VHSL State Cross Country Championships 2016

Casey is not just a time-trial runner, she competes well on the hilly courses just as much as she does on the time-trial fast courses. With Oakton likely racing Albemarle and some other tough courses, it will be evident from an early date that Casey is one of the best runners in the state.

Photos from the VHSL States at Great Meadow.

Opening up our top 15 countdown for returners this year is Cox senior David Scherrer. He enters the season as the 15th overall boy, fourth in 6A and third in the 6A South region.

There is only one thing a team can do after setting a state record and that is to set another one. Last season the Bruins of Blacksburg set the state record for team scores with 23 points. This actually equalled their 2014 performance as well which is then also joined by Western Albemarle's 1993 performance.

Our second guy on our top 15 countdown is another athlete hailing from 6A South, Peter Smith. Though he would likely say he is more of an 1600m runner with his 4:19 personal best, we think he has a ton of untapped potential in the 5K this year.

Ryan may have one of the best resumes of any returner in the state this year. He has more state championships than any other athlete returning with seven individual titles. That of course is coupled with his massive amount of team championships as well.

There are few teams in the entire state of Virginia that have quite the tradition that Brentsville has when it comes to XC. They are trained on the hills and always show up at Great Meadow ready to bring home some hardware. Conner's team enters the preseason ranked #12 in 3A but we have a strong suspicion that they are going to move up a whole lot before it is all said and done.

Nothing is as tough as losing a team title by four points. Four points that equaled just four seconds on the state XC course. Blacksburg's boys suffered that loss last season but it looks like it only made them better competitors.

They were more than close last year coming just 12 points away from a team title sweep but this year Auburn enters stronger than ever. Sophomore Caitlin Dominy will lead Auburn into Great Meadow with a great chance to do what her older brother did in 2015 in winning the individual and team title.

Last season it was no surprise to see Maggie Walker atop the podium again and with the defending individual state champion, Ryan Buscaglia, returning for the Green Dragons it looks like there will be no surprises this year either. 

Just like the boys' competition, the girls competition looks to be all about the Green Dragons of Maggie Walker. They are led by 2014 State Champion and 2015 State Runner-up, Khloe Pointer. If she gets back into great shape then we can expect a sub 18:00 performance by the senior and a dominant season from her in 2A. 

Year after year E.C. Glass superstar Libby Davidson keeps surprising us with more and more talent. Last year she finished as All-American at Foot Locker Nationals and also was national runner-up indoors. This season she is in it to win it at Foot Locker Nationals. 

Finishing in second place by the slimmest of margins can be one of the greatest things to happen to you as an underclassman. This happened to Ben quite a few times his junior year both in XC and track as a team. Those places may have been brutal to endure but entering the season it looks like it could pay itself off.

It is truly a once in a lifetime event this year. VA has two of the best distance runners in the entire nation and both are defending state 6A Champions... that's right! Both are coming off of winning state meet performances with Kate Murphy winning last year and Rachel McArthur winning the year before. Both have not lost on Great Meadow in at least a year.

Don't jump to conclusions though as it is a possibility this year with a ton of great returning talent for the south region both individually and as a team. 

Racing against Andrew Hunter for your entire post-season has its ups and downs. We aren't going to sugar coat it at all, Alec was definitely overshadowed by the nation's best distance runner the past couple years. If that wasn't enough he also had a stellar teammate, Tyler Cox-Philyaw, who was a superstar too.

This season is a complete anomaly when it comes to returning state champions. For eight state championship races we have a staggering eight returning champions and none are younger or have the ability to sweep like Sophia Link.

Often not having the performance you want when you need it most is the best thing to happen to you. Senior Devon Williams may have a great chance though to make flip the script this year and have a monster performance at the state meet.

Dan definitely didn't open this season like he wanted to but that isn't going to deter him. Last XC season he improved 58 seconds on his personal best and if he even dropped half that much this year he would be one of the biggest stars in the state.

Samantha has high hopes entering the season and a whole lot of accolades to her name. She enters the season as the fastest 3A returner and was third in last year's race. She has a best of 18:05 and a whole lot of speed entering this season.

While everyone is watching Heather & Emma, Doria is preparing for a senior campaign that could upstage both of them. She has remained the girl to beat in the 3200 but in XC she still has work to do.

Last year was a huge year for young runners. One of the biggest of those stars was Cosby's Rachel Northcutt. She broke through the scene in huge way by not only finishing as the state runner-up but also by breaking 18:00.

Owens has been excelling at track and XC for quite some time and has visibly improved each season. Though he is making steps in the right direction, he is definitely going to have to really step up this season with some of the toughest competition in the entire nation in his own region.

The race is on in the Northcutt household. Which will be the first to bring home a state championship in XC?

Heather has shown us a lot of speed in the past year and amazing performances at nearly any distance but this year isn't necessarily about time, it is about place and that is going to make it a very fun race.

It wasn't Weini Kelati who had the biggest breakout year in 2015, it was definitely Emma Wolcott. She took down the entire 5A field and shattered some meet records in the process. The most impressive of those was the old Oatlands course record.

After a tough XC season of injuries and then an indoor season of recovery, Rachel finally got back up to speed outdoors and then some.

Don't let her smile and fun loving attitude fool you, she is a killer on the XC course and this is the season she has been waiting for.