Cross Country: Hurricane Irene Can't Stop Loudoun Runners from Great Meadows Invitational

By Dan Sousa
VivaLoudon Editor

The Plains (Aug. 28, 2011) – While the threat of Hurricane Irene dampened the size of the Great Meadow Invitational Saturday, it did provide a good local outlook for the 2011 cross country season with 10 of Loudoun’s 12 high schools running at the meet.

The Loudoun County High School boys -- trying to follow up on a shining 2010-11 school year that included a regular-season cross country, a third place finish at the AA state cross country meet and the school’s first outdoor track and field district title since 2002 – took third place in the boys varsity A race with junior Patrick Joseph third individually with a 16:08 on the Great Meadows non-state course.


The Raiders, with 133 points, finished only behind AAA schools Oakton (42) and Osbourn Park (121).

“The boys ran fairly well but we have a long way to go before districts,” said Loudoun County coach Courtney Campbell . “It will be hard to top last year. Between cross country and track it was unbelievable.”

On the girls side Campbell was impressed by the performance of 2nd-year school Woodgrove, which placed three girls (SR Audrey Houghton, SR Lydia Cromwell, JR Alex Juzbasich) in the top 12 of the varsity A race. The Wolverines, however, did not figure into the team race as they didn’t enter a full squad in the varsity race, which was won by Oakton, edging Battlefield, 87-91 for the team title.

Freedom, which won last year’s Dulles District meet title, is moving up to the AAA level this year which makes Woodgrove a team to watch, especially after Houghton ran 19:41 (7th place), Cromwell 19:48 (9th) and Juzbasich 20:17 (12th).

Potomac Falls did not run at the meet and the Panthers are always near the top in districts on the girls side and the Panther boys have captured 10 straight Dulles District meet titles.

“It is always going to be Potomac Falls to beat. They could lose an entire team and still come back strong the next year,” said Campbell.

The boys varsity race was won Saturday by Warren County senior Seumas O’Reilly with a 15:43. Joseph and Gonzaga’s Mike Crozier were next across the line with the same time. Organizers moved the boys varsity race to the first event of the meet (instead of the last) and the girls varsity race was started just five minutes after the boys gun went off – incentive for the boys to keep a good pace on the course!

“The race started out pretty fast. I just tried to sit back a little and keep Seumas in sight,” said Joseph.
Freedom senior Thorpe Lichtenberg took 7th with a 16:45. Woodgrove senior Evan McCarthy took 9th at 16:47.

Loudoun County senior Josh Showalter, who will help the Raiders fill the gap with the graduation of 2-time district champ Tommy Curtin to Virginia Tech, fiished 12th at 17:02. Broad Run senior Gurjeet Chinayna ran a 17:07 for 13th.

On the girls’ side, Briar Woods, another team looking to challenge for the district title, had the best local team finish with a 5th place. Loudoun County -- without top runner Kathryn Eder, who captured both the 1600 and 3200 district titles in the Spring -- took 6th overall. Eder, returning from injury, should be back soon.
Briar Woods senior Melissa Rizor was 13th with a 20:20 in the race won by Millbrook’s Crystal Nelson with a 19:11 time.

Tuscarora senior Samuel Rodgers won the boys varsity B race with a 17:42. The Huskies were second to Oakton in the B team race.

Briar Woods captured the boys JV junior-senior race. Tuscarora junior Jannen Hermann won the girls JV junior-senior race with a 21:48.

Heritage, returning to the Dulles District this year, won the girls JV freshman-sophomore race.
Race organizers had planned for as many as 70 schools at the meet but the hurricane kept at least a third of the field away.

Boys Varsity A Race
Team Top 5
1, Oakton 42
2, Osbourn Park 121
3, Loudoun County 133
4, Gonzaga 134
5, Battlefield 163

Individuals Top 5
1, Seumas O’Reilly (Warren County) 15:43
2, Mike Crozier (Gonzaga) 16:08
3, Patrick Joseph (Loudoun County) 16:08
4, Michael McNamee (Oakton) 16:34
5, Pratik Singh (Oakton) 16:36

Girls Varsity A Race
Team Top 5
1, Oakton 87
2, Battlefield 91
3, Osbourn Park 124
4, Warren County 134
5, Briar Woods 149

Individuals Top 5
1, Crystal Nelson (Millbrook) 19:11
2, Nicole Carter (Battlefield) 19:26
3, Katlyn Ayers (Strasburg) 19:29
4, Meghan Blackstone (Paul VI) 19:30
5, Leanna Eisenman (Warren County) 19:30

Complete results here at milestat.com: http://va.milesplit.com/meets/94464-great-meadow-invitational