Joseph Lorusso

Here are the all-time rankings on the boys side for 5K

Here are the top 1,000 times from Great Meadow's non-state course.

List of Virginians competing at the USA Cross Country Championships on Saturday, February 7th at the Agricultural Historical Farm Park in Derwood, Maryland. A total of three Foot Locker finalists from Virginia are competing in the race with current high school seniors Thomas Porter of Mountain View and Kyle Satterwhite of Western Albemarle as well as current college freshmen at Syracuse, Griff Graves (formerly of Abingdon High School). Also in the race are two AAA state indoor champions from last year in Atlee senior Ben Dejarnette and Villanova freshmen Joe Lorusso (formerly of Oakton High School). Graves ran well in last year's junior men 8K race with a top 10 finish, while Porter (pictured right by Margot Kelly) put himself on the national map with his third place finish at the Foot Locker Nationals in December. Race favorites include high school national record holder German Fernandez (now at Oklahoma State), who recently ran a 3:56 mile indoors and Chris Derrick (now at Stanford), who ran one of the fastest prep 5K times ever last spring at Arcadia, but Virginia could potentially have its first qualifier in years for the World Cross Country Championships with Porter leading the way. A much smaller representation from the Virginia girls in comparison for the junior women's 6K race with only Trinity's Barbara Strehler, Thomas Jefferson's Sarah Stites and Brentsville's Allison Bartels. The race will have plenty of national stars including two of the best from this fall's Foot Locker finals in Ashley Brasovan of Florida and Allie McLaughlin of Colorado as well as many of the top college freshmen across the country. Strehler (pictured left by John Herzog) is coming off an outstanding distance double last weekend at the St. Christopher's Invite in which she broke 11 minutes for the first time for 3200 meters at 10:58 and came back to win the 1600 in the  next day in a time of 5:06. Strehler was only a few places away from a Foot Locker Nationals berth in the fall with a 14th place finish in the seeded race at Foot Locker South. A big step up for Stites as only a high school freshmen to run with the older girls though she was one of the state's best young stars in cross country capped off with an All-American finish at the USATF National Junior Olympics held at Pole Green Park.   USA XC Championships - Junior Division Entry List  

The 114th Annual Penn Relays this past weekend was a site to behold. With numerous meet records broken, the second largest attendance ever and near perfect weather, every event seemed to produce a few moments perfect for a 2008 track and field highlight reel. As the chaos of this weekend winds down and the preparation for the coming weekend starts to rev up, we take a look back at the best of the best from this year's Penn Relays (Pictured left: Eleanor Roosvelt (MD) hoisting 4x4 title, photo by Tim Fulton).   Don Rich Photos: Thursday / Friday / Saturday More Photos: NY Gallery / NJ Photos Christopher Hunt Articles (Armory Track): Corning's Johnson Leaps to Victory, Germantown Friends Wins DMR, Roosevelt Dominates at Penn, Roxbury Wins DMR at Penn More Penn: Video Interviews / Results

Race video of the boys 3200 meter run at the 2008 Gus Lacy Track Classic. Despite the windy conditions which may have slow down the runners, the race was still thrilling due to the great field assembled. There were several lead changes, but Thomas Porter was the final leader as a 9:18.33 winner over Ben Dejarnette in second place at 9:19.50.  

