NEW YORK, NY -- The Oakton boys, unranked in the Nike Team Nationals Southeast Region and ranked #5 in the state, scored a huge upset in defeating the previously unbeaten and #1 state ranked Thomas Jefferson boys at the Eastern State Championships held at Van Courtland Park in New York City. On the 2.5 mile course, the Oakton boys (106 pts) won the team title by 35 points over the third place Thomas Jefferson boys (131 pts). Lasalle of Pennsylvania (122 pts) took runner-up honors and fellow PA school and #9 NTN Northeast ranked Cardinal O\'Hara finished fourth (166 pts). Meanwhile, the #2 NTN Southeast ranked Oakton girls (82 pts) were defeated in the \"A\" race division by NTN Northeast unranked Pope John of New Jersey (59 pts).
NEW YORK, NY -- The Oakton boys, unranked in the Nike Team Nationals Southeast Region and ranked #5 in the state, scored a huge upset in defeating the previously unbeaten and #1 state ranked Thomas Jefferson boys at the Eastern State Championships held at Van Courtland Park in New York City. On the 2.5 mile course, the Oakton boys (106 pts) won the team title by 35 points over the third place Thomas Jefferson boys (131 pts). Lasalle of Pennsylvania (122 pts) took runner-up honors and fellow PA school and #9 NTN Northeast ranked Cardinal O\'Hara finished fourth (166 pts). Meanwhile, the #2 NTN Southeast ranked Oakton girls (82 pts) were defeated in the \"A\" race division by NTN Northeast unranked Pope John of New Jersey (59 pts).
The top ranked TJ boys were led by sophomore Brian Landry in 12th place at 13:12. Teammate Paul Norland was not too far behind in 17th at 13:17.9. Teammates Richard Prevost (29th, 13:32.5), Kyle Grimsley (36th, 13:43.5), and Hersh Singh (47th, 13:51) kept the top five pack tight with a 39 second spread, but it was not enough to keep up with Oakton.
While finishing by a decent margin behind an unranked NTN team from another region might hurt the #2 SE ranked Oakton girls chances, they at least finished well ahead of regional and state rivals Lake Braddock (4th, 138 pts), Thomas Jefferson (5th, 159 pts) and Westfield *7th, 179 pts) with their second place performance in the \"A\" girls\' race. The Oakton girls ran without usual top five runner Carly Hudson once again. The team still ran solid with Kayley Byrne (15:36) leading the way in fourth place while Meredith Tighe (14th, 16:06), Rebekah Berlin (15th, 16:10), Nora Meehan (18th, 16:17), and Sara Hiller (31st, 16:42.7) comprised a solid four under 17 minutes.