In spite of a tough season, Northwood’s girls have a lot to celebrate. Even with two top runners missing time because of injuries, one the entire season, they’re on their way to the state championship for the first time in almost 30 years.
Lest that sound like a long futility streak, know that from 1987 to 2004, the school itself was closed and the building used as a haven for other school’s students during renovations. Prior to that, the team scored state championships in 1975, 1977 and 1978.
[button-red url=”http://www.mpssaa.org/cross-country-state-qualifiers-head-to-hereford-saturday/” target=”_self” position=”left”] See who’s going to states [/button-red]But none of the nine runners who started this season healthy knew they would be headed to Hereford. After every practice, they talked about going to states, but, Gabriella Armanda said, even though it was “definitely a goal we had throughout the entire season, I didn’t think we’d make it.”
But with their fifth place finish in the 3A West Region Championships last week, they stamped their ticket.= for Hereford High School in Parkton Saturday. Races start at 10 a.m. with the 4A girls.
Their outstanding performance at Watkins Mill was turned out to be indicative of the team’s ability to rise to challenges and exceed even their own expectations of this season.
Despite (or, perhaps, because of) the difficulty of the course, three of the five scoring runners had season or career best times. When asked about their performance, they said they just knew they had to come together.
“All of our times improved, regionals was supposed to be a harder course, and all of us ran faster, just because everyone was trying to make it to states,” said sophomore Manpreet Dajal.
Their training this year has consisted of going out and finding out the biggest hill around and pounding hill workouts along with track workouts. It’s made a difference.
“Now, it’s to the point where we, like can’t run flats,” said sophomore Medalia Adhanon. Hill work is a hallmark of cross country running, but is especially necessary for the state championship course at Hereford. The infamous course, containing two passes through a punishing ravine referred to as “The Dip” is the a real life horror store with which upperclassmen torture freshman.
The Northwood girls have raced the course already and have decided that “it’s fine.” It may be hard, but at least they know what to expect. That attitude gives them a decided edge going into this weekend’s meet. They have the confidence that they are masters of the incline, and that they’ve met every setback this season has brought head on. On and off the trails, they have a strong bond as teammates, which continues to push them to make the right choices.
Other than coach Michael Sauter‘s commitment to grueling hill work, there has been no magic formula that got the girls pushing it harder and running better. Run a lot of hills, race harder the more it counts, repeat. Throughout September and early October, the team had five meets over 15 days, all of them on hilly courses, which prepared them for the challenge of Watkins Mill and has them ready for the infamous Dip. The extra racing gave the non-injured players they advantage of getting to tour some of the regions toughest inclines.
Junior Brody Harkness adds that learning how to manage speed on hills improves their racing “now we can take advantage, you try to push yourself harder.” There doesn’t seem to be much that the Northwood girls cross country team is afraid of, but hills are the least of their fears. They do hills.
Junior Alexis Dune has been the fastest Northwood runner during her entire tenure there, and owns her team’s all-time fastest time on the state meet course. Of Hereford and The Dip, Dune says simply “It’s a good course, it works your legs.”
That may be a slight understatement. Dune has battled hamstring injuries this season. She shrugs it off, attributing it to the transition from track to trails. When she mentions it, she calls it a “minor injury,” saying, “well, I didn’t break anything.”
Her teammates are quick to chime in to say that she’s downplaying what she’s come back from. She thinks if she can control her breathing going up the hills then she’ll be fine. Senior captain Laura Goldman is excited, even though it’s a hard course, and not just because she know she won’t have to run it again after Saturday.
The team has a knack for approaching challenges head on, in a matter of fact way. They credit their bonds as teammates outside of competition for helping them get through the season. The tougher the circumstances, the more difficult the course, the stiffer the odds, the better the Northwood girls seem to fare. Going into states with their top runner healthy and a season worth of hill-conquering racing under their belts bodes well for this group.
The girls made t-shirts this year that pretty much sum up their attitude towards racing. They read: “It’s a hill….get over it.” They credit the challenges of the season – their early tough schedule and their injuries, for bringing them together as a team and creating the obvious strong rapport that helps drive their performance.
The girls team aren’t the only ones having outstanding seasons in cross country this year. Coming off a national championship at the Junior Olympics in the 3,000 meters this summer, junior Michael Abebe is having an outstanding season. Abebe has only been running cross country for two seasons, after playing tennis, and he will be one to watch at the state meet.
When asked who on the girl’s team would be the first to pass Abebe, the girls universally nominated Alexis Dune, but on any given day, the team seems to be able to do exactly what they put their minds to. Their performance in states will undoubtedly contain excitement, tenacity, and team spirit. And, of course, hills.
Racing down the final downhill straightaway in first place, with a strong finishing kick, Tyreece Huff was the picture of confidence. Even on a hilly course at Fort Dupont Park, with “brutal hills on the backstretch,” Huff was not fazed. “This course is like a backyard to me. I train here,” he said. “And I love hills.”
He proved his point, running a 17:42 on the rolling 5k course at the third annual D.C. State High School Cross Championships, winning with a wide lead over second place Jake Gosselin of Sidwell Friends School in 18:01.
[button-red url=”http://www.zippyraceresults.com/search.php?ID=4473″ target=”_self” position=”left”] Boys Results [/button-red]Understandably, Huff was happy with the outcome of the race. “I think I executed all my splits correctly,” he said. “Some parts were too fast, due to the adrenaline, but then I settled into it.”
[button-red url=”http://www.zippyraceresults.com/search.php?ID=4472″ target=”_self” position=”left”] Girls Results [/button-red]Huff, a junior at Phelps ACE High School in Northeast D.C., also competes on the track in sprints, middle distance, and the 2,000 meter steeplechase.
“He’s been a great runner the past three years, and just ran a fantastic race today, with a great kick, ” Sidwell Friends head coach Bill Wooden said of Huff.
Wooden has reason to be pleased, for his team’s top finish in the boys’ competition with a remarkable 19 points overall. “I’m very pleased with how they did,” he said. “They ran fantastic.”
Following Gosselin, a strong contingent of Sidwell runners swept spots three through five, with their fifth runner, Julian Dixon, finishing in ninth place in 18:42.
“I pushed that big hill on the second mile really hard,” Gosselin said, which may have taken away from some of his finishing kick. “I wish I could have pushed it more at the end. But we did great. I’m super proud of these guys.”
These guys include Christian Roberts, third place in 18:07, Sam Blazes in fourth in 18:09, and Amal Mattoo in fifth in 18:17. “It’s fun when we can run as a pack,” Blazes said.
