DCXC - RunWashington

Don’t listen for Ricky Fetterolf to speak, watch her run

Published October 17, 2019 at 4:00PM | Updated October 17, 2019 at 5:58PM

Marc Hunter has been around runners long enough to know that even with the benefit of a meritocracy, seniority can often dominate in a team dynamic. That’s why he was surprised to hear then-freshman Ricky Fetterolf say something at a Loudoun Valley team meeting two years ago.

“It was gutsy, because we had a top-heavy team and it’s understandable for a freshman to just sit back and listen,” he said. “We had a top-heavy team, with a lot of seniors, but she voiced her opinion and I respected that about her. So did a lot of the girls.”

Gavin McElhennon bets on a late-season surge

By Charlie Ban

Published October 16, 2019 at 4:00PM | Updated October 16, 2019 at 4:29PM

Gonzaga senior Gavin McElhennon. Photo: Ed Lull

Gavin McElhennon got good in a hurry his second year of cross country running. With any luck, he can do it again.

Unable to run for most of the spring thanks to a groin injury, McElhennon finally relented as the school year ended, knowing that rushing to get back on the track wouldn’t win him anything except frustration as the goalposts for his return moved away every time he started up.

Competitive races make for exciting Glory Days Invitational

By Charlie Ban

Published October 13, 2019 at 9:00AM | Updated October 13, 2019 at 7:44PM

Photo: Charlie Ban

Tight packs kept spectators guessing throughout the Glory Days Grill Invitational, as no runner took over the race until very late, with some top-five finishes in boys and girls races jumbling even in the last 200 meters.

Ultimately, Yorktown senior Albert Velikonja won his second invitational of the season and Centreville junior Camilla McKinstry won her first ever invitational.

Kellen Hasle wakes up to what he can do on the cross country course

By Charlie Ban

Published October 10, 2019 at 3:00PM | Updated October 14, 2019 at 7:22PM

Oatlands

The eternal struggle shook the Hasle household. Teenaged Kellen wanted to stay in bed, his mom wanted the exact opposite, the summer after he finished eighth grade.

Ava Gordon adjusts “on the climb” to a new school, team

By Charlie Ban

Published October 9, 2019 at 3:00PM | Updated October 9, 2019 at 3:27PM

Loudoun Valley sophomore Ava Gordon. Photo: Ed Lull

Things were going quite well for Ava Gordon during her freshman year at Rock Ridge High School. She was the top freshman in Virginia’s 5A division, finishing fourth at the state meet and 15th at Nike Cross Southeast. She liked her coach and her teammates and running around Ashburn.

The problem was, other people were coming to like Ashburn, too. The population growth was forcing the Loudoun County School District to expand, adding Independence High School. That meant students eastern Loudoun County would be redistributed among Rock Ridge, Independence and Briar Woods. At the same time, her family decided it was time for Ava’s grandmother to move in, and that would mean needing more room of their own. So the Gordons headed west, and Ava and her older sister Alex.

Cross country is middle distance for Zoe Edelman

By Charlie Ban

Published October 3, 2019 at 3:00PM | Updated October 3, 2019 at 3:31PM

Washington Latin junior Zoe Edelman. Photo: Ed Lull

Over a 5k, Zoe Edelman barely gets warmed up.

Thanks because the Washington Latin junior got her real start in racing doing half marathons. In 2016, at age 12, she ran the Rock ‘n’ Roll D.C. Half Marathon in just over two hours with her father, Josh.

After an injury scare, Luke Tewalt is back on track

By Charlie Ban

Published October 2, 2019 at 3:00PM | Updated October 2, 2019 at 3:22PM

When he tore onto the track at Kenilworth Park while finishing the DCXC Invitational, Luke Tewalt wasn’t upset to be counted third among seniors. Nearing the finish line as the clock turned over into the 15:30s, he knew he was going to PR no matter what (he ran 15:35), and that was unthinkable a few weeks before.

On his second set of one of his favorite workouts as Washington Latin Public Charter School’s season got started, he felt something go wrong in his right glute.

Confidence powers Elise Abbe’s improvement

By Charlie Ban

Published October 1, 2019 at 11:00AM | Updated November 7, 2019 at 11:28AM

Elise Abbe, on her way to second at the 2018 Third Battle Invitational. Photo: Charlie Ban

She already went through the trouble of doing the training. Coming to the meet. Warming up.

As long as she’s there, Elise Abbe might as well run really, really hard.

Lentz, Graham win Octoberfest Invitational

By Charlie Ban

Published September 30, 2019 at 2:00PM | Updated October 13, 2019 at 5:48PM

Nyla Carter-Ogden climbs the penultimate hill on the Octoberfest Invitational course. The Chantilly girls won the meet. Photo: Charlie Ban

Colin McCauley feels like he could outkick most runners. Bryce Lentz knows he can’t. The two sped off at the Octoberfest Invitational, just knowing that at some point Lentz would have to run McCauley’s legs off if he had a chance of winning.

Under overcast skies, they started fast and pulled clear of third place finisher David Barron of Westfield in the first few minutes.

Clouds bring good fortune to luckly DCXC Invitational racers

By Charlie Ban

Published September 30, 2019 at 9:00AM | Updated October 2, 2019 at 4:01PM

Photo: Dustin Whitlow

There’s apparently a second layer to astrology that goes beyond newspaper horoscopes. According to my coworker, what time of day you were born adds a tint of good or bad fortune. For runners at the DCXC Invitational, what time of day they started their race made all the difference.

That’s because cloud cover alternated from race to race, providing much-needed relief from heat that reached the upper 80s throughout the afternoon, while also surprising some runners when they got on the starting line, thinking the hot part of the day was behind them. Those varying conditions just hammered home that the races, divided among graduating class, existed separately of each other. The format also gives runners a chance to race against their peers only, offering each class a chance in the spotlight. That did some favors for the seniors, whose races had the most comfortable temperatures irrespective of cloud cover.