The 2018 FUMA Invite, running the 5K distance, will be one to watch. There are over 60 teams in attendance and with decent weather slated for the weekend we can expect some fast times.
First up will be the girls' race featuring Oakton, Cosby, and Pacers Homeschool. All three of these teams have serious shots at winning but will rely heavily on their front runners to get those low points. If we had to predict the winner right now we would pick Pacers heading into the meet.
Albemarle is another team to watch but has yet to run a 5K this season.
Individually on the girls' side Ellie Desmond leads the way with Ella Dalton right behind her. You can almost guarantee a large lead pack thru the first half and likely two miles before there is a successful breakaway.
In the guys' race it is some of the same teams vying for that trophy including Albemarle, Western Albemarle, Oakton and Pacers. Pacers of course are coming off of a second place finish at Pole Green while Oakton is coming off of a victory at Knights Crossing. This battle pits our VA #2 (Western Albemarle), VA #3 (Albemarle), VA #6 (Oakton) vs our VA #8 (Pacers) into one race.
Individually, Jeremiah Pratt is the guy to beat with three Oakton guys - Bryce Buttrey, Zachary Morse, Arnav Tikhe - right behind him. Don't be surprised if these four guys and Virgil Moore all dip under 16 minutes this weekend.