Meet Information
Course Map and Box Assignments
Meet Program
JV Boys Division 1 (11:50 race)
Bishop Ireton
Bishop O'Connell
Briar Woods
Bullis
Charles E Smith Jewish Day Schoo
Flint Hill School
Freedom (South Riding)
George C. Marshall
Georgetown Day School
Heritage (Leesburg)
Howard High School
Kettle Run
Loudoun County
Loudoun Valley
McLean
Millbrook
Mount Vernon
Our Lady of Good Counsel
Patrick Henry (Ashland)
Paul VI Catholic
Pope John Paul the Great
Potomac Falls
Potomac Senior High School
Seneca East
Sidwell Friends
Spotswood
St. Albans School
St. Anselm's Abbey School
The Heights School
Thomas Jefferson S&T
Trinity Christian School
Wakefield High School
Yorktown
JV Boys Division 2 (12:30 race)
Annandale
Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School
C.D. Hylton
Centreville
Chantilly
Dulaney High School
Forest Park
Gar-Field
Harrisonburg
Hayfield Secondary School
Herndon
James Madison
James Robinson
James Wood High School
Lake Braddock
Liberty (Bealeton) High School
Patriot
Quince Orchard High School
Riverbend
Rock Ridge High School
Severna Park
South County High School
South Lakes
W.T. Woodson
Washington-Lee High School
West Potomac
West Springfield
Westfield
Winston Churchill
Woodbridge
Woodgrove
PREVIEW BY PEARL WATTS:
We are once again pleased to welcome all of the competitors, coaches, parents, other friends and relatives; along with the numerous volunteer helpers and also, the usual long time supporters of high school cross country, to the 22nd Annual Glory Days Grill Invitational to be held at Bull Run Regional Park on Saturday, October 10, 2015.
Meet management, as usual, is looking forward to another fine day of competitive racing, with approximately 2,500 runners representing 70 different schools from Virginia, Maryland and D.C. scheduled to compete in one of the nine different high school races to be contested on Bull Run's 5,000 meter course.
While there have been a couple of times in past years when the course has had to be altered a bit due to uncompromising weather conditions and various changes in the park landscape, the course setup this year should be virtually the same this year that it has been for the past few years, as meet originator Mike Dobson continues to try and maintain 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 who are starting to gear towards their upcoming championship season beginning later this month. And the meet will once again try to fulfill all of the coaches and runners needs, with a variety of races scheduled to accommodate not just the top runners, but the various skill levels of all the participants.
The first race of the day is at 8:30 a.m. and is not one of the high school team versions, but will be an "open" race for any coaches, parents, pre-high school age, etc participants who are willing to see how they handle the course at Bull Run and then have an early glimpse at what the high schoolers will be tackling later in the day.
After the conclusion of the open race, the course will then be opened up for review for all the high school competitors at 9:00 a.m. Coaches can also pick up their team packets at that time at the finish line area tent. Included in the packets should be the chips for the runners, in addition to the bib numbers and general meet information.
Final packet pickup is at 9:30 a.m, which also coincides with the start of the all important coaches meeting. That meeting will be conducted by meet director Mike Kiernan and will be held once again at the Pavillion stage, located to the left of the box office and concessions area.
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 race at 11:10 a.m. A nice perk from this meet 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.
Unlike some of the other invites and championship meets, the different classes of these races will have each of the boys race classes 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 schools' distance running programs, and like the freshmen races, are 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 a.m. and the Division 2 boys junior varsity race heads off at 12:30 p.m.
They will be followed by what is usually the largest field of the day, the junior varsity girls (378 finishers last year), 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 in size for each school to the standard number of seven individuals; as possible scoring entries for their schools.
Highlighting the day for many will be the Seeded Varsity races with the boys scheduled for a 3:00 p.m. sendoff and the girls set for a 3:30 p.m. start, as many of the top individuals and teams from the metropolitan area get a chance to 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 would be greatly appreciated and will greatly aid in a timely exit from the park at well before sunset.
Glory Days Grill is now in its sixteenth 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 the myriad of activity and cooperation that is necessary to create this annually successful event.
