Fork Union looking to become best VIS team ever
The Fork Union boys are looking to make history this Friday at the Virginia Independent Schools State Cross Country Championships to be held at Woodbery Forest. They are chasing the number 29, which is the all-time low team score from the VIS Championships. Two teams hold the record with the 1989 Fork Union squad and 1993 Paul VI team. Led by defending VIS division I champion Axel Mostrag, the Blue Devils bring a squad into Friday that is capable of challenging the record.
Coach Winston Brown\'s Fork Union boys this fall have been of the best private school cross country teams that the state of Virginia has seen in a long time. The 1993 Paul VI championship team had defeated eventual AAA state champion and a Sharif Karie led West Springfield during the season. Fork Union has definitely held its own against the top ranked public schools this season. Fork Union had three big invitational wins this season at the Fork Union Invitational, William & Mary Invitational, and Albemarle Invitational. The only blemish on their season was in the race they could not afford to have a subpar day at the Maymont Festival against Nike Team Nationals Southeast ranked squads with a seventh place to virtually dash any hopes of earning a trip to Oregon.
However, since then Fork Union has been on a mission to prove themselves even without the teams to push them. The defending Division I state champions are coming off a dominating Prep League Championships as they defeated their toughest challenger in the VIS with Woodberry Forest by putting five runners ahead of Woodberry Forest\'s third finisher and tallying a team score of 27 points. Mostrag won the Prep League meet in a 5K personal best of 15:52. Mostrag heads into this weekend as the favorite to win the Division I race as he won in 2005 with a final time of 16:32 on the tough Woodberry Forest 5K course. Fork Union has a top five that has the potential to finish all in the top 15 if not better with Mostrag, Jeremy Haney, Szymon Rola, David Johnson, and Jamie Reichlen.
Woodberry Forest would be VIS state champs any other year, Prep League teams could sweep
Woodberry Forest has the advantage of racing on the home course as always, but that will not be enough to upset a very tough Fork Union squad. However, the 2006 Woodberry Forest team is one of the better teams Coach Ben Hale has produced in recent years and should not be overlooked in light of the dominant FUMA team. At the Prep League Championships, Woodberry Forest averaged 16:40 as a team with six runners nearly under 17 minutes for 5K and within the top 15 as they were led by on the better individuals in the VIS this fall in senior Cordon Smart. Smart finished third in the Prep League Championships with a personal best of 16:11. Senior teammate Jonathan Lawrence (5th, 16:25) joined Smart in breaking up Fork Union\'s top three.
While Smart and Lawrence are the only up front individuals to be able to hang with Fork Union\'s top runners, they do have decent depth past five runners, so an off day from Fork Union\'s fifth runner Jamie Reichlen could be trouble. Clayton Vaughters (10th, 16:51), C Taylor (11th, 16:53), and Ross Pfenning (14th, 17:01) were not far behind Reichlen (9th, 16:49) at the Prep League Championships. The odds are still stacked heavy against Woodberry Forest and might have to settle for another state runner-up finish to Fork Union.
The Prep League stands an excellent shot at sweeping the top three team places in the Division I race as Fork Union, Woodberry Forest, and Collegiate are the only private schools in the state with at least five runners under 17:30 for 5K. Collegiate will look to challenge Woodberry Forest for second after finishing 18 points behind them at third at the Prep League Championships. Collegiate senior Matt Richardson is the second fastest returnee from last year\'s race as he finished 11 seconds off Mostrag in the 2005 VIS Championships in third place at 16:43. Richardson just recently competed against Mostrag at the Prep League Championships and finished off Mostrag at a nearly identical margin of 10 seconds with a personal best time of 16:02. Richardson is also a state champion as he won the VISAA 3200 meter state title last spring in outdoors. He knows how to win at the end when it matters.
Collegiate coach Weldon Bradshaw has two strong individuals in Richardson and Graham Glass, who posted a 16:43 best to finish eighth at Prep League, but will need better races from their #3 through #5 runners to match up with Woodberry Forest.
Catholic Schools State Meet runner-up Benedictine looks to improve from their sixth place showing in 2005 and are led by two solid individuals in J.P. Monaghan and Brooks Williams. Benedictine had five runners in the top 15 at the Catholic School State Championships with nearly all five under 18 minutes on the Newport News Park 5K course.
Bishop O\'Connell could be in the mix again after finishing third in 2005. Andrew Jarvis was the team\'s fourth finisher on last year\'s state team and leads them intot his weekend. Bishop O\'Connell sophomore Andrew Stella has joined Jarvis though to lead the team up front as Stella has a season best of 17:03 with Jarvis at 17:12 for 5K. O\'Connell finished third in their conference championships at WCAC Championships behind Maryland school DeMatha Catholic and DC school Gonzaga.
