Meet Information
***NOTE: We have now reached our limit for teams at the facility and will not be taking any more teams into the meet 10/01/2014***
Course Map Check in Schedule and Box assignments
Course Map
We are pleased to welcome once again, all of the competitors, coaches, parents, other relatives and friends, the numerous volunteer helpers and also, the usual long time supporters of high school cross country, to the 21st Annual Glory Days Grill Invitational at Bull Run Regional Park on Saturday, October 11.
Meet management is looking forward, as usual, to another fine day of competitive racing, with approximately 2,500 runners representing 67 different schools entered from around the metropolitan area and scheduled to compete in one of the nine races to be contested on Bull Run's 5,000 meter course.
There have been a few different times in the past two decades when the course has had to be altered a bit due to weather and landscaping changes, and if fact had to be cancelled last year due to intolerable conditions related to the weather, but the course setup this year should be virtually the same as it has been in the past couple of years, as meet originator Mike Dobson continues to try and keep the course as one of the most spectator-friendly 5k venues in the area.
This invitational meet, held annually on the second Saturday in October, usually serves as a very good barometer for the top individuals and teams in preparing for their upcoming championship season beginning later this month, and the meet will once again try to fulfill all of the runners and coaches needs; with a variety of races scheduled to accommodate the various skill levels of the participants.
The first race of the day is at 8:30 a.m. and will be an "open" race with coaches, parents, pre-high school age, etc. participants eligible to see how they handle the course at Bull Run.
The course will then be opened up for review for all the high school competitors at 9:00 a.m. and coaches can also pick up their team packets at that time at the finish line area under the tent. Final packet pickup is at 9:30; which will also coincide with the coaches meeting with director Mike Kiernan, that will be held at the Pavilion stage.
The first high school race of the day will be the freshmen boys race at 10:30 a.m. and it will be followed by the freshmen girls at 11:10 a.m. A big perk is that each school is allowed an unlimited number of entries for the freshmen races as these ninth graders get an important, relatively late season opportunity, to race solely against their other ninth grade counterparts.
The different classes of races will all have the boys race followed by the girls. The junior varsity races begin at 11:50 a.m. and greatly benefit the large number of hardworking youngsters who are very involved in their respective school's distance running programs, and like the freshmen races, are also generously set up by meet management with an unlimited amount of entries for each school.
Due to the large number of J.V. runners on the boys side, there will be two junior varsity races for them, which will be once again determined by a random draw of the schools involved. The J.V. Division 1 boys race will begin at 11:50 and the Division 2 boys junior varsity race heads off at 12:30 p.m. They will then be followed by what is usually the largest field of the day, the junior varsity girls, with that race scheduled to begin at 1:10 p.m.
The Varsity B boys race will start at 2:00 p.m. and the Varsity B girls will square off at 2:30 p.m. in races that pit many of the top runners from schools with smaller overall enrollments against the second tier of the larger enrollment schools entered. The Varsity B races, as well as the Seeded Varsity races, will be limited to the standard number of seven individual possible scoring entries per school.
Highlighting the day for many will be the Seeded Varsity races with the boys scheduled for the firearm to go off at 3:00 p.m. and the girls set for a 3:30 p.m. start, as many of the top individuals and teams from the the area square off against each other.
Finishing up the day will be the team awards presentation and that will take place at the pavilion stage area at 4:15 p.m.. Promptness by all the award winning teams will greatly aid in a timely exit from the park at well before sunset.
Glory Days Grill is now in its fifteenth year of sponsoring the meet and restaurant co-founders Jeff Newman, Bob Garner and Rich Danker are once again greatly pleased to be involved in all of the activities and cooperation that is involved and necessary to create this annually successful event.
Jeff, Bob and Rich, along with Gary Cohen and the rest of the Glory Days Grill staff, would also like to give a big thanks in advance to all of the volunteers involved in concessions, parking, results compilation, marshaling of the starting line area, finish line area and running course and also all other forms of meet management and would especially like to thank Mike Dobson, Mike Kiernan, Scott Raczko, Matt Gilchrist, Dan Woolley, Steve Johnson, Gale Faulkner, George Siragusa, Mark Stripe, Charlie Lihn, Tom Cook and Potomac River Running Store ("PR") for all of the extra time and help they donate.
FURTHER REMINDERS
We will once again be using the chip timing system. Coaches will be requested to turn their team chips in as promptly as possible upon the conclusion of the final race for their team. The "chip timing return area" for this year will be on the pavilion stage with designated containers for the chips. Impossible to miss. No excuses.
