Sarah Dorrell

Here are the all-time best performances for the 2K steeplechase.

Here are the girls all-time rankings for 5K according to our database.

Here are the top times from VA athlete ever run at Great American.

Here are the top 1,000 girls times from the Great Meadow non-state meet course.

Here are the all-time top 1,000 times on the Sugar Hollow course.

Photo by John Herzog   A handful of Virginia schools are competing this weekend at the Volunteer Track Classic in Knoxville, Tennessee. One of the leading performances by Virginians in Friday's events was the Lee-Davis girls setting a new meet record by three seconds in the 4x100 meter shuttle hurdles with one of the faster times in state history in the event at 1:02.71. The relay featured state indoor 55 hurdles champion Montasia Golden as well as another state qualifier caliber hurdler in Brie Jackson.   In the rarely contested 2000 meter steeplechase, two Blacksburg seniors placed well with quality times in Sarah Dorrell (7:34.02) and Frank Locascio (6:23.65) both placing third respectively. The hammer throw is just as uncommon event as the steeplechase for Virginia high schoolers, but Virginia High School's Nik Huffman impressed in his event debut with a mark of 166'3", which will rank the sophomore and returning Group A state discus runner-up among the top 15 nationally.   Volunteer Track Classic - Friday Results

All photos by Andrew Kicinski   Distance runners led the Virginia performances from the Liberty Christmas Invitational while athletes from North Carolina schools dominated the sprints, hurdles, field events, and sprint relays. Blacksburg senior George Carter won the 1600 meter run on Friday in a solid season opener of 4:22.72 while doubling back for another first place finish on Saturday in the 3200 meter run by a 15 second margin with his 9:30 performance. A state runner-up last June at the Group AA State Outdoor Championships, Carter is seeking his first state individual title during his senior year of track after leading Blacksburg to two consecutive state cross country team titles.     Bassett's Michelle Church kept Blacksburg senior Sarah Dorrell from achieving a distance double wins herself as Church finished a half second ahead of Dorrell in 5:11. After a 5:12 1600 runner-up performance, Dorrell on the next day defeated Church (3rd, 3:06) and West Potomac junior Sarah Jane Underwood (2nd, 3:04) in the 1000 meter run with a 3:02 victory.     Christiansburg's Rochelle Evans had the top performance in the girls' field events with a top mark of 37'9.25" in the shot put. Evans was a top 3 performer in both the shot put and discus as the Group AA State Outdoor Meet last spring. In a very competitive boys' pole vault event with three vaulters over 14'6", Liberty Christian Academy senior Cody Bingham placed third at a 14'6" clearance. Bingham is one of the state's top multi-event athletes and nearly placed in 3 other events this weekend at the Tolsma Track Center.   Liberty Christmas Invitational Complete Results Liberty Christmas Invitational Photo Gallery by Andrew Kicinski