Tynita Butts continues to fly high this spring after a breakthrough indoor season, which included a state indoor record leap of 20 feet in the long jump and national title in the high jump. The T.C. Williams junior did it again with another amazing performance at Southern Maryland Track Classic joining an elite few of past Virginians to go over 20 feet outdoors in the event with a mark of 20'4.50". Butts also ran a state leading time in the 100 meter dash at 12.00. (Photo by Ted Plunkett) It is time to get serious this weekend in Virginia as a full slate of meets will be going off throughout the state. Also teams are traveling great distance out of state for competition including the Westfield girls making their way all the way to California for the loaded Arcadia Invite and others going south to Taco Bell in South Carolina. Peninsula Relays will be where the speed is at this weekend and Gus Lacy appears to have the strongest assembly of distance talent this weekend with such big names as Collins, Dejarnette, Lorusso, Peavey, Porter, Satterwhite, and Stutzman. MORE 4/12 WEEKEND COVERAGE 4/12 Weekend Invite Meet Pages: Arcadia Invitational (Arcadia HS - Arcadia, CA) - Results Posted & Performances Entered - Westfield VA #1 9:21.86 G-4x800, Tasia Potasinski (Westfield) VA #1 5:07.80 G-Mile, Brittay Sevachko (Westfield) 2:18.92 G-800, Eman Bani (Westfield) 2:18.94 G-800 Augusta Invitational (Wilson Memorial HS - Augusta, VA) C2 Invitational (Episcopal HS - Alexandria, VA) - Results Posted - Andrew Shiels (Episcopal) 150-7 B-Discus, Allante Keels (Episcopal) 1:58.94 B-800, Johns Ross (The Potomac School) 8:44.64 B-3K, Anneka Wilson (The Potomac School) 10:41.94 G-3K, Coles Lawton (Episcopal) 5:06.34 G-1500 Deep Run Invitational (Deep Run HS - Glen Allen, VA) - Results Posted & Performances Entered - Michael Quash (Douglas Freeman) VA #1 14.36 B-110H & 39.82 B-300H, Ulrick Smith (Douglas Freeman) 49.28 B-400, Matthew Armentrout (Deep Run) 15'6" B-PV, Adam Taylor (Lee-Davis) 158'4" B-Discus, Jasmine Craighead (Goochland) 5'6" G-HJ, Elaine Derricott (Henrico) 17'8" G-LJ & 36'6" G-TJ, Mitchell Shifflett (Cosby) 11.04 B-100 & 22.57 B-200, Team Champions: Deep Run Boys-66 pts & Maggie Walker Girls-101 pts Gus Lacy Track Classic (Fork Union Military Academy - Fork Union, VA)- Results Posted & Performances Entered - Thomas Porter (Mountain View) 9:18.33 B-3200, Ben Dejarnette (Atlee) 9:19.50 B-3200, Joe Lorusso (Oakton) 9:22.92 B-3200, Logan Collins (Orange County) VA #1 1:54.61 B-800, Manchester VA #1 49.23 G-4x400, Tyler Stutzman (Western Albemarle) 4:18.93 B-1600, Olu Olamigoke (Mountain View) 23'0.50" B-LJ & 46'2" B-TJ, Daniel Inge (E.C. Glass) 15'6" B-PV, Jayna McGehee (Great Bridge) 2:19.43 G-800, Team Champions: Fork Union Boys-65 pts & Manchester Girls-130 pts Judy Thomas Invitational (Patrick Henry HS - Glade Spring, VA) - Results Posted & Performances Entered Knights Classic (Roanoke College - Salem, VA) - Results Posted & Performances Entered - Peter Dorrell (Blacksburg) 4:19.04 B-1600 & 1:56.65 B-800, Russel Sawyer (James River) 159'9" B-Discus, Aimee Veatch (Cave Spring) 128'8", Megan Marsico (Glenvar) 5:10.52 G-1600 & 11:32.50 G-3200, Avery Mattingly (Blacksburg) VA #1 2:18.08 G-800, Jasmine Hairston (Franklin County) 17'5.75" G-LJ & 36'3.50" G-TJ, Team Champions: Blacksburg Boys-85 pts & Blacksburg Girls-80 pts LoudounPrepSports.com Invitational (Heritage HS - Leesburg, VA) - Results Posted & Performances Entered - Sam Saidi (Broad Run) 6'8" B-HJ, Schavan Hinds (Millbrook) 15.34 G-100H/48.01 G-300H/5'1" GHJ, Jazlynn Finney (Heritage-Leesburg) 17'0 G-LJ/12.60 G-100/26.47 G-200, Curtis Rustlin (Heritage-Leesburg) 46'2.50" B-TJ, Margaret Leonard (Loudoun Valley) 38'2.50" G-Shot, Stephen Lassiter (Millbrook) 9:42.82 B-3200, Potomac Falls 8:17.80 B-4x800, Team Champions: Stone Bridge Girls-86 pts & Jefferson (WV) Boys-81 pts Metro Run & Walk Northern Virginia Invitational (Thomas Edison HS - Alexandria, VA) - Results Posted & Performances Entered - Melanie Akwule (Lake Braddock) VA #1 14.59 G-100H/VA #1 37'9" G-TJ/17'1.75" G-LJ, Annandale 8:08.51 