Jeff, Bob and Rich, along with Gary Cohen, Charissa Costa, Katie Easterbrook and the rest of the Glory Days Grill staff, would also like to give a big thank you in advance to all of the volunteers involved in concessions, parking, results compilation, marshaling of the start and finish line areas and the race course itself, and also all of the 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, Joe Belkoski, George Siragusa, Mark Stripe, Charlie Lihn, Tom Cook and Potomac River Running ("PR") for all of the extra time and help they donate each year.
FURTHER REMINDERS
We will once again be using the (Ipico) chip timing system. Coaches will be requested to turn in their team chips as promptly as possible upon the conclusion of the final race of the day for their respective schools.
The "chip timing return area" for this year will once again 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 concession area, along with the increasingly popular Glory Days Grill Prize Wheel, etc.etc.
With the number of runners possibly exceeding 2,500 who will be competing throughout the day, that will also mean plenty of motorized vehicles entering and exiting the park. All drivers need to obey all the parking signs and especially adhere to all directions on where to park by the designated parking attendants.
Those parking attendants have a plan and will be sticking to it. Some of it will involve preventive maintenance that cannot be foreseen by some of you arriving spectators and Murphy's Law can also be a factor. We want to ensure that nobody is needlessly blocked in by someone else and especially that no vehicles have any chance of blocking any part of the cross country course.
First call for each race will be twenty minutes before the start of each of those races. Coaches are greatly encouraged to tell their runners to check in at first call. Better early, rather than late. No extra stress wanted or needed. The competitors will then be able to acclimate to the location of their pre-assigned starting box and then would have plenty of time and also ample space to warm up since although the finish line is not all that far from the starting line, the starting line area does not factor into the finish area.
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 area a few minutes after the conclusion of each of those races and is always a nice photo opportunity for those award winners at that time.
Please do not impede the progress of the runners during any part of 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 finish line straightaway where sometimes spectators invariably display different degress 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 been 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 seventh year in a row.
However, coaches will still be obliged to turn in a quickscore 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 at www.milestat.com as Nolan Jez and company work at keeping everyone informed on the activities and happenings for each week from around the commonwealth and beyond.
Thanks to everyone, in advance, and good luck to all of the racing participants.
BOYS AND GIRLS SEEDED VARSITY PREVIEW
Dulaney (MD) is the defending boys team champion and fields another very strong team again this year. The school has a long and rich running tradition. I was privileged to see the late Bob Wheeler, who qualified for the U.S.Olympic team at 1,500 meters in 1972 while competing for Duke University, establish the national high school indoor record in the 600 yard run at the then newly surfaced 220 yard indoor track at the Naval Academy in 1969, while Mr. Wheeler was wearing the Dulaney singlet.
Dulaney is led by Eric Walz, who is one of the top returnees from last year's meet after finishing fourth overall and their top five is complemented nicely by Sean Smith, Andrew King. Elijah Hawkins and Austin Carey.
Lake Braddock is breaking from their usual tradition for this meet and this year, at least, will have all hands on deck. The Bruins had an impressive performance in winning the Monroe Parker Invite at Burke Lake four weekends ago and looks ready to post some fairly quick 5k times on the board to bring some of those slanted ranking lists based solely on 5k p.r. times to a bit more normalcy.
The Bruins have a very solid seven, to say the least, with the group of Colin Schaefer, Ben Fogg, Conor Lyons, Spencer Jolley, Evan Chase, Cavanaugh McGaw and David Meskill.
Thomas Jefferson Science and Tech was third last year and has had a very good first half of the season with runnerup finishes at both Monroe Parker and the Oatlands Invitational and a very good late August showing at Great Meadow.
The lead runner for the Colonials is junior Saurav Velleleth, followed by the scoring group of senior Nate Foss, juniors Nathan Riopelle and William Baxley and sophomore Dylan Klapper.
Severna Park (MD) finished third at Oatlands three weekends ago, behind Jefferson, with their top five of Andrew Forsyth, Joshua Tucker, Kasey Gelfand, Spencer Davis and Christian Isham while Good Counsel (MD) placed second at the GDG Invite last year and should be in the mix with senior Jack Wavering returning as the fifth place finisher from a year ago, along with senior teammates Matt Lopez and Kevin McGivern and junior Jimmy Vazzana.