The Sidwell team plans to race again next week in the Maryland & Washington, D.C. Private School Cross Country Championships in Derwood followed by the Nike Cross Regionals in Raleigh, N.C. at the end of November.
Finishing second place overall in the boys’ team competition was Wilson High School with 76 points. St. John’s College High School rounded out the top three with 91 points.
Wilson head coach Pat O’Steen was proud of his team’s performance, led by Aaron Coates‘s sixth place finish in 18:28. “We had a couple minor injuries going into today, so I’m really proud of what we’ve accomplished,” he said.
Wilson team captain Gorka Fraeters has been struggling with a knee injury, but gutted it out to finish 13th in 19:06.
In his sixth year of coaching the Wilson runners, O’Steen has seen their performances steadily improve over time as the team and program mature.
“Looking back, we have clearly improved every year – not just in finish times, but in how we work together,” he said. “The guys are doing a great job of closing, and in tightening up our top five runners.”
On the girl’s side, Sidwell Friends junior Taylor Knibb took first overall in 19:37. While happy with her race, the challenging course left her somewhat at a loss for words afterwards. “I don’t remember much, to be honest,” she said. “It’s a tough course, but everyone’s got to do it, right?”
Knibb is new to running, having never run cross country or track before. A more experienced swimmer and cyclist, she considers running to be her weakest sport of the three, but is considering track this spring.
Finishing in second place with a time of 20:00 was Sami King, a junior at The Field School. King raced on legs that were less than fresh, having competed three days earlier at the Potomac Valley Athletic Conference (PVAC) Championships, where she finished first place overall in 18:48.
“The race today was tough, with long intense uphills and not many chances for recovery,” she said. “I wish we had trained more on hills, but it was a really pretty course, and a perfect day for cross country.”
With a sixth place team finish overall, The Field School head coach Jesse Gaylord was happy with his team’s performance. “I think we ran fine for two days of rest and Halloween the night before,” he said. “They ran tough on a tough course, so I’m proud of them.”
Georgetown Visitation continued their winning streak from this same meet last year, taking first place in the team competition with 48 points. Georgetown Day School finished second with 50 points, while the Sidwell Friends girls came in third with 65 points.
Led by senior Emily Kaplan in third place with a time of 20:21, the Visitation team included eighth place Michaela Kirvan in 21:25, ninth place Elle Lynott in 21:27, 11th place Cassia Torczon in 21:34, and Jillian Murray in 17th with a time of 22:33.
“I was dying on the hills, but I had a lot left in the last mile,” Kaplan said. After struggling with injuries throughout her junior year, Kaplan is fully healthy now, and plans to attend Yale University next year.
Visitation Coach Kevin Hughes was pleased. “I’m always pleased if we execute the plan,” he said.
Hughes takes a strategic approach to racing. “You have to walk the course to know where you can excel, where you can take advantage of certain parts of it, and where you need to be conservative,” he said. “The first 1,000 meters is tough, but there are a lot of really gracious downhills on this course too.”
Cori Coats, assistant coach at Georgetown Day School, was thrilled at her team’s second place performance, but found it bittersweet too, having lost to Visitation by only two points and by three points last week in the ISL/ICA/MAC private school conference championships.
She chose to look at it in a positive way, however. “[Visitation] has such a strong program, so for us to finish so close really speaks well of us,” she said. “We are really excited, and the girls have such a strong friendship, and are really gelling now as a team, and as a community.”
With a total of 59 girls and 75 boys in the race, D.C. State Athletic Association (DCSAA) Athletic Director Clark Ray is happy with how the event has grown over the past three years. “But where do we go from here?” he said. “We’re small, but I want to make it bigger.”
To Ray, this may mean expanding the meet to include middle school. elementary school, and junior varsity teams.
On his way down the hill with about 400 meters to go at the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships at Lake Fairfax Park, Good Counsel’s Kevin McGivern took a headfirst spill on the mud, spooking Gonzaga’s Jacob Floam, who managed to stay on his feet despite jumping to avoid McGivern.
McGivern recovered and eventually passed Floam on the way to a three-second margin in claiming second place. It was emblematic of the Falcons’ team that day: just too strong.
“They beat us for every place,” said Gonzaga coach John Ausema. “Even if we ran better, we’d close the gap by just a few points.”
Good Counsel junior Jack Wavering ran 17:11 to win the individual title and lead his team to a 25-47 win over Gonzaga, with Bishop O’Connell third with 68. The Falcons had all five scoring runners in the top nine (1, 2, 5, 8, 9).
[button-red url=”http://va.milesplit.com/meets/185067-wcac-xc-championships#.VE3OkPnF-PU” target=”_self” position=”left”] Results [/button-red]”We didn’t run nearly as well as we had the previous three outings,” coach Tom Arnold said. “Glory Days, Paul Short, Mercersburg, we had three real solid races were all seven of our guys were firing on all cylinders. So we’re happy to get the win but we’re disappointed to meet some of the goals we set. We didn’t respond to some of the challenges that came up during the race. We had three perfect races in a row, and there wasn’t much we could take away from them to learn, so now we have some things to critique and work on as we get ready for the state meet (Nov. 8).”
Good Counsel won the 2013 Maryland/D.C. Private Schools Championship with four of the boys who were on this year’s WCAC team.
Wavering got out fast, getting away at a mile and a quarter, but found the course challenging.
“It was hard to keep pace because there were long flat straight-ish sections,” he said. “It was tough motivating myself when nobody was on me.”
When it was suggested he hold back longer to have company in that part of the course, Wavering said that was less attractive.
“I don’t finish very fast,” he said. “That would be risky.”
Back in the pack of the boys’ race, DeMatha senior co-captain Chris Jeletic ran the race with a heavy brace on his left leg, the result of a sprained MCL suffered in a fall baseball game, following a weird slide.
“It’s rough,” he said. “I took a week off, got in the pool and tried to keep my fitness up. I started running in the brace. It wasn’t easy, it really hurt to move to the side, but I pushed through it.”
He finished 26th to end up in third place for DeMatha, which fell one point short of fourth place, behind Paul VI.
Bishop O’Connell’s girls won their eighth consecutive WCAC title, but it was close: a 36-43 win over Good Counsel.
“This was more difficult than I had anticipated,” said coach Cindy Walls. “I knew it was going to be close but I thought we’d win by about seven more points.”
The race nearly swung the other way.
“What surprised me was that we were in second place with 1200 meters to go,” Walls said. “What shocked me was a line of four Good Counsel girls running shoulder-to-shoulder. Our girls started mixing it up and made that win happen. I couldn’t have asked for a bigger and better effort from those girls.
