With the Blacksburg team being cleared last second to attend the Manhattan Invitational in New York, the clarity of the favorites for the Runnin With The Wolves Rocktoberfest has been dramatically changed with the door opened to new teams and individuals with one of the state's top girls teams in Blacksburg and top boys individuals in Peter Dorrell headed to NYC. Without them, the show will still go on as Jefferson Forest coach Jerome Loy will be putting on a great meet with a wild start and plenty of tunes to keep the runners pumped through the entirety of the challenging 5K course.
The Blacksburg girls and Peter Dorrell would been considered heavy favorites if they end up staying put as the Blacksburg girls are one of the top teams in the Southeast region, while Dorrell is a strong contender to qualify for Foot Locker Nationals.
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The individual boys' field will still be strong with Turner Ashby's Alex Ott (pictured right by John Herzog), Cave Spring's Tim Smith, Radford's Nathan Brame, Harrisonburg's Bryant Clopper, and Christiansburg's Caleb Hughes. Ott posted a personal best 5K time of 15:39 at Octoberfest last weekend in a third place performance. Smith's season best of 15:52 came at Maymont two weeks ago as he was less than a second behind Ott in eighth place in the invitational division. Expect Ott and Smith to battle for the win and attempt an assault on Mike Spooner's course record of 16:25 from 2005.Brame, Clopper, and Hughes will only bolster the quality of the field up front. Brame, who lost his #1 ranking in Group A two weeks ago in a loss to Lebanon's Jakob Maidens at Maymont, will be looking to get back on track after suffering a mid-season slump. He will not have to save his energy this weekend for a second race though as he did two weeks ago after Maymont when he jumped into the VMI Invitational on the way back home to Radford from Richmond and ended up winning the race.
Clopper and Hughes are both ranked in AA currently as they look to claw their way into the top half of the top 15 in what has become a very competitive year for the Group AA classification with many of the state's top harriers found in AA.
Christiansburg, Jefferson Forest, Spotswood, and Turner Ashby look to all be in contention for the team title. Turner Ashby competed with #5 ranked Blacksburg in the invitational division at Maymont with Blacksburg taking 12th and Turner Ashby coming in 20th place. However, Christiansburg looks to be the team to beat though after recent strong team showings including a victory at the Hilltopper Invitational last month. Hughes leads the Blue Demons as he went 16:25 last week at the Disney Classic in Florida and has a top five under 18 minutes behind him.
Jefferson Forest might have something to say about that though as the host school running on their home course. Christiansburg is currently the #8 ranked team in AA with the Jefferson Forest Cavaliers only one position behind Christiansburg at #9 and have defeated their former Region III rivals in the past.
The best girls' squads at Runnin' With The Wolves look to be Turner Ashby, Christiansburg, and Jefferson Forest. The Jefferson Forest girls will be attempt to defend their Runnin' With The Wolves title from 2006.
Top individuals will be Jefferson Forest's Nikki Jannah, Lord Botetourt's Stephanie Spickard, William Byrd's Alisha Royal, Northside's Jessica Wolter, and Turner Ashby's Molly Skidmore. Royal won the VMI Invitational two weeks ago, while Jannah looks to lead her team and herself individual to sweeping victories in the home invitational.
Teams List
Alleghany
Altavista
Blacksburg
Broadway
Cave Spring
Chatham
Christiansburg
Fort Defiance
Harrisonburg
Jefferson Forest
Lord Botetourt
Northside
Patrick County
Peaksview
Radford
Salem
Spotswood
Staunton River
Turner Ashby
William Byrd
Time Schedule
10:00 Middle School Boys
10:30 Middle School Girls
11:00 Middle School Awards
11:15 5K J.V. Girls Race
Noon: 5K J.V. Boys
12:45: 5K Varsity Girls Championship
1:30: 5K Boys Varsity Championship
2:00: Open 5K race
10:30 Middle School Girls
11:00 Middle School Awards
11:15 5K J.V. Girls Race
Noon: 5K J.V. Boys
12:45: 5K Varsity Girls Championship
1:30: 5K Boys Varsity Championship
2:00: Open 5K race