Ocean Lakes Returns to Cross-Country Form - 757 HS Roundup - September 2019

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 32^nd (of 37), while the girls were 23^rd 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 55^th. For the girls, sophomore Elise Richardson led the Dolphins with a 112^th 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 19^th 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

recruitNoVA Senior Top 30 - #3 - Reuben (R.J.) Adams - Woodbridge

Heading into the regular season, recruitNoVA.com recognizes the top 30 senior prospects in
and around the Northern Virginia region. Continuing our countdown at number 3 is a dominating force on the offensive line, and one of the newest Penn State Nittany Lions – Reuben Adams.

#3 Reuben (R.J.) Adams (2020 OL 6-3 309) – Woodbridge High School

Adams has enjoyed a steady stream of offers ever since his junior year began. North Carolina started the connection when they offered late last year. This year, the offers have come a-rolling, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Wake Forest, Purdue, Florida State, Penn State, Michigan State, Pitt, William and Mary, Miami, Louisville, UAB, Navy and Vanderbilt have all thrown their hat (and scholarship offers) into the ring. In all, the tally has topped 25.

Many of the offers came after Adams played in the Under Armour All-American game in February. But at 6-3 and 309 pounds, it was not difficult for the guard to draw attention.

In the end, it took only a one-weekend visit in April to Happy Valley for Adams to make up his mind.

The recruitment of Adams continued a successful run by Penn State at scouring the talent in Prince William County. Since 2016, Nittany Lion Head Coach James Franklin and his staff have also successfully recruited Battlefield defensive end Brailyn Franklin, Hylton running back Ricky Slade, North Stafford lineman Nana Asiedu and his Wolverine teammate, running back Devyn Ford. Asiedu was forced to stop playing football because of a life-threatening heart condition, but Slade will be the featured back in what should be his breakout season.

For Penn State, assistant coaches Ja’Juan Seider (running backs) and Matt Limegrover (offensive line) earned the nod for swaying Adams to State College. Seider had recruited Ford, while Limegrover was responsible for bringing Aseidu into the Lions fold.

Although Woodbridge lost their first two games, the Vikings did break into the win column against Battlefield last weekend and hope to even their record with a win over Forest Park tonight.

recruitNoVA Senior Top 30 - #6 - Brendan Heatherman (Mountain View)

Brendan Heatherman (photo by Joe Barnes)

Heading into the regular season, we recognize the top 30 senior prospects in and around the Northern Virginia region. Continuing our countdown at number six is senior Brendan Heatherman of Mountain View.

#6 Brendan Heatherman (2020 TE 6-4 240) – Mountain View High

The Mountain View tight end is a prime example of showcasing well in camps and turning the success into multiple offers.

Heatherman started his ascent within the college spotlight at the beginning of 2019, with a strong showing at the recruit757 Uncommitted Senior Showcase, and followed up in March with another showcase performance at the recruit757/Sparta Science Showcase. Within two months of the Sparta camp, Heatherman had earned seven offers and visits to Temple, Syracuse and Old Dominion. The number swelled to over a dozen in April with the addition of Richmond, UConn, Harvard and Yale.

Soon after, the husky tight end made a verbal commitment to another group of Huskies, being the UConn team from Storrs. As he said after committing, “I knew that I felt at home and welcomed at UConn. The coaching staff are really good people, and I really liked the campus and the facilities, and all that they had to offer for academics and football,”

In Heatherman, UConn coach Randy Edsall will gain a prototypical college sized tight end, albeit one that needs to recover from an ACL that was torn in May. However, known for his side-to-side speed, it is widely anticipated that Heatherman will be ready to roll in the “Dog Pound” when UConn resumes its AAC schedule for the 2020 season.

Said one message boarder wrote on UConn’s “The Boneyard” blog site after seeing Heatherman’s junior year video – “he can block, get open and make catches. I like the pickup.”