B-4x800, Liana Epstein (Lake Braddock) 5:10.66 G-1600, Elizabeth Heath (West Potomac) 11:17.64 G-3200 Norview Invitational (Norview HS - Norfolk, VA) - Results Posted & Performances Entered - Phoebus 48.87 -G4x100, Niamani Aduma (Phoebus) 46.17 G-300H/17'7.50 G-LJ/37'5" G-TJ, Chaneka Perry (Denbigh) 37'7.50" G-TJ/15.27 G-100H/46.70 G-300H, Rasul Crenshaw (Booker T. Washington) 10.89 B-100/50.48 B-400, Mike Jackson (Lake Taylor) 14.53 B-110H/38.45 B-300H, Cordaral Madison (Booker T. Washington) 38.45 B-300H/15.25 B-110H, Frede Spellman (Oscar Smith) 53'4" B-Shot/149'9" B-Discus, Team Champions: Booker T. Washington Boys-83.50 pts & Denbigh Girls-118 pts Peninsula Relays (Darling Stadium - Hampton, VA) - Results Posted & Performances Entered - Dejor Simmons (Green Run) 10.62 B-100 & VA #1 21-61 B-200, Green Run VA #1 41.95 B-4x100, Lavell Handy (Hampton) VA #1 23'5" B-LJ/46'7" B-TJ/14.49 B110H/39.40 B300H, Tiffany Harris (Churchland) VA #1 18'7" G-LJ, Ruth Hunt (Heritage) VA #1 12.14 G-100 & 24.92 G-200, Raven Wilson (Booker T. Washington) VA #1 24.86 G-200, Maia Wise (Menchville) 45.27 G-300H, Tylesia Miles (Booker T. Washington) 45.76 G-300H, Sherrard Marrow (Bethel) 38.86 B-300H, Ja-Vell Bullard (Bethel) 21.96 B-200 Running Store City-County Championships (Freedom HS - Woodbridge, VA) - Results Posted & Performances Entered - Battlefield 8:07.14 B-4x800, Wesley Jones (Potomac Senior) 49.25 B-400, Rex Parker (Battlefield) 22'6" B-LJ & 46'5.50" G-TJ, Maggie Gentry (Brentsville) 11:19.12 G-3200, Kim Blaylock (Battlefield) 12.68 G-100 & 25.90 G-200, Yvonne Amegashie (Potomac Senior) 12.79 G-100 & 25.40 G-200, Gar-Field 4:01.00 G-4x400 & 9:40.34 G-4x800, Andre Wanzer (Brentsville) 11.24 B-100/22.47 B-200/50.38 B-400, Paul DeVito (Osbourn Park) 14.76 B-110H, Potomac Senior 42.69 -B4x100 Southern Maryland Track Classic (North Point HS - Waldorft, MD) - Results Posted & Performances Entered - TYNITA BUTTS (T.C. Williams) 20'4.50" GLJ!/VA #1 12.00 G-100/5'6" G-HJ, Katherine Lee (West Potomac) 18'2 G-LJ, West Potomac 3:24.52 B-4x400, Langley 9:53.11 G-4x800, Erika Weidman (T.C. Williams) 2:20.66 G-800, Team Champions: La Plata (MD) Boys-63 pts & Langley Girls-58pts Taco Bell Classic (Spring Valley HS - Columbia, SC) - Results Posted & Performances Entered - Emma Dejarnette (Atlee) VA #1 12'6", Curtis Campbell (Grassfield) 49.09 B-400 & 21.97 B-200, Myesha Barr (Grassfield) 58.00 G-400 & 25.22p G-200, Allen Kelly (King's Fork) 15'0", Keith Ricks (King's Fork) 21.75p B-200 & 49.88 400, Andrew Hall (William Byrd) 1:58.98 B-800, Janel Reeves (Brookville) 5:15.63 G-Mile, Alisha Royal (William Byrd) 2:20.13 G-800 - Watch Video of Dejarnette clearing 12'6"! Turner Ashby Invitational (Turner Ashby HS - Bridgewater, VA) - Results Posted & Performances Entered - Natalie Baird (Park View-Sterling) US #2 & VA #1 158'4" G-Discus & 42'7.75" G-Shot, Katie Cummings (Fort Defiance) 43'3" G-Shot, Jasmine Burrill (Skyline) 17'11" G-LJ, Reuben Shanks (Warren County) 152'0" B-Discus, Brianna Mitchell (Spotswood) 13.04 G-100 & 26.64 G-200, Brett Olinger (Broadway) 15.54 B-110H & 40.72 B-300H, Melvin Carter (Charlottesville) 51'7.75" B-Shot, Team Champions: Turner Ashby Boys-109 pts & Spotswood Girls-78 pts Wolverine Invitational (North Stafford HS - Stafford, VA) - Results Posted & Performances Entered - Reynaldo Radlin (North Stafford) 14.69 B-110H & VA #1 38.15 B-300H, Jasmine Jones (Hayfield) 14.78 G-100H/45.19 G300H/25.51 G-200, Bilnita Armstead (James Monroe) 18'0.50" G-LJ, Jazmine Gordon (Riverbend) 12.51 G-100 & 25.55 G-200, Kellie Hall (Brooke Point) 2:20.30 G-800, James Monroe 8:13.64 B4x400, Team Champions: McLean Boys-84.50 pts & James Monroe Girls-97.50 pts   Photo Galleries: Deep Run Invitational by John Herzog (Purchase Photos HERE) Gus Lacy Track Classic Photo Gallery by David Fleenor LoudounPrepSports.com Invitational by Robert Lee Metro Run & Walk Northern VA Invitational by Ted Plunkett Metro Run & Walk Northern VA Invitational by Dani Villiva Norfolk Academy Meet (4/11) by Andy Paisley Turner Ashby Invitational by Tom Hoerner   Upload your videos from 4/12 meets HERE