Concessions will be sold throughout the meet behind the press box area and there will also be a tent set up for tee shirt sales near the concessions area, along with the increasingly popular Glory Days Prize Wheel, etc.
With possibly 2,500 runners or more competing throughout the day, that will mean plenty of vehicles entering and exiting the park. All drivers need to follow the parking signs and especially adhere to the directions for where to park by the parking volunteers.
Those parking volunteers have a plan and will be sticking to it and some of it will involve preventive maintenance and the Murphy's Law factor to ensure that nobody is needlessly blocked in by someone else and especially that no motorist's vehicles are blocking any part of the cross country course.
First call for each race will be twenty minutes before the start of each race. Coaches are greatly encouraged to tell their runners to check in at first call. Better early than late.They will then be able to know the location of their pre-assigned starting box and then would have plenty of time, and also space to warm up, since the starting line and finishing line are in relatively close, but separate, locations.
Coaches, athletes and parents are reminded that although the team awards begin at 4:15 p.m. at the pavilion stage area, the individual awards for the top fifteen finishers in each race will be given out just beyond the finish line chute area following the end of each race. Always a nice photo opportunity for those award winners at that time.
Please do not impede the progress of any of the runners during the race by being too close to the course's race line and be sure to heed any instructions doled out during the race by the course marshals.
This is important at all times and especially along and near the finishing line straightaway where sometimes spectators invariably display different degrees of knowing exuberance and unknowing overexuberance.
Team and individual results will be posted during the meet at the press box area as soon as they have them compiled for each respective race category. It should be a fairly quick turnaround from the finish of each race to the posting of the results of each race, since we will be using the chip timing system for the sixth year in a row.
Coaches will still be obliged to turn in a quick score for each of their team's races to help to avoid any possible snafus.
Immediately following the conclusion of the meet, results will be sent and then posted very quickly on www.milestat.com as Nolan Jez will once again keep everyone well informed on the activities and happenings from each week across the state of Virginia and beyond.
Thanks to everyone, in advance, and good luck to all of the racing participants.
Boys and Girls Seeded Varsity Preview
It certainly seems to be up for grabs on the boys side in the team title race. A couple of squads that may have competed in invitationals for a few successive weeks could be looking for a break and also a couple of the larger schools have their top seven competing elsewhere, although they are entered in all the other races.
Among those expected to roll out their top seven, they seem to be fairly close, based on results from earlier in the season. At the big invite at Oatlands Plantation three weekends ago, Chantilly finished third with Jefferson S&T fourth and Washington-Lee fifth while Potomac Falls was second at the Loudoun County championships a week and a half ago.
Chantilly is led by senior Ryan McGorty, who placed fourth individually at Oatlands and was the winner of the Monroe Parker Invite at Burke Lake in early September and the Judges Classic at Handley later in the month, while Jefferson does not have a front runner such as McGorty, but has a more narrow team split between runners one through five led by senior Chris Blagg, junior Nate Foss and sophomore Saurav Velleleth.
Individually, the runner to watch in this race and any other race he runs all the way up to and including the national stage, is junior Drew Hunter of Loudoun Valley. The 3A state cross country champion last year as a sophomore, he was not able to log too many impressive times that following winter because of Loudoun County's lack of indoor track and field participation in the conference, region or state process, but achieved major notoriety upon winning the 3,000 meter run at the Penn Relays in a sophomore class record of 8:16.31.
He followed that up with state 3A titles in the 1,600 and 3,200 run outdoors and came very close to the sophomore class record in the two mile run in 8:53.81 at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals this past June and has been on a roll ever since.
With his eye on major races at the end of November and early December, but not trying to look too far ahead, Hunter captured the Great Meadow Invite in The Plains early last month along with victories at Oatlands and the Loudoun County championship and made a big splash last weekend in winning the featured race at Great American in Cary, North Carolina with a time of 14:46 over their 5k course, with his closest pursuer over twenty seconds behind in a very solid field.
Can't go to the wall every time out and Hunter has stated that going for the victory at this year's meet matters more than running for a specific time goal.
Another top competitor entered, as long as the SAT's that day don't take too much of a toll, is Westfield's Johnny Pace, one of the area's most improved runners in the past year. Pace certainly raised some eyebrows with his third place finish at Oatlands as someone to be reckoned with and came through with his first big invitational win ever last weekend in The Plains at Octoberfest as he outlasted highly regarded Matt Novak of Deep Run on the homestretch.