“Historically my teams get stronger as the race goes on, I never panic if we’re back at the mile, but this one got my heart racing.”
Walls saw junior Briana Broccoli struggling at the mile, but senior Sarah Davis encouraged her to get after it before they disappeared into the woods, and the two eventually finished fifth (Davis) and seventh.
“Our girls ran that as much for each other as for keeping any streak going,” Walls said. “They love each other.”
Good Counsel freshman Claudia Wendt won the individual title in 20:12 over O’Connell sophomore Isabell Baltimore’s 20:54
Wendt looked for Baltimore early to get her bearings, then pulled away within the first half mile, but didn’t feel like she was in the clear until after the mile mark.
“In the state meet, I’ll probably try to go earlier,” she said.
Good Counsel fielded a six-girl team, one more than needed to qualify as scoring team, and Arnold saw big improvement throughout the season, but was disappointed to lose the close race.
“We were a poor-to-mediocre team early in the season and they’ve really come together, but we just didn’t run well as a team today. We thought this year we’d be able to beat O’Connell, so now we have to wait a year.
Becoming a running family
The conference features two close teams, DeMatha and Elizabeth Seton, both Prince George’s County schools who share some philosophies about training. It’s a natural result of their coaches sharing practically everything, including a last name, home, everything to their kitchen sink. Louisa Puffett teaches math at Seton
“I like getting to see our students in a whole different setting, outside of the classroom,” she said. “Whether they’re really fast or not, running is something they can enjoy their entire lives and I want to be able to encourage them to be active and make it a part of who they are.”
She returned this year after taking a few years off to focus her out-of-classroom time on graduate school Her husband Mike took the reins at DeMatha, five years ago, after their son, Cory, finished his career, which included a trip to the Footlocker Cross Country Championship finals. Mike waited until he had graduated to start coaching. Their daughter ran for Seton.
“I wanted him to always be able to talk to me as dad, instead of dad or coach,” Mike said. “He needed his coach in his head when he had a training question, not his dad.”
He and Cory agreed that worked well. Cory, a student at the University of Maryland, helps out with the Stags when he can.
Mike picked up running while at High Point High School in Beltsville, then renewed his interest after knee surgery.
“I had to rehab it by being active, so brought my wife and kids along and we all started running as a family,” he said. “We had no idea we’d get into this sport.”
The teams convene three joint practices at Greenbelt Park and luckily, because they are both single-sex schools, they never have to worry about any in-family rivalries.
“We can argue about other things,” Louisa said.
The lads from St. Albans ran like they were fleeing Scotland Yard, winning the Georgetown Prep Classic during the annual exchange trip with their brothers across the pond.
[button-red url=”http://www.runwashington.com/results/” target=”_self” position=”left”] Results [/button-red]Students from the British St. Albans School spent more than a week staying with runners’ families and soaking in the D.C. area. And then they helped themselves to a team title, placing five runners in the top 12 to finish comfortably ahead of Loyola, Robinson and their American hosts.
Senior Robbie Lightowler led the way in 16:31, making a mad dash from the gun to scope out the course, which looped around the campus’ golf course twice, with a trip around the baseball field on the first lap.
“My plan was the run the first lap hard and see where I was at that point,” he said. “After seeing everything, I knew where the hills were and took them one at a time on the second loop. If I hadn’t taken it stage by stage, I’d have felt mentally shattered.”
He noted that the cross country races in the United States were a fair bit more competitive than in North London, near the British St. Albans.
“Runners stretch here a lot more than we do,” he said. “We bonded a lot as a team over the last week and we trained pretty hard and raced hard.”
The two St. Albans switch off every year, with the same families playing host to their counterparts.
His schoolmate Dan Myers pointed out other differences between British and American cross country meets.
“You get more pumped before races here,” he said. “In England, we’re more relaxed before the start, we don’t get in any huddles, do chants before we start. But people cheer for you a lot more in the U.S., which is nice.”
He said the British runners were more partial to longer, steady-paced runs.
“Maybe the American St. Albans guys will pick that up from us,” he said.
Behind Lightowler, Robinson senior Patrick Myers (16:57) and Hunter Jutras (17:01) tried to keep their focus on a hilly course.
“It was definitely one of the hillier courses I’ve run,” Myers said. “I tried to keep my eyes on the leader, even though he was far ahead.”
Jutras moved up throughout the second half of the race. “I knew I wasn’t going to run a fast time because the course was so difficult, so I focused on catching guys. Every time I saw a gap, I closed it until I was right behind Patrick.”
In the girls’ race, Field School junior Sami King took the lead from the start and held off National Cathedral School freshman Page Lester for a one-second victory in 19:01. It was a race she felt matched expectations.
“I was a little nervous when I saw I had been seeded first,” King said. “I told people not to talk about the seedings but they did anyway.”
If that pressure wasn’t enough, a strong headwind took her by surprise on the second loop, immediately as she crested the big hill.
Robinson senior Lauren Berman followed in third, happy to have the race out of the way as her training turned toward the looming postseason. A week prior, she had run the Walt Disney World Classic, a significantly flatter course. She led her team to victory at Georgetown Prep over the National Cathedral School, 60-62.
“I can’t wait to get on the track and start doing workouts,” she said. “We don’t do quick stuff until late, so we don’t burn out, and that’s my favorite part of training.”
Last year’s invitational followed a week of heavy rains that cancelled several weekend races and forced a course change that stuck mainly to the campus roads. That left Sidwell Friends sophomore Ellie Leape a little taken aback when she saw how much more difficult the course was.
“We did some hill workouts this week on Tilden Road and Battery Kemble Park, but it was still tough,” she said. “It was a lot harder than last year.”
Leape moved up throughout the race to finish fourth.
Draw a finish line anywhere in Maryland and just wait for Diego Zarate and Evan Woods will come barreling to claim it.
It’s been happening the last two years and the rivalry saw its closest finish yet Saturday at the Montgomery County Cross Country Championships.
They charged into the chute at Bohrer Park, both timed at 15:48 after a furious kick by Woods in the last 150 meters put the race back in contention.
“Black! Blue!” the referee called out, noting Northwest senior Zarate had the edge over Woods, a senior from Walt Whitman.
The two have been at each others’ hips the last two years, with Zarate turning the tide in their junior track season after Woods had his number throughout cross country, albeit by one second at the state meet.
