Colin Mearns

Jamestown's Colin Mearns will look to become Jamestown’s second individual state champion in a row and follow in the footsteps of last year’s Group AA champion Andrew Colley, who set a new course record. Mearns appears to be taking his running to another level at season’s end similar to last fall when he had a great stretch of races extending into December for the Nike Cross Nationals.  Mearns is the top returnee from last year’s state race with his 15:28 fourth place finish among a collection of stars in the outstanding class of 2009 runners.

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.

Jamestown might not be expected to repeat its Group AA state team title from a year ago, but certainly has a good shot of keeping the individual state title in the hands of the Eagles with Colin Mearns (pictured left by Tom Hoerner) returning. Mearns ran in the shadows of 2008 Group AA state cross country champion and course record breaker Andrew Colley for much of last fall, but showed a glimpse of what to expect emerging as the #1 runner in the final two races of the season for Jamestown ahead of Colley at the Nike Cross Regionals and Nike Cross Nationals.After a state runner-up finish in the 1600 meter run indoors and another second place state meet finish in the 3200 meter run outdoors, Mearns is ready to claim a first individual state title.   At first glance going into this year, it did not feel like the Blacksburg boys could be that dominant of a top ranked team, but it is looking more like that could be the case as four of their top five runners are featured among the top 15 pre-season ranked individuals in Group AA behind one of the top challengers for Mearns in junior George Carter. There are many unproven runners in Group AA coming into this year with only three returning All-State cross country finishers from 2008.

Photo by Rick Samaha The Jamestown boys’ cross country team won the Bay Rivers District Championship in impressive fashion, placing five runners in the top 15 places. The Region 1 Championship was eerily similar, as six of Jamestown’s runners placed in the top 10. Most of the attention was placed on front-runner Andrew Colley, who broke the course records at both meets, running 14:36 and 15:45 respectively. Right behind Colley, however, were his teammates Junior Colin Mearns and Senior John Holt. Mearns and Holt finished second and third respectively at both the district and regional meets, securing the Jamestown victories. The pair forms the backbone of the Jamestown squad. Their top 10 individiaul finishes at both Maymont and Manhattan were the keys to the Eagles establishing themselves as a team worthy of national rankings and recognition from their performances at both meets.

  Podcast interview with Jamestown cross country coach Howard Townsend. Coach Townsend's Jamestown boys are a strong contender for the Group AA state title this fall as the Eagles return six of their top seven runners. Jamestown is a a very youthful team as there is not a single senior among their top five returning runners and find themselves as Nike Team Nationals preseason #8 ranked squad in the Southeast region.

  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.