Others to watch include the aforementioned Ryan McGorty of Chantilly; McLean senior Matthew Burke, who was fifth at Octoberfest; senior Ashenafi Kinadu of Woodbridge, seventh at the Maymont Invite in Richmond two weekends ago; seniors David Fitzgerald of Winston Churchill (MD), West Springfield's Evan Fabish, Andrew McCool from South Lakes, Ethan Newland from Broad Run and Tre Fields of Atlee, along with juniors Tristan Colaizzi from Georgetown Day, Maxwell Carpenter of George Marshall, Millbrook's Tyler Cox-Philyaw and Gonzaga's Jacob Floam and sophomore Alec Schrank from Millbrook.
The girls team title seems to be wide open as well with Patriot, George Marshall and Washington-Lee appearing to be among the top teams. Patriot was second at Octoberfest and have as their top runner, sophomore Rachel McArthur, who was six individually in the seeded race at Octoberfest. The race co-winners were Marshall freshmen twins Ashley Holt and Heather Holt, both of whom also finished among the top ten at Oatlands, while W-L, which lost some top runners due to graduation, was still third at Oatlands and are led by senior Donia Nichols.
The individual title on the girls side appears less predictable than the boys version, but it could come down to a battle between Loudoun Valley senior Ciara Donahue and senior Nora McCumber of Bethesda-Chevy Chase. Donahue was a solid second place finisher at Oatlands and McCumber recorded the second fastest time overall at the DCXC Invite in the nation's capitol, where the meet was set up as running versus your class grade.
Other top ten aspirants include seniors Emily Kaplan of Georgetown Visitation, who was second at this meet in 2012, and Chloe Bavin of Atlee; juniors Taylor Knibb from Sidwell Friends, Sara Freix of Westfield, Caitlin Donovan of Atlee and Reagan Bustamante from West Springfield along with sophomores Isabelle Oliver from Trinity School at Meadow View, Loudoun County's Grace Howard and Emily Keast of West Springfield and South County's Louisa McPherson.
JV Boys Race I (11:50)
Atlee
Bishop McNamara
Briar Woods
Bullis
CES Jewish Day
Flint Hill
Freedom South Riding
George C Marshall
George Mason
Georgetown Day
Gonzaga
Hayfield
John Champe
John Handley
Kettle Run
Langley
Loudoun County
Loudoun Valley
McLean
Millbrook
Mount Vernon
Our Lady of Good Counsel
Park View
Paul VI
Pope John Paul the Great
Sidwell Friends
St. Albans
St. Anselms
Tallwood
Thomas Jefferson
Trinity Christian
Trinity Meadow View
Wakefield
Yorktown
JV Boys Race 2 (12:30)
Annandale
BCC
Broad Run
Centreville
Chantilly
Dulaney
Falls Church
Forest Park
Gar-Field
Harrisonburg
James Madison
James Robinson
James Wood
Lake Braddock
Liberty
Linganore
Manchester
Patriot
Potomac
Potomac Falls
Quince Orchard
Rock Ridge
Sherwood
Skyline
South Lakes
Washington Lee
West Potomac
West Springfield
Westfield
Winston Churchill
Woodbridge
Woodgrove
22nd ANNUAL GLORY DAYS GRILL INVITATIONAL
CROSS COUNTRY FESTIVAL
WHEN: Saturday, October 11, 2014
WHERE: Bull Run Regional ParkSpecial Events Center
TIME: See Enclosed Schedule
ADMISSION: $5 per car
ENTRIES: School may enter a team in any or all races. Only one race per athlete. JV and Freshmen races have unlimited entries. All others are limited to 7 maximum entries. SEE ENCLOSED ENTRY FORM. Please return the Entry Form completed so that we may enter your teams into the proper races.
Note: We will be using the Ipico Chip Timing system at this years EVENT!!!!!! To register your team, you will need to go to www.milestat.com and register your athletes and enter your team into the Glory Days Grill meet. PLEASE MAKE SURE TO ONLY ENTER THOSE ATHLETES YOU KNOW ARE RACING. DONT SEND US YOUR ENTIRE ROSTER WHEN YOU WILL NOT BE SENDING ALL YOUR ATHLTES. WE GET CHARGED FOR THE CHIP WHETHER IT IS USED OR NOT, SO PLEASE BE AS ACCURATE AS POSSIBLE IN YOUR ENTRIES.
