Josh Morris

Here are the all-time best boys in the steeplechase.

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

Check out the Virginia boys' all-time performances at McAlpine Park.

Here are the boys top 100 all-time performances at Dogwood.

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

Here are the top 100 boys all-time performances from Dogwood Track Classic.

The 2009 All-MileStat.com Cross Country Team has been announced with a total of 42 athletes being selected among the 7 member first, second, and third teams for both boys and girls. Awards winners also announced for Runner of the Year, Coach of the Year, Team of the Year, Freshmen of the Year, Most Improved Runner of the Year, and Comeback Runner of the Year. Congratulations to all selections for this fall's All-MileStat.com Team!

While the Nike Cross Southeast Regionals has pulled away many of the state's top girls either competing on contending teams or trying to secure one of the 5 individual quaifier spots, tradition and dreams of sunny San Diego still keeps the best Virginia boys coming back to Foot Locker South as the top ranked half dozen runners in the state will be racing on Saturday at McAlpine Greenway Park in Charlotte with top 10 aspirations. While the best Virginia girls who will be racing in Charlotte will be considered long shots of making it to nationals, one upside for both Brooke Point senior Katherine Walker and Lake Braddock freshmen Sophie Chase is neither has any problem pushing the pace and running up front, which is necessary in order to put yourself in position for a top 10 national qualifier position on the fast and flat McAlpine 5K course. MileSplit US will have on-site coverage for MileStat.com led by scrunners.com webmaster John Olson as a total of 422 runners are entered in Foot Lockter South from the state of Virginia.

After slow starts to their seasons, the Woodberry Forest boys and Anneka Wilson of The Potomac School are coming on strong in championship season and ready to defend their state titles from a year ago. The Bishop O'Connell girls are expected to stream roll through another state title with no signs of letting up in the near future with no seniors in their top seven, while Fork Union's Josh Morris appears more than fit to join the small list of sub 16 performers at Woodberry Forest.

Public school runners of Virginia. You have just been served by Josh Morris of Fork Union Military Academy. Chris Foley and Andrew McCullen dipping under 15 minutes yesterday at the Northern Region Meet and joining 26 other past Northern Region greats on the list of sub 15 on the historic 2.98 mile course was a great achievement by both young men. However, Josh Morris' run on Friday at the Prep League/LIS Championshps hosted at Fork Union's Hardy National 3 mile course trumped even their performances. On a more difficult and hillier 3 mile layout and the second place finisher 30 seconds behind him, Morris (pictured by David Fleenor) became the first runner ever to break 15 minutes on a course which several Foot Locker finalists have raced on with the most recent record holder being 2008 Foot Locker finalists Kyle Satterwhite at 15:05. Before Satterwhite, Kippy Keino of Fork Union (another Foot Locker finalist) held the record at 15:06. Prior to championship season, the state of Virginia appeared to be going through a down year in terms of national caliber boys individual distance runners but after the past two days, there is greater hope that Virginians will be able to mix it up in the post-season at the regional qualifiers for Foot Locker and Nike Cross Nationals and send some runners to national competition. Collegiate's Julia Sroba was dominant to win the LIS title in an 18:20 personal best, while St. Catherine's girls and Woodberry Forest boys claimed the team titles. 

MileStat.com's newest high school individual state cross country rankings as of October 22nd are released with the top 15 individuals (as well as bubble mentions) for Group AAA, Group AA, and private school as well as an updated "Cream of the Crop" top 15. Pictured left: Katlyn Ayers of Strasburg has risen to the #1 ranking in Group A as she has remained undefeated in all races this season.

Several close and exciting finishes to determine the individual race winners in Charlottesville including an incredible course record 18:02 performance by Ariel Karabinus of Osbourn Park as runner-up Katherine Walker of Brooke Point was also under the old course record in 18:13. Despite not having their usual #3 and #5 runners, the Osbourn Park girls dominated the field by a 67 point margin and team average of 19:14 on the Panorama Farms 5K course. Meanwhile, the Hidden Valley girls traveled all the way down to Nike South in Texas and left the Lonestar State as champions as they defeated the top teams in Texas by a 30 point margin of victory. In Florida, the Mountain View boys knocked off one of the top ranked teams from the Sunshine State by 9 points at the Disney Classic. More to come from this weekend's meets!

While the transfer of Josh Morris to Fork Union with personal bests of 15:34 for 5K and 9:29 for 3200 meters will certainly hurt the chances of many private school state champion hopefuls for this fall, Episcopal rising junior Reid Nickle (pictured by Brandon Miles) is confident of his chances of defeating Morris and others in November at Woodberry Forest. Nickle had a great sophomore year with track bests of 1:57 for 800, 4:26 for 1600, and 9:37 for 3200 meters as well as VISAA state runner-up indoors 1600 meters.   Several runners made considerable improvements during the track season from last fall to provide for a handful of returnees returning who will be gunning for state titles including the Woodberry Forest duo of Max Anderson (4:22 1600, 9:42 3200) and Kevin Bennert (9:48 3200), while Michael Bailey of Greenbrier Christian made an enormous drop from his cross country 5K PR of 16:51 when he posted a time of 15:46 on the track for 5000 meters at the MileStat.com Elite Track Gala in June.

