Albemarle Invite Preview 2024 - Record Chasing
By Matt Resnick
The #1 ranked boy and girl in the state of Virginia toe the line at Panorama Farms for the 39th Albemarle Invitational this weekend. Course and meet records will face a serious challenge as the weather and track are in near perfect condition.
Woodbridge senior Hayden Goodman, the fastest boy in VA, is fresh off his 15:07 top ten performance in Great American's Race of Champions. He will try to continue a fantastic fall campaign after first winning the Oatlands Invite in mid-September against the top runners in the region. He faces the likes of Glen Allen's Trevor Lawson (15:15 PR at Milestat last year), Riverbend's Tyler Arnold (15:18 PR at Milestat last year) and Justin Rau (15:36 PR at Knights Crossing this year), Broadway's Tristan Yoder (15:22 Win and PR at Knights Crossing this year) and Albemarle's Eli Philips (15:35 PR at Great American this year) who are all chomping at the bit for a breakout.
The course record of 15:26 set by Brooke Point's (now St. John Paul The Great) Brady Brennan in 2022 is under record watch with Goodman having a supreme track season back in the spring (4:16 1600m and 9:02 3200m) and showing top form as we head towards the final races of the regular season. Loudoun Valley's Carlos Schulz ran 15:08 in 2019 which stands as the meet record, but on the old course at Panorama, and will most likely remain safe.
Local racers including Philips and JT Hillis of Albemarle, Nathaniel Orban, Graham Goodale, Ethan Havran and Sam Palmer of Charlottesville, and Jon Nathan Lawrence and Miles Jolin of Covenant will also see who can defend the home turf on the 5k loop at Panorama. The winner in this group will go a long way in determining who tops Ragged Mountain's Cross Country Poll for Runner of the Year.
Longshots to keep an eye on include Madison County's Evan Roberts, Hanover's Eli Miller, and Grassfield's Benjamin Giffing who have all be leaders on their teams this year and dominant in local midweek races.
The Albemarle Invitational is returning to Panorama Farm's after a one-year hiatus due to hosting the 2023 NCAA Division I Cross Country National Championships. That race saw Harvard's Graham Blanks win on the longer 10k loop in the men's race and Florida's Parker Valby win the women's 6k race as well. NC State won the women's team title in a squeaker over NAU and Oklahoma State won the men's team title dominating the field.
Back to high school cross country, on the girl's side of this year's Albemarle Invite, the race features Charlottesville's Elaina Pierce (17:42 PR at Milestat last year), who was 6th in this race as a freshmen in 2022. She is looking to keep the ball rolling on a breakout year going undefeated across the state of Virginia winning Pole Green, Fork Union, Oatlands, and last weekend's Runnin' with the Wolves and will look to take the title in her hometown. Looking to challenge her are Glen Allen's Elly Velasquez (17:25 PR at Milestat last year) and West Springfield's Adeline Barker (17:29 Win and PR at Octoberfest last year).
The meet record for the girls race of 17:56 was set by Ellie Desmond in 2019 and has a real good shot of doing down with that trio aiming to run fast. Reese Dalton's course record of 17:28 might still stand, set while competing in 2023's VTCA's Fall Classic, but only time will tell.
From a team standpoint, the boys race is loaded and has the Woodbridge Vikings trying to retake the lead against Albemarle Patriots in the season head-to-head. The Vikes squeaked out the win over the Pats in the first big meet of the season at Oatland in Leesburg, VA, only to see the opposite occur at WakeMed in Cary, North Carolina last weekend with Albemarle beating Woodbridge in the much larger and competitive race. Keep an eye out for Riverbend and Hanover, who each have terrific top two runners. Blacksburg, the top ranked team in the state, is not competing.
West Springfield's Barker hopes to lead the Spartans to victory in the girls team race but the Spotswood Trailblazers led by the Dickel sisters have continued to improve from a third place showing to start the year at Knights Crossing to win after win from Fork Union to Alleghany, and most recently an almost perfect score. Glen Allen's Velasquez will try to bring the Jaguars glory as they prepare for the postseason as well. James Robinson, the top ranked girls team, is not competing this weekend but will be back at it for the VA XC Showcase next weekend.