No one would be able to escape the wrath of weather. Almost everyone that left the course, athletes, coaches, parents, officials, and spectators would leave soaked with water and covered in mud. Some people were frustrated with the weather conditions and packed it home. Others turned what was originally a negative situation into something positive, having fun splashing through the puddles of water and mud.
Some runners that weren't use to these kinds of weather or were not classified as what we would call as strength runners who can power their way through hills and mud, were hurt by the conditions timewise and placewise. Others didn't pay the weather any mind and simply just fought through the conditions and some ran stellar races.
One of those runners that seemed to be unaffected by the weather conditions was South Lakes senior Alan Webb. Webb, last year's Great American champion, won the boys race of champions race and posted the fastest time of the day with his time of 14:59.1. His time was incredible considering the conditions, where a lot of runners ran nowhere close to their bests on the course, but Webb was able to run 7 seconds off the course record which he set last year at the Foot Locker South Regional Meet.
Another stellar individual performance from a Virginian was Midlothian Austin Smith. Smith posted the 8th fastest time of the day as he won the boys invitational race in 15:26.4. Smith was able to beat St. Anthony's (NY) senior Charles Millioen, who finished second in 15:29.6. Millioen is arguebably the best cross country runner in New York and one of the best distance runners in the Northeast Region, so Smith beating Millioen was a very big win for the Midlothian senior.
The Albemarle boys was one of the few teams from Virginia to win a team title as they won the boys open division title. Albemarle was led by senior James Atchison's 11th place finish 16:29.3 as they scored 117 points, well ahead of second place Leesville Road of North Carolina.
The other team was the West Springfield boys in the JV race as they placed 3 runners in the top 12 for a total score of 73 points.
The top female runner from Virginia was Lake Braddock sophomore Kelly Swain who is trying to follow in footsteps of big sister, Erin, who was last year was the Foot Locker South champion. Kelly looks to be on that same path to success with her 18:50.5 clocking in the girls invitational race, which was good enough for a third place finish.
Swain's Lake Braddock squad also had one of the better team performances at the meet as they finished runners-up in the girls invitational race as they finished behind Mount Tabor of North Carolina with 138 points.
