Not nearly as deep as guys, but girls still have hopefuls from VA

CHARLOTTE, NC - While Virginia has a handful of male runners who have a decent shot at making the top 8 at the Foot Locker South Region Meet, the girls will have a harder time trying to fit in a few runners into that top 8 as the girl's field should be very competitive. The race favorite will be Kara Scanlin of Florida, who is the top returnee in the race after finishing runnerup in last year's race. Texas, Florida, and North Carolina are loaded with strong individuals. Here are the three hopefuls we have from Virginia...

Keira Carlstrom - Has gone the entire season undefeated and has yet to be challenged by any runner in the state. Carlstrom's personal best of the season was at McAlpine where she finished 3rd at the Wendy's Invitational in a time of 18:12. After winning the Group AAA State Meet in a time of 18:18, she looks primed to go under 18 in Charlotte and advance onto nationals.

Jemissa Hess - Hess really turned it on at the end of the season, should continue that same momentum into Charlotte where she can make a crack at the top 8. She took runnerup honors to Carlstrom at the Group AAA Meet and has the second fastest 5K time in the state currently with her 18:14.50 clocking at the Octoberfest Invitational. Top 8 would be very realistic for Hess at Foot Locker.

Shannon Saunders - She has made easy work of the competition in Group AA once again, now's it time for her to see if she can compete in the national level. Her last two races have been her best by far of the season. Two weeks ago, she won the Group AA State title for the consecutive year with a personal best time of 18:37. Then last week, she won the first ever MileStat.com Invitational in a course record breaking time of 17:55 on the Fork Union 3 mile course. She is a tough runner as she ran with bronchitus at the William & Mary Invitational yet still managed a time of 18:27. She's on the bubble on going to nationals.