With perfect weather conditions and still no significant rain at Pole Green Park the course was ideal for the 2019 VISAA State XC Championships. This meet usually run at Woodberry Forest or FUMA, enjoyed a nice trip to the more central PG Park and quite a few big performances followed.
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The biggest of these performances was Daniel O'Brien's winning time of 15:11 on the lower course. That time broke both the course and facility record for the lower course and the previous lower course which was slightly easier. That time also equates to a sub 14:50 on the upper course to put it in perspective.
Not only did Dan win the race individually but he also helped lead his Virginia Episcopal team to another team title.
Roanoke Catholic was second and Peninsula Catholic was third.
In the girls' division two race it was junior Hope Frost running a quick 18:58 to capture the victory. She led from the gun and finishing just behind her was 8th grader Reese Dalton who clocked a 19:15 in her first VISAA State XC meet.
Team wise the D2 race was won by Veritas who scored a very solid 75 ahead of Roanoke Catholic who scored 141.
Though the winning time in D2 was faster, the D1 race for the girls was very deep. Eight girls in this race dipped under 20 minutes with Alli Boehm of Episcopal being the fastest in 19:11. That was her first XC state title and third overall. It was also the first time she ran XC as she normally has competed in soccer during the fall.
Mary Kehoe of local school, St. Gertrude's was second in 19:32.
Team wise the meet went as planned with pre-meet favorite Bishop O'Connell taking care of business and taking home the gold with a score of 46. Saint Catherine's was second with 92.
Scoring the lowest score of the meet though was the boys team from St. Christopher's who scored a low 44 to win the D1 boys title. Collegiate was second with the lowest second placed score, 67. Bishop O'Connell was third in this race with 91 points and also had the lowest third place team score of the meet.
Individually this race was won by Bishop O'Connell's Yakob Kelley who went 16:17 to take home the title. He finished just ahead of Liam Bellamy of Collegiate who ran 16:27.
Kelley was a transfer from NY powerhouse and NXN finalist Fayetteville-Manlius.