VHSL Group AAA State XC Meet Preview

Nationally ranked Midlo teams look to give coach first double state title

THE PLAINS, VA -- Last year the Midlothian girls were the underdogs and the the Midlothian boys were the forgottens. The Midlothian girls went onto win their first state championship in the program\'s history by a wide margin over pre-meet favorite and #1 ranked Oakton, while the Midlothian boys surprised many by making it onto the podium as the third place team and finishing only five points away from a state championship. However, neither team can get away with spotlight this year heading into Saturday\'s VHSL State Cross Country Championships at Great Meadows. Coach Stan Morgan\'s girls are currently ranked #2 in the nation, while the boys maintain a US #11 ranking as both teams find themselves sitting on top as the Southeast #1 ranked teams in the region. Midlothian is currently on the cross country program in the nation that has both of their teams nationally ranked in the top 25 and ranked #1 in their region. A state championship for both teams would be the first for coach Morgan, who has already had 2 boys team champions, 1 girls team champions, and a countless number of top three state meet finishing teams. The objectives of both teams this weekend will be to race how they have been racing all season long and avoid any self-destruction as the heavy favorites.

The Midlothian teams are not the only story of the AAA races at this weekend\'s VHSL State Cross Country Meet, but certainly draw the biggest attention and draw outside of Virginia. Not only are fans of Virginia high school cross country eager to see how they perform, but many across the nation will be awaiting the results. The Nike Team Nationals committee members, who will be making selections for the two Southeast region delegates to represent the region at Nike Team Nationals as well as the two at-large bids up for grabs, will be looking closely at how both teams perform. Coaches, athletes, and fans throughout the Southeast region will be looking at how they perform as possible their Nike Team Nationals hopes hinder on a letdown state meet performance from the Midlothian squads. Virginia is certainly watching them and many are hoping they seal the deal on NTN berths by strong state championship performances to conclude their VHSL season. In the two year of existence of Nike Team Nationals, Virginia has yet to send one team to Oregon to compete in the high school cross country national team championship event and the hope is with two teams ranked #1 in the region heading into the final weekend that finally Virginia will have representation in Portland, Oregon.

However, maintaing a #1 ranking in Virginia alone is no easy task as 2006 has been another exceptional year for the state in depth of great teams and individuals. There has especially been great parity among the boys\' teams. There will be teams not finishing on the state meet podium this weekend at the state meet in the AAA race, who in another year could be the AAA state champion. Midlothian, Oakton, Hermitage, Thomas Jefferson, and West Springfield all are very solid teams. Teams have flip flopped and trade victories throughout the season. Midlothian is the only unbeaten team among this elite class of AAA teams and thus the bull\'s eye is on them.

Meanwhile, the Midlothian girls appear to be even on another level than even the Midlothian boys. On a level in which the state of Virginia arguably has not seen before. Can you think of a Virginia team that has went up to compete at the mecca of East Coast high school cross country at Van Courtland Park and take down the best the Northeast has to offer in the Manhattan Invitational\'s Eastern States race? Even in the pre-NTN era, Virginia teams could never do it. Great Virginia teams may have made great impressions on you with dominating performances within the state of Virginia, but it takes a greater perspective to understand how better cross country teams are elsewhere across the country to fully appreciate Midlothian\'s victory at Manhattan.

Though the truth is Manhattan is in the past and the Midlothian boys dominating victory over Hermitage by putting six runners ahead of Hermitage\'s second finisher is also ancient history. Both teams will have to lace up the spikes and prove themselves again.

Enough about the favored Midlo teams. Lets take a look at the challengers.

Lake Braddock girls glad to be back at states, but want to start a new streak on a high note

The Lake Braddock girls believe they can challenge Midlothian. When you have a history of great success at the state meet within your program, you can believe anything. If it was not the year of the Midlothian girls, it would be Lake Braddock\'s state championship year. If Lake Braddock could upset Midlothian this weekend, Bobby Lockhart can kiss his recent #1 ranking in top 15 moments during the MileStat.com (December 2000 - Present) at the VHSL State Cross Country Championships. Yes upsets are very common and frequent every year at the Virginia High School League State Cross Country Championships, but few teams could as heavily favored as the Midlothian. When has the favored team been ranked #2 in the country? Never. However, the Lake Braddock girls have been AAA state champions on two occassions in this decade and both times the Lady Bruins were not the favorites to win. In 2000, Lake Braddock went from third in the region to first in the state and in 2004, the regional runners-up over took their regional champs Oakton and the rest of the field.

