in the girls 55 meter dash (7.29). Meanwhile, Jessie Gaines finished second in the girls 55 meter hurdles (8.27) for Western Branch behind Green Run's Charisse Bryant (8.23). Former Western Branch star Kelvin Griffin had a strong invite debut with his new team at Nansemond River putting their 4x200 meter relay out into the lead on opening leg as they went on to post the meet's fastest in 1:32.01. Griffin also bested defending AAA outdoor state champion Wesley Smith of Oscar Smith in the long jump with a first place mark of 22'9". Atlee had a pair of girls vaulters over 11 feet in Emma Dejarnette (11'4") and Rachael Hawks (11'0"), which could be a first in state history for a school to have two female vaulters over 11 feet in the same meet. On her final attempt, Manchester sophomore Nikki Nunn leaped to a personal best mark of 17'7" to outdo West Potomac's Kat Lee (2nd, 17'6.25") and Deep Run's Ashley Orr (17'5.50") to win the girls long jump.The fast section of the girls 4x200 meter relay went down to the wire in an exciting finish between Booker T. Washington (1:46.35) and Western Branch (1:46.68) as both teams came away with swift early season times. Out of a slower section, the Western Branch and Maggie Walker boys pushed each other to the top two 4x800 times of the meet with All-State cross country runner Blake Theroux anchoring Western Branch to a 8:28.76 win. The West Potomac girls were the only 4x800 meter relay squad to dip under 10 minutes as they pulled away on a strong third leg by Elizabeth Heath for a nine second win in 9:56.58.

Performance list for the 2007 Wally Gilbert Invitational to be held Saturday, December 15th at Heritage High School in Lynchburg, Virginia.

With the assistance of all coaches in Virginia, I would like to make the team roster pages as accurate as possible. This will make it easier for me to match up correctly athletes with their performances when I receive results. Also since I no longer have elite performance standards and enter all performances from meets I receive hy-tek or racetab results for, it will make it easier to match up the new athletes. I will need correctly spelled full names and their graduation years. So coaches if you could, email your full roster list to milestat@gmail.com 

Performance list for the first annual Asics Elite Invitational to be held on Saturday, December 15th at Liberty University's Tolsma Track Center in Lynchburg, Virginia.Asics Elite Invitational Performance List 

Preliminary performance for Friday and Saturday's CNU Winter Frolic on December 14th and 15th. A total of 55 schools and nearly 1,500 athletes are entered in this weekend's meet in Newport News. CNU Winter Frolic Performance List 

Could one of our state's best pole vaulter this year not even be able to compete in a state championship in her specialty event? There are several talented vaulters returning, but Nelson County's Kate Collins opening with a 11'0" personal best clearance at the Liberty Christmas Invite was quite impressive. Unfortunately, Nelson County is in Group A, which does not have an official indoor state meet and does not contest the pole vault either in their outdoor state championships. (Photo by Ted Plunkett from 2007 Dogwood Classic) Back from San Diego and there is plenty of indoor results already to digest in early December. Please be patient as we enter the indoor performances into the database and compile meet summaries from this past weekend's action. For now, here are the results: 12/8Southeastern District Quad Meet 12/8STC Mini-Invite #1 12/8UMES Lid Lifter 12/7Liberty Christmas HS Invitational Boys Database Event Rankings: 55m - 300m - 500m - 1000m - 1600m - 3200m - 55H - PV - HJ - LJ - TJ - SPGirls Database Event Rankings: 55m - 300m - 500m - 1000m - 1600m - 3200m - 55H -  PV - HJ - LJ - TJ - SP

Re-play and watch the exciting races from the 2007 Foot Locker Nationals in San Diego thanks to video from MileSplit US! Multiple angles and locations around the course making it hard to miss any of the lead changes as well as how the race developed for the rest behind them. Boys Championship Race Video Girls Championship Race Video