ROSTER: You must submit your roster and entries to www.milestat.com on or before October 6, 2014(the Monday prior to the race). This should also ensure that you enter the most accurate roster possible.
SANCTION: The meet will be sanctioned by the NFHS (Schools will be invited from VA, MD, and Washington, DC.)
ENTRY FEE: 2 Options: $60 per race.
$240 to enter 4 or more races
ENTRY DEADLINE: October 6th.
SCORING AND FINISH LINE: Coaches must be prepared to turn in accurate Quick Score. There will be detailed instructions in packet on the race day.
DIRECTIONS: See Enclosed
COURSE: 5000 meters. All Grass. Very open, excellent spectator course.
AWARDS: Medal to top 15 individuals in all races.
1st, 2nd, 3rd place wood carved plaques will be awarded in Freshman, Varsity B, and Seeded races.
FACILITIES: No Changing. No water. Not much shade. 24 port-a-johns, Athletic Trainer will be on site.
PARKING: Only one way into park. PLEASE FOLLOW SIGNS AND ATTENDANTS.
TRASH: PLEASE DONT LEAVE ANY!!!
To Bull Run Special Events Center
DIRECTIONS:
FROM BRADDOCK ROAD.Come all the way out Braddock, across Union Mill. Continue on New Braddock Rd. until you hit Route 28. Turn right on 28, and go 3 lights to route 29. Turn left on 29 and see continuation
FROM 29.Come all the way out Route 29 until you get to the Route 29 and Route 28 intersection and see continuation
FROM 66.Go west on 66 to exit 52 (Rt. 29). Turn right (South) at end of exit ramp and see continuation
CONTINUATION.From intersection of 28 and 29: Go south on Route 29, 3 miles to Bull Run Post Office Road. (Top of the hill-Bull Run Park sign on right) Turn left; Go 1.5 miles to Park (Dont get on Compton Road) As soon as you cross over Route 66, turn left at Shooting Range. Then go straight back as far as you can.
PLEASE DONT LEAVE ANY TRASH!!
GLORY DAYS GRILL
CROSS COUNRY RACE
TIME SCHEDULE:
8:30 AM Open Race you may enter on www.prraces.com this gives anyone running the opportunity to run and then watch/coach their athletes afterward. This race is intended for coaches, parents, youngsters, or anyone who wants to run on the same course as the high school athletes!!!!!!
9:00 am--Course opens for reviews. Packet pick-up.
9:30 am--Coaches meeting/Final packet pick-up
10:30 am--Freshman BOYS Race (unlimited entries)
11:10 am--Freshman GIRLS Race (unlimited entries)
11:50 am -- JV BOYS (Division 1)
---RANDOM SPLIT--
12:30 pm JV BOYS (Division 2)
1:10 pm -- JV GIRLS
2:00 pm -- Varsity B BOYS
2:30 pm -- Varsity B GIRLS
3:00 pm -- Seeded Varsity BOYS
3:30 pm -- Seeded Varsity GIRLS
4:15 pm -- Awards Ceremony for all races on stage we will be pushing daylight, so please be there ASAP.
DONT LEAVE ANY TRASH!!
Tee Shirts and Concessions will be sold
ENTRY FORM
21st ANNUAL GLORY DAYS GRILL
CROSS COUNTRY INVITATIONAL
OCTOBER 12th, 2013
SCHOOL NAME: ___________________________________________
SCHOOL ADDRESS_________________________________________
COACHS NAME____________________________________________
COACHS PHONE# (SCHOOL)________________________________
(HOME)_____________________________________
(E-MAIL)___________________________________
ROSTERS MUST BE ENTERED ON WWW.MILESTAT.COM AND YOU MUST ENTER INTO THE GLORY DAYS GRILL INVITATIONAL
PLEASE CHECK RACES YOU PLAN TO ENTER:
FRESHMAN (UNLIMITED) GIRLS_____ BOYS_____
JV (UNLIMITED-NO TEAM SCORE) GIRLS_____ BOYS_____
VARSITY B (7 MAX) GIRLS_____ BOYS_____
SEEDED VARSITY(7 MAX) GIRLS_____ BOYS_____
TOTAL NUMBER OF RACES ENTERED: ___________________
AMOUNT ENCLOSED: ____________________________________
MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO: NVCCTFA
MAIL TO: Mike Kiernan
3948 Bradwater Street
Fairfax, VA 22031
QUESTIONS? Contact: Mike Kiernan, mjkiernan@fcps.edu
Course Map Check in Schedule and Box assignments
Course Map
We are pleased to welcome once again, all of the competitors, coaches, parents, other relatives and friends, the numerous volunteer helpers and also, the usual long time supporters of high school cross country, to the 21st Annual Glory Days Grill Invitational at Bull Run Regional Park on Saturday, October 11.