Joey Gaines got the answer to the question nobody ever thought to ask: What’s harder — running a 5k cross country race or traveling to Clifton, Va. from Greenbelt, Md. on a Sunday afternoon?
[button-red url=”http://va.milesplit.com/meets/176775-glory-days-grill-invitational#.VD8GuvnF-PU” target=”_self” position=”left”] Results [/button-red]
After the rigors of the SAT and the harrying trip 43 mile trip that took an hour and a half, he was cooked by the time he reached Bull Run Regional Park 30 minutes before race time at the Glory Days Grill Invitational.
“That just wiped me out completely,” he said. “The first mile was a lot of fun, it was a real cross country atmosphere, people flying all over the place trying to find their footing, but after that it’s like a switch went off and it got pretty rough.”
The upside? He feels pretty confident about the SAT, having noticed a big improvement from his experience taking it the first time. He was one of many seniors who took the test one last time before the Nov. 1 early acceptance deadline for colleges.
The test wiped out the West Springfield guys, who had six of their top seven in the test that morning. They finished seventh.
“In hindsight, I might have considered sitting them in that situation,” said Spartans coach Chris Pellegrini.
Some of Quince Orchard’s runners got hotel rooms in Virginia and took the test close to the race.
“”We have the Homecoming dance tonight, so we were getting squeezed on both ends,” coach Seann Pelkey said. “There were a few runners who took the SAT and were going to the dance and I just figured why make the day that stressful, we just gave them the weekend off. It looked like there were a couple teams that were missing seniors.”
Like Gaines, many got their heart rates up on I-66 and U.S. 29 as they approached the park, not sure if they’d get there in time for their races. For some, that served as a warmup.
“I think SAT was a factor for my guys,” said Gonzaga coach John Ausema. “I had two seniors taking the test, and they are the leaders of my 2-5 pack. They looked out of sorts and did not race well. I also had two just in varsity B show up just prior to the race – one of them tied on this tag with less than five minutes before the gun.”
Ausema was there quite early, having showed up for the open race ahead of the high school events along with several other coaches. Bethesda-Chevy Chase coach Emily Young won the women’s race and Millbrook coach Matt Lofton lead coaches in the men’s race in second place, ahead of Annadale’s Dave O’Hara, who led the local men’s coaches.
In the individual races, Chantilly’s Ryan McGorty lead the men through two miles before Loudoun Valley’s Andrew Hunter (15:44) took over and broke away from McGorty (16:11) and Millbrook’s Tyler Cox–Philyaw (16:05). The three will race again at Millbrook next weekend. They could have gone a little faster, where it not for McGorty’s sense of direction.
“Coming around the first mile, I forgot that we turned so soon, so I started following the end of the course, backwards,” he said. “Someone finally started yelling that we were going the wrong way.”
Hunter’s initial goal was to break 15:00 for the second consecutive week, having run 14:46 the weekend before, but admittedly he didn’t push too hard at the beginning.
“I was lazy and let Ryan take it,” he said. “Maybe we wouldn’t have gone the wrong way, but I don’t know.”
They were a little fuzzy on the course after the meet was cancelled in 2013, thanks to flooding after days of steady rain. Far less rain fell Saturday morning, but it still made for a messy course by the end of the day.
It didn’t matter to Emily Kaplan. The Georgetown Visitation School senior finished fifth in 19:21, just ahead of Sara Freix of Westfield.
“Yeah, it was muddy, but it’s my favorite course,” she said. “It’s a lot like a track, it’s less hilly than a lot of the courses we run.”
The National Cathedral School’s Page Lester finished third, further vindicating her decision to run cross country after a few years off while focusing on swimming.
Patriot won the girls’ race, behind Rachel McArthur‘s 18:40 four-second win over Loudoun Valley’s Ciara Donohue.
“They are closer to Lake Braddock and James Madison than most people might believe,” Pellegrini said of the race for the Virginia 6A Region race. “The (runner-up)Washington-Lee girls are extremely talented through four runners They have been very dependable. It will be interesting to see how the racing scores shake out in the postseason if they continue to struggle at the number five spot.”
Dulaney became the second Mayland team to win the Glory Days boys’ team title.
“To have a great number one like Eric (Walz, fourth in 16:19) up front and a pack like that (32 seconds between 1-5), that’s the best I’ve seen out of this team as long as I’ve been here,” coach Chad Boyle said.
Quietly, back in the pack, Bethesda-Chevy Chase senior Caroline Beakes inched her way into the water (mud) for her first race since the JV race at the Montgomery County championships.
All-RunWashington
Tristan Colaizzi- Georgetown Day School- 9th, Glory Days, 16:34
Alex Corbett, Lake Braddock- 1st, Disney Classic, Hades 15:30
Andrew Hunter, Loudoun Valley- 1st, Glory Days, 15:44
Amir Khghani, Walt Whitman- did not race
Alex Maguire, Fairfax-12th, Albemarle, 16:30
Ryan McGorty, Chantilly- 3rd, Glory Days, 16:11
Kevin Monogue, Lake Braddock- 2nd, Disney Classic Hades, 15;47
Tim Ward, West Springfield- 19th, Glory Days, 16:47
Evan Woods, Walt Whitman- did not race
Diego Zarate, Northwest- 1st, Manhattan D, 12:37 4k
Lauren Berman, Robinson- 5th, Disney Classic Maleficent, 18:42
Xaveria Hawvermale, Chantilly- out for the season
Kiernan Keller, Walter Johnson- 37th, Manhattan Eastern States, 15:45
Casey Kendall, Oakton- did not race
Allie Klimkiewicz, Oakton- did not race
Ellie Leape, Sidwell- 2nd, Glory Days Varsity B, 19:36
Georgie Mackenzie, Heritage- did not race
Nora McUmber, Bethesda-Chevy Chase- did not race
Emily Murphy, Walter Johnson- 17th, Manhattan Eastern States, 15:11
Amanda Swaak, James Madison- did not race
All-D.C.
