LEESBURG, VA -- The first annual Oatlands Invitational saw a large assembly of teams at the
Oatlands Plantation in Leesburg. With over 40 teams in attendance, the meet was bound to be a
success with many great teams and individuals battling it out. Group A defending champs Clarke
County had a dominating team performance to win the boys\' team title over a Group AAA and AA heavy
meet with #6 state ranked Herndon and #6 Group AAA ranked North Stafford with a 37 second spread
between their top five.
Coach Sweeney\'s Clarke County boys showed that no one can sleep on this small Single A school as
they compiled a team score of 91 points to take first place honors. Junior Simon Biddle-Snead led
the way for the Eagles in 11th place with a time of 16:42.77. Biddle-Snead, the defending Group A
state champion, was closely followed to the line by fellow teammate in freshmen Ben Vellieux as
the star freshmen finished 12th in a time of 16:43.46. Biddle-Snead\'s greatest challenge to
defending his state title may come from the younger teammate in Vellieux. Senior Mike Leonard
(16th, 16:53.93) also dipped under 17 minutes on the Oatlands Plantation 5K course for Clarke
County, while junior teammates Bryan Broy (27th, 17:11.03) and Daniel Callan (32nd, 17:20.48)
finished not too far behind to round out the team\'s scoring.
Finishing 18 points behind the defending Group A state team champions were the North Stafford
boys, who compiled 109 points for team runner-up honors. The Wolverines were once again led by the
senior duo of Alec Meyer (6th, 16:31.31) and Patrick Quinn (8th, 16:38.16) as the two team leaders
garnered top ten finishes. North Stafford junior Lucas Hatcher finished within the top 15 with a
16:50.98 clocking for 14th place as the Wolverines actually were stronger through three against
Clarke County, but lost ground on the fourth and fifth men with still solid runs from freshmen
Kyle Garcia (43rd, 17:32.16) and junior Steven Hogdall (45th, 17:33.27).
The Herndon boys finished a lot further back than expected with 132 points in third place. Their
front two was nearly as solid as can be with a 1-3 finish from sophomore Abreham Daganchew and
sophomore Ermin Mujezinovic. Daganchew (15:45.96) won an exciting duel over #4 state ranked Brad
Siragusa (15:47.1), a senior at Chantilly High School. Daganchew was ranked #6 in the state in the
most recent rankings. Mujezinovic had a solid run to take third place honors behind two of
Northern Region\'s best in Daganchew and Siragusa with a 16:15.87 clocking.
Northwest High School from Maryland ran away with the girls\' team honors as they compiled for a
team score of 104 points as they distanced themselves well ahead of second place Westfield with
174 points. The Westfield girls, ranked #3 in the state, did not run anywhere close to full
strength as they only ran with one runner from their top five in sophomore Tasia Potosinksi with a
20:02.64 clocking for 13th place honors. Alexis Deegan, Brittany Sevachko, Laura Pramstallar, and
Carly Stephens were all missing in action for the Lady Bulldogs.
Taking third place honors were the Clarke County ladies with 197 points as they were led by
defending Group A state champion Danielle Moyer as the sophomore finished third overall in a time
of 19:33.19. Like the Clarke County boys, their female counterparts should be solidly included in
next week\'s state rankings after being unranked going into this weekend as they beat Brooke Point,
a Group AAA school ranked #7 in the state currently. A group of freshmen made up the core of the
Lady Eagles\' top five with a trio in Sophia Holmes (20th, 20:24.84), Erin Broy (22nd, 20:28.93),
and Tori Neuber (68th, 21:32.57) as senior Jennifer Griffith (99th, 22:06.93) rounded out the team
scoring.
The #7 ranked Brooke Point girls finished with a team score of 234 points as they were led by race
winner Brittany Copeland (19:04.94) as the junior was able to outduel Broad Run\'s Stephanie Garcia
(19:11.75) for the victory.