This weekend is the big one, the VA XC Showcase, which will feature 250+ teams from 16 different states. We will have teams who could win NXN and more racing in our state this weekend so things are definitely going to be exciting. Aside from those out of state teams and individuals here is our Team VA preview and some predictions.
Team wise you have to start with James W. Robinson who are the defending champions at the meet and also defending Class 6 state champions. They have a very solid group that should do well in this stacked field. They are coming off of a victory at Great American against quite a few of the top teams here this weekend.
Home team Hanover, ranked #3 in our state rankings, should be fun to see as well. Though they are more focused on states, this should be a great opportunity for them to race on a flat and fast course against some of their Class 4 opponents. Two of those opponents, Blacksburg, ranked #5, and Grafton, ranked #6, will also be featured in the races this weekend.
Rounding out the ranked teams in this race are Spotswood and South Lakes who enter ranked #9 and #10 respectively.
On the boys team side you have 7 of the top 10 represented. Up front it is Albemarle fresh off of their big victory at Panorama Farms. They are looking for a three-peat this fall at States and this could be a big race for them confidence wise as they build into the postseason.
Our #2 team, Blacksburg, is looking for a four-peat at States and finished second a year ago. They reload many of their scorers from last year so this race should tell us a lot about their team.
Rounding out the top three will be Parry McCluer who is looking for their own three-peat in Class 1. This is the race where they can show the entire state why we've had them ranked so high all season.
Outside of those three teams we also get to see Charlottesville, James W. Robinson, and Louisa all of whom are ranked.
Individually things are even deeper with 11 of the top 15 girls and 14 of the top 14 boys racing this weekend. Frankly there are too many names to mention them all so here are our predicted top five VA finishers for each gender.
Girls: Samantha Nitzsche, Elaina Pierce, Ariana Lopez, Petra Gruendel, and Caroline Elliott
Boys: Tommy Rae, Joshua Taylor, Trent Daniels, Michael Tafe, and Sam Palmer
Be sure to check out all the coverage and more on the meet page.
This weekend is the big one, the VA XC Showcase, which will feature 250+ teams from 16 different states. We will have teams who could win NXN and more racing in our state this weekend so things are definitely going to be exciting. Aside from those out of state teams and individuals here is our Team VA preview and some predictions.
Team wise you have to start with James W. Robinson who are the defending champions at the meet and also defending Class 6 state champions. They have a very solid group that should do well in this stacked field. They are coming off of a victory at Great American against quite a few of the top teams here this weekend.
Home team Hanover, ranked #3 in our state rankings, should be fun to see as well. Though they are more focused on states, this should be a great opportunity for them to race on a flat and fast course against some of their Class 4 opponents. Two of those opponents, Blacksburg, ranked #5, and Grafton, ranked #6, will also be featured in the races this weekend.