However, this is a different group than those past Lake Braddock state champions. There is a bit of a chip on the shoulder of the 2006 Lake Braddock girls. Last year was the first year that a Lake Braddock had not qualified for the state meet as a team in over two decades. Not only was a streak snapped, but there was a let down in keeping up a team tradition. Lake Braddock senior Michelle Presley was a member of the 2004 state champion team and was determined to help lead this year\'s team back to Great Meadows and prove the Lady Bruins are still a force to be reckoned with every fall in cross country.

After losing out a sixth runner tiebreaker for fourth place in the Northern Region last year, the Braddock girls did not have to sweat out a team trip to the state meet this year with a dominant regional meet performance. However, the jubilance in the team\'s celebration at the regional meet felt like a team who was making it to the state meet for the first time in the school\'s history. These Lake Braddock girls are definitely not taking their return to Great Meadows in November for granted. Coach Mike Mangan\'s girls are hungry and want to do well this weekend.

Lake Braddock needs to be wary of Freeman girls

Lake Braddock should not focus all its attention on Midlothian though or they might be quickly surprised by other solid teams in AAA for a state runner-up. One team in particular to look out for is Douglas Freeman. Yes, Freeman was a distant second to Midlothian at the Central Region Championships, but the how strong Midlothian is and the way they are running, the majority of the teams in the country would be a distant second much less the state of Virginia. The Freeman girls have great depth and have a solid front runner in junior Casey Fowler.

Northwest Region champions Colonial Forge also have the potential to make it onto the podium. Their success may hinder on the individual performances by their top two runners in Kaylan Comer and Molly Hawkins, who expected to do big things this season after both went under 11:10 for 3200 meters at the end of the outdoor season. However, both have underperformed this fall. Having both running well at the end of the cross country and up to their ability levels could really help the team\'s finish on Saturday. Kathleen Wade has really been the backbone of the team this fall as the most consistent and overachieving runner on the squad.

Oakton boys on a hot streak heading into states, still defending champs from \'05

The Oakton boys are the hot team right now as they look to be the biggest challenger to Midlothian\'s state title hopes and a trip to Nike Team Nationals. Lets not forget that Oakton is the defending state champions and they are the champs until beaten. Few could have expected to be in a position to win another state championship after graduating five of their top seven runners from the 2005 AAA state champion squad including two All-State individuals in James Phillips and Matt Kroetch, yet Coach Phil Tiller has developed a whole new crop of harriers ready to make at least a return trip to the state meet podium with a top three or better finish. Oakton is coming off a big momentum building win at the Northern Region Championships over two quality squads in Thomas Jefferson and West Springfield.

A lot of Oakton\'s recent resurgence can be contributed by the emergence of two front runners in junior Joe Lorusso and senior Matt Saunders. Lorusso is one of the two lone returnees from last year\'s state champion seven, while Saunders made his first crack into the Oakton top seven this year as a senior.

However, the strength before their district meet had been primarily their depth which extended beyond the seven runners they put into the varsity race. The depth beyhond seven was very apparent at the Glory Days Grill Invitational when they had two runners under 17 minutes for 5K in the varsity B race, who would have impacted the team scoring greatly in favor for the Cougars if they had been inserted into the seeded boys results.

TJ & West Springfield guided by coaches with history of state meet success

Four of the top five ranked teams in AAA currently have coaches with great track records of state meet success with their teams. Thomas Jefferson coach Matt Ryan has guide two teams to state championships in the past decade with his first in 2002 and and second in 2004. Thomas Jefferson was within striking distance of Oakton at the regional meet in second place and can only think of the season that might have been if last year\'s top finisher for the team at the state meet in junior and All-State performer Brian Landry had healthy enough to race this season. Thomas Jefferson\'s depth has kept them competitive as a team this season against other top ranked teams, but has disappointed on some fronts in terms of expectations. Paul Norland has not been a disappointment at all though as the team\'s ace as looks to garner his second consecutive All-State honor this Saturday after grabbing the final All-State spot in 2005 with a 15th place run.

Do not be shocked if West Springfield finishes higher than their third regional performance last weekend or even take home first this weekend. Coach Vic Kelbaugh is the hustler of Virginia high school cross country coaches as he is notorious for having his teams intentionally run bad at the Northern Region Meet then catching everyone off guard with a state meet podium finish. Okay. Maybe he does not intentionally have his athletes run poorly at the regional meet to lower expectations on his squad heading into the state meet, but he certainly has having his Spartans running at their best on the second Saturday of every November down to a science. West Springfield will likely get an easy one point out of their first runner in individual favorite Mike Spooner.

