In the Race of Champions, both Midlothian and Colonial Forge have their boys and girls squads selected to compete in the elite division while VA #7 ranked Hidden Valley, VA #11 ranked Western Albemarle, and Cosby also made the cut to be included in the most competitive race of the meet. Midlothian and Colonial Forge boys are two of the best teams in Virginia as the current top two contenders for the Group AAA state title. Both have post-season aspirations of qualifying for the Nike Cross Nationals. In Cary, North Carolina, each will get to measure up against one another and race against the Southeast's two NXN qualifiers from a year ago in US #19 Brookwood of Georgia and US #45 Columbus of Florida. VA #18 ranked Thomas Delaney of John Handley is racing as a lone individual in the ROC as well as Cosby's Evan Niciphor, while Colonial Forge has their strong four of Donny Lozier, Brian O'Loughlin, David Pennesi, and David Klimek all knocking on the door of breaking 16 minutes each already this fall. Not to be forgotten is Midlothian senior Brayden Burleigh, who in his last appearance at WakeMed Soccer Park punched his ticket to qualifying for the Nike Cross Nationals individually with a personal best 5K performance of 15:24.
The Midlothian girls are the top ranked team from the Southeast Region present, but the teams from Virginia and the Southeast will have their work cut off for them to seriously challenge US #2 and defending Great American champions Saratoga Springs of New York. VA #3 ranked Midlothian along with VA schools Colonial Forge (VA #6), Hidden Valley, and Western Albemarle will likely be racing for the places following Saratagoa Springs with US #15 La Salle Academy of Rhode Island and other Northeast schools Bishop Feehan (NE #3) of Massachussetts and North Shore (NY #5) of New York. Top individuals from Virginia who are hoping to finish well inside the top 10 and break onto the national scene are Maymont third place finisher Mattie Webb of Western Albemarle and Oatlands Invitational champion Megan Moye of Cosby. Aisling Cuffe from New York will be heavily favored to win individually as one of the top returning runners in the nation as the Foot Locker Northeast champion in 2009.
With Great American now only a state away, many more Virginia schools are coming back to the meet after skipping out on the long travel from its previous location in Hoover, Alabama. The seeded invitational division, which is the second most competitive race at Great American, is a perfect example of that as almost half of the field in the 20 school boys race and 16 school girls race appears to made up of Virginia schools. Many quality programs and top individuals are racing in the seeded invitational, who could also hold their own in the Race of Champions. The seeded invitational boys' race has four squads which have been ranked among the top 10 in the state at some point this season with Albemarle, Brentsville, Loudoun County, and Mountain View. With the exception of Osbourn Park, Great American appears to have become a preview meet for the Northwest Region girls with Colonial Forge in the Race of Champions, while three of the other four top 5 ranked teams in that region are slated to race head-to-head in the seeded invitational division with Albemarle, Forest Park, and Mountain View.
Private school squads from Trinity (Richmond, VA) and Episcopal (Alexandria, VA) will be competing in the first ever American Independent Schools Championship race at Great American, which is attempting to gather some of the top private school programs and runners in the country. The Trinity boys should have a very realistic shot at winning this division as taking first place is all they have done so far this winning notching top honors at the Fork Union Invitational and in the coastal division at Maymont to currently find themselves ranked #8 in the state of Virginia regardless of classification. Individually, Episcopal's Reid Nickle and Trinity's Guy Shelby are two of top ranked private school runners in Virginia, but will have their hands full racing against two of North Carolina's best who happen to run for private schools in Scott Morgan of Calvary Baptist and Thomas Graham of Cary Academy, who already have ran times of 15:14 and 15:28 earlier this season on the same 5K course used for Great American.
Note: Any parent photographers attending Great American and willing to contribute their photos from the meet (in particular the Race of Champions & Seeded Invitational races), please let us know!