Chesapeake Invitational

September 26, 2009 @ Bells Mill 5K Course in Chesapeake, VA

Hosted by Great Bridge     Timing/Results: Kale Running, Inc.

 

The Eastern Region girls are experiencing a down year. No doubt about it as there appears to be no team in the region expected to finish among the top half of the field at the state meet and possibly not even the top 10. The number of individuals with a shot at an All-State top 15 finish is a very small group. The region could get shut out of top 15 individuals too. However, Landstown's Stephanie Frenchik's win and time at the Chesapeake Invitational should be a glimmer of hope of someone from the region finishing about the best 15 come November at Great Meadow.

 

In her first major invitational of the 2009 cross country season, the Landstown senior Frenchik (pictured left by Andy Paisley) blew out the field with a victory by almost a full minute with her final time of 18:31, which is a significant personal best and her first time under 19 minutes for 5K.

 

Eastern Region powerhouses Ocean Lakes and Western Branch were both missing from the meet, but either's attendance might not have impacted the first place team winners from Grassfield as Coach Pat Banks had two teams pick up of first place hardware. The Grassfield girls (91 pts) won by 8 points over Southeastern District rival Hickory (99 pts).

 

Without a true front runner, the Grassfield girls had to rely on a tight team spread of one minute and seven seconds for their top five runners behind top finisher and freshmen Carolyn Cunniffe (6th, 20:17). The Hickory girls have to be encouraged about being within striking distance of Grassfield and their chances of qualifying for the state meet when they return to Bells Mill Park in November for the Eastern Region Championships.

 

Despite winning the William & Mary Invitational, Coach Banks at Grassfield was not pleased with his boys' team performance. He expected a better run from his recently #1 minted Group AAA ranked squad. The team's spread was too big for his liking last weekend in Williamsburg. The Grassfield boys responded to their coach's challenge this week on the home course for their regional meet with four runners among the top nine in Jeremy Greenwald (4th, 16:08), Aaron Harrison (6th, 16:27), Joseph Daversa (7th, 16:38), and Seth Taylor (9th, 16:40). Andrew Atangan completed the team scoring in 20th place with a time of 17:04.

 

With team score of 41 points, Grassfield cruised to a team title at the Chesapeake Invite with Hickory as a runner-up in the boys division as well with 101 points. Grassfield appears to have two teams ready to qualify for state competition as does Coach Jud Sarver's teams at Hickory.

 

Michael Bailey of Greenbrier Christian spoiled the Eastern Region pre-meet from being a meet with champions from Eastern Region schools as the one of the state's top private school runners outdueled two of the Eastern Region's best in Brian Davenport of Maury (2nd, 16:06) and Jordan White of Great Bridge (3rd, 16:07) for a 16:01 PR victory.

 

Results:

• Boys Individual Results
• Boys Team Results
• Girls Individual Results
• Girls Team Results

 

Below are the performances entered for the meet that met the national silver standard.

10 National Elites.