The top individual returnee from last year is Millbrook's Tyler Cox-Philyaw, who finished second to Loudoun Valley's Drew Hunter. Millbrook certainly has another potential medalist in Alec Schrank and the other returning medalist from last year's seeded varsity race along with Cox-Philyaw, Walz and Wavering is senior Tristan Colaizzi of Georgetown Day (ninth).
Other top individuals who bear watching and mentioning include senior Kevin Dannaher of O'Connell; juniors Dan Horoho of Centreville and Chantilly's Brandon McGorty; Forest Park senior Jacob Taylor; the George Marshall trio of Alexander Haight, Patrick Lynch and Maxwell Carpenter; Robinson's Hunter Jutras; Will Smagh from Loudoun Valley; Quince Orchard (MD) junior Liam Walsh and seniors Taylor Knibb of Sidwell Friends, Robert Lockwood from W.T. Woodson and West Springfield's Andrew Lackey.
On the girls side; with Lake Braddock deciding to run their top seven this year at the meet, it would certainly make perfect sense to call Lake Braddock the pre-meet favorite. The Bruins were winners of the Monroe Parker Invite without racing their top runner, junior Kate Murphy, and with Murphy, who enjoyed tremendous success all last school year, even through the outdoor track and field post season at the U.S. Junior Nationals ready to go, Lake Braddock looks primed for a fine team effort from Sarah Daniels, Sonya Butseva, Samantha Schwers, Emily Schiesl, Taylor Kitchen and Madeline McAvoy.
James Madison also ran very well at Monroe Parker to finish second behind Braddock with Morgan Wittrock and Devon Williams as their front runners, and the Warhawks have a very close group in the three through seven positions with Jeana Bogdon, Catherine Stone, Katherine Fox, Marissa Marsh and Amelia Wilson.
The next closest challenger to Lake Braddock and Madison may be Bethesda-Chevy Chase (MD), home of the great Gordon Oliver led boys teams of the early '70's. The girls are looking to make the noise this century with their top seven of Michaela Peterson, Virginia Brown, Zoe Neuchterlein, Abigail Levine, Anaiah Little-diop, Katherine Ellis and Madison Silver.
Returning medalists from last year, hoping to improve on their individual peformances from the 2014 edition, are sophomore Page Lester from National Cathedral (third); senior Sara Freix of Westfield (sixth), Good Counsel sophomore Claudia Wendt (eighth), Loudoun County junior Grace Howard (12th) and senior Kristin Meek of Dulaney (14th).
The big name on the board who is also scheduled to compete is Weini Kelati of Heritage (Leesburg). A sophomore in her final year of high school eligiblilty, the Eritrean with barely more than a year of living in the U.S. and who enjoyed a pretty good amount of success last year, put not just the state of Virginia on alert, but also the rest of the country after her more than impressive time of 17:11 at the Oatlands Invitational.
Appearing to having adjusted much more to the life and the lifestyle here now, Kelati's first mile at Oatlands was in the 5:05-5:07 range. She likes to get out fast and not a whole lot of people will be shocked if she is ready for something in the 5:15 range or quicker for the first mile at Glory Days, and it will be interesting to see where Kate Murphy of Lake Braddock and some of the other top runners situate themselves for the first half of the race if she does so.
Some of the other top runners looking to well placed at race's end include Marshall sophomore Heather Holt, the winner this year at Monroe Parker; sophomore Jessica Sinclair and senior Lisa Kripowicz from Forest Park; Weini Kelati's Freedom teammate, senior Georgie McKenzie; Robinson's Mary Katherine Mastaler; sophomore Natalie Morris from Loudoun Valley; Kathryn Howley and Caroline Howley of McLean; Rock Ridge sophomore Kathryn Harris and from Sidwell Friends, senior Taylor Knibb.
22nd ANNUAL GLORY DAYS GRILL INVITATIONAL
CROSS COUNTRY FESTIVAL
WHEN: Saturday, October 10, 2015
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, 2015(the Tuesday prior to the race). This should also ensure that you enter the most accurate roster possible. We limit this event to 70 teams.
SANCTION: The meet will be sanctioned by the NFHS (Schools will be invited from VA, MD, and Washington, DC.)
ENTRY FEE: 2 Options: $70 per race.
