THE PLAINS, VA - The Blacksburg girls moved into the VHSL all-time leader with the most state team championships while Northside senior Catherine White became the fifth girl in VHSL history to win three state cross country titles. Neith accomplishment came easy as the Blacksburg girls were given a strong challenge from 2005 champs Brentsville and tough weather and course conditions beat up even the best of runners in White as she had a rare collapse when she crossed the line in 19:18. Meanwhile, the Brentsville boys continued their dynasty in Group AA with their third state championship despite not their best day on the course and Abingdon junior Griff Graves had the second fastest time of the day and only two seconds behind Mike Spooner in AAA with another state championship in 15:55.
While only ten points ended up separating Blacksburg with 31 points over Brentsville with 41 points, the Blacksburg girls looked like the dominant team as they nearly beat Brentsville at nearly every positin with the exception of the #1 spot, which was only a one point difference. The team with one of the state\'s best top three was more than that on Saturday as their depth was even better than Brentsville through seven. However, their three were strong and came through big with all three runners in the top nine places to earn All-State honors with Laurel MacMillan (4th, 19:28), Allison Homer (4th, 19:36), and Cate Berenato (7th, 19:45). The freshmen Stevens twins for Blacksburg had big races as the team\'s fourth and fifth runners with Kathleen just missing All-State in 16th (20:21) and Joanna finishing six palces and 21 seconds back in 22nd (20:47).
Blacksburg had a team average 11 seconds faster than Brentsville and also two seconds faster than AAA state runner-up and Southeast #6 ranked Lake Braddock. Blacksburg (2nd, 124 pts) also finished a shade better than Lake Braddock (3rd, 127 pts) in the combined team scoring by a three point margin. Coach James Demarco\'s girls definite deserve a look to get back in the Southeast region\'s top ten this week after dropping out last week as they have shown to be a much better and improved squad since the performance, which moved into the top ten at Great American in September.
Brentsville gave Blacksburg a hard fight and was not going to give up the state title easily. Brentsville senior Becky Stewart led the squad with her second consecutive state runner-up individual finish as she finished surprisingly very close to returning Foot Locker All-American Catherine White as Stewart was only four seconds off of White in the end with her final time of 19:22. Behind Stewart were two All-State runners in Amelia Emerson (7th, 19:45) and Maggie Gentry (15th, 20:17). Lauren Bussian (19th, 20:28) and Stephanie Hutson (35th, 21:01) rounded out Coach Rob Dulin\'s team scoring.
The winning times in the Group A races earlier gave the impression the course was running slow, but when Northside senior Catherine White, who ran well under 18 minutes last year on the course struggled in over 19 minutes with a final time of 19:18, many of the runners in the following races knew today\'s course was not going to be kind to them. White had opened up a considerable lead on the field through two miles, but the lead of over 20 seconds shrunk considerably inside in the gate with less than half a mile to go as White visibly looked to be laboring to get to the finish line. White was able to cross the line just in time as she collapsed to the ground immediately finishing in a time of 19:18, which six girls would match or beat in the AAA race to follow. In a Roanoke TImes article, White contributed a low blood sugar level and strong wins to her collapsed and slower time.
However, many of those runners were running for place while White as the two-time state champ coming in was looking to push it more to run a fast time. White joined some elite company as a three-time state champion, which includes the likes of Jackie Kerr of Thomas Jefferson, Meghan McCarthy of James Robinson, Becky Runion, and Erin Keogh of Langley. Keogh\'s name is especially one of interest for White as she would like to drop her 3200 meter time of 10:28 this spring to move closer to Keogh\'s all-time state record time of 10:03.
This Wednesday, White will be announcing where she will take her distance running talents next fall as she has narrowed down her two choices to the University of Virginia and University of Arkansas.
The top three boys teams in the Group AA were some of the best the classification has seen in several years with champion Brentsville (57 pts), runner-up Jamestown (75 pts), and third place Western Albemarle (97 pts). Both Jamestown and Western Albemarle\'s team scores could win AA states in many years, but unfortunately Brentsville was too strong to allow either team to come out with the championship trophy as they won their straight AA state team championship.
The Tigers were led by senior Adam Henken, who gave defending individual champion Griff Graves of Abingdon a fair challenge before settling for second place with a final time of 16:13. Henken\'s time was fifth fastest on the day. Fellow senior teammate Henry Melius joined Henken on the state meet podium with an All-State performance of 16:42 to finish 10th overall. Helping the entire team get back on the podium to accept their state championship trophy were Ray Delgado (21st, 17:09), Andrew Johnson (24th, 17:17), and Luke Watts (34th, 17:31) filling out the remaining top five. Brentsville had an outside shot of taking the Southeast\'s second spot for Nike Team Nationals by making a statement in their state meet performance, but came short of doing that on Saturday as they actually finished behind AAA state runner-up and SE #8 ranked Oakton in the combined state meet scoring. However, Coach Dulin and his team should be recognized on a great season and continuing the great tradition of state championship teams. The teams\' consistency at the top year after year should put them in the NTN hunt almost every fall.
