There is no other way to dice it up, the Class 5 races were bizarre and showed us exactly why you have to run the race. In the girls race Lily Guinn went down at the 4K after leading by nearly a minute and in the boys race, VA #2 and defending champion Berkley Nance went down with about 300m to go.
Though things happen and they certainly helped Brennan and Velazquez win, it was their respect combined with their talent that brought them home the individual titles. In both of their interviews they spoke more about their competition than themselves. They basically outright said they had to worry about themselves because Guinn and Nance were beasts.
It was that respect, coupled with their abilities that enabled them to be in the right spot at the right time and to grasp their chance by surging away from their competition. Elly Velasquez (Glen Allen) did so in the girls race and Brady Brennan did it in the boys race.
Brady was side by side with Nance until 2.25 miles when Nance made his move. Nance was able to gap him but Brady never gave up. It wasn't until 2.8 miles that he saw his chance and capitalized. Ultimately he won the state title in 16:07. His time ranked him as the fastest sophomore at States regardless of classification or division as well.
Brennan's state title is the first in Brooke Point history for cross country.
Elly Velasquez on the right
In the girls race it was sophomore Velasquez winning the title against tough competition. Ultimately her surprise victory helped Glen Allen move up into second place a team and finish on the podium for the first time.
Elly won in a time of 19:16 with her rival, Sidney Walters (pictured above as well) finishing second in 19:21.
In the boys team race it was Glen Allen defending their title but upstart Clover Hill almost caught them (53-57).