The downhill Draper Mile road race always breeds fast times as a great pre-season confidence booster for any high school runners gearing up for the cross country season as well as any other runners willing to venture to Blacksburg on the first week of August. This year was no exception as Blacksburg rising junior Michael Carter rolled to a sizzling time of 4:10.7 to take runner-up honors behind Virginia Tech and former Midlothian High School runner Michael Hammond (4:08.1). Carter's time was 9 seconds faster than his 1600 meter track best of 4:19 from his outdoor district track championship race from this past spring. With a 5K personal best of 17:03, Carter will look to play a more important role in his team's success during the cross country season after running outside of the top 7 for much of his freshmen and sophomore years of high school. The top female high school finisher in Draper Mile also came from Blacksburg High School in Emily Beatty as she nearly broke 5 minutes as the runner-up among all female runners with a time of 5:00.4 (26th fastest overall). Entering her junior year, Beatty has a 5:06 1600 meter personal best on the track and was the Group AA state runner-up indoors at 3200 meters. Blacksburg teammate Claire Ewing-Nelson was only a few ticks back as the 3rd female finisher with a time of 5:02.3.