$280 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 10th, 2015
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
Meet Program
JV Boys Division 1 (11:50 race)
Bishop Ireton
Bishop O'Connell
Briar Woods
Bullis
Charles E Smith Jewish Day Schoo
Flint Hill School
Freedom (South Riding)
George C. Marshall
Georgetown Day School
Heritage (Leesburg)
Howard High School
Kettle Run
Loudoun County
Loudoun Valley
McLean
Millbrook
Mount Vernon
Our Lady of Good Counsel
Patrick Henry (Ashland)
Paul VI Catholic
Pope John Paul the Great
Potomac Falls
Potomac Senior High School
Seneca East
Sidwell Friends
Spotswood
St. Albans School
St. Anselm's Abbey School
The Heights School
Thomas Jefferson S&T
Trinity Christian School
Wakefield High School
Yorktown
JV Boys Division 2 (12:30 race)
Annandale
Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School
C.D. Hylton
Centreville
Chantilly
Dulaney High School
Forest Park
Gar-Field
Harrisonburg
Hayfield Secondary School
Herndon
James Madison
James Robinson
James Wood High School
Lake Braddock
Liberty (Bealeton) High School
Patriot
Quince Orchard High School
Riverbend
Rock Ridge High School
Severna Park
South County High School
South Lakes
W.T. Woodson
Washington-Lee High School
West Potomac
West Springfield
Westfield
Winston Churchill
Woodbridge
Woodgrove
PREVIEW BY PEARL WATTS:
We are once again pleased to welcome all of the competitors, coaches, parents, other friends and relatives; along with the numerous volunteer helpers and also, the usual long time supporters of high school cross country, to the 22nd Annual Glory Days Grill Invitational to be held at Bull Run Regional Park on Saturday, October 10, 2015.
Meet management, as usual, is looking forward to another fine day of competitive racing, with approximately 2,500 runners representing 70 different schools from Virginia, Maryland and D.C. scheduled to compete in one of the nine different high school races to be contested on Bull Run's 5,000 meter course.
While there have been a couple of times in past years when the course has had to be altered a bit due to uncompromising weather conditions and various changes in the park landscape, the course setup this year should be virtually the same this year that it has been for the past few years, as meet originator Mike Dobson continues to try and maintain 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 who are starting to gear towards their upcoming championship season beginning later this month. And the meet will once again try to fulfill all of the coaches and runners needs, with a variety of races scheduled to accommodate not just the top runners, but the various skill levels of all the participants.
The first race of the day is at 8:30 a.m. and is not one of the high school team versions, but will be an "open" race for any coaches, parents, pre-high school age, etc participants who are willing to see how they handle the course at Bull Run and then have an early glimpse at what the high schoolers will be tackling later in the day.
After the conclusion of the open race, the course will then be opened up for review for all the high school competitors at 9:00 a.m. Coaches can also pick up their team packets at that time at the finish line area tent. Included in the packets should be the chips for the runners, in addition to the bib numbers and general meet information.
Final packet pickup is at 9:30 a.m, which also coincides with the start of the all important coaches meeting. That meeting will be conducted by meet director Mike Kiernan and will be held once again at the Pavillion stage, located to the left of the box office and concessions area.
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 race at 11:10 a.m. A nice perk from this meet 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.
Unlike some of the other invites and championship meets, the different classes of these races will have each of the boys race classes 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 schools' distance running programs, and like the freshmen races, are 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 a.m. and the Division 2 boys junior varsity race heads off at 12:30 p.m.
They will be followed by what is usually the largest field of the day, the junior varsity girls (378 finishers last year), 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 in size for each school to the standard number of seven individuals; as possible scoring entries for their schools.
Highlighting the day for many will be the Seeded Varsity races with the boys scheduled for a 3:00 p.m. sendoff and the girls set for a 3:30 p.m. start, as many of the top individuals and teams from the metropolitan area get a chance to 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 would be greatly appreciated and will greatly aid in a timely exit from the park at well before sunset.
Glory Days Grill is now in its sixteenth 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 the myriad of activity and cooperation that is necessary to create this annually successful event.
