The Dominion District of the Central Region will be under the microscope this week as it touts the Southeast's top ranked squads for both girls and boys with the Midlothian Trojans. While the Lady Trojans recently silenced most critics by stomping the past two national champions (Hilton and Saratoga) on their home turf at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, the Trojan boys are in need of a strong statement after an unusually long hiatus from racing. The Pocahontas State Park course is a moderate course and is a very accurate tool for measuring your team's ability, as it is neither too slow nor a speedway. This is the time of year where every point and every second are analyzed to death and with NTN bids on the line, you better believe there is no room for coasting through any of the remaining meets.
The Fantastic Four
Before one gets carried away, let's not forget that the Dominion District is not purely "The Midlothian Show". Some athletes, including James River's star junior Kristen Wolfe, will be out to put on shows of their own. Wolfe has shown tremendous range this fall, extending herself from the label as a 1000m specialist. Perhaps an unfair label as she finished fourth at last year's Cross Country State Championship, however, when you win the state title in the 1000 as a freshman it tends to stick with you. Wolfe, who won the Dominion District and Central Region meets in 2005, started the season off ranked 4th for AAA. She then dropped to 5th in Week 4, and then began a gradual climb to 3rd, 2nd, and for the past two weeks has been the top ranked female AAA runner. She earned the ranking by finishing only nine seconds behind Foot Locker All-American Catherine White at the Octoberfest Invitational with a time of 19:17. However, many feel the sloppy conditions at the meet can be misleading, as a result, Wolfe is not considered a lock by some to take home even the Dominion District title. A pair of freshman twins and a sometimes-inconsistent but sometimes-brilliant senior will have a shot at the title themselves. Kathleen and Leia Lautzenheiser have stormed into the Virginia spotlight as freshman after enjoying early successes in middle school and AAU running. The red-headed duo are currently ranked 3rd and 6th in the state while teammate M.C. has moved up and down the rankings this fall and finds herself landed at 7th after a solid performance at the Manhattan Invitational. Miller parlayed a breakthrough sophomore season in track into a successful cross country season last year and then continued to carry the momentum to last year's outdoor season where she was part of a 1600m classic with Kristen Tobin as she clocked a 4:53. Midlothian is grateful she chose running over a career in the theatre, as while she can be inconsistent, she is arguably one of the state's most clutch runners. Miller tends to show off her flashes of brilliance when the meets matter the most, and more importantly, when her teammates need her most. With a NTN bid and a possible National Championship on the line, we should be seeing the senior at her best.
Depending if the race turns tactical between the big four or turns into a time trial, the girls may have a shot at lowering current Duke runner and Midlo Alum Amanda Patterson's course record from 2003, a blistering 18:12 which destroyed the field by nearly a minute.
Witt-Locked
Midlothian junior Jason Witt will most likely be looking down at his wrist rather than over his shoulder during the guy's race. No other runner should have a reasonable shot at stealing the individual title away from the defending champion and Witt may just be eyeing Midlothian's most decorated alum Austin Smith's record of 15:41 set back in 2000. That year, the future Princeton All-American beat New York's Charlie Million twice during the season. Million ended up finishing 4th at Footlocker Nationals behind perhaps the best top three of all time in Dathan Ritzenhein, Alan Webb, and Ryan Hall.
Smith's 15:41 is legendary and with the cold weather we may be a year ahead of ourselves by mentioning a record. However, the youngest male Witt would no doubt love to write his brother Ryan in Brazil to tell him he's topped his best time of 16:01 from 2003. It seems the Witts have used Pocahontas and the Dominion District as their personal showcase the past few years as there hasn't been a Witt outside of the top three since 2000. Even if Witt has runners pushing at his back, if history repeats itself he won't have to worry. It seems like Witts usually find an extra gear on the final field loop on the course to pull away for the win. Last year Witt was able to outrun teammate now senior Jonathan Mellis by seven seconds for the win. In 2003, Ryan gapped now Virginia Tech star 1500m runner Billy Berlin by seven seconds for the win and in 2002 Ryan outkicked the webmaster Brandon Miles himself to win by two seconds.
