Michael Hammond

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 times from Great Meadow's non-state course.

Midlothian native led Tech to team title at Charlotte on Friday

 MileStat.com will be on-site with coverage of the Foot Locker Nationals in not so sunny San Diego (rain forecasted for Friday into Saturday) with Brandon Miles and photographer John Herzog. This week will have the largest number of finalists from Virginia at the Foot Locker Nationals in a decade as the 1997 FLN had four girls and two boys from Virginia. At least one in the group including Jason Witt of Midlothian, Griff Graves of Abingdon, Thomas Porter of Mountain View, and Michael Hammond of Midlothian will be looking to break a four year drought of no Virginian boys earning All-American honors with a top 15 finish at Foot Locker Nationals (Kippy Keino, Fork Union, 2002, 15th). While two boys in Griff Graves and Thomas Porter will have experience from last year as returning finalists, Aurora Scott will be making her fourth trip to San Diego as she looks to continue her progression of improved places in each of her races at Balboa Park. A national runner-up last year, Scott is not in the favorite role as she found herself in last year after a course record breaking performance at the regional meet in 2006. Winning is a goal for Scott, but a victory would be an upset to others. Kathleen Lautzenheiser is part of the trio of Midlothian finalists who will be in San Diego as they were all guided by long-time Midlo coach Stan Morgan. Coach Morgan has coached for decades until having his first individual qualify for Foot Locker Nationals this year and ended up having not just one, but three finish in the top 10 at the South Regional.We arrive in San Diego on Thursday and will be bringing you plenty of coverage through Sunday with photos, videos, interviews, stories, and more. Excited to also be part of the MileSplit US national coverage team with national editor Scott Bush, penntrackxc.com's Don Rich, flrunners.com's Jason Byrne, and MileStat.com's own Brandon Miles and John Herzog. Foot Locker is staying the course... to write and relive running history FL Nationals Webcast Live: Click HereFoot Locker Videos: MileSplit Foot Locker Video Page (All Videos) Pre Race Interviews:  German Fernandez (CA) / Aurora Scott (VA)  / Brian Leung & Brandon Jarrett (NJ) / Bobby Nicolls (CO) / Kevin Williams (CO) / Jordan Hasay (CA) / Chris Derrick (IL) / Michael Hammond & Jason Witt (VA) / Aurora Scott's Parents (VA)Foot Locker Photos: Friday's Course PreviewFoot Locker Finalist Capsules: Northeast / South / Midwest / WestFoot Locker Top 15 Predictions by Brandon Miles: Boys / GirlsFoot Locker Regional Recaps: Northeast / South / Midwest / WestFoot Locker Nationals Official Website: Click Here 

Midlothian cross country runners established a first at the Virginia High School League state meet at Great Meadow for the second year in a row. Running under low gray skies and in cold temperatures yesterday, sophomore Kathleen Lautzenheiser and senior Jason Witt  (pictured right by John Herzog) became the first runners from the same Group AAA school to win individual titles in the same year. The feat has been accomplished twice in Group AA (1980, 1986) and never in Group A. Read full story... 