Meet management is looking forward, as usual, to another fine day of competitive racing, with approximately 2,500 runners representing 67 different schools entered from around the metropolitan area and scheduled to compete in one of the nine races to be contested on Bull Run's 5,000 meter course.
There have been a few different times in the past two decades when the course has had to be altered a bit due to weather and landscaping changes, and if fact had to be cancelled last year due to intolerable conditions related to the weather, but the course setup this year should be virtually the same as it has been in the past couple of years, as meet originator Mike Dobson continues to try and keep the course as one of the most spectator-friendly 5k venues in the area.
This invitational meet, held annually on the second Saturday in October, usually serves as a very good barometer for the top individuals and teams in preparing for their upcoming championship season beginning later this month, and the meet will once again try to fulfill all of the runners and coaches needs; with a variety of races scheduled to accommodate the various skill levels of the participants.
The first race of the day is at 8:30 a.m. and will be an "open" race with coaches, parents, pre-high school age, etc. participants eligible to see how they handle the course at Bull Run.
The course will then be opened up for review for all the high school competitors at 9:00 a.m. and coaches can also pick up their team packets at that time at the finish line area under the tent. Final packet pickup is at 9:30; which will also coincide with the coaches meeting with director Mike Kiernan, that will be held at the Pavilion stage.
The first high school race of the day will be the freshmen boys race at 10:30 a.m. and it will be followed by the freshmen girls at 11:10 a.m. A big perk is that each school is allowed an unlimited number of entries for the freshmen races as these ninth graders get an important, relatively late season opportunity, to race solely against their other ninth grade counterparts.
The different classes of races will all have the boys race followed by the girls. The junior varsity races begin at 11:50 a.m. and greatly benefit the large number of hardworking youngsters who are very involved in their respective school's distance running programs, and like the freshmen races, are also generously set up by meet management with an unlimited amount of entries for each school.
Due to the large number of J.V. runners on the boys side, there will be two junior varsity races for them, which will be once again determined by a random draw of the schools involved. The J.V. Division 1 boys race will begin at 11:50 and the Division 2 boys junior varsity race heads off at 12:30 p.m. They will then be followed by what is usually the largest field of the day, the junior varsity girls, with that race scheduled to begin at 1:10 p.m.
The Varsity B boys race will start at 2:00 p.m. and the Varsity B girls will square off at 2:30 p.m. in races that pit many of the top runners from schools with smaller overall enrollments against the second tier of the larger enrollment schools entered. The Varsity B races, as well as the Seeded Varsity races, will be limited to the standard number of seven individual possible scoring entries per school.
Highlighting the day for many will be the Seeded Varsity races with the boys scheduled for the firearm to go off at 3:00 p.m. and the girls set for a 3:30 p.m. start, as many of the top individuals and teams from the the area square off against each other.
Finishing up the day will be the team awards presentation and that will take place at the pavilion stage area at 4:15 p.m.. Promptness by all the award winning teams will greatly aid in a timely exit from the park at well before sunset.
Glory Days Grill is now in its fifteenth year of sponsoring the meet and restaurant co-founders Jeff Newman, Bob Garner and Rich Danker are once again greatly pleased to be involved in all of the activities and cooperation that is involved and necessary to create this annually successful event.
Jeff, Bob and Rich, along with Gary Cohen and the rest of the Glory Days Grill staff, would also like to give a big thanks in advance to all of the volunteers involved in concessions, parking, results compilation, marshaling of the starting line area, finish line area and running course and also all other forms of meet management and would especially like to thank Mike Dobson, Mike Kiernan, Scott Raczko, Matt Gilchrist, Dan Woolley, Steve Johnson, Gale Faulkner, George Siragusa, Mark Stripe, Charlie Lihn, Tom Cook and Potomac River Running Store ("PR") for all of the extra time and help they donate.
FURTHER REMINDERS
We will once again be using the chip timing system. Coaches will be requested to turn their team chips in as promptly as possible upon the conclusion of the final race for their team. The "chip timing return area" for this year will be on the pavilion stage with designated containers for the chips. Impossible to miss. No excuses.
