Bryant Clopper

Check out the top rankings in the 5000 Meter Run for VA.

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 top 1,000 boys times ever records at Oatlands.

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

Alex Ott did not move or change schools, but his school at Turner Ashby moved into a new district to allow him to add a Massanutten District cross country title to his now defunct Valley District individual title from last year. The Turner Ashby junior was challenged by Harrisonburg's Bryant Clopper, but able to pull away for the win in a battle between two All-State Group AA caliber runners. Clopper had beaten Ott at the Runnin' With The Wolves Rocktoberfest two Saturdays ago just as the Harrisonburg and Turner Ashby boys had beaten the Spotswood boys in the same race. Despite being the third finishing team in the district in their last invitational race, the Spotswood boys (pictured right by Tom Hoerner) used the power of their tight pack to claim the district championship on Tuesday afternoon at New Market Battlefield. Girls team champions from Massanutten were Broadway's Margaret Richards and the Turner Ashby girls. As a senior, Richards was competing in her first district cross country championships although has had past success on the track including a 11:35 3200 meter time as a freshmen. Complete results to come soon (Please email to milestat@gmail.com).

A trio of Virginian girls broke 18 minutes for 5K at the Glory Days Grill Invite this weekend and find themselves among the top 5 ranked runners in the state with #3 Kristen Wolfe (17:49), #4 Lia DiValentin (17:50), and #5 Christina Lee (17:55). Susanna Sullivan of George Mason also dipped under 18 minutes at Glory Days in 17:58 and is ranked #9 in Virginia currently. (Photo by Ted Plunkett) A couple of unexpected finishes from this past weekend's invitationals have definitely shaken up the individual rankings in the October 17th Cream of the Crop coaches rankings. A 1-2 finish by two of the private school bests in Jeremy Haney and Austin Ellis over several ranked runners now gives the independent schools three runners among the top 15, which could be a first ever in the rankings. Christina Lee's sub 18 performance at Glory Days in a third place finish behind Kristen Wolfe and Lia DiValentin moves her into the #5 spot and expect to now see her as the #1 ranked runner in AA as well. Harrisonsburg's Bryant Clopper sneaking past Alex Ott for second place at Runnin' With The Wolves also helped him sneak into the top 15 rankings this week.

With the Blacksburg team being cleared last second to attend the Manhattan Invitational in New York, the clarity of the favorites for the Runnin With The Wolves Rocktoberfest has been dramatically changed with the door opened to new teams and individuals with one of the state's top girls teams in Blacksburg and top boys individuals in Peter Dorrell headed to NYC. Without them, the show will still go on as Jefferson Forest coach Jerome Loy will be putting on a great meet with a wild start and plenty of tunes to keep the runners pumped through the entirety of the challenging 5K course.Pictured right by John Herzog: Turner Ashby's Alex Ott finished just a second ahead of fellow Group AA runner Tim Smith of Cave Spring at Maymont two weeks ago. The two return in action against one another on Saturday at the Runnin' With The Wolves Rocktoberfest and could press each other to go under Mike Spooner's 16:25 course record at Wolf Branch Farm. 

 After taking a narrow early season defeat to AA squad Potomac Falls at the Frank Keyser Invite earlier in the season, the Thomas Jefferson boys will be looking to even the score with a win at the Oatlands Invitational. Thomas Jefferson competed without their top runner Brian Landry against Potomac Falls, and showed their true potential with Landry in the lineup at Knights Crossing two weeks ago with a convincing win and nearly five under 17 minutes for 5K. Landry will also find himself in the same race this Saturday with two fellow contenders for the Northern Region title in Thomas Edison's Leoule Degfae and T.C. Williams' Bradshaw Kenimer. Kenimer (pictured above by Ted Plunkett) is looking to defend his Oatlands title from a year ago and re-assert himself as the Northern Region title favorite.

A total of 43 schools will be in attendance at the 2006 Albemarle Invitational to be held at Panorama Farms 5K course in Charlottesville, Virginia this Saturday. The meet has its share of local Charlottesville area talent entered in the meet as well others including Northwest Region teams looking to get a preview of their regional meet course.

A steady downpour of rain that started yesterday and continued throughout today made Saturday\'s Octoberfest Invitational at Great Meadows a mud slop-fest as two over flowing creek crossings and long stretches of mud and puddles made for tough race conditions for the high school runners throughout the day. Not a day for anyone to run a personal best, but some outstanding performances were recorded throughout the day. Northside senior Catherine White took the \"A\" girls race in a time of 19:08.07, but more impressive was James River junior Kristen Wolfe only finishing nine seconds off the Foot Locker All-American in a time of 19:17.81. Meanwhile, Radford junior Nathan Brame pulled away from the field midway to come away with a 17:10 victory in the \"A\" race with Manchester senior Andrew Duty charging hard into a second place run of 17:16. Maryland\'s best in Quince Orchard (142 pts) as well as NTN Southeast #9 ranked squad knocked off SE #7 Thomas Jefferson (161 pts) for the \"A\" boys team title. The Northern Region took three of the top four team places in the \"A\" girls\' race with James Robinson (151 pts) finishing ahead of higher ranked AAA squads Langley (2nd, 178 pts) and Maggie Walker (3rd, 195 pts). Complete meet summary is posted with photos as well as video clips (clips of runners crossing creeks a MUST SEE) and a photo gallery from Octoberfest! More to come from other meets, Virginia teams and individuals participated in this weekend! Octoberfest Invitational Video Clips Octoberfest Invitational Photo Gallery