Photo by John Herzog The Dominion District Meet came down to the final 50 meters before Kristen Wolfe of James River pulled away with the victory over Kathleen Lautzenheiser of Midlothian. At the Central Region Meet on Saturday at Pole Green Park, it was Lautzenheiser returning the favor with it taking literally the last strides by both to determine the winner with both clocking in at 18:21. There will definitely be challengers from the other regions, but it could be a repeat finish next week between the two gunning for the AAA state title as there has been little separation between both in their last two encounters.Photo by Linda D'Amato The Midlothian girls also won their third consecutive regional title with six in a tough top 15 to crack with many individuals from other schools capable of earning All-State honors next week. The top six for the Lady Trojans included Lautzenheiser, Samantha Dow (7th, 19:13), Amy Witt (9th, 19:25), Erin Stehle (12th, 19:31), Shannon Roplewski (13th, 19:35), and Krista Willard (14th, 19:37). Maggie Walker girls had three runners earning All-Region honors to spark their regional runner-up finish (76 pts) with Clarissa Schick (5th, 19:09), Natalie Davis (10th, 19:27), and Susannah Piersol (15th, 19:38). The predicted teams to finish in the top four held to form with Midlothian, Maggie Walker, Douglas Freeman (3rd, 99 pts) and Hanover (4th, 134 pts). Photo by John Herzog Jason Witt comfortably won his third straight Central Region title in a time of 15:56. Former teammate Mark Merritt lead the field out early, while Atlee's Ben Dejarnette was running off of Witt after two miles, but Witt as well as his Midlothian teammates broke away from the rest in the final mile. Midlothian boys had an impressive showing up front with Witt, runner-up Michael Hammond (16:04), and fourth place finishing freshmen Brayden Burleigh (16:06). Midlothian tallied 53 points to win their second straight title. However, their depth issue at the fifth spot allowed Douglas Freeman to finish only 10 points behind in second with 63 points. Freeman was led by a gutsy performance by Lewis McPherson coming back from his district meet collapse and the team's depth also helped with five runners in the top 25. The Colonial District boys dominated the team standings with their four representatives taking places two through five with Freeman, Deep Run (3rd, 112 pts), Maggie Walker (4th, 137 pts), and Hermitage (5th, 139 pts).  Maggie Walker was one of the biggest surprises of the meet since they finished fourth in their district meet last Saturday as well.Race Videos: Varsity Boys - Varsity Girls Video Interviews: Michael Hammond - Lewis McPherson Photo Gallery by John HerzogPhoto Gallery by Linda D'Amato 

  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.

Video interview with two important pieces of the state title and Nike Team Nationals run by the Midlothian boys last fall as well as top returnees for a possible repeat in team performances with seniors Michael Hammond and Mark Merritt. Hammond, Midlothian\'s sixth man last fall, ran a 4:16 1600 meter best this past spring as the AAA state runner-up in the event.

4:21 is only good enough for 7th at Nike Spring Invite 1600 Mike Spooner of West Springfield and Chris Tyson of West Springfield worked out a pre-race plan to take the first 800 meters out together in 2:04 and then Tyson would push the third lap in hopes of both attaining personal best times and possibly a run at a sub 4:10. Neither was able to come close to breaking 4:10, but Spooner earned a PR in a 4:13.31 win and their bold racing strategy made the rest of the field come along for the ride with 7 runners at 4:21 or faster for one of the deepest races one will find in Virginia in the distance event. Check out the race video!  (Photo by Brandon Miles)  One of the biggest weekends so far with the number of invitationals being held across the state this weekend, so please be patient as we try to digest it all! MileStat.com's Brandon Miles tried his best to be everywhere by attending three meets in two days with the Fluvanna Invitational on Friday night, Gar-Field Invitational on Saturday, and Nike Spring Invitational on Saturday Night. Photos and video are forthcoming from all three meets by Brandon Miles as well as photos from other selected meets by MileStat.com contributors. Meet directors please email us your meet results. Results posted so far from Caroline Inv, Draper Invitational, EMU HS Qualifier, Five Forks Track Classic, Fluvanna Invite, Gar-Field Invite, Landstown Invite, Lee-Davis Subvarsity Invite, Lynchburg All-Area Meet, Nike Spring Invite, Suffolk Invite, Times-News Relays, T.C. Williams Invite, and VMI High School Classic. Check back Sunday for more results and throughout the week for more coverage from this past weekend with performances, meet summaries, photos, and videos to be added.  Tuesday's focus of site work will be on capturing, editing, and uploading of video and pics from Fluvanna, Gar-Field, and Nike Spring.

Who said relay meets are suppose to be fun and relaxed? With a total of seven teams ranked in the latest Nike Team Southeast Region Rankings, the 5x2500 meter Brentsville Relays is turning into an early barometer gauge for some of the best teams in the Southeast Region. The meet will feature the top two ranked boys and girls teams in the region with SE #1 Midlothian boys, SE #2 Brentsville boys, SE #1 Eleanor Roosevelt girls, and SE #2 Midlothian girls. Also competing will be SE #4 Thomas Jefferson boys, SE #5 Brentsville girls, and SE #8 Lake Braddock girls. The event is held under the lights at night and begins with the first race of the day at 4:45 PM and ends with the last race of the day, \"A\" division girls, at 8:45 PM.