Thomas Porter and racing well early in the season are two things that usually do not go together as the Mountain View junior has taken the approach in past seasons of taking his lumps early with slower times and losses only to come on very strong at season's end, but he looked fitter than ever last weekend at the VA Runner Invite when he had a huge negative split in his 9:33 3200 win with a 4:33 last mile. On the following day, he split a 4:15 on his 1600 meter leg of the DMR, which would be an 8 second improvement from his open 1600 best. Porter will be one of the favorites in this weekend's loaded boys 3200 meter race at the Gus Lacy Track Classic. When asked how good will this weekend's boys 3200 meter race will be, Winston Brown, Fork Union coach and meet director for this Saturday's Gus Lacy Track Classic, said "Put it this way. If you don't break 9:30, you ain't getting a medal." And top six medal at Gus Lacy, so if six are going under 9:30 in 3200 meter run this weekend then it is a no-brainer what will be the featured event at not only Gus Lacy, but of any of the meets being contested this weekend. Check out the performance list and you will find that Coach Brown was not over exaggerating the quality of the field which will toe the line in the eight-lap event. More...

Photo by John Herzog Quite a field has been assembled for the junior 1000 meter races this weekend at the New York Armory in the New Balance Collegiate Games. Held right in the middle of a great college meet, some of the top middle distance high school runners in the nation currently are featured in the two races with the junior girls being contested at 8:25 PM on Friday night and junior boys going off at 1:39 PM on Saturday. It also speaks highly of the talent pool in Virginia with a total of six entrants among the 17 total who were invited to compete in the elite caliber race are from our state. Girls Race (2): Paige Johnston (Midlothian, Jr) - Defending AAA 1000 state champion, VA #9 all-time, 2:55.05 PR Jayna McGehee (Great Bridge, Sr) - US #6 and current VA state leader, 2:56.91 PR Boys Race (4): Logan Collins (Orange County, Sr) - Defending AA 1000 state champion, US #3, 2:30.59 PR Leoule Degfae (Thomas Edison, Jr) - US #4, 2:31.19 PR Joe Lorusso (Oakton, Sr) - US #8, 2:32.67 PR Tihut Degfae (Thomas Edison, Jr) - 2:34.66 PR

Westfield leads the team scoring for both boys and girls after the completion of day one events at the Concorde District Indoor Championships. Events will resume at the Prince George County's Sports & Learning Center in seven days on February 7th. The loaded race of the evening was found in the girls 1600 meter run as it took a 5:15 effort to get out of the district with a top six finish, while there was a three-way battle for first with Westfield's Kerry Hartman (pictured left by John Herzog), Chantilly's Lia DiValentin, and Herndon's Hiruni Wijayaratne all being timed at 5:06 with Hartman as the district champion. It was a nice bounce back race for Hartman, who had an unfortunate fall in the invitational mile at Virginia Tech this past week to knock her out of the race. Wijayaratne also helped the Herndon girls to a 9:40.70 win in the 4x800 meter relay, while Oakton finished in a state meet qualifying time of 9:43.47. The Oakton boys should give 4x800 state leaders Thomas Edison a challenge at the Northern Region Meet as they won easily at the district meet with a time of 8:14.01. Oakton anchor Joe Lorusso also led a top 3 sweep by Oakton in the 1600 meter run with teammates Brian Hendricks (2nd, 4:33.52) and Scott Maxfield (3rd, 4:33.86) finishing right behind district champ Lorusso at 4:31.90. Westfield boys received big points out of the throws with seniors Branden Holmberg (49'0.50") and Ty Ruhland (48'5") as the top two finishers in the boys' shot put. The Westfield girls sit in good position for a district team title as the Lady Bulldogs already have a lead without  even having to run two of the state's better middle distance runners in Tasia Potasinski and Brittay Sevachko yet, while possessing the fastest three qualifiers for the 55 meter hurdles finals led by Haley Boone at 9.01. In the pole vault, the Sun brothers of Chantilly brought home a district champion in Wesley Sun at a 12'6" clearance and district runner-up in Curtis Sun at 11'6". Concorde District Meet - Day 1 Results