The Virginians fared well and were great hosts for the 2008 USATF National Junior Olympic Championships held at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville on Saturday. The Richmond Track & Field Club, consisting mainly of athletes from the Central Region and RIchmond area, saw three of its girls teams finishing among the top three with the youth girls, intermediate girls, and young women division teams all placing third in close team battles for the national title in particular for the intermediate girls and young women. Barbara Strehler of Trinity ran the fastest time among all Virginians to lead the Richmond T&F Club in the young women's division with a third place time of 18:46. Also earning All-American honors in the race with Strehler from Virginia were Herndon's Hiruni Wijayaratne (6th, 19:08), Maggie Walker's Susannah Piersol (11th, 19:26), Cosby's Jenna Moye (17th, 19:49), and Lee-Davis' Stephanie Cario (20th, 20:01). In the intermediate girls' race, Clover Hill sophomore Abby Badura was the top finisher from Virginia and the third place Richmond T&F Club with a 13th place effort of 19:26. Earning All-American honors with Badura were club teammates Clarissa Schick (15th, 19:31) of Maggie Walker and Lindsi Arrington (21st, 19:32) of Gar-Field. Two of the state's best freshmen girls this fall competed in the youth girls 4K race with Sarah Stites (7th, 15:10) of Thomas Jefferson and Megan Moye (14th, 15:19) of Cosby both earning All-American honors with their top 25 finishes in one of the most competitive races of the meet. None of the boys' teams were able to crack into top 3 award finishes, but there were several outstanding All-American individual performances. The young men's 5K race had three All-Americans from Virginia with Thomas Baker of Louisa leading the way in 3rd place with a time of 16:00 and then closely followed by Jefferson Forest's Josh Morris (7th, 16:02) and James River's Ted Richardson (8th, 16:03). It was a great post-season for all three runners as Baker and Richardson both ran well at Foot Locker South in the seeded race with PR runs, while Morris was not far away from qualifying for NXN at the regionals in Cary two weeks ago. Harrison Tucker of St. Christopher's had a busy Saturday as he earned All-American honors in the young men's race early afternoon with a 16th place finish (16:16) and then made it back over to St. Christopher's for a home quad meet and ran sub 10 in the 3200 to place second. He then finished his day accepting his All-American award at Hanover High School on Saturday evening. Ben Dejarnette may be one of the best runners in the state and hold numerous honors, but Atlee teammate Andy Hesse can brag to him that he's now an All-American over him after Hesse took one of the final All-American spots in the intermediate boys race with a 24th place run of 16:42. Another star runner is on his way to join Coach Morgan and the stellar Midlothian program with 8th grader Sean Willard, who earned All-American honors with a time of 13:47 to place 15th in the youth boys' 4K race. USATF National Junior Olympic Championships Photo Gallery by Brandon Miles - 2,124 total photos from all 10 races. USATF National Junior Olympic Championship Race Videos: Young Men 5K - Young Women 5K - Intermediate Boys 5K - Intermediate Girls 5K - Youth Boys 4K - Youth Girls 4K - Midget Boys 3K - Midget Girls 3K - Bantam Boys 3K - Bantam Girls 3K Post-Meet Audio Interviews: Barbara Strehler - Megan Moye - Ted Richardson & Josh Morris - Andy Hesse - Sean Willard Pre-Meet Video Interviews: Coach Holdren Results from USATF.org Bantam Girls  results Bantam Boys results Midget Girls results Midget Boys results Youth Girls results Youth Boys results Intermediate Girls results Intermediate Boys  results Young Women results Young Men results

  Josh Morris of Jefferson Forest won the individual title in 16:07. (Photo by Reid Taylor) The Seminole District held no surprises for the spectators this year as long time champions, Jefferson Forest, won both the boys and girls team titles. Under the direction of coach Jerome Loy the cavaliers swept both races, winning the boys race with a team total of 18 points to second place Heritage High School’s 68, while the girls took their title with 24 points over the runner-up school, Brookville.

Jefferson Forest junior Josh Morris has been breaking through with his race performance ever since July in summer track meets going from a respectable runner to one of the state's best. Between his two All-American finishes in the steeplechase and 5K at the USATF Junior Olympic Nationals in July to posting one of the fastest times ever at the Blue Demon Invite course two weeks ago, Morris is now beginning to find his name mentioned among the state's top distance runners. In a loaded year for Group AA boys, Morris might be a year away from state championship glory as a junior, but he will not afraid to attempt to test himself come championship season against the top seniors. MileStat.com's Brandon Miles talks to Morris, a recent transfer from Liberty Christian Academy, on his recent hot start to the 2008 cross country season in a podcast interview. Check it out!

