After scorching the third fastest time in Burke Lake history at last weekend\'s Concore District Meet with her 16:42 clocking, Hayfield senior Melissa Dewey was instructed by her coach to hold back this weekend in preparation for next weekend\'s state meet. Dewey did her best to hold back, but still found a problem running slow as her feet still propelled her to her second best time ever on the rain soakened course with a 17:07 clocking. Dewey still finished well over a minute ahead of her nearest competitor, which is a rarity at the Northern Region Meet, annually the state\'s most competitive regional meet.
The next two runners to cross the line sported the maroon and white jerseys of Oakton High School as it would signal the team success to come for the Lady Cougars on this afternoon. Oakton\'s Kayley Byrne finished with runner-up honors in a time of 18:14, while teammate Danielle Light was the next finisher in third at 18:23. Joining Byrne and Light on the All-Region team were fellow teammates Allegra Smith (7th, 18:29) and Meredith Tighe (8th, 18:29) as they were able to put their entire top four ahead of Lake Braddock\'s second runner. An amazing team feat considering that Lake Braddock is considered by many to be Oakton\'s greatest challenger to the state crown. Katie Esselburn (24th, 19:19) came across the line as Oakton\'s fifth runner, while Hallie Eilerts (28th, 19:19) gave the team extra security. With a team total of 37 points and team average of 18:33, the Oakton girls ran exceptionally well but could have even finished better with regular Carly Hudson (32nd, 19:31) having an off day.
After this weekend\'s regional meet, the Lake Braddock girls may need to concede their state hopes to Oakton and worry about holding onto a top three podium position at the state meet as they finished 31 points behind Oakton with 68 points. The Lady Bruins had two All-Region performers as Kelsey Snowden (4th, 18:25) had a solid individual run to lead the squad and Erin Klein ran well in the two spot with a 11th place effort of 18:38. Michelle Presley (16th, 18:47) just missed All-Region honors, while seniors Kelly Sherrard (22nd, 19:08) and Becca Hoogland (27th, 19:14) rounded out Lake Braddock\'s top five.
The Lake Braddock girls at least have a bit of cushion to work with the two state meet qualifying teams behind them. Westfield finished third overall with 89 points, while James Robinson secured the final ticket to states with 115 points for fourth place. The Lady Bulldogs of Westfield were led by sophomore Catherine Lynn, who tried to give chase to Dewey early on, but fell back to a fifth place finishing time of 18:25. While Dewey may be out of league, Lynn should finish well among other AAA runners at next Saturday\'s state meet in hopes of duplicating another All-State from a year ago. Along with Lynn, Alexis Deegan (12th, 18:38) was also a top 15 finisher for Westfield. James Robinson sophomore Jennifer Hovland was the team\'s lone All-Region performer in ninth place with a time of 18:32.
While having gone undefeated for much of the season against Northern Region foes, Chantilly junior Brad Siragusa lost a bit of his swagger at the Georgetown Prep Invitational in mid October when he was decisively defeated by Robert E. Lee senior Dawit Legesse. Siragusa finally got his awaited rematch against Siragusa and it turned out to be a classic barnburner. No rain was going to get in the way of these two going at it. The two runners went back and forth all race, but it would be Siragusa to get the final edge as he crossed the line first in a time of 15:19 for his first regional cross country title. Legesse would finish two seconds behind at 15:21 for second place. The two runners get to do it all over again next weekend when more is on stake and the competition is greater at the state meet.
The Thomas Jefferson boys took care of business at the regional meet as they claimed their third consecutive Northern Region title and will toe the line at next weekend\'s state meet as the only team in the race yet to be defeated by any team from Virginia. The boys from Alexandria amassed a team total of 68 points and a team average of 15:54 on the 2.98 mile course. If they pack up at the state meet like they did Thursday at Burke Lake, they are going to be tough to beat as only a 30 second difference separated their fifth man from their top finisher. Earning All-Region honors were three Thomas Jefferson runners in Paul Norland (9th, 15:47), Kyle Smith (10th, 15:48), and Chris Katilie (13th, 15:51). Brother of 2003 star graduate Christo Landry, Brian, ran an exceptional race for a freshmen with his 16:01 clocking for a 17th place finish. Kyle Grimsley (21st, 16:07) crossed the line as Thomas Jefferson\'s fifth man. Extra insurance for Thomas Jefferson were Hersh Singh (33rd, 16:30) and Ben Treweek (36th, 16:32) as they packed around second place Oakton\'s fifth man, Tommy Mason (34rd, 16:30).
After finishing only eight points shy of Thomas Jefferson at their district meet, the Oakton boys finished 23 points behind their rival at the regional level with 91 points. The Cougars were beaten at every runner positin by Thomas Jefferson except for the number one spot as All-Region performer James Phillips (8th, 15:46) finished just ahead of Thomas Jefferson\'s top finisher Norland. Jason Vick (15th, 15:56) joined teammate Phillips on the All-Region team, while Kevin Meehan (16th, 16:01) just missed such honors by one place. Pat Epley (25th, 16:15) and Mason were Oakton\'s remaining top five finishers. Oakton is a squad that has the ability to finish among the state meet podium top three next weekend.
Coach Kelbaugh has advanced yet another West Springfield boys\' team to the state meet, so all other coaches and teams better began worrying now because Coach Kelbaugh\'s teams have a history of coming out of nowhere for great state meet team performances. The Spartans finished third at the regional meet with 111 points. The team was led by one of the state\'s best sophomores in Michael Spooner as he finished fourth overall in a time of 15:37 as the team\'s sole All-Region performer. Kris Benton (23rd, 16:08), Samuel Teka (29th, 16:27), Alex Martis (30th, 16:28), and Leo Walker (39th, 16:34) comprise the remaing top five for West Springfield that will be counted on to come through big at next weekend\'s state meet.
Coach Beeby\'s West Potomac boys caught many off guard by taking the final state meet spot for the Northern Region with a fourth place team finish (118 pts). The Herndon boys finished a gut-wrenching fifth place as they were denied a state meet team trip by one point. Herndon had the top three to do qualify as the Hornets top three was actually better than those of Thomas Jefferson, Oakton, and West Springfield. Herndon sophomore Abreham Daganchew (3rd, 15:28), senior Danny Gordon (7th, 15:44), and sophomore Ermin Mujezinovic (11th, 15:50) all qualified individually for the state meet, but the rest of their team could not hold their weight to give the team a state meet berth. Meanwhile, the West Potomac boys only had one individual finish in the top 15 with Nick Jachowski (14th, 15:53), but had much better depth than Herndon to secure fourth place. West Potomac was actually able to put their entire top seven ahead of Herndon\'s fourth man with Frank DeVar (22nd, 16:08), Dan John (26th, 16:21), Drew Macklin (31st, 16:29), Daniel Jachowski (38th, 16:34), Sam Stevens (41st, 16:38), and Tyler Gray (44th, 16:42) finishing ahead of Herndon\'s Matt Giorgis (53rd, 16:51).