Walter Kidd

The Hermitage boys pulled a miracle turnaround in one week at the Disney Classic in Orlando, Florida as they upset NTN SE #2 Brentsville by a mere one point with both teams record low team scores of 31 and 32 points respectively. The Panthers had dropped out of the Nike Team Nationals Southeast Region rankings for the second time this season after a humbling eighth place finish at last weekend\'s Maymont Festival to only come back in one week to take down one of the top teams in the state and Southeast region in Brentsville.

The modified Pole Green Park will be debuted on Saturday at the Lee-Davis Invite with 23 teams in attendance. The top team coming into the meet will be the Hermitage boys as last year\'s Central Region champions return to the venue of their 2005 regional championship. Meanwhile, the Maggie Walker girls will be aiming to win their second consecutive invitational of the season as their opened their cross country season with a win at last weekend\'s Fork Union Invitational.

The state\'s top ranked boys and girls teams from Midlothian both survived scares at the Great Meadows Invitational in their opening races. The Nike Team Nationals Southeast #1 ranked squad in Midlothian ran well as shown by their low team total of 55 points in the competitive meet, but the NTN SE #6 ranked and two-time defending AA state champions Brentsville proved to be just as good as they finished two points shy of them in second place with 57 points. Midlothian junior Jason Witt took the individual title in a time of 16:03.15. Meanwhile, the Midlothian girls had two of their seven runners drop out of the race including top returnee and 4:53 miler M.C. Miller yet their amazing depth and talent was showcased still in dominating the #2 ranked team in the state and #5 ranked team in the NTN Southeast region in Brentsville by a 65 point margin of victory. The Lady Trojans were led by the Lautzenheiser twins, Kathleen (1st, 19:20.92) and Leia (3rd, 19:46.59), as the freshmen pair finished first and third respectively. More to come from Great Meadows...

Last fall\'s AAA boys team and individual state cross country champions were determined on the final straightaway at Great Meadows. Chantilly\'s Brad Siragusa outkicked West Springfield\'s Mike Spooner for the individual state crown, while the Oakton boys secured the state title despite close challenges from runner-up Thomas Jefferson and third place finisher Midlothian. Spooner and the Thomas Jefferson and Midlothian squads return with hopes to reverse their fortune and come out on top in November. However, another tight finish is to be expected with the caliber of individuals and teams that return to challenge any pre-season favorites.