Ellis returns ready to defend Division II state title
Another state champion returns in 2005 Division II champion Austin Ellis. Ellis was two seconds off of Mostrag\'s winning time in the other championship at 16:34 in 2005. The Covenant junior has a 16:28 5K best this season from the Albemarle Invitational and won the VIC Championships two weeks ago in 16:58 on a tough course.
However, Ellis will have a tough time repeating as there are several individuals running well in the VIS Division II classification this fall with Potomac School junior Johns Ross and Roanoke Catholic junior Thomas McConnell. McConell won the Virginia Catholic Schools State Championship at Newport News Park in a 5K best of 16:06 on October 24th, but four days later faced Ellis at the VIS Championships and finished over 30 seconds behind the defending champ in second place at 17:28.
Meanwhile, Ross will be facing Ellis for the first time this fall. Ross has the king of the \"B\" races this fall and maybe the Division II designation as a somewhat lower division from Division I will be play to his advantage. Ross won the \"B\" race at Great Meadows in September with a sub 17 clocking at 16:52 and posted his best race and fastest time of the season at the Glory Days Grill Invitational held at Bull Run Regional Park with a 16:14 5K win on October 14th. Ross claimed the MAC Cross Country Championship title in 17:22 a few weeks ago also. Ross finished third in the 2005 Division II race and 40 seconds behind Ellis at 17:14.
Division II team title trophy looks to change hands
Peninsula Catholic won the Division II title last year by six points over Roanoke Catholic, but the championship looks to change hands this year.
Roanoke Catholic is riding high after winning the Catholic School State Championship two weeks ago by nine points over Division I school Benedectine. Roanoke Catholic has a very solid front three as was shown at Newport News Park for the Catholic State Championship with McConnell (1st, 16:06), Andrew Nordhaus (2nd, 16:50), and Sean Flynn (3rd, 16:51). Nordhaus was a state runner-up to Ellis last year at 17:02. However, the team with the most depth and the better #4 and #5 runner might come out as the winner.
MAC championships Potomac School are in the same boat with great front runner in Johns Ross and Stephene Serene. Ross (1st, 17:22) and Serene (2nd, 17:47) were the teams top finishers in their conference championship, but their fifth runner was over two minutes behind Ross. Serene looks to be a high finisher in the Division II race as he has ran 16:33 for 5K this season. Potomac School finished a distance fifth in the 2005 Division II race
Roanoke Catholic competed as a team at the VIC Championships, but with the exception of McConnell, sat out most of their top runners including top three runners Nordhaus and Flynn. With Roanoke Catholic not running at full strength, Covenant and Miller School battled it out for first as Covenant pulled off the narrow two point victory over the rival Charlottesville private school.
Covenant had four runners under 19 minutes behind race champion Ellis on the Virginia Episcopal School\'s home 5K course at the VIC Championships, which runs slower than the state course. Covenant finished fourth in the 2005 VIS State Meet and looks to break into the top three this year after beating last year\'s third place team Miller School.
Coach Buz Male\'s Miller School boys have plenty of experience with Max Hensley and Hunter Johnson. Hensley finished eighth (17:31) in the 2005 VIS State Meet, while Johnston took 13th place (17:57).
The late darkhorse could be Norfolk Collegiate as they are coming off a TCIS championship last weekend at Mount Trashmore in Virginia Beach by 27 points over Bishop Sullivan and Peninsula Catholic. Norfolk Collegiate had three runners under 17 minutes on a fast 5K course with race champion Ian Tupper (1st, 16:16), Trey O\'Brien (2nd, 16:22), Brendin Leavitt (5th, 16:43).
Neither competed at 2005 VIS, but Gay & Strehler are favorites coming in to 2006 VIS
Individually, the girls state championship looks to come down to two runners in North Cross junior Jane Gay and Trinity sophomore Barbara Strehler. Neither Gay or Strehler competed in last year\'s Virginia Independent Schools State Championships, yet find themselves as two of the biggest favorites in 2006 for the VIS crown.
Gay has competed at the VIS State Meet before though as she finished seventh in the 2004 race with a time of 20:31. Gay is running much faster now. Almost two minutes faster for 5K as the Roanoke area runner posted a 18:47 at the Metro Invitational held at Green Hill Park in Salem. Gay finished third in the race and 21 seconds behind returning Foot Locker All-American Catherine White of Northside. Gay is also coming off a 19:31. victory at the BRC Championships held at Virginia Episcopal School\'s home course, which some would argue is slower than the state course at Woodberry Forest. Gay won the race by over two minutes.
