Lockhart 4-peats

THE PLAINS, VA -- Few people have held a stronger reign of domination over their competition as Bobby Lockhart has over the distance runners of Group AA the last four years. Every state championship race he has been in during his entire high school running career. At the Group AA State Cross Country Meet at Great Meadows in The Plains, Lockhart became the first male in VHSL history to win four consecutive state cross country titles with his stellar time of 15:10.10.

Lockhart not only had his sights set on winning the Group AA title for the fourth time, but also flirted with idea of breaking Alan Webb's year old Great Meadows course record of 15:03. Lockhart came into the race having ran a 15:13 on the same course last week at the Region II Meet. Helping to push Lockhart was Rockbridge junior John Crews as he took it out with Lockhart, running stride for stride with the John Handley High School distance running superstar for the first half of the race. However, Lockhart proved too strong as he broke away from Crews and built a substantial lead by the 2 mile mark. Lockhart had only himself to push from then on out as he finished in hard down the final stretch to run the second fastest time ever at Great Meadows with a 15:10.10 clocking. However, following the race, Lockhart showed few signs of fatigue and was busy chatting away with coaches, family, friends, and media.

While Lockhart can relish in his accomplishment of a 4-peat for a little while, he will be setting his goals and focus very shortly to the Foot Locker South Regional Meet on November 24th in Charlotte, North Carolina. Lockhart finished runnerup in last year's race to Alan Webb and this year will be a heavy favorite to win with stiff competition from familar rivals such as Bobby Curtis from Kentucky and Joe Thorne from Georgia. In the likelihood that he finishes in at least the top eight at the Foot Locker South Regional Meet, Lockhart will also be one of the main contenders to win the national title in Orlando in December.