.jpg)
There were some amazing individual performances at the Virginia Independent Schools State Champions on Friday afternoon at Woodberry Forest School. On one of the state's most difficult commonly run courses, four individuals posted times which have rarely been seen much less a barrage of them in the same meet. With his 15:57 win in the Division I race, Potomac School senior Ross joined only three others to ever break 16 minutes at Woodberry as only Alan Webb (15:18) and Kippy Keino (15:51) have ran faster. Both happened to be Footlocker finalist, which should give Ross a great deal of confidence heading into Footlocker South later this month.
Jeremy Haney was able to hang tough with Ross for close to two miles before Ross was able to break away as Haney's 16:11 runner-up performance was very helpful to Ross as well as the Fork Union boys in winning their third straight Division I title.
It will be hard for any of the public school state championship races to live up to the drama of the Megan Fitzpatrick-Barbara Strehler (pictured left by John Herzog) battle on Friday in the Division I girls race as the private school's top two ranked harriers raced neck and neck the entire way. Strehler started to gap Fitzpatrick in the final mile, but Fitzpatrick was able to reel her in and look to be starting to pull away for the win. Strehler fought back in the final stretch to pull a slight advantage, but Fitzpatrick responded just in time to hold off for the win as both were timed at 18:46 to finish ahead of the old course record set by two-time AAA state champion Rachel Rose at 18:51.
In the final race of the day and running out in front by herself, North Cross senior Jane Gay had an equally impressive performance to break 19 minutes in 18:57.
The Covenant boys and girls swept the Division II team titles with senior Austin Ellis wrapping up his stellar high school cross country career with a fourth straight state championship. The Bishop O'Connell girls were dominant as expected in Division I with a team victory.
VIS State Championships Results: Division I Boys - Division I Girls - Division II Boys - Division II Girls
VIS State Championships Race Videos: Division I Boys - Division I Girls - Division II Boys - Division II Girls
Video Interviews: Johns Ross - Megan Fitzpatrick - Jane Gay
VIS State Championships Photo Gallery by John Herzog - 1143 total photos available for purchase!