Jefferson Forest cross country coach Jerome Loy enjoys blending music and running, most notably at the annual Runnin’ with the Wolves Invitational at Wolf Branch Farm, with boom boxes blaring appropriately themed tunes at strategic points along the Cavaliers’ home course. In recent years, he has nicknamed his boys team, which wears black uniforms and often forms a steady stream of runners, the Long Black Train, after a song by country music star Josh Turner. This fall, JF’s Long Black Train has a new engine by the name of Josh Morris (pictured right by Scott Rigler), a junior transfer from Liberty Christian Academy who is pulling the rest of the Cavaliers along behind him. Read fully story on Josh Morris by Ted Allen of Lynchburg News Advance

Jefferson Forest's Josh Morris continued his hot streak of cross country victories on Saturday at the Eastern Mennonite Invite as the junior dipped just under 17 minutes on a challenging 5K layout at Peak View Elementary School. Morris, ranked #7 in Virginia, has become a rising star on the state scene early in the season especially after his convincing win last week at the Blue Demon Invite. The Jefferson Forest boys also were winners on a humid and hot day in Harrisonburg as the Cavaliers had three other runners in the top 15. Photo by Ted Plunkett It was a very successful meet as a whole for the Warren County cross country team as the girls team champions and race winners also came from the school. Warren County senior Mara Smith was a runaway winner in the varsity girls' race with a margin of victory well over a minute at 20:47. Smith will be looking for her first All-State honor later this season after qualifying for state competition in the 1600 and 3200 meter run this past outdoor season. More...   Eastern Mennonite Invitational Results: Varsity Boys - Varsity Girls - Middle School Boys - Middle School Girls

Updated individual rankings for Virginia high school cross country as of September 11th. Western Albemarle's Tyler Stutzman impressed enough in his 9:42 split at the Ragged Mountain Cup to usurp pre-season #1 Thomas Porter, despite Porter winning the Chancellor Invite quite easily to start his season. Group AA boys are also well represented in the Cream of the Crop rankings with five of the top seven rankings in Tyler Stutzman, Andrew Colley, Alex Ott, Kyle Satterwhite, and Josh Morris. Newcomers to the Cream of the Crop (top 15 best individual runners in VA) include James Robinson's Jared Berman, Blacksburg's Allison Homer, Mountain View's Kaitlyn Davis, Midlothian's Leia Lautzenheiser, and Millbrook's Sullivan Parkes. Note: Updated Group A and private school rankings to be added on Friday.

Well with his transfer to Jefferson Forest, Josh Morris (pictured right by Scott Rigler) has changed the complexion and pecking order in the private school and Region III rankings. Unaware of his move to becoming a Cavalier at Jefferson Forest High School in Forest, Virginia, Morris had been given the #1 pre-season ranking among private school individuals after a sensational track season which included personal best runs over the summer in the 2000 meter steeplechase, 1500 meter run, and 5000 meter run.   Morris ran for Jefferson Forest in a pre-season jamboree in Danville last month, but it could have been considered a typo and maybe he was still running for Liberty Christian Academy. However, his victory this weekend at the Blue Demon Invitational made it clear who he was running for now as he streaked across the finish line in first place with a time of 16:18 and 37 seconds ahead of second place in a Jefferson Forest uniform. Looking historically at the fastest times ever at the Blue Demon Invite, Morris is the second fastest performer all-time to only Griff Graves as his performance beats the times ran by the likes of some high school greats such as Fleet Hower, Justin Hatch, John Horst, and Tim Smith. Read More... Blue Demon Invitational Results: Varsity Boys - Varsity Girls - JV Boys - JV Girls Blue Demon Invitational Photo Gallery by Janis Lewis Blue Demon Invitational Photo Gallery by Scott Rigler

The Hidden Valley girls, ranked #3 in Virginia in the pre-season rankings, will begin their 2008 cross country in a home invitational at the "Clash with the Titans" with at least 11 schools expected to contend. (Photo by Brandon Miles) Virtual meet scoring preview of this Saturday's Clash with the Titans which is an inaugrual event being hosted by Hidden Valley High School in Salem. The Hidden Valley girls look to put on a strong opener on their home course as they should dominate with many of their runners among the top 10 places in the  11 team invite led by defending Group AA 1600 meter state champ Annie LeHardy. A potential exciting race could be shaping up for first place individually among the boys with Liberty Christian Academy's Josh Morris, a USATF National Junior Olympics All-American in the steeplechase and 5000 meter run, and Hidden Valley's Bryan Lewis. The Hidden Valley boys will be a slight pre-meet favorite on their home course against the Northwest Region's E.C. Glass.