Concessions will be sold throughout the meet behind the press box area and there will also be a tent set up for tee shirt sales near the concessions area, along with the increasingly popular Glory Days Prize Wheel, etc.
With possibly 2,500 runners or more competing throughout the day, that will mean plenty of vehicles entering and exiting the park. All drivers need to follow the parking signs and especially adhere to the directions for where to park by the parking volunteers.
Those parking volunteers have a plan and will be sticking to it and some of it will involve preventive maintenance and the Murphy's Law factor to ensure that nobody is needlessly blocked in by someone else and especially that no motorist's vehicles are blocking any part of the cross country course.
First call for each race will be twenty minutes before the start of each race. Coaches are greatly encouraged to tell their runners to check in at first call. Better early than late.They will then be able to know the location of their pre-assigned starting box and then would have plenty of time, and also space to warm up, since the starting line and finishing line are in relatively close, but separate, locations.
Coaches, athletes and parents are reminded that although the team awards begin at 4:15 p.m. at the pavilion stage area, the individual awards for the top fifteen finishers in each race will be given out just beyond the finish line chute area following the end of each race. Always a nice photo opportunity for those award winners at that time.
Please do not impede the progress of any of the runners during the race by being too close to the course's race line and be sure to heed any instructions doled out during the race by the course marshals.
This is important at all times and especially along and near the finishing line straightaway where sometimes spectators invariably display different degrees of knowing exuberance and unknowing overexuberance.
Team and individual results will be posted during the meet at the press box area as soon as they have them compiled for each respective race category. It should be a fairly quick turnaround from the finish of each race to the posting of the results of each race, since we will be using the chip timing system for the sixth year in a row.
Coaches will still be obliged to turn in a quick score for each of their team's races to help to avoid any possible snafus.
Immediately following the conclusion of the meet, results will be sent and then posted very quickly on www.milestat.com as Nolan Jez will once again keep everyone well informed on the activities and happenings from each week across the state of Virginia and beyond.
Thanks to everyone, in advance, and good luck to all of the racing participants.
Boys and Girls Seeded Varsity Preview
It certainly seems to be up for grabs on the boys side in the team title race. A couple of squads that may have competed in invitationals for a few successive weeks could be looking for a break and also a couple of the larger schools have their top seven competing elsewhere, although they are entered in all the other races.
Among those expected to roll out their top seven, they seem to be fairly close, based on results from earlier in the season. At the big invite at Oatlands Plantation three weekends ago, Chantilly finished third with Jefferson S&T fourth and Washington-Lee fifth while Potomac Falls was second at the Loudoun County championships a week and a half ago.
Chantilly is led by senior Ryan McGorty, who placed fourth individually at Oatlands and was the winner of the Monroe Parker Invite at Burke Lake in early September and the Judges Classic at Handley later in the month, while Jefferson does not have a front runner such as McGorty, but has a more narrow team split between runners one through five led by senior Chris Blagg, junior Nate Foss and sophomore Saurav Velleleth.
Individually, the runner to watch in this race and any other race he runs all the way up to and including the national stage, is junior Drew Hunter of Loudoun Valley. The 3A state cross country champion last year as a sophomore, he was not able to log too many impressive times that following winter because of Loudoun County's lack of indoor track and field participation in the conference, region or state process, but achieved major notoriety upon winning the 3,000 meter run at the Penn Relays in a sophomore class record of 8:16.31.
He followed that up with state 3A titles in the 1,600 and 3,200 run outdoors and came very close to the sophomore class record in the two mile run in 8:53.81 at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals this past June and has been on a roll ever since.
With his eye on major races at the end of November and early December, but not trying to look too far ahead, Hunter captured the Great Meadow Invite in The Plains early last month along with victories at Oatlands and the Loudoun County championship and made a big splash last weekend in winning the featured race at Great American in Cary, North Carolina with a time of 14:46 over their 5k course, with his closest pursuer over twenty seconds behind in a very solid field.
Can't go to the wall every time out and Hunter has stated that going for the victory at this year's meet matters more than running for a specific time goal.
Another top competitor entered, as long as the SAT's that day don't take too much of a toll, is Westfield's Johnny Pace, one of the area's most improved runners in the past year. Pace certainly raised some eyebrows with his third place finish at Oatlands as someone to be reckoned with and came through with his first big invitational win ever last weekend in The Plains at Octoberfest as he outlasted highly regarded Matt Novak of Deep Run on the homestretch.
