(Pictured above Kelton Cullenberg #15, Will Geoghegan #18 & Liam Cassidy #15 all finished in the top ten in the intermediate division, there team the Lakers TC won the national title in the 15-16yr old age group, photos by Brandon Miles--Milestat.com) Mainers come away with 9 All-American Awards at the USATF National Jr. Olympic XC Championship held at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, VA. Leading the way was the team championship won by the Lakers in the Intermediate Boys division. Team members were Kelton Cullenberg, Liam Cassidy, Will Geoghegan, Logan Price, Alex Moser, Luke Fontaine, & Jack Terwilliger. Check out over 2,000 photos of the meet courtesy of Brandon Miles of milestat https://va.milesplit.com/photos/albums/2814 Click headline to see who won All-American Awards
Coverage
Interview with Trinity senior Barbara Strehler at the 2008 USATF National JO Championships. Strehler earned All-American honors with a 3rd place finish in the young women division.
Interview with Midlothian 8th grader Sean Willard at the 2008 USATF National JO Championships. Willard earned All-American honors with a 15th place finish in the youth boys race.
Interview with All-Americans Ted Richardson of James River and Josh Morris of Jefferson Forest at the 2008 USATF National JO Championships.
Interview with Cosby fr Megan Moye at the 2008 USATF National JO Championships. Moye earned All-American honors with a 14th place finish in the youth girls race.
Interview with Atlee so Andy Hesse at the 2008 USATF National JO Championships. Hesse was an All-American with a 24th place finish in the intermediate boys 5K.
Bantam Girls 3K race from the 2008 USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships.
Bantam Boys 3K race from the 2008 USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships.
Midget Girls 3K race from the 2008 USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships held Saturday, December 13th at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, VA.
Midget Boys 3K race from the 2008 USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships held Saturday, December 13th at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, VA.
Young Women 5K race from the 2008 USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships held Saturday, December 13th at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, VA.
Youth girls 4K race from the 2008 USATF National Junior Olympic Championships held Saturday, December 13th at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, VA.
Youth Boys 4K race from the 2008 USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships held Saturday, December 13th at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, VA.
Intermediate girls 5K race from the 2008 USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships held Saturday, December 13th at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, VA.
Intermediate boys 5K race from the 2008 USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships held Saturday, December 13th at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, VA.
Young men 5K race from the 2008 USATF National Junior Olympic Championships held Saturday, December 13th at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, VA.
Photos taken by Brandon Miles from the 2008 USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships held Saturday, December 13th in Mechanicsville, VA.
Mt. Pleasant runner Jacob Spencer recaps his USATF season from Nov. 15 at the state meet in Spartanburg until the end of regionals on Nov. 22 in Virginia.
The Virginians fared well and were great hosts for the 2008 USATF National Junior Olympic Championships held at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville on Saturday. The Richmond Track & Field Club, consisting mainly of athletes from the Central Region and RIchmond area, saw three of its girls teams finishing among the top three with the youth girls, intermediate girls, and young women division teams all placing third in close team battles for the national title in particular for the intermediate girls and young women. Barbara Strehler of Trinity ran the fastest time among all Virginians to lead the Richmond T&F Club in the young women's division with a third place time of 18:46. Also earning All-American honors in the race with Strehler from Virginia were Herndon's Hiruni Wijayaratne (6th, 19:08), Maggie Walker's Susannah Piersol (11th, 19:26), Cosby's Jenna Moye (17th, 19:49), and Lee-Davis' Stephanie Cario (20th, 20:01). In the intermediate girls' race, Clover Hill sophomore Abby Badura was the top finisher from Virginia and the third place Richmond T&F Club with a 13th place effort of 19:26. Earning All-American honors with Badura were club teammates Clarissa Schick (15th, 19:31) of Maggie Walker and Lindsi Arrington (21st, 19:32) of Gar-Field. Two of the state's best freshmen girls this fall competed in the youth girls 4K race with Sarah Stites (7th, 15:10) of Thomas Jefferson and Megan Moye (14th, 15:19) of Cosby both earning All-American honors with their top 25 finishes in one of the most competitive races of the meet. None of the boys' teams were able to crack into top 3 award finishes, but there were several outstanding All-American individual performances. The young men's 5K race had three All-Americans from Virginia with Thomas Baker of Louisa leading the way in 3rd place with a time of 16:00 and then closely followed by Jefferson Forest's Josh Morris (7th, 16:02) and James River's Ted Richardson (8th, 16:03). It was a great post-season for all three runners as Baker and Richardson both ran well at Foot Locker South in the seeded race with PR runs, while Morris was not far away from qualifying for NXN at the regionals in Cary two weeks ago. Harrison Tucker of St. Christopher's had a busy