Jeff, Bob and Rich, along with Gary Cohen, Charissa Costa, Katie Easterbrook and the rest of the Glory Days Grill staff, would also like to give a big thank you in advance to all of the volunteers involved in concessions, parking, results compilation, marshaling of the start and finish line areas and the race course itself, and also all of the 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, Joe Belkoski, George Siragusa, Mark Stripe, Charlie Lihn, Tom Cook and Potomac River Running ("PR") for all of the extra time and help they donate each year.
FURTHER REMINDERS
We will once again be using the (Ipico) chip timing system. Coaches will be requested to turn in their team chips as promptly as possible upon the conclusion of the final race of the day for their respective schools.
The "chip timing return area" for this year will once again 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 concession area, along with the increasingly popular Glory Days Grill Prize Wheel, etc.etc.
With the number of runners possibly exceeding 2,500 who will be competing throughout the day, that will also mean plenty of motorized vehicles entering and exiting the park. All drivers need to obey all the parking signs and especially adhere to all directions on where to park by the designated parking attendants.
Those parking attendants have a plan and will be sticking to it. Some of it will involve preventive maintenance that cannot be foreseen by some of you arriving spectators and Murphy's Law can also be a factor. We want to ensure that nobody is needlessly blocked in by someone else and especially that no vehicles have any chance of blocking any part of the cross country course.
First call for each race will be twenty minutes before the start of each of those races. Coaches are greatly encouraged to tell their runners to check in at first call. Better early, rather than late. No extra stress wanted or needed. The competitors will then be able to acclimate to the location of their pre-assigned starting box and then would have plenty of time and also ample space to warm up since although the finish line is not all that far from the starting line, the starting line area does not factor into the finish area.
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 area a few minutes after the conclusion of each of those races and is always a nice photo opportunity for those award winners at that time.
Please do not impede the progress of the runners during any part of 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 finish line straightaway where sometimes spectators invariably display different degress 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 been 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 seventh year in a row.
However, coaches will still be obliged to turn in a quickscore 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 at www.milestat.com as Nolan Jez and company work at keeping everyone informed on the activities and happenings for each week from around the commonwealth and beyond.
Thanks to everyone, in advance, and good luck to all of the racing participants.
BOYS AND GIRLS SEEDED VARSITY PREVIEW
Dulaney (MD) is the defending boys team champion and fields another very strong team again this year. The school has a long and rich running tradition. I was privileged to see the late Bob Wheeler, who qualified for the U.S.Olympic team at 1,500 meters in 1972 while competing for Duke University, establish the national high school indoor record in the 600 yard run at the then newly surfaced 220 yard indoor track at the Naval Academy in 1969, while Mr. Wheeler was wearing the Dulaney singlet.
Dulaney is led by Eric Walz, who is one of the top returnees from last year's meet after finishing fourth overall and their top five is complemented nicely by Sean Smith, Andrew King. Elijah Hawkins and Austin Carey.
Lake Braddock is breaking from their usual tradition for this meet and this year, at least, will have all hands on deck. The Bruins had an impressive performance in winning the Monroe Parker Invite at Burke Lake four weekends ago and looks ready to post some fairly quick 5k times on the board to bring some of those slanted ranking lists based solely on 5k p.r. times to a bit more normalcy.
The Bruins have a very solid seven, to say the least, with the group of Colin Schaefer, Ben Fogg, Conor Lyons, Spencer Jolley, Evan Chase, Cavanaugh McGaw and David Meskill.
Thomas Jefferson Science and Tech was third last year and has had a very good first half of the season with runnerup finishes at both Monroe Parker and the Oatlands Invitational and a very good late August showing at Great Meadow.
The lead runner for the Colonials is junior Saurav Velleleth, followed by the scoring group of senior Nate Foss, juniors Nathan Riopelle and William Baxley and sophomore Dylan Klapper.
Severna Park (MD) finished third at Oatlands three weekends ago, behind Jefferson, with their top five of Andrew Forsyth, Joshua Tucker, Kasey Gelfand, Spencer Davis and Christian Isham while Good Counsel (MD) placed second at the GDG Invite last year and should be in the mix with senior Jack Wavering returning as the fifth place finisher from a year ago, along with senior teammates Matt Lopez and Kevin McGivern and junior Jimmy Vazzana.