Liam Albrittain, Georgetown Day School- 95th, Glory Days, 17:40
Christy Andjalepou, Cardozo-inconclusive
Jacob Floam, Gonzaga-39th, Glory Days, 17:11
Joey Gaines, St. Albans- 135th, Glory Days, 18:05
Aidan Pillard, Georgetown Day School- 29th, Glory Days, 16:55
Peter Sikorsky, Gonzaga- 94th, Glory Days, 17:39
Will Wimbish, Gonzaga- 78th, Glory Days,17:32
Erin Bell, National Cathedral-did not race
Lauren Cormier, Georgetown Visitation- 63rd, Glory Days, 21:20
Emily Kaplan, Georgetown Visitation- 5th, Glory Days, 19:21
Sami King, Field- 1st, PVAC, 19:16
Mayim Lehrich, Wilson-1st, Disney Classic Queen, 19:52
Margaret Lindsay, Georgetown Visitation-167th, Glory Days, 23:09
Katherine Treanor, Georgetown Day School- 15th, Glory Days,19:45
All-Maryland
Rohann Asfaw, Richard Montgomery- 2nd, Coyote, 16:34
Itai Bezerahno, Walter Johnson- 4th, Coyote, 16:42
William Kirk, Rockville- 1st, Urbana, 16:37
Alex Roederer, Walt Whitman- did not race
Colin Sybing, T.S. Wootton- did not race
Liam Walsh, Quince Orchard- 16th, Glory Days, 16:43
Jack Wavering, Good Council- 5th, Glory Days,16:24
Claire Beautz, Poolesville- 2nd, Wildcat, 19:37
Sophie El-Masry, Richard Montgomery- 5th, Coyote, 19:54
Katriane Kirsch, Walter Johnson- 29th, Manhattan Eastern States, 15:32
Theresa Nardone, Poolesville- did not race
Lucie Noall, Clarksburg- 2nd, Urbana, 19:18
Julia Reicin, Winston Churchill- 21st, Glory Days, 19:59
Lucy Srour, Winston Churchill- 4th, Glory Days, 18:54
All-Virginia
Johnny Pace, Westfield- did not race
Bobby Dunn, Centreville- did not race
Anteneh Girma, T.C. Williams- did not race
Robert Lockwood, W.T. Woodson- did not race
Matt Frame, West Potomac-did not race
David Falcone, W.T. Woodson- did not race
Aviad Gebrehiwot, Annadale-8th, Glory Days,16:32
Kathryn Eng, Washington-Lee- 25th, Glory Days, 20:05
Kelly Hart, Yorktown- 59th, Glory Days, 20:58
Sara Freix, Westfield- 6th, Glory Days, 19:22
Leya Salis, Oakton- did not race
Jillian Everly, Osbourn Park- did not race
Kate Murphy, Lake Braddock-2nd, Disney Classic Maleficent, 18:15
Morgan Whittock, James Madison- did not race
After a few heavy weekends of racing, some teams took off, but it wasn’t a rest week for everyone.
In Cary, N.C., Loudoun Valley’s Andrew Hunter ran 14:46 to win the Great American Cross Country Invitational’s Race of Champions, demonstrating what he can do on a fast course. E.C. Glass sophomore Libby Davidson ran 17:07, letting Heritage’s Weini Kelati know the 4A state championship won’t be a lonely race. James Madison’s girls took fifth, with a short-handed Oakton team behind in 14th.
The Octoberfest Invitational at Great Meadows featured photo finishes in both varsity races. The Holt twins from George Marshall finished together again, with Heather getting the nod over Ashley, both in 18:38, the second time the freshmen had finished side-by-side in an invitational. In the boys’ race, Westfield’s Johnny Pace wasn’t trying to share the glory with Deep Run’s Matthew Novak, but he managed to outlean him for a 15:49 win.
Chantilly’s Ryan McGorty won his race at the Gettysburg Invitational in Pennsylvania, running 15:42. At Delaware’s Salesianum Invitational, National Cathedral School freshman Page Lester won the girls’ small school race in 19:33.
In county championship action, two weeks ago, Washington-Lee swept the team championships, with W-L’s Donia Nichols winning the girls’ race in 20:11 and Bishop O’Connell’s Josh Speier taking the boys’ title in 17:15.
The Alexandria City Championships featured a photo finish, too, with T.C Williams’ Alexander Heimberg edging teammate Anteneh Girma in 17:30, leading the Titans to the championship. In the girls’ race, Bishop Ireton’s Maggie Lohrer won in 20:32, though T.C. Williams won the team race there, too.
The Loudoun County Championships featured the 4A dynamos Hunter (15:47) and Kelati (17:28) with Tuscarora taking the boys’ title and Heritage, the girls’.
Here’s how the All-RunWashington preseason team did, as best as I could find out. If you know someone’s results from the past week currently marked “inconclusive,” feel free to comment with the pertinent information.
All-RunWashington
Tristan Colaizzi- Georgetown Day School- inconclusive
Alex Corbett, Lake Braddock- did not race
Andrew Hunter, Loudoun Valley- 1st, Great American ROC, 14:45
Amir Khghani, Walt Whitman- 2nd, Whitman/Walter Johnson, Wootton, 16:46
Alex Maguire, Fairfax-14th, Octoberfest, 16:28
Ryan McGorty, Chantilly- 1st, Gettysburg, 15:42
Kevin Monogue, Lake Braddock- did not race
Tim Ward, West Springfield- did not race
Evan Woods, Walt Whitman- 1st, Whitman/Walter Johnson, Wootton, 16:38
Diego Zarate, Northwest- 1st, Tidewater, 15:41
Lauren Berman, Robinson- 7th, Octoberfest, 19:00
Xaveria Hawvermale, Chantilly- did not race
Kiernan Keller, Walter Johnson- 1st, Whitman/Walter Johnson, Wootton, 19:15
Casey Kendall, Oakton- 28th, Great American ROC, 18:41
Allie Klimkiewicz, Oakton- did not race
Ellie Leape, Sidwell- did not race
Georgie Mackenzie, Heritage-
Nora McUmber, Bethesda-Chevy Chase- did not race
Emily Murphy, Walter Johnson- 3rd, Whitman/Walter Johnson, Wootton, 19:27
Amanda Swaak, James Madison- 14th, Great American ROC, 18:18
All-D.C.
