Oakton's LoRusso wins, but this time he had company
Photo by Ted Plunkett
Oakton's Joe LoRusso finished the 2.98-mile course at Burke Lake Park in a blazing 15 minutes, 24 seconds to win the Concorde District title on Oct. 25. In that race, LoRusso battled rain, wind and the lack of any non-Oakton competition.
But, on Thursday afternoon for the Northern Region cross country title, LoRusso's surroundings couldn't have been any different; however, the result was still quite the same.
LoRusso finished the course in 15:10, two seconds better than Jefferson's Brian Landry (15:12) and eight seconds better than T.C. Williams' Brad Kenimer (15:18). According to LoRusso, Thursday's conditions were ideal.
Lake Braddock is the defending regional team champion and will be in the favorite's role once again. The Bruins had a solid, if not overwhelming performance, in winning the Patriot District title last Wednesday by 11 points with their first place team total of 48 points. Oakton, the regional winners in 2004 and 2005, have hopes of their third regional title in four years and appear to have the most serious chance of upending Lake Braddock. Individually, the odds on favorite will be junior Lia DiValentin (pictured right by Ted Plunkett) of Chantilly. DiValentin comes into the regional meet with her time from the district meet 23 seconds faster than the next fastest competitor after winning the Concorde title last week in a very good time of 17:38. 
