10/3 VA Weekend Preview: Economy not slowing teams down from traveling!

October 3rd is apparently the weekend to travel for many Virginia schols as you will see teams in action this weekend in several meets spread throughout the East Coast in North Carolina, Delaware, and Florida. The Octoberfest Invitational appears to be virtually the only game in town on this weekend in Virginia with well over 3,000 runners expected to converge at Great Meadow on Saturday. The revival of Great American and return to North Carolina is seen with several of the state's NXN hopefuls previewing the regional course in the Race of Champions. Other teams have skipped out on Great American and are seeking competition in other out-of-state meets including Northern Region schools Lake Braddock at flrunners.com Invite (FL), Oakton at Wendy's Invite (NC), and West Springfield at Salesianum Invite (DE).  

 

Octoberfest Invitational

October 03, 2009 @ Great Meadows (Non-State) Course in The Plains, VA

Hosted by Mountain View    

 

Many of the same teams from last week's enormous Oatlands Invitational will be at the Great Meadow Invitational for another 3,000+ runner meet. The meet is the final leg of the triple crown as those who competed also in the Great Meadow Invite at the end of August are eligible for triple crown awards combining the results of the three meets.

 

With the exception of Osbourn Park's Ariel Karabinus, virtually all of the top finishers from the varsity A race last week at Oatlands will be back racing against one another this weekend. Add in Myah Hicks of Thomas Edison and Allison Bartels of Brentsville who both competed at Maymont last Saturday as well as Britani Myers of John Handley (2nd at Carlisle Invite-PA), it should be a very deep girls race including many state ranked runners.

 

 Four of the top five finishers from Oatlands will be racing on Saturday at Great Meadow in Kaitlyn Davis of Mountain View, Katherine Walker of Brooke Point (Walker & Davis pictured left by Ted Plunkett), Megan Moye of Cosby, and Hannah Lowery of Stafford. Davis at #6, Walker at #9, and Moye at #15 are all ranked among the top 15 runners in the state of Virginia currently. Davis placed 3rd in last year's Octoberfest with a time of 18:25, while Myah Hicks of Edison finished 7th place in a time of 18:53 followed by other returnees Moye (9th, 18:54) and Lindsi Arrington (10th, 18:54).

 

The depth extends much further than 10 individuals for Saturday and there could be some All-State caliber runners finishing as far back as 25th place in this field. Defending race champion Anneka Wilson of The Potomac School won last year in 18:06, but appears not to be running at the same level so far this fall as she only has a season best of 19:40 to show for herself so far. She looks to drop that time and be more competitive this weekend as does George Mason sophomore Natalie Young, who has not raced much against top in-state competition since winning the Chancellor Invite in earlier October.

 

Two of the top three teams from Oatlands are also racing this weekend with runner-up West Potomac and third place Bishop O'Connell, ranked 6th and 10th respectively in the state of Virginia. West Potomac had a great front three last week in Julianne Bigler, Sarah Jane Underwood, and Kelsey Rosenberg and hope to see a replicate performance this weekend with top 20 performances. Bishop O'Connell's top five seems to always changing each meet, so it is tough to single out one individual runner for the defending private schools state champions, but they usually find five girls on any given day to step up and run well for the team.

 

After West Potomac and Bishop O'Connell, a handful of teams will be battling it out for the next spots including Cosby, Mountain View, Brentsville, and Hurricane (WV). None of the three mentioned Virginia schools were pleased with their team performances last weekend and would like to race better at Octoberfest.

 

Are the Grassfield boys for real? Saturday will tell if the Group AAA #1 ranking is deserved for a rather unproven squad outside of the Eastern Region which earned its ranking with an upset of previous #1 Western Branch in early September at the Newport News Invitational. They will be facing off with one of the top contenders for the Group AAA state crown this fall in Mountain View along with a solid DC squad Gonzaga, who took second to Mountain View by one second at the Brentsville Relays.

 

The individual race will feature the new king of high school cross country in Virginia at least for the time being after his strong third place finish at Maymont in Kevin Dowd (pictured right by John Herzog) of Fairfax. Dowd defeated two of Virginia's best distance runners in the state at Maymont with  his 15:36 5K performance in Colin Mearns of Jamestown and Ted Richardson of James River as the state's top finisher in the invitational division. If he can run a 15:36 on Maymont's tougher course, Dowd is capable of really running a fast time on the Great Meadow hill course which can run very fast if conditions are right.