Liam Albrittain, Georgetown Day School-
Christy Andjalepou, Cardozo-inconclusive
Jacob Floam, Gonzaga-6th, Salesianum Championship, 17:24
Joey Gaines, St. Albans- 4th, Salesianum Small Schools, 17:53
Aidan Pillard, Georgetown Day School- inconclusive
Peter Sikorsky, Gonzaga- 20th, Salesianum Championship, 18:15
Will Wimbish, Gonzaga- 16th, Salesianum Championship, 18:00
Erin Bell, National Cathedral-did not race
Lauren Cormier, Georgetown Visitation-
Emily Kaplan, Georgetown Visitation-
Sami King, Field- inconclusive
Mayim Lehrich, Wilson-inconclusive
Margaret Lindsay, Georgetown Visitation-
Katherine Treanor, Georgetown Day School- inconclusive
All-Maryland
Rohann Asfaw, Richard Montgomery- inconclusive
Itai Bezerahno, Walter Johnson- 6th, Whitman/Walter Johnson, Wootton, 17:19
William Kirk, Rockville- 1st, Rockville/Kennedy/Seneca Valley/Damascus, 16:11
Alex Roederer, Walt Whitman- 3rd, Whitman/Walter Johnson, Wootton, 16:57
Colin Sybing, T.S. Wootton- did not race
Liam Walsh, Quince Orchard- 1st, Quince Orchard/Sherwood, 17:25
Jack Wavering, Good Council- 11th, Paul Short Brown, 15:42
Claire Beautz, Poolesville- inconclusive
Sophie El-Masry, Richard Montgomery- inconclusive
Katriane Kirsch, Walter Johnson- 7th, Whitman/Walter Johnson, Wootton, 21:04
Theresa Nardone, Poolesville- inconclusive
Lucie Noall, Clarksburg- 3rd, Churchill/Einstein/Clarksburg/Landon, 20:47
Julia Reicin, Winston Churchill- 4th, Churchill/Einstein/Clarksburg/Landon, 21:01
Lucy Srour, Winston Churchill- 1st, Churchill/Einstein/Clarksburg/Landon, 20:08
All-Virginia
Johnny Pace, Westfield- 1st, Octoberfest, 15:49
Bobby Dunn, Centreville- inconclusive
Anteneh Girma, T.C. Williams- 3rd, Octoberfest, 15:52
Robert Lockwood, W.T. Woodson- 4th,, Octoberfest, 16:15
Matt Frame, West Potomac-inconclusive
David Falcone, W.T. Woodson- 51st, Octoberfest, 17:12
Aviad Gebrehiwot, Annandale-inconclusive
Kathryn Eng, Washington-Lee- inconclusive
Kelly Hart, Yorktown- inconclusive
Sara Freix, Westfield- 3rd, Octoberfest, 18:49
Leya Salis, Oakton- did not race
Jillian Everly, Osbourn Park- 5th, Octoberfest, 18:56
Kate Murphy, Lake Braddock- did not race
Morgan Whittock, James Madison- 44th, Great American ROC, 18:58
When Anthony Belber was brought on as an assistant track coach at the Georgetown Day School 17 years ago, the GDS Hoppers could hardly fill a school bus.
“The first year I coached, we only had four girls and 10 to 12 boys in cross country,” he recalled.
But fast forward 17 years later, and the team can now fill multiple school buses as well as trophy boxes. In addition to winning numerous state and conference championships, the team has also won the D.C./Maryland Private School Championships.
Belber attributes most of their success over the years to the team’s participation numbers — which has risen to 80 athletes in cross-country and more than 90 in track in a school that has only 450 in its total student body.
“The biggest change over the years has been our numbers.” Belber said. “It’s always been about getting kids to participate — that’s the key. Even though we’re very much enjoying the success at the top, it’s still about everybody wanting to be part of the program. Not only do I enjoy coaching everybody, but I think when everybody is working hard at every level, you get better results at the conference championships.”
Belber noted that he personally experienced programs that were welcoming to athletes of all levels and abilities and saw the value of coaching the complete child and not treating the athletes as “one-dimensional runners.”
“I liked that it had a struggling athletic program,” Belber says. “I admit I dreamed that someday I could turn it into a running powerhouse like St. Albans or Haverford. The goal then and now, though, is to expose kids to the joys of running and help them recognize the lessons they learn in the sport carry over to every other facet of their lives.”
Though the team has seen a tremendous amount of success throughout the years, Belber said funding for the program hasn’t increased much and the team is still without a track.
“We do most of our training on the streets of D.C.,” Belber says. “We find some trails to run in Rock Creek Park and things like that. But we have to rent the American University track a few times a week so we’re limited to the days that their team isn’t using it.”
But that hasn’t stopped the team from top performances in track, either. The boys’ track team has taken home four conference championship titles. Belber said his assistant track coaches played a large part in their success. Sprinting coach William Miezan competed in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta as a sprinter on the 4x100m relay team for Cote D’Ivoire.
“Without a doubt, our team would not be where it is today were it not for the coaching our sprinters, jumpers, and hurdlers have been receiving from him for the past 13 years,” Belber said.
GDS also added another assistant track coach, Brian Bobo, who has been with the program for a dozen years and is the reason they’ve sent two triple jumpers to Division I programs despite having no jumping facility of their own.
Belber also attributes the team’s success to backing off in mileage and workouts.
“If anything in the last four years, we’ve backed off the number of workouts we do instead of trying to squeeze two hard workouts in a week in addition to a meet,” Belber said. “Year-round, we do one hard workout a week and one meet a week. I think that recovery time is a huge part of our success. Even our top boys are probably doing mid-30 (miles per week) throughout the season. And our girls do a little less.”
Although Belber attributes all the teams’ success to his assistant coaches, cutting mileage and rising participation numbers, his former athletes say that’s just part of it. Ben Stern, a GDS alumnus who was a junior when Belber first started coaching, said most of the success should be credited toward Belber.
“As soon as Belber came on as coach, I saw dramatic improvements,” Stern said.
When Stern went off to Princeton and later Oregon, his little brother Alex followed him through GDS. He was worried that Belber might base his expectations based on his brother’s career,said the complete opposite happened.
“His tireless dedication to the program and individualized attention to every athlete is why the team has seen such dramatic improvements,” Alex said. “He never treated me as ‘Ben’s little brother.’ He treated me as Alex.”
Alex added that Belber’s coaching style and techniques have stayed with him since high school — particularly keeping a cool and calm approach to everything in life.
In addition to the numerous championship titles Belber can be credited for, he was also a finalist in the 2014 Brooks Running Inspiring Coach of the Year. It’s no wonder 10 different alumni have come back as assistants, which Belber said was also key the team’s success over the last decade.
The alumni have kept an active Facebook page, and according to Belber, “are more tightly bonded than any other alumni faction within the school community.”
Belber saw firsthand how bonded the community has become after a former runner passed away.
“The way these runners and alumni came together… it meant a lot to me as a coach,” Belber said. “I love the fact that a lot of our running alumni stay involved. When we go to big meets, the local alumni will cheer and so even though we feel like the rest of the school may not understand or appreciate what the runners are doing, we still feel a big sense of community.”
It’s not unusual for Carolyn Ruth Carlson, of Chantilly, to be found grinding away on her stationary bike with science textbooks open or while looking at a PowerPoint presentation.
