National District Meet 2001

As appeared in the Journal Newspapers of Northern Virginia on
10/23/01

The basically come one, come all, invitational season is now down to
a
three round season where there are not as many called to the starting
line,
and even fewer are chosen to advance.

The first round will begin tomorrow, October 24, with the start of
the
district championships to be held at Burke Lake Park's 2.98 mile
course. The
Patriot District will be the first of the four districts to race toward
the
region and state championship rounds as they start things off at 3:15
p.m.
with the girls and then follow with the boys race at 3:45 p.m. The
National
District championship will also be on Wednesday with the girls race at
4:15
p.m. and the boys running at 4:45 p.m.

Thursday, October 25 at Burke Lake finds the Liberty District girls
race
beginning at 3:15 p.m. followed by the boys at 3:45 p.m. The Concorde
will
conclude the district action with the girls race at 4:15 p.m. and the
boys
race at 4:45 p.m.

The top four teams in each district for both girls and boys and also
any
individual in the top fifteen who is not among the top four teams
automatically qualifies for the next round, the Northern Region
Championships, to be held at Burke Lake Park on Thursday, November 1.
The
girls regional race will begin at 3:30 p.m. with the boys to follow at
4:00
p.m.

The top four teams and top fifteen individuals for both girls and
boys will
then qualify for the ultimate round, the state AAA championship meet to
be
held at the Great Meadow course in The Plains on Saturday, November 10.

National Girls: Yorktown is the defending champion and although they
may not
be strong enough to match last year's low winning total of 24 points,
appear
to be the favorite again. The Patriots return district champion Meggy
McGaffigan and fellow sophomore Katie Read as the district runnerup and
are
stong at the number three spot with Anna Rosen but will need more help
this
year at the number four and five positions to repel all challengers.

Stuart junior Pam Davis has been running as well as McGaffigan and
Read
this season and should challenge for the individual district title as
the
Raiders look to hold on to their runnerup team finish of a year ago.

Wakefield looks greatly improved and have an exciting newcomer in
freshman
Rebecca Zimmerman who is also among the favorites for the district
title
after winning the Varsity B race at the Glory Days Grill meet. The
Warriors
are also solid at the number two slot with senior Kristina Rios.

Edison looks to return to the regional meet and have Karen Dickerson
back
as their top district placer with Mount Vernon looking to challenge the
Eagles led by Kym Jones.

National Boys: Wakefield easily took the title last year with 20
points and
look capable of posting a score close to that once again. The Warriors
have
the defending district champion who was also a 2000 state meet
qualifier in
Abdi Dubed and they also have the returning district runnerup in senior
Javier Rios. Wakefield also is strong at the next two spots with
Messeret
Mengesha and Abdi Fala and if they can get last year's third place
district
finisher, Peter Quinzio, to recover somewhat from a mid-season injury
they
could also possibly challenge for a state meet slot.

Yorktown will look to maintain their runnerup spot from last year led
by
Eward McGaffigan while Stuart will also look to make the regional meet
again
with John Skrinski as their top runner. Falls Church returns one of the
district's top runners with senior Randy Carroll while Mount Vernon
will be
led by Robert Van Antwerp.