The preseason #1 ranked runners in Group AA in Peter Dorrell of Blacksburg and Laura Rapp of Heritage did nothing to hurt their standings in their season openers at the Knights Crossing Invitational in Salem. Dorrell proceeded to break his own course record at Green Hill Park with a 15:37 win, while Rapp was able to hold off a strong challenge to the line by Hanover sophomore Lauren Hopper (2nd, 18:41) for a 18:41 victory. Meanwhile, the Blacksburg girls competing without one of their top runners in Laurel MacMilllan looked mighty tough with nearly six under 20 minutes as they clearly are a stronger than in 2006 from top to bottom as last year's group counted on a strong front three to make up for any weakeness areas after. The Thomas Jefferson boys showed themselves to be a team very capable of continuing Coach Matt Ryan's streak of state podium finishes in this past decade with a team title at Knights Crossing as Brian Landry led the Colonials with his first cross country race in two years with a fourth place effort of 16:04. Lebanon's Jakob Maidens made defending Group A state cross country champion Nathan Brame realize a second title will not come easy as it took a great kick by Brame to not be dealt a defeat by Maidens. Knights Crossing Photo Gallery by Brandon Miles - 1171 total photos. Black division photos to be added.Knights Crossing Race Videos: Red Division Boys - Red Division Girls - Black Division Boys - Black Division Girls - Middle School - Open Knights Crossing Video Interviews: Peter Dorrell - Laura Rapp - Lauren Hopper - Nathan Brame Knights Crossing Photo Gallery by Brandon Miles will be posted on Monday night.
Coverage
Photos taken by Brandon Miles from the 2007 Knights Crossing Invitational held at Green Hill Park in Salem, Virginia on Saturday, September 15th.
Coaches,Thank you everyone so much for choosing to attend the 4th Annual KnightsCrossing Cross-Country Invitational. We are very excited about thisyear's field of teams and runners. There will be 37 high schools and 13middle schools participating. There is a current total of 986 runnersbetween 7 races. This year's invitational includes 26 state rankedrunners and 12 teams according to Milesplit on 9/5/07. Please seeattachments for the full list of teams and runners. We are also proud tobe hosting one of the largest cross-country invitational in the RoanokeValley's history.I want to give everyone some important information on this year'sinvitational!-Coach Maguire, Cave Spring High School
Looking ahead to a MileStat.com featured event two weekends from now on September 15th, the Knights Crossing Invitational has a total of 36 schools entered with only 7 spots remaining before the meet closes. The meet is featured on a fast and flat 5K course at Green Hill Park in Salem. MileStat.com will have on-site coverage with Brandon Miles. Quite a few teams are being drawn to the meet outside of the Roanoke Valley area with the likes of Thomas Jefferson Science & Tech in Alexandria and Richmond area schools Cosby and Hanover. Meet page on MileStat.com with additional meet information