The top individual returnee from last year is Millbrook's Tyler Cox-Philyaw, who finished second to Loudoun Valley's Drew Hunter. Millbrook certainly has another potential medalist in Alec Schrank and the other returning medalist from last year's seeded varsity race along with Cox-Philyaw, Walz and Wavering is senior Tristan Colaizzi of Georgetown Day (ninth).
Other top individuals who bear watching and mentioning include senior Kevin Dannaher of O'Connell; juniors Dan Horoho of Centreville and Chantilly's Brandon McGorty; Forest Park senior Jacob Taylor; the George Marshall trio of Alexander Haight, Patrick Lynch and Maxwell Carpenter; Robinson's Hunter Jutras; Will Smagh from Loudoun Valley; Quince Orchard (MD) junior Liam Walsh and seniors Taylor Knibb of Sidwell Friends, Robert Lockwood from W.T. Woodson and West Springfield's Andrew Lackey.
On the girls side; with Lake Braddock deciding to run their top seven this year at the meet, it would certainly make perfect sense to call Lake Braddock the pre-meet favorite. The Bruins were winners of the Monroe Parker Invite without racing their top runner, junior Kate Murphy, and with Murphy, who enjoyed tremendous success all last school year, even through the outdoor track and field post season at the U.S. Junior Nationals ready to go, Lake Braddock looks primed for a fine team effort from Sarah Daniels, Sonya Butseva, Samantha Schwers, Emily Schiesl, Taylor Kitchen and Madeline McAvoy.
James Madison also ran very well at Monroe Parker to finish second behind Braddock with Morgan Wittrock and Devon Williams as their front runners, and the Warhawks have a very close group in the three through seven positions with Jeana Bogdon, Catherine Stone, Katherine Fox, Marissa Marsh and Amelia Wilson.
The next closest challenger to Lake Braddock and Madison may be Bethesda-Chevy Chase (MD), home of the great Gordon Oliver led boys teams of the early '70's. The girls are looking to make the noise this century with their top seven of Michaela Peterson, Virginia Brown, Zoe Neuchterlein, Abigail Levine, Anaiah Little-diop, Katherine Ellis and Madison Silver.
Returning medalists from last year, hoping to improve on their individual peformances from the 2014 edition, are sophomore Page Lester from National Cathedral (third); senior Sara Freix of Westfield (sixth), Good Counsel sophomore Claudia Wendt (eighth), Loudoun County junior Grace Howard (12th) and senior Kristin Meek of Dulaney (14th).
The big name on the board who is also scheduled to compete is Weini Kelati of Heritage (Leesburg). A sophomore in her final year of high school eligiblilty, the Eritrean with barely more than a year of living in the U.S. and who enjoyed a pretty good amount of success last year, put not just the state of Virginia on alert, but also the rest of the country after her more than impressive time of 17:11 at the Oatlands Invitational.
Appearing to having adjusted much more to the life and the lifestyle here now, Kelati's first mile at Oatlands was in the 5:05-5:07 range. She likes to get out fast and not a whole lot of people will be shocked if she is ready for something in the 5:15 range or quicker for the first mile at Glory Days, and it will be interesting to see where Kate Murphy of Lake Braddock and some of the other top runners situate themselves for the first half of the race if she does so.
Some of the other top runners looking to well placed at race's end include Marshall sophomore Heather Holt, the winner this year at Monroe Parker; sophomore Jessica Sinclair and senior Lisa Kripowicz from Forest Park; Weini Kelati's Freedom teammate, senior Georgie McKenzie; Robinson's Mary Katherine Mastaler; sophomore Natalie Morris from Loudoun Valley; Kathryn Howley and Caroline Howley of McLean; Rock Ridge sophomore Kathryn Harris and from Sidwell Friends, senior Taylor Knibb.
22nd ANNUAL GLORY DAYS GRILL INVITATIONAL
CROSS COUNTRY FESTIVAL
WHEN: Saturday, October 10, 2015
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, 2015(the Tuesday prior to the race). This should also ensure that you enter the most accurate roster possible. We limit this event to 70 teams.
SANCTION: The meet will be sanctioned by the NFHS (Schools will be invited from VA, MD, and Washington, DC.)
ENTRY FEE: 2 Options: $70 per race.
$280 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 10th, 2015
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