DCXC - RunWashington

When parents are the cross country rookies

Published September 6, 2022 at 11:00AM | Updated September 7, 2022 at 3:54PM

Parents and friends watch the 2015 Monroe Parker Invitational. Photo: Charlie Ban

As a new high school cross country season begins, there are things parents of aspiring runners need to know to best support their child’s budding interest in this glorious sport. Cross country is its own unique (and painful) animal. And high school cross country, with its range of talent, experience, and intensity among athletes, parents, and coaches, requires some advance preparation and understanding before diving in.

First, the setting matters. Races can range from tri or quad meets with just a few teams lining up in a parking lot, to a massive invitational with colorful tents, banners flying and packs of kids running around in every possible shade of bright matching singlets. It can feel more like a medieval fair than a modern day sporting event.

DCXC

WJ girls in five in a row, Green, Nakasaka, Lockett win Md. titles

By Charlie Ban

Published November 13, 2017 at 12:44PM | Updated November 26, 2017 at 3:21PM

Nobody on the Walter Johnson girls’ team has ever known a world in which they haven’t been defending state champions. That will continue for another year, after the Wildcats won their record fifth straight 4A title.

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DCXC

Lake Braddock girls win third straight title, Tuscarora’s third in four years

By Charlie Ban

Published November 12, 2017 at 7:53AM | Updated November 26, 2017 at 3:54PM

Olivia Beckner leads Heather Holt and Julia Ghiselli in the second mile of the 6A championship. Photo: Bruce Buckley.

Lake Braddock girls won their third straight 6A title, once again beating Oakton, winner of the two state meets before the Bruins’ streak started.

After three years of winning team scores in the 40s, the Bruins nearly doubled that, scoring 86 to Oakton’s 92.

DCXC

Loudoun Valley sweeps top five for Va.’s first perfect score

By Charlie Ban

Published November 12, 2017 at 7:45AM | Updated November 26, 2017 at 3:52PM

From right: Sam Affolder leads Peter Morris and Jacob Hunter in the second mile of the Virginia 4A championship. Photo: Bruce Buckley

On the eve of the the most dominant team race in Virginia history, Sam Affolder was a little disappointed.

“We had a team meeting, and I was expecting an inspirational speech about how we were going to make history and we’d come out fired up,” he said. “We talked about what we were going to wear the next day. Nothing about trying to sweep or go after the state record. I’d never had a pre-race meeting like that before.”

DCXC

Gonzaga, St. John’s win DC state meet

By Charlie Ban

Published November 4, 2017 at 5:22PM | Updated November 27, 2017 at 12:41PM

Luke Tewalt (left) clings to Gavin McElhennon halfway through the D.C. state cross country championships. Photo: Charlie Ban

It looked like Gavin McElhennon was making a mistake. As he powered his way around the perimeter of the Kenilworth Park fields, he let Luke Tewalt hang behind him. He blocked the wind, set the pace and put himself out there, vulnerable for Tewalt to attack and take over the lead in the D.C. state cross country championships.

But his confidence in his strength gave him a boost and let him know it was alright, and the move he made with a mile to go gave him the margin he needed to win. He wound up running away from Tewalt and finishing in 16:34, 21 seconds faster than Tewalt on a course measured by several team representatives to have been between 75 and 200 feet longer than 5k. A permit conflict with the Kenilworth Park track prevented the use of the same course used in last year’s state meet and four years of the DCXC Invitational.

DCXC

Teams sharpen up for the postseason at Third Battle Invitational

By Charlie Ban

Published October 14, 2017 at 7:26PM | Updated May 18, 2021 at 9:56PM

Runners have staked out their early positions a half mile into the Third Battle Invitational. Photo: Charlie Ban

Two Northern Virginia teams with hopes for making the state’s 6A meet under new challenges sharpened up for the post-season at the Third Battle Invitational, with J.E.B. Stuart’s boys and West Springfield’s girls getting the wins.

West Springfield put four runners in the top 16 to edge 5A’s Tuscarora, who themselves had two ahead of the Spartans, including overall winner Emma Wolcott (17:56). and Ava Hassebrock (18:34) in eighth.

DCXC

Maryland runners make themselves at home at Glory Days Invitational

By Charlie Ban

Published October 10, 2017 at 12:38PM | Updated December 14, 2017 at 4:11PM

Ryan Lockett nearing the end of the Glory Days Invitational. Photo: Charlie Ban

Maryland runners made themselves at home at Virginia’s Bull Run Regional Park, winning the individual and team titles at the Glory Days Invitational. Walter Johnson senior Abbey Green led the girls’ race from the start, and cleared the way for the Wildcats to claim the team title.

On the boys’ side, Poolesville’s Ryan Lockett overpowered Severna Park’s Garrison Clark in the last half mile, despite a rough start and a last-mile misstep.

DCXC

Runners meet heat challenge during fourth DCXC Invitational

By Charlie Ban

Published September 25, 2017 at 1:00PM | Updated December 14, 2017 at 4:18PM

Price Owens breaks the finish line tape to win the senior race at the DCXC Invitational. Photo: Dustin Whitlow/DWhit Photography

Basking in his 15:11 that led the day’s times at the DCXC Invitational, Grafton senior Price Owens summed up the day’s races without saying a word.

He threw back his head and guzzled from a gallon jug of water.

DCXC

Training for cross country is a little different in the city

By Isabella Tilley

Published September 18, 2017 at 11:13AM | Updated December 14, 2017 at 5:38PM

McKinley Tech High Schooler, Ruth Tesfai, runs through the streets of DC to train for her cross country competitions. Photography by Joy Asico

Cross country is a rough sport. Athletes brave all kinds of weather and all kinds of terrain; they run on hills, rocky trails, mud and sometimes even through creeks. Sometimes that iconic and pastoral racing environment isn’t available every day, but even in a “concrete jungle” with some of the worst traffic in the nation, many D.C. runners still log those miles.

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DCXC

Loudoun Valley shows off for D.C. area at Oatlands

By Charlie Ban

Published September 16, 2017 at 9:09PM | Updated March 30, 2018 at 3:30PM

Sam Affolder (middle) stalks Philip Lambert (left) and Peyton Barish 2k into the Oatlands Invitational. Photo: Charlie Ban

The Oatlands Invitational in Leesburg served as a showcase for the nearby Loudoun Valley, but not just the school’s nationally-top-ranked boys’ varsity team. Junior Sam Affolder‘s 15:43 win for 5k led the way for five team titles and three runner-up finishes for various Viking teams.

Affolder, seniors Peter Morris (third, 16:01) and Colton Bogucki (ninth, 16:19), and juniors Jacob Hunter (13th, 16:29) and Jacob Windle (20th, 16:52) scored 46 team points and had all finished before second place Cary, N.C.,’s Green Hope had two runners in. The Falcons, who also came up for the 2014 DCXC Invitational, scored 117 points and Delaware’s Salesianum School was third with 194 points.