Saturday as he earned All-American honors in the young men's race early afternoon with a 16th place finish (16:16) and then made it back over to St. Christopher's for a home quad meet and ran sub 10 in the 3200 to place second. He then finished his day accepting his All-American award at Hanover High School on Saturday evening. Ben Dejarnette may be one of the best runners in the state and hold numerous honors, but Atlee teammate Andy Hesse can brag to him that he's now an All-American over him after Hesse took one of the final All-American spots in the intermediate boys race with a 24th place run of 16:42. Another star runner is on his way to join Coach Morgan and the stellar Midlothian program with 8th grader Sean Willard, who earned All-American honors with a time of 13:47 to place 15th in the youth boys' 4K race. USATF National Junior Olympic Championships Photo Gallery by Brandon Miles - 2,124 total photos from all 10 races. USATF National Junior Olympic Championship Race Videos: Young Men 5K - Young Women 5K - Intermediate Boys 5K - Intermediate Girls 5K - Youth Boys 4K - Youth Girls 4K - Midget Boys 3K - Midget Girls 3K - Bantam Boys 3K - Bantam Girls 3K Post-Meet Audio Interviews: Barbara Strehler - Megan Moye - Ted Richardson & Josh Morris - Andy Hesse - Sean Willard Pre-Meet Video Interviews: Coach Holdren Results from USATF.org Bantam Girls results Bantam Boys results Midget Girls results Midget Boys results Youth Girls results Youth Boys results Intermediate Girls results Intermediate Boys results Young Women results Young Men results
Interview with Will Wartenberg from Ohio at the 2008 USATF National Junior Olympic Championships.
Interview with Brayden Shunski from Washington at the 2008 USATF National Junior Olympic Championships.
Interview with Jaime Wallace and Jenna Wallace from New York at the 2008 USATF National Junior Olympics.
Interview with USATF president and Richmond T&F Club president Jim Holdren at the 2008 USATF National Junior Olympic Championships.
A course preview video of the new designed Pole Green Park course for this weekend's USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships.
The USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships is typically a meet which is not well represented by high school athletes from Virginia, but this year is different with the national championship meet being held in our backyard at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville this Saturday. A strong representation of Virginians is also due in large part of the succesful recruitment of athletes to compete for the Richmond Track & Field Club with many of the area's best joining up to form teams in hopes of winning USATF National Junior Olympic team titles for their age groups. Our preview for the meet will be focusing on those "All-Star" club teams for each of the high school age divisions (YM/YW, IB/IG, YB/YG) and the individuals comprising those teams.
Information on the 2008 USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships, which will be held on Saturday at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, VA. MileStat.com will be on-site with coverage and a meet preview is on the way!
Having traveled all over the country for cross country competitions, Susannah Piersol might just win a junior national championships in her backyard. At the 2008 USA Track & Field National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships set for December 13, 2008 at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, Virginia, more than 3,000 athletes from across the United States will be vying for a shot at the title of cross country All-American and junior national champion. Piersol, who was second in her age group last year, will be one of them. “Personally, I think it’s really neat to have competed on a national level,” says Piersol, a 17-year-old senior at Maggie Walker Governor’s School. “You get so nervous, but it’s a good nervous because you can just let it out in your run. And I think the intensity is good prep for college racing.” Already an all-American cross country runner thanks her second place last year (the top 25 runners in the JOXC earn all-American status,) Piersol is grateful that such an important event falls in familiar territory. “I’m going to have fun on my home course,” says Piersol, “and still remember that it’s the national so I want to do my best.” Last year’s competition in Lawrence, Kansas attracted athletes from around the country who had progressed through USATF’s Junior Olympic Cross Country Program. The series of competitions is made up of Association Championships in USATF’s 57 local Associations, 15 Regional Championships, and ultimately the National Championships where the “best of the best” take the stage. Competition takes place in five two-year age divisions, from ages 10 & under to age 18. Note: MileStat.com is helping organize an All-Star club team of Richmond area athletes for the high school age groups to compete for the Richmond Track & Field Club and race for USATF Junior Olympic national team titles at Pole Green Park on December 13th. If interested in competing on this team, contact Brandon Miles at milestat@gmail.com
A four part interview with Sports Backers executive director Jon Lugbill discussing various topics including the purpose of Sports Backers and its impact on the running community in the Richmond area, the changes being made for this year's Maymont Festival, the bidding process for the 2008 USATF Junior Olympic National Cross Country Championships and improvements being made to the Pole Green Course, and raising the profile of running to the general public. Interview with Jon Lugbill of Sports Backers: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 Maymont X-Country Festival Website USATF Junior Olympic National XC Championships Website