The team has been one of the best teams in the state this fall, through four runners. Unfortunately for West Springfield, cross country meets are scored through five. However, West Springfield should have won the Northern Region championship based on how their top four had been running all season, but ended up being flat out beaten by Oakton and Thomas Jefferson in runner positions that were once trump cards earlier in the season over the regional rival. An emergency Kelbaugh magic turnaround is definitely going to be needed for the Spartans on Saturday for them to reserve one of the three available podium spaces.

Hermitage boys look to give coach 1st state meet podiums quad

Hermitage is a team that does not have a history of success at the state meet as not a single member of their squad has experienced the thrill of standing on the state meet podium as part of a team or an individual and Coach Joe Pardue has yet to get his first squad into the top three in the AAA state race. Last year, Hermitage was very close to giving their coach his first state meet podium team as finished in fourth place and flip flopped finishes with Midlothian after winning the Central Region Meet over the Trojans. Hermitage was dealt a very crushing defeat by Midlothian this past Saturday at the Central Region Championships that could effect their psyche or they could bounce back hungrier after the decisive loss. Hermitage has already done wonders in one week turnarounds this season before as they finished a disappointing eighth at the Maymont Festival only to upset the Southeast\'s #2 ranked team at Disney one week later.

Lets give some credit to Midlothian with their Central Region Meet team performance too. Its tough for anyone to run close to a team that averages 16:05 as a team on a fair 5K course found at Pole Green Park. Could Midlothian be that good to defeat a potential AAA state meet podium in such a convincing fashion? There certainly could be a case to argue in favor of that as well as possibility that the Central Region could take the top two team places for the first time since 2001 when Maggie Walker defeated defending state champions Midlothian in one of the closest state meet finishes in the MileStat.com Era. Hermitage has raced competitive will all of the other top ranked teams in AAA and beat Oakton by one point to open the season at Great Meadows to finish a distant third in the meet behind Midlothian and Brentsville.

Good, but not good enough for this strong year

Both Northwest Region champs Mountain View and Eastern Region champs Hickory are better teams than those regions usually send as their regional champion representatives, but find themselves in a very competitive year as far as AAA teams that will likely leave outside of even a top five finish. While Dave Davis is the meet director of this weekend\'s VHSL State Cross country Champions, he also directs and coaches a vastly improved Mountain View squad who has quickly risen to become a regional champion in only the school\'s second year of existence. To have two runners under 17 minutes for 5K on one team in the Eastern Region is a great feat, much less having double the number with four as well as several runners under 17:30 to make for a solid Hickory squad out of the Eastern Region.

Spooner will look to top whatever Graves does in AA

Individually, it will be the Mike Spooner show. He\'s got great endurance and decent speed. He\'s tough, but a student of the sport. To define him is tough to beat. It will be no easy task for any other. Spooner\'s performances this fall indicate he has what it takes to earn himself a trip to Foot Locker Nationals and especially with the number of qualifiers at the Foot Locker regional meets being extended to the top ten over top eight in the past few years. However, Foot Locker South is looking too far ahead for the University of Tennesse bound senior. Spooner has to get a monkey off his back in winning his first state cross country title. Spooner was tabbed the favorite heading into last year\'s race and ended up being outkicked by Brad Siragusa of Chantilly down the homestretch for the state title. There is no doubt that Spooner envies what Siragusa has with a cross country state championship and trip to San Diego for Foot Locker Nationals. Spooner will be half as less jealous than before if he can cross the line first on Saturday. It will be interesting to see if Spooner keeps a watch on the AA race earlier on the day to see what kind of time another Foot Locker hopeful in Griff Graves puts up and if he will look to beat it for the day\'s fastest.

Witt is a potential threat

Spooner cannot be too preoccupied with Foot Locker or Graves on Saturday though as there are some great individual runners featured in the race who will take advantage if Spooner sleeps on them. Midlothian junior Jason Witt has posting some outstanding times as of late and looks to be well ahead of where he was at this point last year. Keep in mind that Witt finished third in last year\'s AAA race in 15:39 and so far this championship season Witt has ran 27 seconds faster than his district time and 31 seconds faster than his regional time. However, his regional race was ran on a modified Pole Green course from last year, which looks to run faster even if it is a stronger year for the Central Region.