Photo by John Herzog The invite mile race at Saturday's Montgomery Invitational in Landover, Maryland is not an automatic qualifier for the Millrose Games high school mile. But when a total of six sub 4:20 milers get together, the winning performance is bound to have at least one runner Madison Square Garden-bound.  Peter Dorrell leads a solid group of Virginians in the 15 person field as two-time state champion at 1600 meters with a 4:15 best against a talented contigent of runners from outside of Virginia.  

Photo by Ted Plunkett At the beginning of the season, things were not looking good for the Jefferson boys cross country team. Star senior Brian Landry missed the entire month of August with a knee injury and coach Matt Ryan didn't sense the right team chemistry. “It was not realistic to sit there and say, 'We're going to try and win the state meet,'” Ryan said of his team's start to the season. “Get to the state meet and do your best, but to win would've been kind of a stretch.” Two months later, with a healthy Landry leading the way, the Colonials captured their second Virginia AAA state championship in four years, finishing 10 points ahead of second-place Midlothian.Read full story... 

Photo by Ted Plunkett Oakton's Joe LoRusso finished the 2.98-mile course at Burke Lake Park in a blazing 15 minutes, 24 seconds to win the Concorde District title on Oct. 25. In that race, LoRusso battled rain, wind and the lack of any non-Oakton competition. But, on Thursday afternoon for the Northern Region cross country title, LoRusso's surroundings couldn't have been any different; however, the result was still quite the same. LoRusso finished the course in 15:10, two seconds better than Jefferson's Brian Landry (15:12) and eight seconds better than T.C. Williams' Brad Kenimer (15:18). According to LoRusso, Thursday's conditions were ideal. Read full story...

Oakton senior Joe LoRusso (pictured right by John Herzog) admitted to having doubts about his race strategy almost as soon as the gun went off Saturday at the McDonald's Cross-Country Festival at Maymont Park in Richmond. Before he could find his pace, a blur of bodies was already streaking past him. Did he start too slowly? After all, the meet is one of the most prestigious on the East Coast, with a fast field. Perhaps the pace was too quick for him? Two-thirds of the way through the race, LoRusso started to catch his second wind -- as well as the runners who had blown by him. A patient LoRusso picked them off one by one on his way to finishing in the top 15 and running a career-best time on the five-kilometer course. Read full story...   

 MileSplit US national editor Scott Bush thinks very highly of Virginia's best cross country runners and rightfully so with two Foot Locker finalists returning in Griff Graves and Thomas Porter, a Nike Indoor Nationals 5K champion in Jason Witt, and a Group AA outdoor state triple champion in Peter Dorrell as all four were ranked by Bush in his pre-season Foot Locker Power Rankings in the South region. Virginia has twice as many runners ranked in the top ten than the next best states in North Carolina and Texas, who both have two individuals ranked among the first ten. In 2006, Virginia had three qualifiers for Foot Locker Nationals, which was the most for the state since 2001. The last time Virginia had more than three qualifiers was in 1995 when only eight made out of Charlotte onto nationals as the state had a dominant showing with five of the eight finalists. The potential for four finalists this year is very realistic. Alex Ott, Joe Lorusso, and Brian Landry also received mention.  MileSplit's Foot Locker Power Rankings - South Boys 

Photo by Ted Plunkett Podcast interview with Oakton senior Joe Lorusso. Lorusso leads one of the state's top teams heading into this season following a 2005 state champion season and 2006 state runner-up season. The Oakton senior will one of the favorites for the Northern Region title and one of the state's better individuals as the third returnee from last year's AAA state race behind Jason Witt and Thomas Porter. Lorusso has personal bests of 4:16 for 1600 meters, 9:30 for 3200 meters, and 16:09 for 5K.

