For Thais Rolly, the final race of her standout cross country career was unfortunate.
Led by individual winner Charlie Ortmans and four other runners finishing in the top 12, the Potomac School Panthers won the boys Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference cross country championship for the first time since 2007.
Led by the second-place finish of Jack Levine (16:17), the Yorktown Patriots placed second with 78 points in the Liberty District boys cross country championship meet at Burke Lake Park. Marshall won with 28.
Four teams and two individual runners from the Sun Gazette coverage areas finished first in the Concorde and Liberty district cross country championship meets, all held Oct. 27 on the Burke Lake Park course.
A couple of running partners for the Bishop O’Connell Knights cross country team shared in victories at this year’s State Catholic Championship meet at Occoquan Regional Park in Lorton.
For years, the annual Arlington County girls and boys high-school cross country meets have been held on the course at busy Bluemont Park in Arlington. And at times, because many pedestrians and runners are in the same place at the same time in the park and on the course, there have been coll…
Runners Molly Weithman and Jack Levine each achieved their two goals Oct. 6 by winning the girls and boys annual Arlington County cross country races, respectively, while running personal-best times on the Bluemont Park course in the process.
For decades, the only constant Arlington County championship sporting event among the jurisdiction’s four high schools is the annual girls and boys varsity cross country meet, run each fall at Bluemont Park.
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David Fawcett, Sports editor
- dfawcett@insidenova.com
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It’s a common occurrence that event officials during the annual multi-race Monroe Park Invitational high-school cross country meet at Burke Lake Park become annoyed with spectators potentially getting in the way of runners and impeding their progress.
The Yorktown High School girls and boys cross country teams each placed third at the Sept. 17 Escape the Rock Invitational meet at Rock Ridge High in Ashburn.
It wasn’t planned, but maybe Lila Waters has discovered a new and effective pre-race strategy – sleep poorly the night before a major competition.
Bishop O’Connell High School junior Molly Weithman finished third in 17 minutes, 48 seconds in the girls varsity race at the annual Monroe Parker Invitational cross country meet run the morning of Sept. 10 at Burke Lake Park.
He was a late entry, but Charlie Ortmans eventually became the life of the party.
As is so often the case each fall, local teams and individual runners in the Sun Gazette’s coverage areas have considerable potential to have successful cross country seasons.
Marshall High School graduate Heather Holt was a participating member of the women’s Division I national championship North Carolina State University’s cross country team during the fall season.
At the boys high-school Eastbay Cross Country Championships in San Diego, York-town Patriots senior Owen McArdle placed 28th in 15:54 in the field of 40 runners. The winning time was 15:11.
McLean High School’s Thais Rolly has qualified to run in a national-championship race.
Yorktown High School’s Owen McArdle has qualified to run in a national-championship race.