Others to watch include the aforementioned Ryan McGorty of Chantilly; McLean senior Matthew Burke, who was fifth at Octoberfest; senior Ashenafi Kinadu of Woodbridge, seventh at the Maymont Invite in Richmond two weekends ago; seniors David Fitzgerald of Winston Churchill (MD), West Springfield's Evan Fabish, Andrew McCool from South Lakes, Ethan Newland from Broad Run and Tre Fields of Atlee, along with juniors Tristan Colaizzi from Georgetown Day, Maxwell Carpenter of George Marshall, Millbrook's Tyler Cox-Philyaw and Gonzaga's Jacob Floam and sophomore Alec Schrank from Millbrook.
The girls team title seems to be wide open as well with Patriot, George Marshall and Washington-Lee appearing to be among the top teams. Patriot was second at Octoberfest and have as their top runner, sophomore Rachel McArthur, who was six individually in the seeded race at Octoberfest. The race co-winners were Marshall freshmen twins Ashley Holt and Heather Holt, both of whom also finished among the top ten at Oatlands, while W-L, which lost some top runners due to graduation, was still third at Oatlands and are led by senior Donia Nichols.
The individual title on the girls side appears less predictable than the boys version, but it could come down to a battle between Loudoun Valley senior Ciara Donahue and senior Nora McCumber of Bethesda-Chevy Chase. Donahue was a solid second place finisher at Oatlands and McCumber recorded the second fastest time overall at the DCXC Invite in the nation's capitol, where the meet was set up as running versus your class grade.
Other top ten aspirants include seniors Emily Kaplan of Georgetown Visitation, who was second at this meet in 2012, and Chloe Bavin of Atlee; juniors Taylor Knibb from Sidwell Friends, Sara Freix of Westfield, Caitlin Donovan of Atlee and Reagan Bustamante from West Springfield along with sophomores Isabelle Oliver from Trinity School at Meadow View, Loudoun County's Grace Howard and Emily Keast of West Springfield and South County's Louisa McPherson.
JV Boys Race I (11:50)
Atlee
Bishop McNamara
Briar Woods
Bullis
CES Jewish Day
Flint Hill
Freedom South Riding
George C Marshall
George Mason
Georgetown Day
Gonzaga
Hayfield
John Champe
John Handley
Kettle Run
Langley
Loudoun County
Loudoun Valley
McLean
Millbrook
Mount Vernon
Our Lady of Good Counsel
Park View
Paul VI
Pope John Paul the Great
Sidwell Friends
St. Albans
St. Anselms
Tallwood
Thomas Jefferson
Trinity Christian
Trinity Meadow View
Wakefield
Yorktown
JV Boys Race 2 (12:30)
Annandale
BCC
Broad Run
Centreville
Chantilly
Dulaney
Falls Church
Forest Park
Gar-Field
Harrisonburg
James Madison
James Robinson
James Wood
Lake Braddock
Liberty
Linganore
Manchester
Patriot
Potomac
Potomac Falls
Quince Orchard
Rock Ridge
Sherwood
Skyline
South Lakes
Washington Lee
West Potomac
West Springfield
Westfield
Winston Churchill
Woodbridge
Woodgrove
22nd ANNUAL GLORY DAYS GRILL INVITATIONAL
CROSS COUNTRY FESTIVAL
WHEN: Saturday, October 11, 2014
WHERE: Bull Run Regional ParkSpecial Events Center
TIME: See Enclosed Schedule
ADMISSION: $5 per car
ENTRIES: School may enter a team in any or all races. Only one race per athlete. JV and Freshmen races have unlimited entries. All others are limited to 7 maximum entries. SEE ENCLOSED ENTRY FORM. Please return the Entry Form completed so that we may enter your teams into the proper races.
Note: We will be using the Ipico Chip Timing system at this years EVENT!!!!!! To register your team, you will need to go to www.milestat.com and register your athletes and enter your team into the Glory Days Grill meet. PLEASE MAKE SURE TO ONLY ENTER THOSE ATHLETES YOU KNOW ARE RACING. DONT SEND US YOUR ENTIRE ROSTER WHEN YOU WILL NOT BE SENDING ALL YOUR ATHLTES. WE GET CHARGED FOR THE CHIP WHETHER IT IS USED OR NOT, SO PLEASE BE AS ACCURATE AS POSSIBLE IN YOUR ENTRIES.