  MileStat.com's Brandon Miles analyzes the top five teams in the state to look out for this cross country season as part of a series of preview articles leading into this fall. Midlothian is the front runner again after holding strong last fall as a pre-season #1 to the finish and onto a dominating AAA state title and Virginia's first NTN appearance. The Trojans will have the handle the pressure of the bull's eye on them once again in 2007. The Western Albemarle boys have a team that has the talent to match up with Midlo's front three with the trio under 16 minutes in the Footlocker South sophomore race back. Oakton has the power in depth and numbers as last fall with six runners back under 10 minutes in the 3200. Jamestown is the sleeper with a very youthful squad as all of their top five runners will be back in 2008 as well. Mountain View is only three years old, but the road to the state meet podium looks to be paved ahead of schedule.

Oakton's Joe Lorusso (pictured right by Ted Plunkett) led a valiant charge by his team to reload fast from the loss of five 2005 AAA state champion team members. Oakton finished second to Midlothian to return back to the podium over teams who had more runners with state meet experience. The graduation losses are not as severe for Coach Phil Tiller's squad this fall with six runners back who ran under 10 minutes for 3200 meters this past spring to rank as the deepest team in the state for the second year in a row. Meanwhile, Midlothian is top heavy  as the Trojans return three All-State runners in Jason Witt, Mark Merritt, and Michael Hammond. The key for top challengers to the defending champs from Midlothian in Oakton and Mountain View is if one or two runners can develop into All-State caliber to matchup closely.  Witt and Mountain View's Thomas Porter appear to be in a separate class from the remaining AAA boys individuals as the top two returnees from the state race and two of the top three finishers in the Nike Indoor Nationals 5K look to fight it out at Great Meadow in November.

4:21 is only good enough for 7th at Nike Spring Invite 1600 Mike Spooner of West Springfield and Chris Tyson of West Springfield worked out a pre-race plan to take the first 800 meters out together in 2:04 and then Tyson would push the third lap in hopes of both attaining personal best times and possibly a run at a sub 4:10. Neither was able to come close to breaking 4:10, but Spooner earned a PR in a 4:13.31 win and their bold racing strategy made the rest of the field come along for the ride with 7 runners at 4:21 or faster for one of the deepest races one will find in Virginia in the distance event. Check out the race video!  (Photo by Brandon Miles)  One of the biggest weekends so far with the number of invitationals being held across the state this weekend, so please be patient as we try to digest it all! MileStat.com's Brandon Miles tried his best to be everywhere by attending three meets in two days with the Fluvanna Invitational on Friday night, Gar-Field Invitational on Saturday, and Nike Spring Invitational on Saturday Night. Photos and video are forthcoming from all three meets by Brandon Miles as well as photos from other selected meets by MileStat.com contributors. Meet directors please email us your meet results. Results posted so far from Caroline Inv, Draper Invitational, EMU HS Qualifier, Five Forks Track Classic, Fluvanna Invite, Gar-Field Invite, Landstown Invite, Lee-Davis Subvarsity Invite, Lynchburg All-Area Meet, Nike Spring Invite, Suffolk Invite, Times-News Relays, T.C. Williams Invite, and VMI High School Classic. Check back Sunday for more results and throughout the week for more coverage from this past weekend with performances, meet summaries, photos, and videos to be added.  Tuesday's focus of site work will be on capturing, editing, and uploading of video and pics from Fluvanna, Gar-Field, and Nike Spring.

The All-MileStat.com Boys Cross Country Team has been selected for the 2006 season. Awards were given out to runner of the year, coach of the year, freshmen of the year, most improved runner of the year, and comeback story of the year. Also being named were first, second, and third teams consisting of seven members for each team. Performances throughout the season were looked at with championship and post-season races being given stronger, but not ultimate consideration. The very unpredictable and inconsistent nature of the sport on a week to week basis makes any selections tough to break down into a science, but our hope is the main goal of trying to give as much as recognition as possible to individuals in the sport is noted and appreciated.

Interviews with the two district champions out of the Northern Region on Wednesday\'s double district meet being held at Burke Lake Park with Oakton senior Joe LoRusso winning the Concorde District in 15:15 and Thomas Jefferson senior Paul Norland winning the Liberty boys in 15:28 as both lead their teams to convincing team titles.

SAT\'s and homecoming dates had plenty of runners at this year\'s Glory Days Grill Invitational held at Bull Run Regional Park attempting a juggling act and being crunched for time on a pleasant and Sunny Saturday. Thankfully, a fast 5K course layout allowed runners to finish their races quickly to head off to the next destination.