If only VA could be sending 5 boys to San Diego!
The final 10th place spot to qualify on for Foot Locker Nationals in the seeded boys was as dramatic as possible going down to the final step to decide the fate of two runners. Unfortunately, it was a battle between two Virginians with one's hopes of becoming a Foot Locker finalist being realized, while the other's was dashed by a tenth of a second. It was Michael Hammond of Midlothian edging out Johns Ross of Potomac School for the last qualifying spot for San Diego. (Photo by Brandon Miles).
It was a great weekend for Virginia high school cross country between the two regional qualifying meets for the Foot Locker Nationals and Nike Team Nationals. In Charlotte for the Foot Locker South Regional, a total of six Virginians qualified for FLN to be held in San Diego on Saturday, December 1st.
The Virginia boys were dominant as expected with four of the ten qualifiers as well as eight of the top 15 finishers. Jason Witt of Midlothian led the group in fourth place at 15:03, while teammate Michael Hammond was the final qualifier in an incredibly close finish between Johns Ross of Potomac School for 10th place with both being timed at 15:14 in almost too close to call with certainty decision for the naked eye of a finish line judge. Joining the Midlo pair in San Diego will be two returning finalists in Griff Graves of Abingdon (7th, 15:09) and Thomas Porter of Mountain View (8th, 15:11). If Porter qualifies again next year, he will join the likes of only Bobby Lockhart and Sharif Karie as a three-time boys finalist from Virginia. Outside of the Foot Locker finalists, earning All-South (top 24 finish) honors in the seeded race were Ross (11th, 15:14), Blacksburg senior Peter Dorrell (12th, 15:16), T.C. Williams senior Bradshaw Kenimer (14th, 15:22), Western Albemarle junior Kyle Satterwhite (15th, 15:23), and Cave Spring senior Tim Smith (22nd, 15:28).
Aurora Scott did not put up another course record scorching win as she did last year, but seems focused only on San Diego as she trained through this weekend (ran a 18 minute 5K road race on Thanksgiving Thursday) and qualified for a fourth straight Foot Locker Nationals in fifth place at 17:03. Last year, Scott was the only Virginian girl who competed at Balboa Park, but this year she will be joined by AAA state cross country champion Kathleen Lautzenheiser as the Midlothian sophomore ran a sensational final mile to pick off quite a few runners to move into the final national qualifying spot of 10th (17:38). A total of five Virginian girls including Scott and Lautzenheiser earned All-South honors in the seeded race with Chantilly junior Lia DiValentin (15th, 17:48), Brentsville junior Maggie Gentry (23rd, 18:09), and North Cross senior Jane Gay (24th, 18:10).
The state also had winners in the class divisions throughout the day. There were a total of Midlothian freshmen Brayden Burleigh in the freshmen boys race (16:13), West Springfield sophomore Alex Watt in the freshmen/sophomore girls race (18:43), Thomas Edison junior Leoule Degfae in the junior boys race (15:44), and Maggie Walker junior Susannah Piersol in the junior/senior girls race (18:29).
Race Videos: Seeded Boys - Seeded Girls - Freshmen Boys - Sophomore Boys - Junior/Senior Girls - Freshmen/Sophomore Girls - Junior Boys - Senior Boys - Open Race
Photo Galleries: Miles Gallery (2438 photos) - Paisley Gallery (570 photos) - Hovis Gallery on https://nc.milesplit.com (203 photos)
Video Interviews: Aurora Scott - Kathleen Lautzenheiser - Michael Hammond & Jason Witt - Griff Graves - Leoule Degfae - Brayden Burleigh - Campbell Ross - Blake Theroux - Jane Gay
The same joy experienced in Charlotte by the six Virginia finalists and their coaches, parents, and teammates was felt by the Thomas Jefferson boys in Hoover, Alabama at the Nike Team National Southeast Regionals. The AAA state champion squad coached by Matt Ryan finished eight points behind Oak Ridge of Tennessee (1st, 90 pts) in second place with 98 points to automatically qualify for the Nike Team Nationals, which will be held in Portland, Oregon on Saturday, December 1st. Running under the club name of "Team 703", the Thomas Jefferson boys had two individuals in the top seven with Brian Landry (3rd, 16:12) and Evan Heflin (7th, 16:27). Brian Davenport continued to be a big difference maker for the team as he was with a clutch performance in the state championships as the team's third finisher in Hoover in 16th place (16:40). Oakton and Brentsville both came up short in NTN hopes, but wrapped up successful seasons in fourth and sixth place respectively at first ever regional qualfier for NTN. The two-time Group AA state champion Blacksburg girls also concluded their seasons in Hoover with a seventh place team showing (164 pts). Laurel MacMillan (9th, 19:16) led the team with top 10 individual finish.