Choosing between a degree in biology and the triathlon team at James Madison University simply wasn’t an option.
“Sometimes I get distracted by the intervals, but usually I can get some studying done,” Carlson said.
Carlson is one of a number of local high school runners who leave the area without plans to continue representing their schools as varsity-level athletes. An estimated 92 percent of the nation’s high school runners fall in this category, but many are finding ways to continue pursing running outside of their colleges’ athletic departments.
The stakes aren’t as high as a Division I team, but the commitment is serious.
“I am a biology major and being on the tri team is a huge time commitment, but I love it,” she said. “These are the people I would want to hang out with, anyway. It’s exactly where I would want to be.”
Not all college-bound athletes find their fit as easily.
When Zach Weinstein was a junior at Winston Churchill high school in Maryland, everything was in place for a perfect final season that would land him on a college track team.
He was focused, logged the miles and was in touch with a number of schools and coaches about running on their teams. Then his training took a turn for the worst.
“The summer is an important time to get ready for cross country and I was hoping to do big things in the fall. I trained hard, too hard,” Weinstein said. “I overdid it and I got hurt.”
His college plan needed some revisiting.
“I wanted to do really well my senior fall because that’s a key time to seal the deal with coaches,” he said. “If I’d had a better cross country season I probably could have been able to run on a varsity team somewhere.”
Now a junior at Stanford, Weinstein had to blaze his own trail to find a place to fit his competitive-but-not-quite-varsity running style. The Stanford Running Club wasn’t quite what he was looking for.
“I was disappointed,” he said. “It was casual — show up a couple days a week if you feel like it. Which is great for a lot of reasons — and for a lot of runners — but not for me. I wanted to have a more serious structure, like in high school. I wanted to be competitive.”
Weinstein teamed up with other club members to form a more serious team. With the help of a few runners and a coach, the competitive branch of the Stanford Running Club now has two mandatory intense workouts a week, long runs and meets.
Looking back, Weinstein said he couldn’t imagine the time commitment it would take to run on Stanford’s track and cross country teams.
“I am amazed at what they can do,” he said. “I can’t imagine being a varsity athlete and traveling every weekend and taking serious classes alongside that.”
When it comes down to it, Weinstein said no varsity opportunity could have swayed him from his college decision.
“I think I really would have enjoyed being on a varsity team but I just couldn’t pass up Stanford,” Weinstein said. “If I went to another school and ran on varsity but the school didn’t have as good academics or social energy, I’d regret it if I got hurt.”
Erin Horil, another Chantilly alumna, was also plagued with injury from running in high school.
“In high school I ran all four years but I battled with a lot of different injuries,” Horil said. “I even broke my hip senior year.”
Although running was her passion, Horil said she knew she couldn’t run competitively in college without risking serious injuries. Like Carlson, Horil found the JMU triathlon team.
“I love it. I couldn’t be happier, honestly,” Horil said. “It was a bummer in high school not to be able to run as much as I wanted to.”
Now, because of the triathlon’s diverse training program, she is swimming, biking and running injury-free. The combination, she said, is perfect for her.
Leaving a rigid high school schedule and a familiar home environment means big changes for any college-bound senior.
Especially without the help of athletic department staff, a foreign place with new friends, a sleep schedule turned upside-down, and unlimited amounts of less-than-ideal food can be barriers to focused training.
More than a million high school students run on track and cross country teams every year but only 8 percent continue on to run in college, and only part of them on varsity teams.
What about the other 92 percent?
The Collegiate Running Association is working to get them back in their running shoes.
The non-profit group partners with well‐established races and offers prize money for college runners: casual runners, club teams, elite runners, anyone with a passion for running.
“We want the 95 percent of high school runners that do not compete in the NCAA to stay in the sport and excel,” co-founders Steve Taylor and Jon Molz write in the organization’s welcome letter.
The only requirement for those interested in competing in a Collegiate Running Association race is that the participant be enrolled in at least one college course.
“We’ve seen athletes coming out of high school who want to compete in a sport but they are only going to college for one reason — to get their education,” Taylor said. “Maybe they don’t have time to dedicate to a full-blown Division I or II or III program with traveling on top of that. It just won’t work for them. We want to be very inclusive. The whole point is to provide running opportunities to any college student here in the United States.”
There are roughly 450 NCAA athletic programs that do not sponsor year-round running programs, the Collegiate Running Association reports. The group also wants to provide an opportunity for runners at schools that only have offer either cross country or track and field.
“As I got into coaching I realized that we coach some very strong, very good athletes, young men and women who were very capable of being competitive in their careers,” said Taylor, who is also a NCAA Division I cross country and track and field coach at the University of Richmond. “But there were not a lot of opportunities for them. So I thought ‘what can we do in our country to help people stay in the sport?’ There are more and more limits and less and less opportunities for high school athletes that want to compete in college.”
In March, more than 3,600 college students went to Richmond to compete in the first Collegiate Running Association National Championship, a 10k run as part of the Monument Avenue 10k. The mountain running championship was held July 6 in New Hampshire. “The NCAA doesn’t cover road racing, mountain and trail running,” Taylor said. “We wanted to create a competitive opportunity for that, too.”
The opportunities to run in college on a club level are appealing to many runners not ready or able to make the varsity commitment. The benefits extend beyond fitness.
Horil’s club team provides the flexibility she needs for a well-rounded college experience as a kinesiology major.
“Training can take up so much time,” she said. “Sometimes I need to stop and think: ‘Do I really do another training session today or should I be spending time with my friends. Do I want to stay out late with my friends or go to bed early so I can wake up early and feel good for my workout?’ You have to balance it.”
This article first appeared in the September/October RunWashington.
The DCXC Invitational gave Maryland, D.C. and Virginia runners a chance to face off, though the grade-level race format precluded a showdown between Heritage junior Weini Kelati and Bethesda-Chevy Chase senior Nora McUmber, both strong contenders for their respective state individual titles in Virginia and Maryland, it didn’t keep anyone from running a fast time, with 14 boys breaking 16 minutes on a course that while not as hilly as others, still retained some challenge, with turns and uneven footing.
Walter Johnson’s girls took a look at the Maryland state meet course, which will return to Hereford, and came away with a win in the elite race, capturing three of the top four places with Kiernan Keller winning, and Abbey Green and Emily Murphy following in third and fourth.
“They’re looking even tougher than they were last year,” Walt Whitman coach Steve Hays said about the defending state champions, who are still rotating their lineup. Hays’ boys look pretty strong, too, with three runners under 16 minutes at DCXC – Evan Woods (15:20), Alex Roederer (15:51) and Amir Khaghani (15:56).