Cooler temperatures after this week's rain certainly boded well for runners and teams to take advantage to run fast times on Saturday with many getting an opportunity to compete on fairly quick 5K courses for the first time this season. Meet summaries below from this weekend's meets. Links to meet pages with results below. MileStat.com was on-site at the Octoberfest Invite, so expect many photos and race videos to be uploaded soon.     Octoberfest Invitational  - The varsity A boys race at Octoberfest saw a great individual battle between two potential state champions in the next meet held at Great Meadow between Douglas Freeman senior Silas Frantz and Skyline sophomore Thomas Madden. Frantz and Madden had company on the first loop with DC prep runners John McGowan of Sidwell Friends and Great Meadow Invite champ Collin Leibold of Gonzaga, but Frantz and Madden broke away from the chase pack on the second loop to race for the win. Frantz opened up a lead on Madden after the two mile mark, but Madden nearly closed up that distance in the final stretch with the Freeman senior Frantz holding off the Skyline underclassmen Madden (2nd, 15:31) for 1 second win in a PR time of 15:30. The race featured two of the state's top young distance runners with Madden and Chantilly sophomore Sean McGorty looking like a serious contender for the Northern Region title finishing fourth with a 15:45 5K personal best performance at Octoberfest.   The Stafford boys are legit. There will be no more written about how this team has continued to overarchieve at invitationals this season including a surprise win at the Oatlands Invite last Saturday. Coach Pete Augrom's squad will be a serious player in the competitive Northwest Region as well as at the state meet. Stafford boys finished second to the Gonzaga (DC) in the team scoring with 153 points, but well ahead of some quality programs including Commonwealth District and Northwest Region rival Riverbend (5th, 239 pts) and Group AA state meet podium caliber teams Skyline (3rd, 205 pts) and Potomac Falls (4th, 231 pts). Stafford's top four finishers came across the finish line in a 31 second span with Tyler Oliver (10th, 16:10), Greg Bohmke (19th, 16:31), Ian Macleod (24th, 16:38), and Joey Abbatiello (26th, 16:41).     To add onto a great day for the Stafford program was Hannah Lowery getting back into the winner's circle following a bump in the road last week at Oatlands taking second to Cosby's Megan Moye. While the sophomore Lowery no longer can have an undefeated season, she has been having pretty close to a perfect season as her race at Great Meadow on Saturday was the best yet as Lowery clocked a personal best time of 18:11 to win decisively against a field with included more than a handful of VA top 25 ranked individuals. While Lowery has won four invitationals this season, Millbrook's Crystal Nelson has won none but her races have been consistently impressive with second and third places to make her one of the top Group AA performers so far this cross country season including a runner-up 18:23 PR behind Lowery on Saturday. Two of the state's fastest freshmen girls raced head-to-head at Octoberfest with Hanover's Molly Breidenbaugh (3rd, 18:31) and Robert E. Lee's Bailey Kolonich (7th, 18:56).   The Thomas Jefferson girls raced a 5K for only the second time this season, but on a faster course and better weather than last week at Oatlands to not only remain undefeated this season in invitational competition but to run fast times while doing it. For a second straight meet, one of their top runners Lisa Junta was held out healing from injury, but the TJ girls still put all of their top 7 seven under 21 minutes to average 19:57 as a team and a top 5 spread of 54 seconds. It was not as much of a blowout win as Oatlands though with Ocean Lakes girls showing themselves as not only the top team from the Eastern Region, but a squad which can return to Great Meadow in November to mix it up with the top Group AAA teams at the state meet finishing only 16 points behind Group AAA #1 ranked Thomas Jefferson (133 pts) with a team score of 149 points. Ocean Lakes was actually ahead of Thomas Jefferson by five points through four runners, but Rachel Kuprenas (41st, 20:20) came through for TJ in the all important fifth runner spot to secure the team title.   Great American Festival - Read meet summary article.   VMI Invitational - Math and odds say 7 against 1 is not a fair fight, which is what Group AAA top ranked Andrew Catanese was up against at the VMI Invitational with his only competition being the VA #1 ranked Blacksburg boys' top 7. Catanese was not doubled teamed by Blacksburg, but septupled by them as he finished with a time of 16:05 third behind personal best 5K runs from George Carter (15:44) and Zach Link (15:55). Outside of Catanese, Blacksburg team trialed the meet taking the next four places with Frank Locascio (4th, 16:07), Anthony Noegel (5th, 16:31), Matthew Paiser (6th, 16:41), and Caman Skelton (7th, 16:45). Albemarle freshmen Ryan Thomas was not racing with the Albemarle top 7 at Great American, but may joining the varsity lineup at some point this season especially after his 8th place finish at VMI with time of 16:49 to slip inside Blacksburg's top 7 and ahead of Blacksburg seventh runner Nick Link (9th, 16:50).   Hannah Brown was held out from racing for the Blacksburg, but her team still won easily without her tallying a team score of 35 points led by individual race champion Sarah Dorrell who posted a time of 19:07 on the VA Horse Center 5K course in Lexington. The Christiansburg girls were a respectable second place with 77 points and three runners among the top 15 under 21 minutes. Jefferson Forest's Leigha Schimmoeller appears to have returned to her top form from last cross country with her second straight strong race with a runner-up 19:29 showing at VMI.   