Thomas Porter

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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  

Congratulations to the following 2008 All-MileStat.com Cross Country Team award winners: Boys Team of the Year: Jamestown Girls Team of the Year: Blacksburg Boys Runner of the Year: Thomas Porter (Mountain View) Girls Runner of the Year: Megan Marsico (Glenvar) Boys Coach of the Year: Buz Male (Albemarle) Girls Coach of the Year: Daniel King (Hidden Valley) Boys Freshmen of the Year: Shaquon Wilkins (Riverbend) Girls Freshmen of the Year: Sarah Stites (Thomas Jefferson S&T) Boys Most Improved Runner of the Year: Jordan White (Great Bridge) Girls Most Improved Runner of the Year: Stephanie Cario (Lee-Davis) Boys Comeback Runner of the Year: Ben Veilleux (Clarke County) Girls Comeback Runner of the Year: Allison Homer (Blacksburg) Full write-up on each award winner to come soon!

  The race started and I probably got out a little to fast. I just felt like I was sprinting. I hit one mile right were I wanted to be, in the top 12. Around the turn after the hill I topped the top ten. After that at about a mile and a half is where I really started to drop back. I really started to speed up and slow down paces, which ultimately is why I think I didn’t have anything towards the end. All and all I think I am a better runner than 21st. No excuses--I just had a bad race, but I made it and that is an accomplishment in itself.

Photo by Don Rich of PennTrackXC.com Surprise! Surprise! Surprise! If you keep knocking on the door, eventually it should open. Well that door finally opened for Mountain View senior Thomas Porter on Saturday at the 30th Foot Locker Nationals Championships as the three-time qualifier shocked many including his fans back home in Virginia when he found himself running among the top 3 late into the race. Putting himself in great position, Porter held on and fought through the last hill and last mile to finish third overall with a time of 15:26. Porter's broke a six year drought of Foot Locker Finals without an All-American in the boys' race from Virginia and he also had the highest finish by a Virginian since Bobby Lockhart's runner-up finish in 2001. Porter was not the only runner from the state to earn All-American honors with a surprise performance. Thomas Edison senior Leoule Degfae did an amazing job peaking for Foot Locker South to qualify for the national race when few expected him to. Degfae then made the most of his first and only opportunity at Foot Locker Nationals by becoming the 2nd Virginia to earn All-American in the 2008 finals with a 12th place finish of 15:46. Virginia was definitely well represented by two stellar races from the Northwest Region champ Porter and Northern Region champ Degfae. Alex Ott (39th place) and Megan Marsico (38th) both struggled in San Diego against the 40 best high school runners in the nation, but Kyle Satterwhite of Western Albemarle put together a solid race to finish 20th in 15:55 as Virginia ended up having three of the top four finishers from the South Region. Foot Locker Nationals Results: Boys - Girls Race Video: Boys - Girls Video Interviews: Thomas Porter - Leoule Degfae - Megan Marsico Photo Gallery by Don Rich Photo Gallery by Margot Kelly More coverage to come from San Diego.

Five high school cross country runners from Virginia flew out to San Diego today to compete this weekend in the Foot Locker National Cross Country Championships. Four of them are rookies to the event and will certainly be overwhelmed and likely distracted with the new experience between their stay at the famous Del Coronado hotel, beautiful SoCal weather, the beach, the ice skating rink, all of the free gear, meeting elite professional and high school runners, and the nerves of racing against the 40 best runners in the country on Saturday at Balboa Park. Nothing this weekend will be new for Thomas Porter (pictured right by John Herzog) though as a three-time finalist for the Foot Locker Nationals. Porter had fell short on several occassions of winning that first state title until this past November with his victory in the AAA race at Great Meadows. With the pressure of winning his first state championship off his back, he now turns his attention to the Foot Locker finals, where he has been unable to be competitive at in his two past trips due to being a surprise qualifier and just happy to be there as a sophomore then an injured qualifier and unable to race anywhere close to 100% as a junior. The Mountain View senior is one of only four returning finalist among the 40 qualifiers from the four regions, so his experience could be a huge advantage and potentially help him earn All-American honors with a top 15 finish. The state of Virginia has not produced an All-American in the boys race at Foot Locker Nationals since 2002.

Marsico & Wilson willing to accept first defeats of season for tickets to San Diego & Foot Locker Nationals Virginia runners will be racing for the opportunity to compete in the 30th anniversary of the Foot Locker National cross country championships on Saturday at the South regional in Charlotte, North Carolina. The state of Virginia was well represented last fall in San Diego for the national race with a total of six finalists (four boys, two girls). Can 2009 Foot Locker South turn out to be just as successful for the state which draws the largest participants outside of the homestate North Carolina? With four boys entrants having run faster state meet times than 2007 finalists Thomas Porter and Michael Hammond as well as two girls having went the entire season undefeated so far, the chances of a repeat performance are strong. We shall see though as the South Region expects to have two competitive seeded races. More... Porter attempting to become 3-time FL nationals qualifier, while a talented class of 2009 runners hopes to live up to early promise to join him with top 10 finishes Photo by John Herzog  