Porter\'s time is now

There a handful of other individuals who have the potential to surprise. History has shown in AAA that you can never count out a darkhorse. Alex Tatu over Matt Keally in 2001, Steve Tobin over a handful of pre-race favorites not named Steve Tobin in 2003, and Siragusa over Spooner in 2005 has shown just in recent history alone that the top guy all season is not always the one that comes out on top. If there was any time for Thomas Porter to have his best race of the season, the time would be now. After a promising freshmen year including a national championship in the freshmen mile and near AAA 3200 meter outdoor state championship over Spooner in a sub 9:20 performance, the Mountain View sophomore had plenty of expectations coming in as the next bet after Spooner to win the AAA crown this fall in the preseason.

However, he has somewhat stagnated this fall and his 15:54 5K season best is eight seconds off his freshmen year best. In invitationals this season, he has been defeated by lesser ranked and recognized runners to find himself ranked #9 in AAA currently even after winning the Northwest Region title.

There is this eerie feeling though that Porter has just been waiting for the moment to pounce though at the end here. Very similar to what Siragusa did last year. Siragusa like Porter, emerged as one of the state\'s best young distance runners as a freshmen at Chantilly, only to have a couple of up and down years as a sophomore and junior, then show his full promise in the month of November of his senior year with a state championship and qualifying for Foot Locker Nationals. A state championship for Porter or at least a strong state meet finish would definitely make everyone forget any results leading up to November 11th this fall.

Tessema has been the closest

Robert E. Lee senior Josef Tessema was the closest finisher to Spooner has had all season at last Thursday\'s Northern Region Meet as after Spooner gapped the field by the midway point, Tessema did not let him get too far ahead and ended up only six seconds behind him in second with a near sub 15 run at Burke Lake in 15:01. Tessema also has the third fastest 5K time coming among AAA runners this season behind only Spooner (15:24) and Witt (15:37) with a 15:49 clocking from the Glory Days Grill Invitational.

Eastern Region champ Eddie Judge from Cox has not had the opportunity to race many of the state\'s top ranked runners as his team has stayed fairly local in the meets they have participated in this fall, but Judge does have an impressive William & Mary Invite win to his credit with a 15:40 win at Eastern State Hospital\'s 3.05 mile course over runners such as Fork Union\'s Axel Mostrag, Turner Ashby\'s Alex Ott, and Washington-Lee\'S Chris Tyson. Judge has yet to be defeated in a race this season and won the Eastern Region title in a 5K time of 16:05 at Bells Mill in Chesapeake. Judge is a bit of a unknown or more so untested underdog for this weekend\'s race.

Girls individual race should exciting close and dramatic

Switching back to the girls with the individuals, this could be where the drama unfolds in AAA as there is potential for blow outs with the top ranked Midlothian teams and Spooner in the individual race for boys. Three regional champions are looking fitter and faster than ever in Central Region champ Kristen Wolfe of James River, Eastern Region champ Kristy Tobin of James River, and Sarrah Hadiji of W.T. Woodson. Then there is the defending state champion Rachel Rose of Albemarle, who also won the Northwest Region championship and has shown the heart of the champion already this season in coming back from a mid-season double stress fracture injury to get herself ready to race and defend her state championship after the major setback.

However, the odds definitely look to be stacked against Rose to repeat as while her comeback deserves an award within itself, these three individuals in Wolfe, Tobin, and Hadiji are in peak shape and did not have to deal with a month away from running this season.

Junior Wolfe looks to claim state title away from senior bunch

James River junior Kristen Wolfe appears to have the slight edge as a favorite with a strong relunctacy to give any one of these runners such a title with how strong they have been racing. However, Wolfe has the fastest time of them all coming off a 17:58 5K best at the Central Region Meet to become the first female runner to ever break 18 minutes at the course. Her time is probably not as convincing to her #1 ranking in AAA as being the closest to finisher to Catherine White not named Aurora Scott from Virginia in the past two years with a nine second runner-up finish at the Octoberfest Invite held at Great Meadows in early October. Wolfe also has a win to her credit this season over Tobin and by a decent margin of 15 seconds at the William & Mary Invitational. Wolfe has her eyes on her first state cross country championship after finishing fourth in last year\'s race with a time of 18:19

The 15 second gap that existed between Wolfe and Tobin in mid September has likely been decreased as Tobin has steadily improved during the season as the times she has put up on a common course for her at Bells Mill in Chesapeake can attest to that. Tobin, who beat Wolfe out for third in last year\'s AAA race in 18:17, posted a time of 18:44 to win the Chesapeake Invitational held at Bells Mill only one week after taking second to Wolfe at William & Mary. Fast forward to last Thursday\'s Eastern Region Meet held at Bells Mill and Tobin was over 30 seconds faster on the same course with a near personal best time of 18:12.

