Oatlands Invitational 2007

 Girls Start at Wave ManiaGreenwich Girls win big at Ocean State Invitational (RI)Saratoga girls win at Oatlands (VA)Warwick and Queensbury boys both continue win streaks at home invitationals.Video and Photo Galleries from Ocean State Invitational to be posted Sunday and Monday.  VIDEOS POSTED- BOYS CHAMPIONSHIP - GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIPS - BOYS VARSITY 1Ursuline beats Bronxville at VCP for DeWitt Clinton title 36-39left: Kyle Merber (Half Hallow Hills West) wins the DeWitt Clinton Invitational at VCP in 16:18.

Hannah Davidson led Saratoga Springs NY with a 18:04 victory at Oatlands. Photo by Ted Plunkett After the 2006 Oatlands Invitational, the meet organizers from Loudon County High School created a DVD of the meet and mailed it out to 100 cross country programs across the country in hopes of drawing a more elite field in 2007.  Answering the call was Saratoga Springs High School from Saratoga Springs, New York.  The nationally renowned program from over 400 miles away made the trip to Leesburg, Virginia to get a taste of cross country in the Mid-Atlantic.  Likewise, upwards of 70 teams from Northern Virginia and the DC Metro area had the privilege of racing against one of the finest teams in the nation. Oatlands Invite Race Videos: Varsity A Boys - Varsity A Girls - Varsity B Boys - Varsity B Girls Oatlands Invite Photo Gallery by Ted Plunkett - 1382 photos total including race pics from all divisions and awards.

 After taking a narrow early season defeat to AA squad Potomac Falls at the Frank Keyser Invite earlier in the season, the Thomas Jefferson boys will be looking to even the score with a win at the Oatlands Invitational. Thomas Jefferson competed without their top runner Brian Landry against Potomac Falls, and showed their true potential with Landry in the lineup at Knights Crossing two weeks ago with a convincing win and nearly five under 17 minutes for 5K. Landry will also find himself in the same race this Saturday with two fellow contenders for the Northern Region title in Thomas Edison's Leoule Degfae and T.C. Williams' Bradshaw Kenimer. Kenimer (pictured above by Ted Plunkett) is looking to defend his Oatlands title from a year ago and re-assert himself as the Northern Region title favorite.

  There is definitely room for two big meets on the final weekend of September as while the McDonald's Maymont Festival will be held in Richmond this weekend, an equally large invitational with over 3,500 runners will going off at Oatlands Plantation in Leesburg, Virginia for the Oatlands Invitational. The meet was able to draw one of the country's historically best cross country programs in the Saratoga Springs girls from New York and will feature some stellar individual runners. The Virginian girls will try to hold their own as Walt Whitman's Morgan Gay also could make it an out-of-state sweep, but VA #3 and AAA #1 ranked Lia DiValentin (pictured above by Ted Plunkett) of Chantilly leads an outstanding group of homestate girls to make a top ten finish no easy feat for some of the state's better runners.

The 2007 Oatlands Invitational will take place on Saturday, September 29th on the grounds of the Oatlands Plantation located just south of Leesburg on Route 15.  The event is co-sponsored by Loudoun County High School and Freedom High School and organized annually by Derek Farrey and Matt Oblas.  In only it’s third year of existence, the meet attracts teams from five different states including schools from as far north as New York.  The competition is comprised of 71 teams and over 3,500 runners, making this one of the largest meets in Virginia.  The featured team this year is Saratoga Springs High School out of New York and they bring a girl’s team that is ranked #10 in the NTN (Nike Poll)  and Harrier polls.  Saratoga Springs’ Hannah Davidson returns as the overall top female runner from the state of New York. MileStat.com will have on-site coverage of the Oatlands Invitational with photos by Ted Plunkett and video, interviews, and story from Kevin Milsted.