 

He'll be challenged by Gonzaga's top harrier Billy Ledder, who has great leg speed as the 2009 Nike Indoor Nationals champion at 800 meters. Ledder smoked a course record time on his 2.5K split at the Brentsville Relays and has a season best 5K time of 15:57. Dowd will likely have to break away from Ledder before the final stretch or he will play right into Ledder's hands.

 

Dowd should also have company from Northern Region rival Yazid Zouaimia. Both Dowd and Zouaimia had modest cross country times coming into this year, but their performances in the spring on the track made many certain they would easily translate that success into great cross country performances in the fall. It has been the case for both as Centreville's Zouaimia ran well at Oatlands last week with a third place sub 16 minute run.

 

Warren County's Seamus O'Reilly caught quite a few off guard with his runner-up performance at season's start in the Great Meadow Invitational, but has not raced in a major invitational since then to show he can stay up at the front. He'll back on the same course with the intentions of another high finish on Saturday.

 

 

Great American XC Festival

October 02, 2009 - October 03, 2009 @ WakeMed Soccer Complex in Cary, NC

Official Meet Web Site

 

With the return of Great American to North Carolina marks the return of Virginia's schools to the meet once considered the most competitive in the country. The meet lost participation of Virginia schools as well as other national caliber squads during its time in Hoover, Alabama. Several of Virginia's top schools, especially with dreams of qualify for Nike Cross Nationals, are making the trip to the WakeMed Soccer Complex (formerly known as SAS Park) in Cary, North Carolina, which is the home course for the Nike Cross Nationals Southeast Regional in November.

 

Virginia's top three ranked girls squads in #1 Blacksburg, #2 Hidden Valley, and #3 Midlothian will be competing in the Race of Champions with many of the best teams in the Southeast Region as well as other national and regional ranked teams outside of the region. These teams all ran well on the same course last for the Nike Cross Southeast Regionals last year and returned this season with high hopes of finishing among the automatic top two. A strong finish at Great American against a five-time Great American champions Saratoga Springs as well as a field assembled with the best throughout the Southeast would be a good sign of a team's chances of being in the driver seat for a NXN berth.

 


Photo by Frank Locascio Sr.

 

In the boys' race of champions are two teams looking to hoist state champion trophies in November at Great Meadow in VA #1 ranked Blacksburg and Group AAA #4 Western Branch. Blacksburg is coming off a big win at Maymont, while the Western Branch boys defeated Group AAA #1 Grassfield in a Wednesday meet. Blacksburg was also racing on short rest from a win at the Metro Championships in Salem on Wednesday. Both teams will be testing the waters as far as how they match outside of the state of Virginia against regional and national competition. Blacksburg passed their first test last weekend in a victory at Maymont.

 

Great American will be the first meaningful race for Albemarle's Anthony Kostelac. Arguably the state's top returning distance runner from last year after his epic anchor legs on the Albemarle 4x800 and distance medley relays at Nike Indoor Nationals and Penn Relays. Kostelac had a season ending stress fracture in his femur at the end of his outdoor season, which forced him to miss out on much of the summer training period. He eased his way into racing last week competing unattached in the open race at Maymont with a 16:56 performance. Kostelac should get stronger each week and likely challenge for the Group AAA state title if all goes according to plain.

 

 

 

 

flrunners.com Invitational 10

October 02, 2009 - October 03, 2009 @ Chain of Lakes Park in Titusville, FL

Hosted by Titusville HS     Timing/Results: Steeple Timing    

 

Clover Hill was the first team ever from Virginia to attend the flrunners.com Invitational last October with the girls team coming back home with a large second place trophy from the invitational division. This year, Clover Hill is back racing in the invitational division but also is joined down in Titusville, Florida with annual Northern Region powerhouse Lake Braddock.

 

The Lake Braddock girls, ranked #1 in the Northern Region and # in Group AAA, are back in racing action after taking last weekend off. In their first two invitationals at the =PR= Relay Kick Off and Monroe Parker Invite with wins over their top regional foes and then garnered a third place finish in a stacked Brentsville Relays 5x2500 meter race on September 19th.

 

Coach Mike Mangan girls will be led in the Nike Race of Champions by Liana Epstein (ranked #7 in VA), who clocked a 17:53 victory at Monroe Parker earlier in September. A team out-of-state has never won the Race of Championships at the flrunners.com meet, but the Lake Braddock girls are capable of becoming the first champion outside of Florida. They will be one of the pre-meet favorites along with Winter Park (FL) with a current time spread from 19:00 to 20:17. On a fast and flat course in Florida, Lake Braddock is certainly capable of besting that time spread.