A margin of victory if any win for Gay at Woodberry Forest will certainly be closer thanks to Trinity\'s Barbara Strehler. Strehler has came out of nowhere this fall as one of the best private school distance runners. Strehler has already posted a time of 19:51 this fall on the state course at the Woodberry Forest Invitational on September 16th as she finished fourth in the race behind three outstanding AAA runners in defending state champ Rachel Rose of Albemarle (1st, 19:16), Elizabeth Barclay of Albemarle (2nd, 19:35), and Brittany Copeland of Brooke Point (3rd, 19:46). Strehler\'s time would have had her finish second in last year\'s VIS Championships. Strehler has continued to run well this fall with a runner-up finish in the bronze division at the Maymont Festival in 19:35 and recently captured her first LIS Championship in a personal best time of 19:12 in winning by nearly a minute.
Other individuals to watch
Gay and Strehler are not the only individuals capable of claiming first, but certainly look the strongest too. Bishop Sullivan sophomore Taryn Schrader has been running strong lately including posting the fastest VIS 5K time of the season in an 18:46 victory at the TCIS Championships at Mount Trashmore in Virginia Beach. Schrader was over a minute slower than Strehler earlier in the season at Maymont (20:38), but hopes she has closed the gap on the Trinity star since then. Schrader also claimed a big prior to the TCIS Championships in becoming the Catholic Schools state champion at Newport News Park with a 21 second victory over Michelle Kew of Paul VI (19:59) in a time of 19:38.
Megan Fitzpatrick of Bishop O\'Connell looks to be the next top individual. Fitzpatrick has the fifth fastest time among all VIS runners with a 19:27 5K season best from the Glory Days Grill Invitational. Fitzpatrick finished third at the WCAC Championships held at Lake Fairfax on October 28th behind the Good Counsel pair of Nora McCall and Stephanie Bardon.
Catherine Harrison will attempt to keep the state championship in the family though as Episcopal\'s top runner saw her older sister Elizabeth win the 2005 VIS State Championships by 55 seconds in a final time of 19:01. The returning Harrison in Catherine has performed well at Woodberry in the past she finished third last year. However, she has struggled to race at the same level thus far this season as she finished eighth at the ISL Championships behind two Potomac School runners in freshmen Shivani Kochar (4th) and senior Michaeline Nelson (5th).
Paul VI and O\'Connell rivalry to be renewed
Paul VI girls are the defending champs, but currently ranked #2 in private school ranks behind the Fitzpatrick led Bishop O\'Connell girls. Collegiate and Norfolk Academy are also coming on strong lately with recent victories.
Bishop O\'Connell may have been ranked #1 in the last rankings, but are not considered as the strong favorites to win. No team seems to have that title. Bishop O\'Connell has one of the best duos in the state in Fitzpatrick and Katie Walls (19:48 5K best), but certainly could use better support from their back pack against several tough teams.
O\'Connell earned the top ranking after defeating the defending state champs at the Glory Days Grill Invitational by 47 points and averaged 17 seconds faster as a team. In a large field, O\'Connell benefited from having two strong front runners in Fitzpatrick and Walls ahead of Paul VI\'s top runner at Glory Days. However, Paul VI beat O\'Connell in runner positions #3-6. In a lesser competitive and smaller field from Glory Days on Friday, this area will be the battleground on Friday between the top two Northern Virginia private school teams.
Paul VI definitely has strength in numbers as they have seven runners who have broken 21 minutes this season with Michelle Kew (19:59), Kelsey Budd (20:10), Abby Clement (20:14), Mackenzie Singh (20:36), Lizzie Greene (20:43), Natalie Cowden (20:46), and Elizabeth Shine (20:55). Paul VI dominated the Catholic Schools State Meet with seven runners in the top 15 as the meet probably ranks as their best team performance of the week as they scored a team low of 23 points.
Other teams in the running
TCIS champion Norfolk Academy claimed their conference championship with four runners under 21 minutes as senior Anica Bilisoly led them with a runner-up finish to Bishop Sullivan\'s Schrader in 19:11. Bilisoly is a three-time All-State performer in cross country. Norfolk Academy looks to certainly do better than their 2005 eighth place performance and attempt to finish in the top three.
Collegiate might be the team that has the best chance of breaking up Bishop O\'Connell and Paul VI and making a run for the state title. Collegiate looked like a very capable team at the League of Independent Schools Championships as they won by 25 points over St. Catherine\'s with six finishers. Times are incorrect in the results from the meet, but the place order for the Collegiate girls included two of the top three finishers behind Trinity\'s Strehler in Julia Sroba and Melinda Sisk. Sisk is the fastest returnee from last year\'s VIS State Championships as she finished second in 2005 with a time of 19:56 at Woodberry Forest.
The Potomac School girls led by freshmen Shivani Kochar and senior Michaeline Nelson are expected to finish high as they have been ranked as high as #3 among the private schools in the state this season. The team has had four runners under 21 minutes this season with Nelson (20:08), Kochar (20:17), Nina Castelli (20:34), and Lucy Green (20:37).