 Stan's 3 Foot Locker Finalists Midlothian coach Stan Morgan had coached cross country for years without a Foot Locker finalist. While he still has to catch up to good friend and Mountain View coach Dave Davis who had his fifth qualifier this past weekend in San Diego with two-time qualifier Thomas Porter, Morgan was able to get his first finalist in the form of a trio with Michael Hammond, Kathleen Lautzenheiser, and Jason Witt. The only school to have sent more from Virginia in the same year was in 1979 with 4 athletes from Virginia High. (Photo by John Herzog) Virginia had a fair showing at Foot Locker Nationals. Nothing to jump out of the seat over, but the fact that the state had six athletes make the trip reflects highly of the talent in Virginia as well as the fantastic seasons by all six in order to earn their trip to San Diego. Aurora Scott wrapped up an incredible career at Foot Locker Nationals with her third All-American honor with a seventh place finish of 17:46. She joins very elite company with achieving the feat on three occassions. Meanwhile, Midlothian senior Jason Witt (pictured left by John Herzog) nearly became an All-American as well as he finished two seconds and one place off top 15 with a 16th place time of 15:43. Virginia will have to wait another year to see if they can have a boy crack into the top 15 as it has been since 2002 that a qualifier from the state has earned All-American honors at Balboa Park. Plenty of national coverage of the event with MileStat.com's Brandon Miles and John Herzog assisting in coverage at our MileSplit Network national site at MileSplit US. Please go and check out the great coverage found there including results, race summaries, stories, interviews, photos, race videos, and more!Foot Locker Nationals Coverage Central at MileSplit US

Interview with the parents of Aurora Scott, Spencer and Ozella Scott on pre-meet Friday at Foot Locker Nationals in San Diego. A lengthy interview (13:53) talking about the beginning of Aurora's running to her development into one of the nation's best high school cross country runners today as a senior.Pictured left by John Herzog: Aurora Scott doing her run through the course preview on Friday with mom Ozella watching in the background. 

  If one were to ask the question of who was the only Virginia high school runner to win the boys title in a Foot Locker/Kinney Nationals, many would be stumped to come up with the correct answer of 1981 Kinney Nationals champion Charles Alexander of St. Christopher's School in Richmond. In the third ever Kinney Nationals held in Orlando, Alexander would win by four seconds in 14:51 by outkicking Californian Harold Kuphaldt.MileStat.com's Brandon Miles was able to catch up with the 1981 national champion while out in San Diego this week for the 29th annual event. Yes, it has been 26 years since Virginia had an individual boys champion. 

Photo by Scott BushTop 15 girls predictions for Foot Locker Nationals by Brandon Miles of MileSplit US. There are two past Foot Locker Nationals champions in the field coming off strong regional wins in 2005 champ Jordan Hasay from California and 2006 champ Kathy Kroeger from Tennessee. History will be working against both though for a second national title. Hasay would become the first runner to win a second title with a year of separation between two wins. Meanwhile, Kroeger will be attempting to break the curse of the four previous underclassmen national champions before her who failed to repeat the following year and gave way to a new champion. Best bets to become the new champion appear to be are Midwest Region winner Claire Durkin of Ohio (pictured above), Northeast Region winner Neely Spence of Pennsylvania, and last year's national runner-up Aurora Scott of Virginia.

Performance list for the Liberty Christimas HS Invitational to be hosted at Liberty University's Tolsma Track Center in Lynchburg on December 7th and 8th. Liberty Christmas HS Invitational Performance List Liberty Christmas HS Invitational Meet Information (PDF File) Note: Revised Time Schedule

  Brandon Miles of MileSplit US is confident to predict for this weekend's Foot Locker Nationals that the weather will play a role in how runners from different geographic regions of the country will fair at Balboa Park with rain (80% chance on Friday, 40% chance on Saturday) and cooler temperatures expected for this weekend.By breaking 15 minutes in his Midwest Regional victory in Kenosha, Mike Fout joined pretty good company to make him the slight individual favorite according to Miles. A group of runners who more than often end up as Foot Locker Nationals champions, which has been the case in recent years with the likes of Dathan Ritzenhein, Chris Solinsky, and Matthew Witherow. Solinsky and Witherow would have enjoyed being able to run in Saturday's forecasted weather than the typically warm Southern Cal that they ran through onto theirnational titles.