ROSTER: You must submit your roster and entries to www.milestat.com on or before October 6, 2014(the Monday prior to the race). This should also ensure that you enter the most accurate roster possible.
SANCTION: The meet will be sanctioned by the NFHS (Schools will be invited from VA, MD, and Washington, DC.)
ENTRY FEE: 2 Options: $60 per race.
$240 to enter 4 or more races
ENTRY DEADLINE: October 6th.
SCORING AND FINISH LINE: Coaches must be prepared to turn in accurate Quick Score. There will be detailed instructions in packet on the race day.
DIRECTIONS: See Enclosed
COURSE: 5000 meters. All Grass. Very open, excellent spectator course.
AWARDS: Medal to top 15 individuals in all races.
1st, 2nd, 3rd place wood carved plaques will be awarded in Freshman, Varsity B, and Seeded races.
FACILITIES: No Changing. No water. Not much shade. 24 port-a-johns, Athletic Trainer will be on site.
PARKING: Only one way into park. PLEASE FOLLOW SIGNS AND ATTENDANTS.
TRASH: PLEASE DONT LEAVE ANY!!!
To Bull Run Special Events Center
DIRECTIONS:
FROM BRADDOCK ROAD.Come all the way out Braddock, across Union Mill. Continue on New Braddock Rd. until you hit Route 28. Turn right on 28, and go 3 lights to route 29. Turn left on 29 and see continuation
FROM 29.Come all the way out Route 29 until you get to the Route 29 and Route 28 intersection and see continuation
FROM 66.Go west on 66 to exit 52 (Rt. 29). Turn right (South) at end of exit ramp and see continuation
CONTINUATION.From intersection of 28 and 29: Go south on Route 29, 3 miles to Bull Run Post Office Road. (Top of the hill-Bull Run Park sign on right) Turn left; Go 1.5 miles to Park (Dont get on Compton Road) As soon as you cross over Route 66, turn left at Shooting Range. Then go straight back as far as you can.
PLEASE DONT LEAVE ANY TRASH!!
GLORY DAYS GRILL
CROSS COUNRY RACE
TIME SCHEDULE:
8:30 AM Open Race you may enter on www.prraces.com this gives anyone running the opportunity to run and then watch/coach their athletes afterward. This race is intended for coaches, parents, youngsters, or anyone who wants to run on the same course as the high school athletes!!!!!!
9:00 am--Course opens for reviews. Packet pick-up.
9:30 am--Coaches meeting/Final packet pick-up
10:30 am--Freshman BOYS Race (unlimited entries)
11:10 am--Freshman GIRLS Race (unlimited entries)
11:50 am -- JV BOYS (Division 1)
---RANDOM SPLIT--
12:30 pm JV BOYS (Division 2)
1:10 pm -- JV GIRLS
2:00 pm -- Varsity B BOYS
2:30 pm -- Varsity B GIRLS
3:00 pm -- Seeded Varsity BOYS
3:30 pm -- Seeded Varsity GIRLS
4:15 pm -- Awards Ceremony for all races on stage we will be pushing daylight, so please be there ASAP.
DONT LEAVE ANY TRASH!!
Tee Shirts and Concessions will be sold
ENTRY FORM
21st ANNUAL GLORY DAYS GRILL
CROSS COUNTRY INVITATIONAL
OCTOBER 12th, 2013
SCHOOL NAME: ___________________________________________
SCHOOL ADDRESS_________________________________________
COACHS NAME____________________________________________
COACHS PHONE# (SCHOOL)________________________________
(HOME)_____________________________________
(E-MAIL)___________________________________
ROSTERS MUST BE ENTERED ON WWW.MILESTAT.COM AND YOU MUST ENTER INTO THE GLORY DAYS GRILL INVITATIONAL
PLEASE CHECK RACES YOU PLAN TO ENTER:
FRESHMAN (UNLIMITED) GIRLS_____ BOYS_____
JV (UNLIMITED-NO TEAM SCORE) GIRLS_____ BOYS_____
VARSITY B (7 MAX) GIRLS_____ BOYS_____
SEEDED VARSITY(7 MAX) GIRLS_____ BOYS_____
TOTAL NUMBER OF RACES ENTERED: ___________________
AMOUNT ENCLOSED: ____________________________________
MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO: NVCCTFA
MAIL TO: Mike Kiernan
3948 Bradwater Street
Fairfax, VA 22031
QUESTIONS? Contact: Mike Kiernan, mjkiernan@fcps.edu