 

Not be overshadowed by their girls, the Lake Braddock boys look to this meet to make a statement with a high finish in the Race of Champions boys race against some of Florida's meet to build momentum when they return back to Virginia. The Northern Region boys has more than a handful of teams who will be battling out for the four state meet qualifying positions this fall including Lake Braddock. The Lake Braddock boys are led by Alex Clark, who finished 4th at Monroe Parker with a 15:44 2.98 mile performance.

 

Wendy's Invitational

October 03, 2009 @ McAlpine Greenway Park in Charlotte, NC

Hosted by East Mecklenburg    

 

Oakton boys and girls are in the invitational race, while the Abingdon boys and girls are in the 3A race for the Wendy's Invitaitonal in Charlotte at the home of Foot Locker South, McAlpine Greenway Park. The Oakton boys scored a major win last week at Oatlands against fellow Group AAA state title contenders Mountain View, while the Oakton girls had a respectable finish in the meet to put their name back in the hat of teams fighting for state meet berths in the Northern Region.

 

The Group AAA #3 ranked Oakton boys won last year at the Wendy's Invitational with a team score of 92 points and will have a battle on their hands to successfully defend their team title with a formidable squad from Chapel Hill High School also in attendance. The Chapel Hill boys were big winners last week at the Greensboro Invitational and currently have a team spread from 16:13 to 16:38 for their varsity top 7. Coach Phil Tiller's team had a strong front runner though in Andrew McCullen, who has garnered two runner-up finishes in major invitationals this season at Chancellor and Oatlands with a 15:53 performance most recently at Oatlands. Look for McCullen and the rest of his team to make some big time drops from Oatlands to a much faster McAlpine Greenway Park course, which always sees plenty of personal bests at season's end for Foot Locker South.

 

Hagan Stone Classic

October 03, 2009 @ Hagan Stone Park in Greensboro, NC

Hosted by Greensboro Pacesetters    

 

The Lee-Davis girls are back to defend their Hagan Stone Classic team title from a year ago with a much stronger team from a year ago with added depth and the addition of front running freshmen Bonny Turnage. Turnage ran a strong race last week at Maymont with a time just under 19 minutes and high finish in a loaded field. Behind Turnage are two All-State caliber track runners in Stephanie Cario and Amanda Lineberry.

 

Salesianum Invitational: Presented by PUMA

October 03, 2009 @ Brandywine Creek State Park in Wilmington, DE

Hosted by Salesianum School    

 

The West Springfield girls are certainly not afraid of hilly courses as it seems each week they have challenged themselves and only gotten stronger in competing on difficult courses as the Salesianum Invitational on Saturday will be their straight weekend following doing just that at Maymont and Briarwood. Maymont was a very successful meet for the Lady Spartans snagging the third place spot in the invitational division behind only Blacksburg and Tatnall and ahead of last year's AAA state runner-up Maggie Walker. West Springfield has one of the stronger front two's in the state with Paige Kvartunas and Alex Watt as top 15 finishers from Maymont.  West Springfield has a realistic shot at picking up their first invitational win on Saturday at Brandywine Creek State Park in Wilmington on Saturday with Delaware's best in Tatnall competing in the meet.

 

VMI Invitational

October 03, 2009 @ Virginia Horse Center in Lexington, VA

Hosted by Virginia Military Institute     Official Meet Web Site

 

Coach Peter Sherry's Herndon squads could make it a clean sweep of the team titles as the team will visit the current home of one of their former star runners Ermin Mujezinovic, who currently runs for Virginia Military Institute. The Herndon boys surprised many with their fifth place finish last week at Oatlands defeating several higher ranked teams within the Northern Region. They achieved their high finish through a tight spread of 27 seconds for their entire top five and hope to keep the pack tight again this weekend in Lexington. The Collegiate boys, the #1 ranked team in the private schools, will play a factor though as they ran well last week at Maymont.

 

Individually, Andy Eddleton (ranked #3 in Group AA) of Christiansburg will be the leading individual as Eddleton has raced well on hilly courses this season including two invitational wins, a runner-up finish, and a 6th place 16:13 PR performance last week at Oatlands. Chasing after Eddleton will be Collegiate's Cabell Willis and Herndon's Jack Jasper.

 

A handful of girls have a shot at winning individually at the Virginia Horse Center on Saturday including Maymont private school division champion Hannah Lieberman of Trinity, Blue Demon Invitational champion Leigha Schimoeller of Jefferson Forest, Julia Sroba of Collegiate, and returning Group AAA All-State cross country runner Carolyn Hennessey of Herndon. Lieberman has risen to the #1 private school ranking after defeating the defending state champion Anneka Wilson last week at Maymont and is looking to follow in the footsteps of former teammate Barbara Strehler (now runs for UVA).