Cross country sponsored by potomac river running
By: Dan Sousa
(Nov. 9, 2006) It is time for one final kick as the cross country season concludes Saturday with the Heritage girls and six other Loudoun runners competing in the VHSL state cross country meet at the Great Meadows course in The Plains.
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The Heritage High School girls cross country team celebrates its third place finish at the Region II meet at Panorama Farms in Charlottesville. |
It is time for one final kick for the Heritage High School girls cross country team and six other area runners as the season concludes Saturday at the VHSL state meet at the Great Meadows course in The Plains.
The Pride are the first girls squad to make the state meet since Potomac Falls qualified in 2003. Heritage may just be warming up as the young team had three freshman score while placing third at the Region II meet last week at Panorama Farms in Charlottesville.
Freshman Hannah McLaughlin (20:18.13) was 18th overall at the regional meet followed by seniors Jayde James (20:18.99) and Binin Kronenberg (20:38.31), 20th and 30th respectively. The three runners at ran the same course last month at the Albemarle Invitational and all three shaved between 37 and 48 seconds off those times at regionals.
Even more interesting is that a Pair of Pride freshman, Ashleigh Dyson and Amanda Ward, who didn’t run at the AA Dulles District meet won by Heritage at Oatlands, finished 38th and 48th.
Brentsville won the regional meet with 39 points followed by Handley (122), Heritage (130) and Monticello (145). The Pride figure to have a strong shot at a top five state finish Saturday.
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Christina LeePotomac Falls |
The Heritage girls won’t be running alone as three area individual runners also qualified for the AA meet – Potomac Falls freshman Christina Lee, Dominion junior Bekki Misanin and Loudoun County freshman Julie Strange.
District champion Lee was fifth overall at regionals with a 19:20.38 time. Misanin (19:34.42) and Strange (19:44.38) came in eighth and 11th respectiviely. Considering the strength of the Region II meet, all three runners should challenge for top 20 finishes Saturday.
In the regional team standings, Potomac Falls, Briar Woods and Park View finished 8-9-10 in the 16-team field.
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Josh HardinPotomac Falls |
On the boys side, Potomac Falls sophomore Josh Hardin (16:23.62) finished 10th to qualify Saturday but his Panther team just missed, coming in fifth with 151. The four teams advancing from Region II were Brentsville (57), Western Albemarle (79), Sherando (119) and Louisa County (133).
Hardin will have company as Dominion senior Brian Gould grabbed the 15th and final slot for the state meet with a 16:33.31 run at regionals.
Heritage was eigth at regionals followed by Dominion 10th and Loudoun County 11th.
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Gidey TeferraStone Bridge |
Stone Bridge sophomore Stephanie Paradis finished 24th in the girls regional race.
Due to the rainfall this week, the state course at Great Meadows is off limits to course previews on tomorrow. Teams can come to Great Meadows to buy t-shirts and see the course, but cannot run or walk it.
Saturday’s Schedule – Saturday Nov. 11 at Great Meadows
10:30 a.m. A Girls
11:15 a.m. A Boys
11:45 a.m. AA Girls
12:30 p.m. AA Boys
1:00 p.m. AAA Girls
1:45 p.m. AAA Boys
Directions to Great Meadows
From Warrenton/South: Take Rte. 17 north for 8 miles. Great Meadow on right. To enter main gate, turn right on Rte. 245.
From Washington and Suburbs: Travel on I-66 to The Plains, Exit #31, turn left (south) on Old Tavern Rd. (Rt. 245), Great Meadow one mile on left.
From Middleburg: Drive South on The Plains Road (Rt. 626) Right on 55, left on Old Tavern Road (Rt. 245), Great Meadow one mile on left.
From South/West: Take I-66 east to Exit #28 for Marshall. Take Rte. 17 south for 3 miles, turn left on Rte. 245.
Pricing
Ticket prices for the VHSL State Cross Country Championship have been increased to $7.00 per person.
About Great Meadow
Nestled in the heart of Virginia’s Piedmont countryside, Great Meadow is a 250-acre field events center and steeplechase course operated under stewardship of the Meadow Outdoors Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of open space for community use.
Great Meadow and the Meadow Outdoors Foundation were founded and the land donated by news executive and philanthropist Arthur W. (Nick) Arundel 20 years ago. Until then, the property had been slated to become a development of more than 500 homes. Rescued from urbanization, the stunningly beautiful, rolling site has instead become a model for adaptive use of open space for community events. Today, Great Meadow has become a valued member of the Virginia charitable and national equestrian sports communities.
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