Welcome, everyone, to the inaugural edition of the Jois Report, the world\'s first attempt at regular, exclusive, and in-depth coverage of Virginia Independent Schools cross country and track. We will be kicking off with a recap of the 2005 cross country season for private schoolers. In the future, you can expect much more frequent, possibly weekly, coverage.
TEAMS
Fork Union Military Academy, led by Axel Mostrag, pulled off their first state meet victory since 1991 this year. The Blue Devils were extremely strong up front all season with Mostrag, transfers Szymon Rola and Jonathan Buckland forming a stellar top 3 and the top returner from last year\'s team, David Johnson, running strong at #4. For much of the season, they suffered from issues concerning the ever-important Pineapple Lifesaver (5th man) to the extent that even with by far the best top 4 in the state, they were still susceptible to
defeat. Donte Brown came through in the clutch in the last 3 weeks of the season to finish high enough in both the Prep League and State meets to help his team bring home the title.
Also worth mentioning in the team race are the performances of Woodberry Forest and Collegiate. These teams have knowledgable coaches and are always extremely deep and never too far from the top. Woodberry Forest had no star front runner, but had a good enough pack to beat every team but Fork Union. Collegiate\'s 2-5 pack, behind their stud Matthew Richardson, though fairly inconsistent over the course of the season, was not too far behind Woodberry\'s.
On another day, it would not be difficult to imagine them finishing in the top 3. It should be noted that Woodberry and Collegiate were the only teams in the D1 race with 7 runners in the top 50.
Led by Steven Voltz, Peninsula Catholic took home the D2 title in a performance worth a top 5 finish in the overall team standings, with a Roanoke Catholic team led by D2 runner-up Andrew Nordhaus not far behind. Sophomore Austin Ellis defended his D2 title while posting the 2nd fastest time of the day, followed by Nordhaus of RC and Johns Ross of the Potomac School.
INDIVIDUALS
Ladies and gentlemen, I hereby present to you the first ever All-Jois cross country team:
FIRST TEAM
Jonathan Buckland (Fork Union) - I would like to point out that when I met Buckland this summer at Fork Union Running Camp and learned he was transferring from Westfield to FUMA, I immediately predicted that no non-FUMA runners would finish in front of him at states. After seeing him lead the Blue Devils at their home invitational, I also predicted that he would not be their top runner by the end of the season. I win. Anyway, this guy had a great season, finishing 3rd in the Prep League and 2nd in D1 (though he ran a slower time than Ellis in D2) at states.
Stephen Chester (St. Anne\'s Belfield) - One of the stories of the year, in my opinion. The circumstances by which he came to join us in the VIS circuit may have been less than fortunate, but Chester burst onto the scene with a big win at the Ragged Mountain Cup, finished first among private school runners at both the Fork Union and Woodberry Forest invitationals, and capped off his season finishing 4th in both the Prep League and the D1 race at the state meet. Chester also ran a solid 10:19 at the Kelly Watt Memorial Race and was also the top VIS finisher at Foot Locker South.
Austin Ellis (Covenant) - Ellis has been turning heads on the VIS scene since his first race at Ragged Mountain last year. He has continued to put up strong performances this season, including a 3rd place finish at the Albemarle Invitational behind 2 of the best runners in the VHSL and in front of Mostrag, a dominant victory at the VIC meet, and a reaffirmation of the fact that in its 2 years of existence, Austin Ellis is the only high school boy EVER to win the D2 race at the state meet. He still has 2 more years of high school, too.
Axel Mostrag (Fork Union) - This one\'s obvious. Axel\'s early season performances, compared to his performances from last year, led us to believe he was strictly a mid-distance track runner. However, it didn\'t take him too long to round into form to win both the Prep League and D1 State titles. I don\'t think I need to say anything else.
Matthew Richardson (Collegiate) - I never had much respect for this guy after his lack of any athletic prowess cost my brother (Henry Winslow) a doubles victory in the Collegiate School 7th grade Gym Class Badminton Tournament, but he has redeemed himself. Richardson started making a name for himself last year in track season by consistently beating his older brother, Taylor, a former sub-10 3200 runner. This season, he turned in several outstanding performances, including 10th place at the Fork Union Invitational, 6th place at the Woodberry Forest Invitational, 2nd in the Prep League, and 3rd in D1 at states. This guy deserves some respect for his races at those last two meets. He was by no means considered a favorite to win either event, and he really went for it anyway. Look for some great matchups between him and Mostrag next year.
Szymon Rola (Fork Union) - Like Stephen Chester, Szymon Rola had no pre-season billing, since we didn\'t know he was coming to the states until he hopped off a plane at Dulles with his buddy Axel. He finished 8th at the Albemarle Invitational and 3rd in the small schools race at Great American and finished up his season with a 5th place showing at the Prep League and battled an illness during the state meet to hang on to a 10th place finish.
Rob Sagar (Bishop Ireton) - This guy came off of a strong junior campaign and has been running consistently at the front of the pack all season. He claimed several big wins this season, including the WCAC and State Catholic meets, along with a solid 3rd place finish at the Alexandria City Championships. Sagar posted an outstanding 9:44.22 at the VMI Elite 3200m Time Trial, which bodes extremely well for the level of competition we can expect to see in track. He was also one of a precious few VIS runners to make the trip down to Charlotte this year.
SECOND TEAM
Hunter Barnhardt (Woodberry) - 8th at Prep League, 11th at VIS D1
Peter Dunbar (Episcopal) - 8th at IAC, 12th at VIS D1
Robbie Lockhart (St. Christopher\'s) - 7th at Prep League, 8th at VIS D1
Andrew Nordhaus (Roanoke Catholic) - 3rd at VIC, 2nd at VIS D2
Mark Petroski (Bishop O\'Connell) - 5th at WCAC, 7th at VIS D1
Kevin Phillips (Woodberry) - 6th at Prep League, 9th at VIS D1
Johns Ross (Potomac) - 3rd at MAC, 3rd at VIS D2
Mark Tynan (Bishop O\'Connell) - 4th at WCAC, 6th at VIS D1
HONORABLE MENTION
Matt Abatecola (Virginia Episcopal); Mac Amos (Episcopal); David Johnson (Fork Union); Thomas McConnell (Roanoke Catholic); JP Monaghan (Benedictine); Bo Peaseley (St. Christopher\'s); Geoffrey Ross (Seton); James Smyth (St. Christopher\'s); Chris Sullivan (Liberty Christian); Stephen Voltz (Peninsula Catholic).
Bo Peaseley (St. Christopher\'s) - To the uneducated observer, Bo Peaseley\'s placement begs the question, \"What is this guy doing on a prestigious list like the All-Jois team? The guy finished 79th at the state meet.\" Well, for those of you who don\'t know, Bo Peaseley placed 9th in the Championship division at the state meet in 2003 as a sophomore and was the #2 returner from the state meet going into his junior year. The summer before the 2004 season, he came down with a strange illness that forced him into intensive care. For a while, the issue at hand was not whether Bo would return to contend for a state title, but whether he would survive. Needless to say, he was unable to participate in the 2004 cross country season, and he did not come into the 2005 season billed as a favorite to win any races. However, not only did he return to competition in 2005, he ran #8 for his team and finished in the top half of the combined field of the two boys\' races. Not to diminish anyone else\'s accomplishments, but I consider that to be the greatest victory achieved by any runner in this VIS this year.
Well, there it is, the first installment of the Jois Report. The girls\' side will be covered by Matthew Downs whenever he gets around to it. Congratulations to everyone who competed this season, and good luck in indoor track.