Liana Epstein leads the Lake Braddock girls to the Ocean State Invite in Rhode Island this weekend against a large field of top teams in the Northeast and New York including NE #2 Glastonbury (CT). (Photo by Ted Plunkett) While a large majority of Virginian high school cross country teams will be competing at Maymont on Saturday, there are also many other meets where teams will be racing at this weekend in-state and out-of-state. Lake Braddock is traveling the furthest as the Bruins head to the New Balance Ocean State Invitational in Warwick, Rhode Island. The Lake Braddock girls, ranked #5 in Virginia, will be competing against some top teams in the Northeast region and from the state of New York including NE #2 Glastonbury of Connecticut. Thomas Jefferson may have avoided direct competition last week at Oatlands having their "A" teams compete in the "B" division, but will not be avoiding top ranked squads this week at the Carlisle Invitational in Pennsylvania as the #3 ranked boys and girls team in Virginia will race against the top 6 ranked boys teams and top 5 ranked girls teams in Pennsylvania. Thomas Porter and Kaitlyn Davis of Mountain View will look to invade Maryland on Saturday and seize first place finishes on the home course for Maryland State Championships at Hereford for the Bull Run Invite. Porter's likely top competition will be Graham Bazell of Altholton High School in Maryland, who was the only runner willing to attempt to challenge Andrew Colley last week at William & Mary. Davis was the top Virginia finisher at Oatlands and will look to pick up her second major invitational victory this season after starting the season with a first place finish at Chancellor. Many teams in the Southwest portion of the state will be headed to Bristol Cross just across the state border in Tennessee. Almost the entire Eastern Region will be at the Chesapeake Invitational to get an opportunity to preview the regional championships course at Bells Mill Park.

Can any Virginian stop Solomon Haile at Saturday's Oatlands Invitational? The Ethiopian native competes at Sherwood High School in Maryland and is one of the nation's top returning distance runners after winning national titles in the 5K last year at Nike Indoor and Nike Outdoor Nationals. He will be given his toughest test likely until Foot Locker regionals as five of the top six runners in Virginia will be racing at Oatlands with #1 Tyler Stutzman, #2 Thomas Porter, #3 Ben Dejarnette, #5 Alex Ott, and #6 Kyle Satterwhite. (Photo from mocorunning.com) This Saturday should push the Oatlands Invitational over the top into becoming a nationally recognized event with a huge field of 101 schools featuring some national caliber teams and athletes including the Saratoga Springs girls of New York and Solomon Haile of Sherwood (MD). Both will be heavy favorites in Leesburg despite the fact that most of Virginia's best will be present to give their best against the national powerhouse squad and emerging individual national star.

There is a pretty solid group of 8 runners who are forming as the state's top tier of boys cross country runners this fall in Tyler Stutzman, Thomas Porter, Ben Dejarnette, Andrew Colley, Alex Ott, Kyle Satterwhite, Josh Morris, and Bobby Peavey. Who is this week's #1? It is tough to call with none of the mentioned runners having raced head to head yet. The Oatlands Invitational this weekend will change that with Stutzman, Porter, Dejarnette, Ott, and Satterwhite racing in a field which will also include of the nation's top returning runners in Solomon Haile (Sherwood HS of MD), the Nike Indoor and Outdoor Nationals 5K champ last year. Megan Marsico's recent string of jaw dropping performances could not be overlooked and helped move her up to the #2 spot in Virginia and knocking on the door of defending Group AA state champ Kathleen Lautzenheiser (pictured left by Ted Plunkett), who rolled on her anchor leg at Brentsville to lead Midlothian to victory. Marsico destroyed the field at Knights Crossing in a meet record time of 18:01 as she bested the old record held by three-time AAA state champ and Foot Locker finalist Catherine White. Complete individual rankings for each classification and each region in Group AAA and Group AA to be posted later this evening...

The Mountain View pair of senior Thomas Porter and junior transfer Kaitlyn Davis (previously from Jacksonville, NC) swept the individual titles for their team at the 20th annual Chancellor Invitational held on Saturday, August 30th at Loriella Park in Fredericksburg, VA. More... Chancellor Invitational Results: Varsity Boys - Varsity Girls - Developmental Boys - Developmental Girls Chancellor Invitational Photo Gallery - 1,259 total photos by Brandon Miles. A few more to be added from awards ceremony. Chancellor Invitational Race Videos: Varsity Boys - Varsity Girls - Developmental Boys - Developmental Girls Chancellor Invitational Video Interviews: Coach Bane (Meet Director) - Kaitlyn Davis (Girls Race Winner) - Thomas Porter (Boys Race Winner)

Last fall the Foot Locker South girls squad ran strong from start to finish in San Diego, scoring a 1-2 finish up top and tying the Northeast girls for the team trophy. This year eight of the ten female Foot Locker qualifiers return, led by defending national champion Ashley Brasovan (FL) and 2006 national champion Kathy Kroeger (TN) (pictured above by John Herzog). The boys side will follow the lead of '07 Foot Locker qualifiers CJ Brown (TX) and Thomas Porter (VA). These could very well be the strongest boys and girls contingents for the South squad in some time.

Photo by Ted Plunkett She did not run cross country last fall, but Colonial Forge's Colleen Wade came out of nowhere in the spring to emerge as one of the top freshmen distance runners in the state. Wade earned All-State honors in a stellar double at the state meet with a 5:10 performance in the 1600 from the slow section and coming back later in the heat to finish seventh in the 3200. Wade, the younger sister of former Colonial Forge star K.C. Wade, also won a pair of district titles in the spring and also took the Northwest Region title in the 3200. She should translate her track success into some more glory this fall on the country course.

With the track and field season coming to an end, and teams across the land getting coming into the heart of their summer cross country training, we take a look forward towards the fall and what lies ahead. To kick-off our 2008-2009 cross country coverage we take a look at the top ten male returnees, which includes a trio of Colorado athletes, all of whom are Foot Locker National returnees as well. While athletes like German Fernandez, Mike Fout, Chris Derrick, Colby Lowe and Luke Puskedra have all moved on, a new class of distance talent is ready to take over and create their own legacy. (Pictured left: Colorado's Bobby Nicolls is the top Foot Locker returnee)

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.  

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...