Mountain View, looking to build on last year’s 7-5 mark without their star tight end, has started the season 3-0 and will host James Monroe of Fredericksburg tonight.

recruit NoVA Top-30 Seniors - #10 - Noah Kim - Westfield

Heading into the regular season, we recognize the top 30 senior prospects in Northern Virginia. Continuing our countdown at number 10 is Westfield quarterback Noah Kim.

#10 Noah Kim (2020 QB 6-2 170) – Westfield High School

One of the saddest season ending events from last season happened during the Class 6 state semifinal when Bulldog quarterback Noah Kim lay almost motionless after being sacked by a group of Eagle defenders. For the junior quarterback, the resulting broken fibula put an end to Westfield’s attempt to earn a fourth straight state title and snapped their 39-game winning streak. The Bulldogs fought valiantly with two fourth-quarter touchdowns reducing the lead to 35-28, and they were on the six-yard line of Freedom when their luck ran out.

Soon after the final whistle, attention turned to the future of their on-field leader and whether Kim would be able to play football again. From the sound of things, all is well this season for the tall, lanky signal-caller, as the Bulldogs are 2-0.

“Yeah, my leg is 100% back to normal. It feels like nothing ever happened to it,” Kim told recruitNoVA.com. He will enter this campaign with two main goals. The first came soon after he verbally committed to Virginia Tech, as doubters wondered why the Hokies would pursue a quarterback who barely tipped the scales at 170 pounds. Second, and more importantly, Kim would like to deliver one more state title to Chantilly, which would be his third.

He feels that players such as Taylor Morin, Joe Clancy, and Eugene Asante may be ably replaced.

“I’m very confident about this upcoming season and what we have as a team. I’d say to be on the lookout for Alex Richards, and Avery Howard Jr. at receiver. And Caleb Wheatland, E.T. Bushra, Tahj Summey, and Max Ahiakpo on defense, added Kim, who finished last season with over 1,800 yards passing and 23 touchdowns against only five interceptions. Isaiah Daniel also returns at running back and Kim himself has also packed on 15 pounds to weigh in closer to 185.

Now if only the season could start, and it will on August 30 with a home matchup against Battlefield.

“We are very hungry,” said Kim in a parting thought.

recruit NoVA Top 30 Seniors - #13 - Mitch Griffis (Broad Run)

Heading into the regular season, we recognize the top 30 senior prospects in Northern Virginia. Continuing our countdown at number 13 is Broad Run quarterback Mitch Griffis.

#13 Mitch Griffis (2020 QB 6-0 190) – Broad Run High School

Another quarterback on a redemptive winning mission is Mitch Griffis of Broad Run. Griffis and his Spartans may have suffered the cruelest blow of all in last year’s playoffs as they cruised through the first 12 games (only one loss by forfeit) as arguably the best team in Northern Virginia before getting drop-kicked by Stone Bridge in the regional final by the score of 35-6.

For his senior season, and third as the starter, Griffis is free of off-field football distractions; in fact, he verbally accepted an offer to Wake Forest 13 months ago, as the first Deacon commit from the Class of 2020.

In fact, Griffis, who plays under the tutelage of his father, head coach Matt Griffis, exuded optimism recently when talking about this year’s Spartan team.

“We have all been working really hard, and pushing each other a ton,” Griffis told recruitNoVA. “We have a great group.” Breaking down the Spartans in greater detail, he added, “We return a lot of skill positions, so we are pretty experienced there, and I think we can continue to build chemistry.”

Griffis noted some losses, especially along the offensive line, although he feels that Broad Run has some players ready to step up and step into the vacant positions.

Surprisingly, Griffis did not mention the loss of former backfield mate Tim Baldwin, who gained over 1,000 yards for the Spartans last year, but has since transferred to Patriot High School.

The Spartans (2-0) will look to add to their fast start tonight as they travel to Dominion (0-2), with new coach Drake Woodard.