Heritage 4th and Potomac Falls 8th at Oatlands Invitational in Varsity Boys "A" Race

Cross country sponsored by potomac River running

By: Dan Sousa

Leesburg (Oct. 1, 2006) – There may have been almost 3,000 runners competing at Saturday’s larger-than-life Oatlands Invitational, but that didn’t prevent local cross country runners from shining on the drizzly day. Host Heritage finished 4th place in the 35-team varsity “A” race with Potomac Falls 8th. Individually Stone Bridge senior Gidey Teferra finished 6th with a 16:38.06 time.

Overall, Mountain View won the boys varsity “A” race with 168 points. Walt Whitman (209), Sherwood (215), Heritage (238) and Robinson (242) rounded out the top five.

The Pride placed four senior runners in the top 51: Jesse Saldana (16:56.71) 18th, Nick McLaughlin (17:08.35) 24th, Dominick Kroupa (17:25.54) 42nd and Jeff Waters (17:35.15).

Potomac Falls was led by two sophomores, Josh Hardin (16:54.05) 16th and Ryan Hagen (17:22.27) 38th.

All 10 Loudoun schools were competing Saturday.

Dominion, with three strong performances from senior Brian Gould (17:00.08) 21st, sophomore Jimmy Rion (17:34.58) and sophomore Nick Phillips (17:36.14), placed a strong 20th in the “A” race with 487 points. Stone Bridge was just behind in 21st with 489 points. Besides Teferra, the Bulldogs had senior Michael Pandish (17:17.14) place 31st.

Loudoun County competed and won the boys varsity “B” race with the Raiders’ times good enough that it would have placed them in the top 25 in the “A” race and ahead of all Loudoun teams except for Heritage and Potomac Falls. The Raiders were led by junior Andrew Budiansky (17:37.02) and sophomore Matt Joseph (17:37.86) who finished 8th and 9th in the “B” race.

Local finishes from the “B” race which featured 41 teams: Loudoun Valley placed6th, Loudoun Valley 8th, Dominion (the Titans “B” squad) 30th, Briar Woods 33rd, Broad Run 35th and Freedom 36th.

In the boys junior varsity race some 454 runners crowded the wooded trails and all 10 Loudoun teams were represented with Potomac Falls and Heritage finishing 3rd and 4th. Other Loudoun finishes: County 9th, Stone Bridge 10th, Valley 11th, Park View 26th, Freedom 30th, Dominion 34th, Briar Woods 37th and Broad Run 38th.

Heritage won the freshman boys race with Potomac Falls 13th, County 15th and Valley 18th.