NEW YORK, NY -- Rainy conditions and stiff competition greeted the Virginia schools that made the hike to the Manhattan College Invitiational held at the historic Van Courtland Park in New York City. The Brentsville and Midlothian girls got a taste of how competitive the Northeast Region is as they competed in the Eastern State division. Both teams failed to finish in the top ten in the team scoring of the race division which included six of the top ten teams ranked in the NTN Northeast Region including US #1 Saratoga Springs of New York.
The Brentsville girls finished with an unofficial team total of 282 points in 11th place, while the Midlothian girls finished well out of the top ten with an unofficial total of 332 points.
The Lady Tigers were led to the line by Becky Stewart, who finished 19th overall in the race with a time of 15:31 on the 2.5 mile course. Freshmen Lauren Bussian was the team\'s second finisher in 47th at 16:03 as she finished ahead of usual top three runners for Brentsville in Julia Mitchell (62nd, 16:28.2) and Alex Kulifay (97th, 17:05.9) who have been slowed by injury. Mitchell and Kulifay ran number four and five for Coach Dulin\'s squad at Manhattan as Bussian and Amelia Emerson (59th, 16:26.8) stepped up with their fellow teammates not at 100 percent. Ranked #2 in the NTN Southeast Region, the Brentsville girls could take a hit from this weekend\'s race. However, if they can get Mitchell and Kulifay healthy and put it together at the state meet, the Lady Tigers could push themselves back into NTN nationals berth contention.
Freshmen Paige Johnston, one of Midlothian\'s top runners who won the \"C\" race at last week\'s William & Mary Invitational, was absent another weekend due to soccer obligations as Coach Morgan\'s Lady Trojans were anything but at full strength at Van Courtland on Saturday. Nonethless, junior M.C. Miller (3rth, 15:52.5) and sophomore Samantha Dow (35th, 15:52.7) paced the team with strong individual runs, but were hurting after that with a 50 second gap until their next finisher in Erin Stehle (77th, 16:42.2). Johnston should have no future soccer conflicts at the distrct, regional, and state meets and there is still the possibility that Jessica Oakley and Christine Sealander will be returning to action from injuries that have sat them out the entire season thus far.
Forest Park senior Stefanie Slekis had the best individual run today among the Virginia girls as she clocked a time of 15:17.3 to finish 13th overall in the Eastern State girls\' race.
The Brentsville boys likewise did not perform up to the expectations they had set for themselves heading into Van Courtland Park, but still finished a respectable second place in the \"F\" race division behind NTN Northeast #4 ranked Warwick Valley (58 pts, 13:23 team average) of New York with 80 points and a team average of 13:33. A surprisingly strong individual run by Adam Henken paced the Brentsville boys with a fifth place finishing time of 13:09.0. Nick Gehlsen, the usual number one runner for Brentsville, finished tenth in 13:25.4, while teammate Henry Melius (13:26.5) was just a tick behind in 11th place. Ray Delgado had one of his best races this season as he ran fourth for the team and finished 19th overall in 13:45.2. Brentsville\'s average time placed them behind eight NTN Northeast top 10 ranked teams.
The Midlothian boys finished fifth in the same race division with 162 points as they once again had a strong front three and so-so four and five man. The Trojans had top 25 finishes from Jonathan Mellis (13th, 13:29.5), Jason Witt (20th, 13:47.4), and Mark Merritt (13:53.8).