VHSL State Cross Country Championships 2012

Interview with the three top 10 finishers for the AAA state team champion Lake Braddock girls in Sophie Chase, Hannah Christen, and Katie Roche.

Chantilly senior Sean McGorty won the Group AAA boys race in a course record time of 14:47.

Hidden Valley senior Carolyn Bethel repeated as Group AA state cross country champ.

Blacksburg senior Nick Link won his first state in taking first in the Group AA boys race to lead his team to a decisive victory and repeat as state champs.

Wilson Memorial senior Hannah Rose repeated as Group A girls state cross country champion.

Walker Mogen of Radford won the Group A boys individual title while also leading his Radford squad to the team title as well.

John S. Battle sophomore Brad Swiney finished second in the Group A boys race with a time of 16:28.

Despite failing to win district and regional titles, can the George Mason girls become only the third team in VHSL State Cross Country Championships meet history to win 5 straight team titles?

A shocking upset was seen at last Thursday’s Region II Championships with Loudoun County senior Patrick Joseph able to break away and defeat defending Group AA state champion and returning Foot Locker finalist Thomas Madden of Skyline. Joseph had beaten before, especially on the track with Joseph being the Group AA state champion at 1600 and 800 meters. However, anything above 1600 meters was Madden’s territory to own with personal bests of 14:59 for 5K and 8:59 for two miles.  Madden will undoubtedly be out for revenge against Joseph this weekend and should setup for a great individual battle.  

It is only fitting that in the last year of the existence of Group AAA as it currently exists before the six class system is implemented next year that arguably the most successful two girls’ cross country programs historically will be competing for the final Group AAA state cross country title (in the 3 class system). Lake Braddock was the team of the decade in the 1980s, while Midlothian was the team of the decade in the 2000s.

  A virtual meet preview of the Group A boys state cross country race with all 16 team qualifiers and their runners. Team scores are generated based off the season best 5K times in the MileStat.com database. Individual qualifiers are not included in this virtual meet preview.

  A virtual meet preview of the Group A girls state cross country race with all 16 team qualifiers and their runners. Team scores are generated based off the season best 5K times in the MileStat.com database. Individual qualifiers are not included in this virtual meet preview.

  A virtual meet preview of the Group AA boys state cross country race with all 16 team qualifiers and their runners. Team scores are generated based off the season best 5K times in the MileStat.com database. Individual qualifiers are not included in this virtual meet preview.

  A virtual meet preview of the Group AA girls state cross country race with all 16 team qualifiers and their runners. Team scores are generated based off the season best 5K times in the MileStat.com database. Individual qualifiers are not included in this virtual meet preview.

  A virtual meet preview of the Group AAA boys state cross country race with all 16 team qualifiers and their runners. Team scores are generated based off the season best 5K times in the MileStat.com database. Individual qualifiers are not included in this virtual meet preview.

  A virtual meet preview of the Group AAA girls state cross country race with all 16 team qualifiers and their runners. Team scores are generated based off the season best 5K times in the MileStat.com database. Individual qualifiers are not included in this virtual meet preview.

Interview with the Region B boys individual cross country champion Stephen Good of Wilson Memorial. Good won the Region B Championships at Panorama Farms last Tuesday with a personal best 5K performance of 16:48 at Panorama Farms, while also leading his Wilson Memorial squad to a two point victory over the defending Group A state cross country champions from George Mason. 

  James Wood senior Amber Hawkins will be racing in her first state cross country meet on Saturday. The recent Region II cross country champion missed out as a freshmen due to sitting out much of the year due to eligilibity transfer rules when she came to James Wood from Central High School in Woodstock, while last year mono and anemia forced her to shut her season down. Hawkins is currently ranked fourth in Group AA.

    After letting go of his first love sport of soccer, Kellam senior Billy Boros has really come on strong in his new love sport of running since last indoor track season when he placed 9th in the 1600 meter run as a first time individual state qualifier. The Eastern Region cross country champion last week in a 5K PR of 15:57, Boros should have no problem managing the hills at Great Meadow as shown with his strong finishes earlier in the season at the Maymont Festival and Albemarle Invitational as he aims for a top 10 finish in the Group AAA race on Saturday.

  Lebanon sophomore Mary Easton has been the queen of distance running in Southwest Virginia this fall, which the keys of power were peacefully transitioned from last year's ruler of the cross country courses in the far Southwest corner of the state in her former Lebanon teammate and 2011 Region D champ Tabitha Arwood. Running through the snow and mud last week at the Region D Championships last Friday, Easton was a superstorm herself winning by one minute and 37 seconds over Virginia High School's Meta Grayson (8th place finisher in the 2011 Group A state race). 

On Saturday at Great Meadow, Lake Braddock coach Mike Mangan guided his girls' squad to a fourth Group AAA state cross country team title since he took over the program in 2000 and added a 10th overall title to the storied progam's total count. 

Chantilly head coach Matt Gilchrist has coached and developed a handful of individuals who became state champions, All-Americans, and Foot Locker finalists during his time as the helm for the Chargers, but this fall was breakthrough season for himself as a coach and his Chantilly program on producing a team at that elite level. 

  Wilson Memorial had never experienced the joy of being the last team called up on the podium to receive a state champion trophy until a special group of senior girls under the direction of coach with nearly 30 years of experience in Gary Kessler were able to put together a stellar season's finish to be the last team standing at Great Meadow for the Group A girls' awards.

  The Radford boys were able to leap over Region B's best on Saturday at Great Meadow to claim their second Group A state cross country title under coach Mike Carrow with their first title coming back in 2007. Both state champion Radford teams were led by an individual champion as Walker Mogen repeated as the individual state champion for the Bobcats. Their team came on strong at season's end with #2 runner Matt Turk coming back from illness that set him back earlier in the fall.

It has been a great fall for Blacksburg coach James DeMarco. He got married last month and this month his boys and girls' cross country squads became Group AA state cross country champions again. The Blacksburg boys had one of the more dominant wins in state meet history with five runners among the top 14 for a ridiculously low team score of 19 points to gain their fourth consecutive state title.