With their top two runners graduating in the spring with Henken and Melius, Brentsville\'s road to a fourth straight state championship will be very tough next year as the next two finishing teams in this year\'s state meet in Jamestown and Western Albemarle do not graduate much with many of their top runners only underclassmen currently.
Jamestown only graduates one runner from their top seven with the team\'s third finisher at the state meet in Andew Mearns (26th, 17:20) and four of their top five runners happen to be either sophomores or freshmen making them not only tough to beat next year, but in the fall of 2008 as well. Jamestown had two sophomores make it onto the podium as individuals with Region I champion Andrew Colley (6th, 16:34) and John Holt (15th, 16:49). Little brother was right behind big brother with freshmen Colin Mearns (27th, 17:25) only one place behind senior brother Andrew Mearns. Jamestown freshmen Russell Horsnby (42nd, 17:40) was the team\'s fifth scorer. Jamestown definitely looks to be one of Virginia\'s top returning teams looking far ahead to next year.
Coach Lindy Bain and Western Albemarle has the same luxury with an underclassmen heavy group as they had a tri of sophomores in the top 20 on Saturday at Great Meadows with All-Staters Kyle Satterwhite (11th, 16:43) and Tyler Stutzman (14th, 16:49) as well as a strong run from James Howard-Smith (19th, 17:06). Three of the Warriors\' state meet top seven graduates, but four of their top five runners will not only be back for 2007, but 2008 as well to keep Western Albemarle as a force to be reckoned with.
Abingdon junior Griff Graves took care of business on Saturday in winning his second consecutive state championship and setting himself up for next year to become only the fourth three-time state champion in VHSL history, which Alan Webb is included on the short list. If Graves had moved to Virginia from Alabama sooner before his freshmen year, he may have been able to join Bobby Lockhart as the state\'s only four-time state champion. Nonetheless, Graves was challenged during the race by Henken and Blacksburg\'s Peter Dorrell, but was able to pull away for one of the more convincing wins of the day in 18 second margin of victory. Graves was only two seconds slower than Spooner in the AA race with his final time of 15:55 as both have their minds set on making it to San Diego for Foot Locker Nationals by finishing in the top ten in the seeded race at Foot Locker South in Charlotte later this month. With course conditions being at least 30 seconds slower from last year, both Graves and Spooner can have confidence in their state meet performances as indicators of likely top ten showings in Charlotte.
THE PLAINS, VA - The Blacksburg girls moved into the VHSL all-time leader with the most state team championships while Northside senior Catherine White became the fifth girl in VHSL history to win three state cross country titles. Neith accomplishment came easy as the Blacksburg girls were given a strong challenge from 2005 champs Brentsville and tough weather and course conditions beat up even the best of runners in White as she had a rare collapse when she crossed the line in 19:18. Meanwhile, the Brentsville boys continued their dynasty in Group AA with their third state championship despite not their best day on the course and Abingdon junior Griff Graves had the second fastest time of the day and only two seconds behind Mike Spooner in AAA with another state championship in 15:55.
While only ten points ended up separating Blacksburg with 31 points over Brentsville with 41 points, the Blacksburg girls looked like the dominant team as they nearly beat Brentsville at nearly every positin with the exception of the #1 spot, which was only a one point difference. The team with one of the state\'s best top three was more than that on Saturday as their depth was even better than Brentsville through seven. However, their three were strong and came through big with all three runners in the top nine places to earn All-State honors with Laurel MacMillan (4th, 19:28), Allison Homer (4th, 19:36), and Cate Berenato (7th, 19:45). The freshmen Stevens twins for Blacksburg had big races as the team\'s fourth and fifth runners with Kathleen just missing All-State in 16th (20:21) and Joanna finishing six palces and 21 seconds back in 22nd (20:47).
Blacksburg had a team average 11 seconds faster than Brentsville and also two seconds faster than AAA state runner-up and Southeast #6 ranked Lake Braddock. Blacksburg (2nd, 124 pts) also finished a shade better than Lake Braddock (3rd, 127 pts) in the combined team scoring by a three point margin. Coach James Demarco\'s girls definite deserve a look to get back in the Southeast region\'s top ten this week after dropping out last week as they have shown to be a much better and improved squad since the performance, which moved into the top ten at Great American in September.