Complete results posted for the following invitationals. Cooler temperatures and overcast day led to some great times across the board throughout the state of Virginia. More to come from each meet.
Photo by Tayloe Skelton
Knights Crossing XC Invitational - With top in-state and out-of-state competition coming to Green Hill Park to try to knock them off, the Blacksburg squads rolled with team sweep. Blacksburg boys averaged 16:19 on a fast day for the 5K course in Salem which saw their top three all run under 16 minutes and finishing among the top five, while the Blacksburg girls averaged 19:15 as a squad., Colonial Forge still impressed as runners-up with girls beating past NXN teams Collins Hill (GA) and Hidden Valley, while the boys had four in the top 10 and defeated Morristown-West, the #1 ranked team in Tennesse. Deep Run's Erica Dobbs broke away from large pack found over 2 miles into the race for state's second fastest 5K time at 18:27 as seven others followed her under 19 minutes.
Photo by Genamarie McCant
Monroe Parker Invitational - Sophie Chase of Lake Braddock won big by a 32 second margin and 10 seconds faster than her regional runner-up finish in 2009 with her 17:32 performance at Burke Lake Park (2.98 mile), while the Thomas Jefferson girls made a strong opening statement against Northern Region's best in team victory with five girls in the top 16 and three under 19 minutes. Chantilly sophomore Sean McGorty took it to the top upperclassmen of his region with his 15:19 win, while West Potomac boys got revenge on their loss last week to South Lakes boys while averaging 16:10 as a team and 32 point buffer on the second place squad South Lakes.
Photo by Tim Hagen
Judges Classic - Mattie Webb (18:47 5K) and the Western Albemarle (58 pts) proved themselves as head and shoulders the top runner and team in Region II, while their male counterparts followed suit with a sweep of the team titles as both squads were actually given challenges more from West Virginia squads instead of their regional rivals. Skyline sophomore Thomas Madden threw down a dominant win against a field few expected anyone to win by the 15 second margin which Madden opened in his VA #2 5K time of 15:47 and throw his name in the hat as a Group AA state title contender.
Fork Union Invitational - The Central Region boys put on a time trial with Andrew Catanese of Atlee (14:52) and Silas Frantz (14:53) of Douglas Freeman both pressing each under the course record time. The Trinity boys showed themselves as a legitimate private school ranked #1 team in the state by beating some solid public school squads with their team tally of 63 points and 16:03 team average on the 3 mile course. Cosby's Megan Moye did not need any competition for her to motor to one of the course's fastest all-time with her 17:32 win by over a minute margin. Only four points separated the top three girls teams in invite champions Albemarle (67 pts), Mills Godwin (68 pts), and Cosby (72 pts).
Photo by Ryan Kelly
Newport News Invitational - The William Brown-Jeremy Greenwald battle did not happen because Grassfield chose to race down in smaller school divisions, but Bethel junior Brown had some company in York's Jack Little (15:53) and Kellam's Seam Helmke (15:54) to push him to the state's current fastest 5K time in a 15:43 performance at Newport News Park. Greenwald won the "B" race in 16:08. Maggie Walker boys and girls won the varsity A divisions as predicted with Anna Spiers and Rachel Galton (2nd, 18:40) running swiftly up front in a 1-2 finish as Spiers ran the state's leading time at 18:14.
Pole Green Cross Country Classic - The invitational at Pole Green ended up being more competitive than expected with Mountain View bringing their full squads to face off with host school Lee-Davis' runners, while Lafayette showed itself to be a team not be overlooked in Group AA as they beat both for the boys team title. Cody Snyder pulled away from a pack of Lafayette and Mountain View runners for a 12 second win 16:27, while sophomore Bonny Turnage made it an individual sweep for Lee-Davis breaking 19 minutes on a challenging Pole Green course in 18:58. Mountain View girls won the team title with 46 points.
Eastern Mennonite Invitational - Defending Group A state cross country champion Katlyn Ayers of Strasburg made her season debut as she withstood challenges from the Warren County pair of Kayla Gibbons (2nd, 20:18) and Leanna Eisenman (3rd, 20:30) who lead their school to a team title while Ayers won individually in 20:06. Seumas O'Reilly cruised to a 16:36 win in the boys' race, while Rockbridge boys put four in the top seven to claim the team title.
Photo by Doug Michaels
PTXC 2 - The Osbourn Park girls nearly came away as champions against some of the better teams in Pennsylvania as their team score of 87 points tied them for first but lost on a sixth runner tiebreaker to West Chester Henderson at the PennTrackXC.com Invitational. The returning Northwest Region champions had unexpected front runners in Brandy Wybersky (10th, 19:18) and Kelly Russell (11th, 19:18) finishing in together with teammate Natalie Gelata also placing among the top 15 with a time of 19:29 for 15th.
Red, White & Blue Classic - Riverbend boys also went north to Pennsylvania to compete against top teams from the state as they garnered a respectable fourth place finish at the Red, White & Blue Classic behind one of PA's top teams in North Alleghany. Ryan Kuhns was the top finisher for Riverbend with a time of 16:00 in eighth place and followed in by teammates Shaquon Wilkins (14th, 16:09) and Gabe Fisher (24th, 16:37).
