As the season changes into cooler weather, the
harrier action has begun to heat up, with championship season beginning in
three weeks.
As a possible precursor to some national
competitions, the Great American Cross-Country Festival enjoyed another rousing
array of footraces around the WakeMed Soccer Complex in Cary, NC. There were
some familiar faces on hand, such as North Rockland (NY) senior Katelyn Tuohy,
who won the girls’ Race of Champions by 42 seconds in 16:22.
Among 757 schools, only Ocean Lakes entered
teams in the champion races, with the boys placing 32nd (of 37),
while the girls were 23rd of 23.
Bad day??
On the contrary. Against some of the best high
school teams and individuals in America, coach Mike Nestor and his Dolphin
squads had no reason to hang their collective heads low.
Actually, the performance of both teams
launched them far up the top-15 polls. Some rankings have had Ocean Lakes at
the top of 757 schools for months; yet, many of the top Dolphin runners, as is
their custom, have held out of a number of September meets.
Now firmly in competition mode, the boys jumped
all the way to the top spot, with an average top-5 time of 16:35. The girls
vaulted into the number 2 spot, just 14 seconds per top-five runner behind the
Kellam Knights.
At Cary, Harrison Ladd, already Hampton Roads
top-ranked runner, knocked another 14 seconds off his season-best time, with a
15:43, good enough to place 55th. For the girls, sophomore Elise
Richardson led the Dolphins with a 112th place finish in 19:50.
Other teams on hand included Cape Henry
Collegiate and Booker T. Washington.
Norfolk Collegiate Invitational
York freshman Jenny Calderon won the Norfolk
Collegiate Invitational with a time of 21:42, 43 seconds ahead of teammate and
runner-up Nina Parziale. The Falcons won the team title with 38 points.
The meet was held at Mt. Trashmore Park in
Virginia Beach.
Hampton Roads Top-15 Teams and
Individuals
The Ocean Lakes boys’ team is the only new leader on the board as the
Kellam girls’, idle last weekend, retained their top spot, while Ladd (boys)
and Maeve Stiles of Maury (girls) held the top positions among individuals.
Many of the teams and individuals will be running the same course on the
19th at the MileStat.com Invitational at Pole Green Park in
Mechanicsville, and this should solidify the top seeds going into the various
region meets.
Top 15 Teams in the 757
Girls
1.
Kellam
(top-5 avg. 19:50)
2.
Ocean
Lakes
3.
Maury
4.
Western
Branch
5.
Jamestown
6.
Menchville
7.
Grafton
8.
Catholic
(formerly Bishop Sullivan)
9.
Norfolk
Academy
10. Isle of Wight Academy
11. Hickory
12. York
13. Tabb
14. Bruton
15. Nansemond-Suffolk Academy
Others
– Grassfield, Norview, First Colonial, Great Bridge, Lafayette
Individual
Girls
1.
Maeve
Stiles – Maury (5K - 18:13)
2.
Hope
Frost – Stonebridge
3.
Logan
Warden – Princess Anne
4.
Arionne
Riddick – Menchville
5.
Lily
Schlossberg – Kellam
6.
Lily
Hoffman – Kellam
7.
Alyssa
Campbell – Kellam
8.
Saylor
Burris – Western Branch
9.
Elise
Richardson – Ocean lakes
10. Aniya Mosley – Ocean Lakes
11. Meredith King – Ocean Lakes
12. Maggie Reed – Ocean Lakes
13. Kiera Cleveland – Oscar Smith
14. Caroline Bauer – Jamestown
15. Madison Roche - Kellam
Boys
1.
Ocean
Lakes (top-5 avg. – 16:35)
2.
Grafton
3.
Menchville
4.
Western
Branch
5.
Princess
Anne
6.
Norfolk
Academy
7.
Kellam
8.
Tabb
9.
Smithfield
10. Catholic
11. Grassfield
12. Tallwood
13. Landstown
14. Jamestown
15. Gloucester
Others
– Maury, Hickory, Great Bridge, First Colonial, Bruton
Individual
Boys
1.
Harrison
Ladd – Ocean Lakes (5K – 15:43)
2.
Wesley
Bond – Landstown
3.
Alex
Murphy – Grafton
4.
Alex
Sawyer – Princess Anne
5.
Zachary
Sturm – Grafton
6.
Stephen
Kelley – Ocean Lakes
7.
Owen
Lipps – Ocean Lakes
8.
Franklin
Reid – Norfolk Academy
9.
Lucas
Simmons – Western Branch
10. Ben Madrigal – Grafton
11. Nicholas Smerlis – Tabb
12. James Aldridge - Menchville
13. Dylan Raney – Grafton
14. Alejandro Ramirez – Menchville
15. Aidan Bolger – Ocean Lakes