Hagan Stone XC Classic  - The Lee-Davis boys and West Springfield girls won team titles in the championship division at Hagan Stone as while the VA #15 West Springfield girls claimed their first place trophy comfortably by 32 points, the Lee-Davis boys squeaked out a win on a sixth runner tiebreaker against Cardinal Gibbons (NC) with 140 points. Cody Snyder led the charge for the Lee-Davis boys as he tackled the course and competitive field with four others under 16 minutes by kicking to a 15:43 individual victory. West Springfield's Colin Taylor finished among the top 10 with a season best time of 16:10, while Snyder's teammate Robbie Longest ran a big PR of 16:32 for 12th place.   The West Springfield girls may not currently have the front runner like the Lee-Davis girls did in Bonny Turnage as the sophomore finished second against one of Tennessee's top runners in Molly Foster of Science Hill (18:27) with a season best 5K time of 18:37, but the Northern Region squad is well packed and exhibits depth. A 56 second spread and only 14 places separated West Springfield's top runner Maddie Wittich (8th, 19:18) and their fifth and final scorer Marlena Allen (22nd, 20:14) for a winning team score of 73 points. The Lee-Davis girls were champions at Hagan Stone one year ago and despite losing two of their top three runners returned a formidable squad to finish only three points off second place with 118 points.   Wendy's Invitational - The VA #5 ranked Bishop O'Connell girls decided to take it easy on the public schools in Virginia that they have been beating up on this season and instead unleash on the top teams in North Carolina and South Carolina which gather annually at the Wendy's Invitational in Charlotte. The O'Connell girls won the invitational team title with 139 points and team average of 19:04 as much of the team success could be attributed to stellar races from their front three all running under 18:45 on the fast McAlpine Greenway 5K course (Foot Locker South course). O'Connell senior Sarah McCarthy continues to race like the best private school runner in Virginia as she challenged the race leaders on Saturday before settling for a big PR time of 18:18 for third place. Also clocking significant drops in their previous bests were teammates Devin Nihill (8th, 18:42) and Emily Blagg (9th, 18:43). Rounding out their team scoring were Nicole Carty (58th, 19:47) and Ashley Stumvoll (61st, 19:51).   The Oakton girls finished 9th in the invite division with a 51 second spread with their top five all nearly under 20 minutes, while the Oakton boys were 10th with Michael NcNamee posting the team's fastest time of 16:14 for a 30th place individual finish. Abingdon had a much better team showing in the 3A boys race as a very small gap of only 26 separated their top five finishers between Tanner Cook (14th, 16:36) and Colby Hincher (37th, 17:02). With their third place team effort at McAlpine, Abingdon looks to be running well enough to become a potential Region IV runner-up behind VA #1 ranked Blacksburg.   Panther Invitational - After competing in several high pressure meets against top competition already this season, the West Potomac boys and girls got a chance to compete in a more low key meet and focus on running fast 5K times in the first annual Panther Invitational hosted by Bruton High at New Quarter Park in Williamsburg. The West Potomac boys tallied a low team score of 18 points with seven of the top nine finishers as Brady Corum had his best race of the season to win the individual title in 16:31 followed by five other teammates under 17 minutes in Mark Hanak (2nd, 16:40), Khoki Bernier (3rd, 16:45), Ben Aleixo (5th, 16:52), and Marc Lotterie (7th, 16:59). Only Patrick Henry's Julian Menk (4th, 16:50) and Stone Bridge's Brady Guertin (6th, 16:55) were able to break up West Po's top seven.   The top three for the West Potomac girls ran away from the field to make it a sweep for Sarah Jane Underwood (1st, 19:22), Dale Lescher (2nd, 19:23), and Sophia Passacantado (3rd, 19:33). Their team score of 22 points was more than half the score of the team runners-up from Stone Bridge (48 pts).   North County Classic - Patrick Woodford of Patrick Henry and Erin Wheeler of Northside both won individually at Northside High School's home 5K course while also helping their teams to titles as well. Wheeler put 1 minute and 16 seconds on her nearest competition in her 19:58 clocking, while Woodford dominated his race as well by 42 seconds as he crossed the line first in 17:12.   Golden Eagle Invitational - Stuart Robertson pleased the home crowd by winning his school Staunton River's home invitational as the junior clocked in at 16:45 to take the individual title by 35 seconds. Group A school Altavista won the boys' team title against several Group AA schools, while Lindsey Siska and Salem girls spoiled a team sweep for Altavista as Siska won big with her time of 20:27.   Frank Keyser Invitational - The Woodgrove girls won their first invitational team title in the school's history albeit the school has only been open for a month at the Frank Keyser Invite in Maryland. Woodgrove placed five girls in the top 20 as all five runners ran 20:30 or faster on the three mile course at Boonsboro High School. Their top three ran very well with Lyda Cromwell (6th, 19:07), Audrey Houghton (8th, 19:10), and Alex Juzbasich (7th, 19:16) finishing in a short span from each other inside the top 10.