One thing is for certain that neither Rachel Rose nor Sarrah Hadiji can afford to make it a kickers race between either Tobin or Wolfe this Saturday as both have incredible speed. Tobin is of course the two-time 1600 meter state champion as a junior last year in both indoor and outdoor including her sizzling 4:53 at last June\'s outdoor state meet, which moved her to #7 all-time fastest in state meet history. Then there is Wolfe who won her first state championship as a freshmen indoors for 1000 meters with a 2:57 best.

States always means step it up for Hadiji

Woodson senior Sarrah Hadiji may not be the middle distance track stars that Tobin and Wolfe are, but she is certainly a star on the cross country course as her 17:34 Northern Region Championship win last Thursday indicates she is in excellent shape heading into this weekend. Hadiji always seems to come through in state meet competition and step it up a notch as well.

Everyone asked \"Who is that girl from Woodson?\" in her sophomore year at the outdoor state meet when she attempted to give Aurora Scott in the 3200 meter run and ended up garnering her first All-State medal with a third place 11:02 personal best run. Then there was last November\'s state cross country meet in her first season in the sport when she went from third in the Northern Region to second in the state.

What was more remarkable about Hadiji\'s 2005 jump from regions to states in cross country was her time difference between the two differences or more so lack thereof one. Being a fairly quick 2.98 mile course, many Northern Region girls in the past have found themselves running times over a minute slower in some cases at the state meet, yet Hadiji was only 18 seconds slower going from 17:53 2.98 mile time to a 18:11 5K personal best time. with her 17:34 run last week at Burke Lake, it makes one wonder if she can keep the time difference low again and run well under 18 minutes on Saturday. And last but not least of Hadiji\'s great state meet performances, her first state championship indoors for 3200 meters last March.

Could this be the year that we have a handful of girls under 18 minutes? White has already done it in the past, while Wolfe, Tobin, and Hadiji seem up for the job. There could be more individuals surprising to join this group and one cannot forget nor never sleep on a champion and a sub 18 minute performer from last year in Albemarle senior Rachel Rose.

Don\'t sleep on state champ Rose despite mid-season injury

Rose won last year\'s state championship in 17:57 as one of the state\'s more improved runners as she ahd finished in the top 15 in the AAA race as a sophomore one year earlier, but had gone virtually unnoticed by many leading into this season. Injuries forced her to sit out post season competition at Foot Locker as well as running indoors, but she came back last spring with a strong comeback posting times of 5:00 for 1600 meters and 10:43 for 3200 meters as well as a second state title in the 3200 meter run outdoors.

Rose started off this fall cruising through two victories at the Fork Union Invitational (17:43 3mi) and woodberry Forest Invitational (19:16 5K), but season plans and goals hit a major obstacle following Woodberry when Rose was disagnosed with two stress fractures in the week leading up to the Maymont Festival. At Maymont, Rose was expected to have a big matchup with Hadiji as well as other strong out of state individuals. Hadiji has had to wait two more months to finally get her head to head race with Rose this Saturday, but it probably would not be possible if it were not for Rose\'s drive and committment to keep herself fit through cross training while her stress fractures healed through September and October.

Rose returned for her district meet to finish a second behind sophomore teammate Elizabeth Barclay (18:42) at 18:43, who really emerged out of Rose\'s shadows in her absence including a sub 19 clocking at Maymont and winning the \"B\" race at Octoberfest in the mud slop. The two Albemarle blondes were leading the way once again at the Northwest Region Meet with the second difference still the same but with the senior Rose at 18:51 leading the sophomore Barclay at 18:52 to the line.

Rose is a tough competitor and does not race for anything but first, so she will definitely make this Saturday\'s race all but more interesting

Final Word

As the final preview of four I have published this week I want to wish everyone the best of luck this weekend at the VIS State Championships on Friday and VHSL State Cross Country Championships on Saturday. If anyone feels slighted, offended, overlooked, or hurt by any of statements, opinions, comments, or statements in my articles...don\'t be because it is not intended to be personally attacking or at least use it as motivation to do your best and exceed expectations, because that is my ultimate goal for everyone that participates in the great sport in using this website as one of many tools to achieve their desired greatness. I\'m a fan of all who have anything to do with this sport whether its to run, coach, or support. And if you find yourself an frequent visit of the site, yet not a subscriber of the site, please reconsider. Do you think $25 is worth more than what MileStat.com gives back to you in value 365 days a year? Again...good luck!