Could Dan O'Brien Make It To Foot Locker?
Arguably the best race of the weekend was the Pole Green guys race. In this race, remember on the hilly woods course, we saw three guys dip under 16 and Dan O'Brien blow away the field late to win in 15:36.
The reason why we connect that time with Foot Locker is simple. In 2015 another Lynchburg athlete came up to compete on this course and his name was Peter Seufer. He ran 15:30, in October with way better conditions, and managed to make the Foot Locker National team the same season.
That means Dan O'Brien is well on his way to potentially breaking 15 and possibly making the national team. Obviously a lot more must happen but this time and performance is something that should not be overlooked.
Behind Dan was Max Etka of Midlothian who finished an impressive second in 15:56. Etka stuck with O'Brien for 2/3 the race but was unable to hold on that last kilometer. This however was a great race for the Midlo senior and hopefully just the start of some great performances to come.
Etka is definitely another name to watch this XC season.
Team wise Deep Run was victorious with 89 points and just behind them were the Patriot Pacers homeschool athletes with 96 points.