After Witt, there is a plethora of talent racing for runner-up honors. One of those runners is Manchester's senior Andrew Duty, who actually has a Dominion District XC title when he beat a rather weak field as a sophomore in 2004. That's not to discredit Duty, as since that time he has shown great maturity in the long distances while many consider him to be a strictly middle distance runner. If the Milestat.com Awards at the end of the season have a "Most Underrated Runner", the award would definitely go to Duty. Duty finished 3rd in both the Dominion District and Central Region meets last year before suffering an off race at the State Meet finishing 66th. He ended the season on a positive note by posting a monster PR of 16:16 at Footlocker South. This year he ventured to the Spike Shoe Invitational and finished a solid 7th place with a time of 16:25. Duty is coming off his best finish of the season with a runner-up finish at Octoberfest to "A" stud Nathan Brame of Radford in a time of 17:16 on a day where many believe the course was running up to a minute slow because of harsh conditions. If accurate, Duty could be turning some heads in his next three outings.
Another unheralded runner in the Dominion is James River senior Charlie Schmitt. Schmitt, despite leading to great message board debate and controversy (not his own actions but in discussion of him), will be looking to affirm his name as a top runner in the Central Region with a solid performance at districts. Schmitt really broke through at the end of the season with a largely unnoticed 25th place at States, finishing in 16:33. This year, his William and Mary Invitational finish at 16:09 on the heels of the number 7 and 11 Cream of the Crop ranked runners in Cox's Eddie Judge and FUMA's Axel Mostrag. Schmitt even beat Cream of the Crop ranked #15 runner Alex Ott of Turner Ashby. However, since that performance Schmitt had a blow up race at the Maymont Festival, finishing forty seconds behind Mostrag and behind a number of other runners with his 16:59. It will be interesting to see which Schmitt shows up on Thursday.
Also in the mix will be the next two Midlothian runners, junior Mark Merritt and senior Jonathan Mellis. Last season, Merritt made the move from Clover Hill high school to Midlothian and in doing so gave the Trojans the missing piece to the puzzle they needed to contend for the State Championship. However, toward the end of the season Merritt was plagued by injury, sitting out districts and regionals. Merritt then gutted one up at States to give the Trojans a shot, however, his performance was not quite enough. Going into the district meet, Merritt is ranked 9th in the state. His teammate, All-State senior Jonathan Mellis hopes to began a string of crucial performances to aid his team in winning the three championship titles and a berth to NTN. Mellis has battled some inconsistency this fall as well, but if the past is any indication, these guys will be ready to go when the time matters…which is now.
Sweep
Bring a broom to the meet. On a team side, baring any drastic meltdown, the titles will go to both Midlothian squads. While the Dominion District always has upfront firepower it lacks in depth compared to some other districts. The Midlothian Boys look to make this their eighth district title in a row, perhaps a Dominion record for any sport. The Midlothian girls look to continue to showcase their tremendous pack and reasonably small spread, without compromising too much training for the meet. The constant pressure to impress the selection committee for as NTN bid may have altered how some teams prepare for meets; however, you can believe many will be running through with tired legs. No other teams for the boys or girls side are currently ranked in the top 10 for teams in AAA. The James River girls, a team dynasty of their own a few years ago, will hope to earn back second place as they were bested by the Manchester girls last season. The task will be difficult as James River lost four of their top 7 runners from last year while Manchester only lost one. The same should go for the boys side, as Manchester edged James River last year by seven points. Manchester lost three in their top 5 while James River lost two. An X-Factor team to this meet could be newly built Cosby High School, who split up overpopulated Clover Hill. Cosby has a tremendous young talent in Jenna Moye, who finished on the heels of Colonial Forge's Kaylan Comer at the Maymont Festival with a respectable time of 19:36. After that, it is uncertain if they have a true scoring team or not. The Lockie sisters, Karlyn and Kailyn, have committed to volleyball as well this fall. Without their contributions, a high team finish is doubtful.
Let's hope the Dominion runners enjoy the cold, the forecast around race time tomorrow in Chesterfield is 55 degrees.
Predictions:
Boys Individuals:
1. Witt
2. Duty
3. Schmitt
4. Merritt
5. Mellis
6. Reese
7. Cole
8. Cutler
Boys Team:
1. Midlothian
2. James River
3. Manchester
Girls Individuals:
1. Wolfe
2. K. Lautzenheiser
3. Miller
4. L. Lautzenheiser
5. Moye
6. Dow
7. Johnston
8. Hummelberg
Girls Teams:
1. Midlothian
2. Manchester
3. James River
*Cosby 3rd with full roster.