Photo by Dave Watt
Both Blacksburg girls and Hidden Valley girls exceeded expectations and national rankings to finish sixth and 13th respectively at the Nike Cross Nationals on Saturday in Portland, Oregon.
The sixth place finish for the Blacksburg girls is the highest finish by any Virginia team (boys or girls) in the meet's history and second highest ever by a Southeast region squad. The Stevens twins led the Blacksburg girls who finished with a team average of 18:57 and team score of 223 in a field of the 22 best teams in the nation. Kathleen Stevens put her team and herself on the national map as she almost came up with the individual win against a field of All-Americans and state champions but was outkicked in the end by Katie Flood of Iowa to finish as a narrow runner-up in 17:48. Twin sister Joanna finished among the top 10 with a ninth place effort of 18:00.
The Hidden Valley girls proved themselves worthy of their at-large selection with a 13th place team finish (330 pts) and ahead of Southeast regional champion Tatnall (14th). Annie LeHardy led Hidden Valley with a 52nd place finish of 18:44. Despite lacking front runners like the Stevens twins, the Hidden Valley girls held their own in a stellar field with nearly three girls among the top half of field.
Individual qualifiers Kaitlyn Davis of Mountain View (32nd, 18:28) and Kathleen Lautzenheiser of Midlothian (59th, 18:53) also had respectable showings. Davis in particular had a strong run considering it was her first appearance at NXN. The two individual qualifiers from Virginia in the championship boys race did not fare well at Portland Meadows with NXN Southeast individual champion Colin Mearns of Jamestown (64th, 16:02) and surprise qualifier Brayden Burleigh of Midlothian (74th, 16:08) having subpar races compared to their regional races last week in Cary.
Nike Cross Nationals Results: Boys - Girls
Nike Cross Nationals Race Videos: Championship Boys - Championship Girls
Nike Cross Nationals Photo Galleries
Alan Aversaw Gallery - 619 photos posted.
Ron Crocker Gallery - 821 photos posted.
Tim Fulton Gallery - More photos to be added.