 MileStat.com will be on-site with coverage of the Foot Locker Nationals in not so sunny San Diego (rain forecasted for Friday into Saturday) with Brandon Miles and photographer John Herzog. This week will have the largest number of finalists from Virginia at the Foot Locker Nationals in a decade as the 1997 FLN had four girls and two boys from Virginia. At least one in the group including Jason Witt of Midlothian, Griff Graves of Abingdon, Thomas Porter of Mountain View, and Michael Hammond of Midlothian will be looking to break a four year drought of no Virginian boys earning All-American honors with a top 15 finish at Foot Locker Nationals (Kippy Keino, Fork Union, 2002, 15th). While two boys in Griff Graves and Thomas Porter will have experience from last year as returning finalists, Aurora Scott will be making her fourth trip to San Diego as she looks to continue her progression of improved places in each of her races at Balboa Park. A national runner-up last year, Scott is not in the favorite role as she found herself in last year after a course record breaking performance at the regional meet in 2006. Winning is a goal for Scott, but a victory would be an upset to others. Kathleen Lautzenheiser is part of the trio of Midlothian finalists who will be in San Diego as they were all guided by long-time Midlo coach Stan Morgan. Coach Morgan has coached for decades until having his first individual qualify for Foot Locker Nationals this year and ended up having not just one, but three finish in the top 10 at the South Regional.We arrive in San Diego on Thursday and will be bringing you plenty of coverage through Sunday with photos, videos, interviews, stories, and more. Excited to also be part of the MileSplit US national coverage team with national editor Scott Bush, penntrackxc.com's Don Rich, flrunners.com's Jason Byrne, and MileStat.com's own Brandon Miles and John Herzog. Foot Locker is staying the course... to write and relive running history FL Nationals Webcast Live: Click HereFoot Locker Videos: MileSplit Foot Locker Video Page (All Videos) Pre Race Interviews:  German Fernandez (CA) / Aurora Scott (VA)  / Brian Leung & Brandon Jarrett (NJ) / Bobby Nicolls (CO) / Kevin Williams (CO) / Jordan Hasay (CA) / Chris Derrick (IL) / Michael Hammond & Jason Witt (VA) / Aurora Scott's Parents (VA)Foot Locker Photos: Friday's Course PreviewFoot Locker Finalist Capsules: Northeast / South / Midwest / WestFoot Locker Top 15 Predictions by Brandon Miles: Boys / GirlsFoot Locker Regional Recaps: Northeast / South / Midwest / WestFoot Locker Nationals Official Website: Click Here 

The top 10 cross country invitationals in Virginia according to MileStat.com's Brandon Miles. Quality of competition, meet atmsophere and experience, as well as general meet reviews by coaches, athletes, and spectators is taken into consideration.

The 2007 All-MileStat.com Boys Cross Country Team has been selected. This team is one of the deepest teams in recent memories with third team members as well as runners left off with season best 5K times in the 15:30's. Just scanning through this list makes one appreciate the level of the talent and depth that was seen across the cross country courses of Virginia this past fall.

The 2007 All-MileStat.com Girls Cross Country Team has now been released. The article includes Runner of the Year, Coach of the Year, Freshmen of the Year, Most Improved of the Year as well as first, second, third team, and always close call honorable mentions to the All-MileStat.com Team.All-MileStat.com Boys Team to be released on Wednesday!

 The Thomas Jefferson boys had a rough day at Nike Team Nationals. They definitely had a memorable season winning a state championship and continuing their streak to six years of consecutive top 3 state meet podium finishes. The Colonials also earned their way to Nike Team Nationals with a second place finish at the NTN Southeast Regional. However, the competition and mud beat up on the TJ boys this weekend with a 22nd place finish out of 22 teams. A bright spot for the Fairfax XC club was the individual performance by Brian Davenport finishing just outside of the top 50. Check out the post-race interview with Davenport. NTN Results: Boys Championships - Girls Championships - Boys Open - Girls OpenNTN Race Videos: Boys Championship - Girls Championship - Boys Open - Girls OpenNTN Photo Galleries: TJ Boys Only - Tyrone Haskins Gallery - Brandon Miles Gallery

 Pre-meet interview with Thomas Jefferson's top two runners in seniors Brian Landry and Evan Heflin at Nike Team Nationals. Landry and Helfin talk about the trip over across the country, the experience so far in Portland, the course conditions at Portland Meadows, and their team goals for Saturday's national championship race.