Both the Briar Woods High boys' and girls' cross country teams had impressive outings at last Saturday's Oatlands Invitational, one of the largest high-school cross country meets on the East Coast.
The Falcon girls, competing in the 47-team girls varsity 'B' division, finished fifth overall in the team standings. Briar Woods' top finisher was sophomore Giana Leone, who finished eighth overall with a time of 20 minutes, 36 seconds. Also for the Falcons, freshman Alexa Kniley was 14th overall. Other top finishers for the Brambleton school team were freshman Madison Horner (42nd), sophomore Amanda Presler (61st) and sophomore Analyse Apodaca. Rounding out the pack for Briar Woods were senior Jackie Ronk and junior Christine Edeline.
On the boys' side, Briar Woods finished eighth place out of 59 teams in the varsity boys' 'B' race. Freshman Connor Pompilio was the first Falcons' runner to cross the finish line and 24th overall with a time of 17:36. The top-25 finishers placed, so Pompilio, competing at Oatlands for the first time, was among an elite group of medal winners.
"It's my first year and I didn't know what to expect," Pompilio, the top freshmen finisher in the varsity race, said. "I tried to do my best. I ran the first mile quick. The hills [thereafter] were kind of hard. I wanted to come out and place."
The Falcon boys received other solid runs from junior Zach Deaton (34th overall), senior Billy Calhoun (70th), junior Andy Luhmann (102nd) and junior Ryan Faulkner (126th).
The Broad Run High girls finished 23rd in the girls' 'B' race. The Spartans' top-two finishers were junior Riley Newland, who earned a medal with her 18th-place finish, and sophomore Sarah Smaltz (31st overall).
The Broad Run boys finished 36th in the varsity boys' 'B' race. The Spartans' top finisher was senior Brandon Tully, who was 52nd in the field of more than 400 runners.
The Stone Bridge High girls (26th overall in the varsity girls' 'B' race) had a stellar outing from sophomore Caroline Snell, who was 53rd overall. And the Stone Bridge boys (28th) were led by sophomore Joe Lynch (85th).
<b>THE TEAM CHAMPION</b> in the 48-schools' varsity boys' 'A' race at Oatlands was Oakton High School (133 points) out of the Northern Region. The Cougars finished ahead of runner-up Robinson (165 points, Northern Region) and third place Potomac Falls (216), out of Loudoun County. Clarke County (328, Berryville, Va.) was fourth and Gonzaga High (331, Washington, D.C.) was fifth. The individual 'A' race champion was Tyler Stutzman (15:44) of Western Albemarle High (Crozet, Va.). The top Northern Virginia-area finisher was Jared Berman of Robinson in Fairfax County.
In the varsity boys' 'B' race, Thomas Jefferson High (Alexandria) was the team champion with 29 points. Saratoga Springs (N.Y.) was second with 117 points. Top local team finishers in the 59-team race were Herndon High (fifth place, 261 points) and Briar Woods (eighth place, 356). The individual champion was Demetri Goutos (16:35) of Saratoga Springs, who finished ahead of Thomas Jefferson runners Alex Witko (second, 16:49) and Logan Gates (third, 16:56). Also for Jefferson, Timmy Galvin was fifth overall and James Wu was seventh. Westfield High's Jack Canatsey was sixth.
<b>ON THE GIRLS' SIDE</b>, Saratoga Springs was the 'A' race team champion with 33 points, finishing ahead of second-place Brentsville (Nokesville) with 206 points and third-place Oakton (218). Other area teams finishing in the top 10 of the 37-team race were fourth-place Osbourn Park (Manassas) and 10th-place Potomac Falls.
Jefferson High, meanwhile, was the varsity girls' 'B' team champion with 52 points. Other area teams to finish in the top 10 in the 47-school race were Westfield (fourth place), Briar Woods (fifth), Yorktown High (seventh) and Centreville (10th). Rachel Grochowski of Chantilly High was the individual champion with a time of 19:43. Jefferson runners Stephanie Marzen, Sarah Stites and Katherine Sheridan finished second, third and ninth, respectively, while Briar Woods' Giana Leone (eighth) and Yorktown's Lindsey Hunt (10th) were also in the top 10.
<b>IT WAS A PICTURESQUE</b>, autumn day at Oatlands Saturday. Thousands of spectators attended the event, which began at 9 a.m. Four junior varsity races were held in the morning, two boys and two girls. Later in the morning, the four varsity races began, carrying into the afternoon. The 'A' races, for the most part, consisted of the higher caliber runners. Following all eight races — JV and varsity combined — a brief awards presentation took place at around 2:30 p.m. Top-25 finishers in each of the races earned medals.
There were 101 teams, compared to 73 last year, and 4,300 runners on hand for the meet, which has become known as the second leg of the triple crown of Northern Virginia-area high-school cross country. Most of the meets' teams were from Virginia, but guest schools from New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, West Virginia, Colorado, Maryland and Washington, D.C., were also participants.
The host schools for the Oatland Invitational were Loudoun County and Freedom high schools of the Dulles District. The meet organizers were Matt Oblas of Freedom and Derek Farry of Loudoun County.
The mostly grass running course, a 5K layout on the grounds of the historic Leesburg site, was a challenge for most all of the runners. There are several excruciating hills following the first, relatively easy mile. The near picture-perfect course setting includes some wood trails and a couple of creek crossings.