At DCXC, Gonzaga coach John Ausema saw promise out of the Paul VI team and the chance they could make the WCAC championship more than just the typical struggle between Gonzaga and Good Counsel.
“I was impressed by Tristan Colaizzi (Georgetown Day School) in the junior race – looked very strong in his win and was hunting down the leader during most of the race,” he said.
He added that freshman runner-up John Collucci ran an excellent race, only getting caught at the end by Poolesville’s Ryan Lockett.
“He’s the most mature freshman, running-wise, that I have coached in 10 years at Gonzaga. I think his times will come down quite a bit still before the end of the season – has real tenacity.”
The junior girls race, behind the shock and awe that Kelati effected, Sidwell Friends coach Gaby Grebski saw a strong performance and big improvement from Sami King of the Field School, just a few miles away.
For the Lake Braddock boys, coach Mike Mangan said his number one, Alex Corbett, “finally raced like he has been training,” finishing second in the senior boys’ race in 15:17.
West Springfield coach Chris Pellegrini saw good things farther back in the pack for the Bruins. “Lake Braddock is also starting to get contributions from a few less heralded runners such as Evan Chase and Cav McGaw, which could solidify the back of their varsity roster,” he said.
James Madison’s girls continued their strong season. West Springfield coach Chris Pellegrini sees them just improving.
“After 2 great performances in a row, I think their biggest difference maker could be the emergence of sophomore number two runner Devon Williams (the sophomore runner-up),” he said. ” If she continues to perform well, they could be strong down the stretch.”
Pellegrini also saw promise from the Washington-Lee Boys, who had five runners under 16:45.
“No one’s really talked much about them yet, but they are quietly starting to look like a State team,” he said.
T.S. Wootton coach Kellie Redmond was pleased to see McUmber and Winston Churchill’s Lucy Srour run so well in the DCXC senior race.
“That should give (McUmber) a big boost of confidence,” she said. “I’m happy to see (Srour) running well and injury free. She looks good.”
All-RunWashington
Tristan Colaizzi- Georgetown Day School- 1st, DCXC Junior, 15:41
Alex Corbett, Lake Braddock- 2nd, DCXC Senior, 15:17
Andrew Hunter, Loudoun Valley- did not race
Amir Khghani, Walt Whitman- 12th, DCXC Senior, 15:56
Alex Maguire, Fairfax- 30th, Bull Run Elite, 17:37
Ryan McGorty, Chantilly- did not race
Kevin Monogue, Lake Braddock- 7th,DCXC Senior, 15:40
Tim Ward, West Springfield- 14th, DCXC Senior, 16:07
Evan Woods, Walt Whitman- 3rd, DCXC Senior, 15:20
Diego Zarate, Northwest- 1st, PG XC Classic, 15:51
Lauren Berman, Robinson- 5th, DCXC Senior, 18:57
Xaveria Hawvermale, Chantilly- did not race
Kiernan Keller, Walter Johnson- 1st, Bull Run Elite, 19:07
Casey Kendall, Oakton- did not race
Allie Klimkiewicz, Oakton- did not race
Ellie Leape, Sidwell- 4th, DCXC Sophomore
Georgie Mackenzie, Heritage- 5th, DCXC Junior, 19:01
Nora McUmber, Bethesda-Chevy Chase- 1st, DCXC Senior, 17:58
Emily Murphy, Walter Johnson- 4th, Bull Run Elite, 19:26
Amanda Swaak, James Madison- 2nd, DCXC Senior, 18:29
All-D.C.
Liam Albrittain, Georgetown Day School- 34th, DCXC Senior, 16:48
Christy Andjalepou, Cardozo- 26th, DCXC Junior, 17:18
Jacob Floam, Gonzaga-11th, DCXC Junior, 16:38
Joey Gaines, St. Albans-
Aidan Pillard, Georgetown Day School- 11th, DCXC Senior, 15:56
Peter Sikorsky, Gonzaga- 54th, DCXC Senior, 17:13
Will Wimbish, Gonzaga- 57th, DCXC Senior, 17:15
Erin Bell, National Cathedral-
Lauren Cormier, Georgetown Visitation- did not race
Emily Kaplan, Georgetown Visitation- 3rd, DCXC, 18:41
Sami King, Field- 3rd, DCXC Junior, 18:17
Mayim Lehrich, Wilson- 15th, DCXC Sophomore, 20:24
Margaret Lindsay, Georgetown Visitation- 67th, DCXC Junior, 22:25
Katherine Treanor, Georgetown Day School- 16th, DCXC Junior, 19:56
All-Maryland
Rohann Asfaw, Richard Montgomery- 1st, DCXC Sophomore
Itai Bezerahno, Walter Johnson- 4th, Bull Run Large Schools, 17:15
William Kirk, Rockville- 2nd, Bull Run Medium Schools, 16:46
Alex Roederer, Walt Whitman- 8th, DCXC Senior, 15:51
Colin Sybing, T.S. Wootton- Did not race
Liam Walsh, Quince Orchard- 7th, DCXC Junior, 16:30
Jack Wavering, Good Council- DCXC
Claire Beautz, Poolesville- 11th, DCXC Senior, 19:36
Sophie El-Masry, Richard Montgomery- did not race
Katriane Kirsch, Walter Johnson- Bull Run
Theresa Nardone, Poolesville- did not race
Lucie Noall, Clarksburg- 1st, Bull Run Large Schools, 19:32
Julia Reicin, Winston Churchill- 17th, DCXC Sophomore, 20:26
Lucy Srour, Winston Churchill- 4th, DCXC Senior, 19:50
All-Virginia
Johnny Pace, Westfield- 5th, DCXC Senior, 15:28
Bobby Dunn, Centreville-
Anteneh Girma, T.C. Williams- 4th, DCXC Senior, 15:24
Robert Lockwood, W.T. Woodson-
Matt Frame, West Potomac-
David Falcone, W.T. Woodson-
Aviad Gebrehiwot, Annadale- 2nd, Six Flags Wild Safari, 16:10
Kathryn Eng, Washington-Lee- 7th, DCXC Senior, 19:29
Kelly Hart, Yorktown- 30th, DCXC Senior, 20:51
Sara Freix, Westfield- 4th, DCXC Junior 18:46
Leya Salis, Oakton- did not race
Jillian Everly, Osbourn Park-
Kate Murphy, Lake Braddock-3rd, DCXC Sophomore, 19:23
Morgan Whittock, James Madison- 8th, DCXC Junior, 19:12
