With just one week of XC now in the books we can start to look back at some of the awesome coverage and races we've already had. Here is our pick, for great reasons, the kick and race of the week.
Check out the video coverage of Ragged MT Cup right here.
Check out this awesome race.
It was a hugely successful weekend at Great Meadow and elsewhere. Now it is time to decide who or what was the performance of the week. Vote below and let your voice be heard. Voting closes Thursday evening.
Virginia has a long history of great runners and great families of runners. Out of all the families though there have been none that have swept the XC state titles in a single year. This year could change that with both the Northcutts and Morris' looking to win the 4A and 6A individual titles respectively.
The season is off and running and even just after a weekend the frosh athletes are putting on a show. On the following pages are the top 200 rankings for both the freshmen girls and freshmen boys in the state. Check them all out below.
You've seen the boys now here are the girls ranked inside the top 500 for 5K thru the first week of the cross country season.
The first big meet of the year definitely lived up to all the hype. It may have not featured every star in the state but it definitely showed us some new young stars, gave us insight into how good of shape some big names are in, and of course showcased Loudoun Valley's unparalleled depth.
The XC season starts today and we are going to be live at Great Meadow covering the meet and updating you all day long.
Check out the top 1000 performances all-time from the Great Meadow, non-state, course. This meet historically has hosted just the Great Meadow and Octoberfest invitationals with a few other meet scattered in there as well. Check out the full list below.
Due to ongoing extensive improvements to Virginia Tech's Rector Fieldhouse, the 2018 installment of the Hokie Holiday and Virginia Tech Premier meets have been cancelled.
Check out the top 1000 performances all-time from the Great Meadow, non-state, course. This meet historically has hosted just the Great Meadow and Octoberfest invitationals with a few other meet scattered in there as well. Check out the full list below.
Check out Lisa McArthur's photo coverage right here.
Check out all the race videos from PR's Kickoff Invitational.
The 2017 installment of the Great Meadow Invite should actually be a great preview for many of the teams and athletes of the season. Unlike last year when it was scorching hot this year should be mild and dry enough for some stellar times on the non-state course and a preview of things to come.
Ever since Heather won her first race of her high school career, we all knew it was going to be a huge career. Through just three years Heather has tallied up an impressive nine state titles with a staggering five titles just last year.
Opening the season in a big way is the PR Kickoff Invitational once again. Over 700 athletes from 15 teams are entered for the eight two mile races at Bull Run Regional Park Thursday. The races include some big names who will be fighting for those coveted state titles this November. Check out the virtual meets, course records, and meet records to see some of the big names who will be there Thursday and who started their winning seasons at the PR Kickoff!
Returning for his senior year is our preseason number one athlete, Peter Morris who will look to defend his 4A title and lead his stacked team to a third team title in a row. He enters the season with his 15:14 personal best, run at the state meet last year, and ranked 2nd amongst returners purely on time. He also returns having not lost to any returning athlete in XC in well over a year.
At this point you're definitely asking yourself how could someone who has only run 15:40 be our number two returning star. The two-word answer for that is: untapped potential. Ahmed Hassan has the most untapped potential in the entire state and when you couple that with a whole lot of talent you can get one of the best XC runners our state has ever seen.
For Rachel this is the year she has been training for. Her health has never been better and she is training at another level this preseason.
Rocking a 15:17 and 4:09 indoor Mile best, Sam Affolder enters the season as our highest ranked junior and our newest member to Team VA. Moving here from New York via a year in Pennsylvania is Affolder who will be the newest cog in the Loudoun Valley machine. Affolder also enters the season ranked #15 in MileSplit's national Flo50 rankings.
Get ready for a huge opening weekend for the VA XC season! Starting things off in a big way will be the Great Meadow Invitational up in the Plains. Running on the non-state course will be 41 teams from all over the state and multiple states as well. Leading the way team wise are the Eagles of Freedom South Riding who enter as the 5A state team favorites. Individually it should be an interesting battle between Tuscarora's Ben Nibbelink and Phillip Lambert of Stafford amongst others.
After two state runner-ups and one state championship Ryann Helmers enters the season as one of the fastest and most decorated runners in the entire state. The Albemarle senior boasts a best of 17:47, run on the state course, and is the top returning 5A runner on paper.
Last year Lake Braddock gave them a run for their money but this year Blacksburg is back on top yet again. In fact, this marks the fourth year in a row that these Bruins have held this honor... well at least preseason wise.
After a fifth place last year at states Allison is now ready for a state title. Now we understand it is a big jump from fifth to first but when you have a personal best of 17:48 you're talking about an elite runner who on any given day can take on any runner our state has. That is exactly why Allison enters the season our #5 preseason runner.
It is not often Virginia has a monster of a team. Now we do occasionally get some individual gems but it really hasn't happened in quite some time that we get a team of athletes who are not only contenders to make NXN but to win the whole ship.
Change has come and there has definitely been a power shift in the state. Unlike track it looks like size isn't as important as program history during XC. Check out the polls below and let us know what you are thinking about the new classifications and rankings for this season.
Now with a state title to his name in track and having made Foot Locker Nationals, Price Owens is ready to break thru and win that XC state title. He enters the season with the fastest personal best and as one of the fastest returners in years with his 15:07 best.
Ailene may not be the quickest returning athlete but she very well could have the most upside. She has run 17:49 for 5K and most impressively went 10:48 as a frosh in the two mile two years ago. Those two times tell us one big thing, she loves the flat fast courses. That speed will bode well for her this season and that is why have her ranked 6th in our top returning list.