Foot Locker South Preview (VA)

 

Virginia will have two returning Foot Locker finalists from 2010 competing at tomorrow's Foot Locker South Regional in Ahmed Bile of Annandale and Sophie Chase of Lake Braddock. Both runners are certainly capable of winning the seeded race tomorrow, but may or may not run simply hard enough to punch their ticket to San Diego via a top 10 finish. Between the two Northern Region stars, Chase is the more likely to go for the win as she is known for setting a hot pace early on in most of her races this fall, while Bile is often comfortable with holding back and making a move late.

 

A win on Saturday for the two-time Virginia 3A state cross country champion Bile would snap a current 10 year drought since the last Virginian to take first in seeded boys' race at Foot Locker South when John Handley's Bobby Lockhart won his second straight Foot Locker regional title in 2001. One pressure is now off of Bile with his college decision being made this past week as the son of the 1987 World champion at 1500 meters, decided that he will become a Hoya at Georgetown University. Bile has yet to run a swift 5K time this fall compared to the other top seeded runners in the field, but he is the top returnee from last year's regional race when he clocked his 15:02 personal best.

 

It has only been five years since the last Virginian girl to win when the homeschooled Aurora Scott set the current course record at McAlpine Greenway Park in 16:26, but Chase could add to the rich history of the Lake Braddock program and become the third Lady Bruin to become a Foot Locker South Regional champion. Chase would be following in the footsteps of 1999 champion Erin Swain and 1981/1982 champion Andrea Volpe. Chase broke the state meet course record at Great Meadow two weeks ago with her 17:33 victory in the AAA race. Chase finished 8th in last year's regional race and is hoping a higher finish in this year's race will be a springboard for an All-American run at Foot Locker Nationals.

 

Two familiar rivals for both Bile and Chase might be the next best individuals from Virginia with strong chances of qualifying for the national race in Chantilly junior Sean McGorty and Cosby senior Megan Moye.

 

McGorty gave Bile his only loss of the season in mid-September at the Oatlands Invitational and pressed him to wins at the regional and state championships. McGorty is looking to become the second Foot Locker Nationals qualifier by Coach Matt Gilchrist at Chantilly, who guided Brad Siragusa to a nationals berth in 2005. In last year's regional race as a sophomore, McGorty finished 35th with a personal best time of 15:31 as the performance ranks him as the 10th fastest returnee from 2010. A state runner-up to Bile with a personal best 5K time of 15:21, McGorty's runner-up regional race to Bile had historical significance as his time of 14:42 at Burke Lake Park's 2.98 mile course ranks him ahead of quite a few past Foot Locker National qualifiers on the course's all-time list.

 

Moye and Chase were arguably the best two runners returning in Virginia coming into this season. While Chase has established herself in races up until this point as the top runner in the state, Moye has run pretty well to arguably be considered as the second best performer this fall. Despite faltering in her finish at the state meet after challenging Chase for much of the race, Moye has several sub 18 minute 5K and course record performances to her credentials from this season. While Chase has the second fastest season best 5K time among all entrants in the region with her 17:22 victory at the MileStat.com Invitational, Moye is right there among the best in the Southeast as her 17:34 district meet performance at Pocahontas State Park ranks 8th fastest among all entrants.

 

Other top contenders from Virginia who definitely can earn All-South honors with top 30 finishes and potentially surprise to grab one of the final top 10 national spots are some of Group AA's best in boys' champion Thomas Madden of Skyline, girls' runner-up Crystal Nelson of Millbrook, and Katie Fortner of Cave Spring. Madden ran really well at the 2010 Foot Locker South Regional as only a sophomore when he placed 30th with a time of 15:27. Madden struggled in the early parts of the season and through the regional meet due to a summer injury setback, but proved his clutch gene in championship season to win the AA state title decisively with the third fastest time of the meet in 15:33.

 

Earlier in the season, Nelson and Fortner looked like the two top favorites to win the Group AA girls' title, but Hidden Valley junior Carolyn Bethel stormed through the championship season to claim the individual crown over the two runners. Bethel will be at NXN Southeast with her Hidden Valley team, so that leaves Nelson and Fortner the opportunity to finish the season strong in Charlotte with fast times and high finishes.Only a sophomore, Cave Spring's Fortner has the Southeast Region's 10th fastest time among all entrants with her 17:35 performance at Great American. Nelson has dipped just under 18 minutes this season, but is certainly capable of dropping further down in the 17s and more importantly racing among the top 20 runners in the race at McAlpine.

 

More Virginia boys expected to make a splash in the top 30 individually are Colonial Forge senior Brian O'Loughlin, Lake Braddock junior Nick Tuck, Loudoun County junior Patrick Joseph, Cave Spring senior Cody Seymour, Chantilly junior Logan Miller, Landstown senior Brent Coulter, and Warren County senior Seumas O'Reilly in the boys' race.  Potential All-South girls' finishers from Virginia include Ocean Lakes sophomore Nikki Park, Maggie Walker junior Rachel Galton, Oakton freshmen Allie Klimkiewicz, Ocean Lakes senior Audrey Batzel, West Springfield sophomore Caroline Alcorta, Monacan senior Kaila Blackburn, and Lake Braddock sophomore Hannah Christen.

 

The class races for the freshmen, sophomore, junior, and seniors annually produce winners and fast times from Virginia.

 

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