MileStat.com visited one of the state's top cross country programs on Thursday with the Blacksburg boys and girls working out at Brown Farm in Blacksburg, which included a 20 minute tempo run and 5x460 meter repeat workout. More to come from the practice including photos. Workout videos & interviews posted below.   The Warm-Up 20 Minute Tempo Run 460 Meter Repeats Coach James DeMarco Interview Hannah Brown & Sarah Dorrell Interview George Carter & Frank Locascio Interview

Blacksburg girls set DMR national record! 11:31.26 They came in hoping to win – hoping. The national record seemed possible but not even Joanna Stevens’ best-case scenario worked out this good.   The Blacksburg (Va.) senior didn’t anticipate taking the stick all alone on the anchor lap and realizing that with a lap left, she would be racing the clock to become the fastest distance medley relay in nation history (Photo by Victah Sailer). Kathleen Stevens (3:31.56), Sarah Dorrell (58.97), Hannah Brown (2:12.61) and Joanna Stevens (4:48.14) won the DMR at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals in 11:31.26 Saturday, breaking Warwick Valley’s 2008 record of 11:31.81.   Virginia's All-American/Top 6 Finishers on Saturday Girls DMR - Blacksburg - 1st, 11:31.26 *NEW NATIONAL RECORD* Girls High Jump - Chelsea Utley (Green Run) - 2nd, 5'8.50" Girls 4x100 - Western Branch - 4th, 46.79 Girls Long Jump - Nikki Nunn (Manchester) - 4th, 18'6" Boys High Jump - Philip Morris (Glenvar) - 5th, 6'8.75" Boys Long Jump - Renay Ransaw (Hampton) - 5th, 18'6" Boys Shot Put - Isaiah Simmons (Woodbridge) - 6th, 61'2" Girls Mile Run - Kathleen Lautzenheiser (Midlothian) - 6th, 4:52.44 Emerging Elite Girls 200 - Cassandra Jones (Granby) - 5th, 24.82 Emerging Elite Boys 4x400 - Blacksburg - 6th, 3:23.22

Blacksburg sets DMR National Record, FitzSimons has 2nd stunning anchor!  (Photos by John Olson and Victah Sailer)

Only two days removed from strong races at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games, the Stevens twins (pictured above by Frank Locascio) of Blacksburg knocked half dozen seconds off their US #1 and #2 10:26 3200 meter performances earlier in the season at Monday's River Ridge Championships. After being usurped from the top of the national leaderboard in the 3200 meter run two weeks ago by Foot Locker Nationals champion Megan Goethals of Michigan with her 10:25 performance, the Stevens twins got an opportunity to run a fresh 3200. On the banked Virginia Tech indoor track, Kathleen Stevens won in a US #1 time of 10:19.85 and followed in by twin sister Joanna Stevens in a US #2 time of 10:20.64.

The 2009 All-MileStat.com Cross Country Team has been announced with a total of 42 athletes being selected among the 7 member first, second, and third teams for both boys and girls. Awards winners also announced for Runner of the Year, Coach of the Year, Team of the Year, Freshmen of the Year, Most Improved Runner of the Year, and Comeback Runner of the Year. Congratulations to all selections for this fall's All-MileStat.com Team!

With the Blacksburg and Hidden Valley girls making the trip today to Portland, Oregon to compete this weekend at the Nike Cross Nationals, MileStat.com releases a feature including the top 7 runners of each team filling out a questionnaire survey to get to know better each team and their team members.

The Stevens twins of Blacksburg rolled on the notoriously fast road downhill mile race, the Draper Mile in Blacksburg on Friday, clocking the second and third fastest performances all-time in the race's history with Joanna Stevens as the winner at 4:41.5 and twin Kathleen Steven as the runner-up at 4:42.7. The Stevens sisters were second and third in last year's Draper Mile with times of 5:02 (Joanna) and 5:05 (Kathleen) respectively, so both rising seniors were over 20 seconds faster from a year ago.   Winning the men's race was another Blacksburg High runner in rising junior George Carter taking first over two late 20 something's runners in 4:11.3. Carter was fifth in last year's race with a time of 4:26.   Draper Mile - Complete Results

Virginia had two event winners on Friday at the Volunteer Track Classic. While not near her personal best, Atlee senior Emma Dejarnette became a two-time meet champion in Knoxville with a 11'6" clearance in the girls' pole vault. Another winner was Blacksburg junior Sarah Dorrell of Blacksburg in the girls' 2000 meter steeplechase. Dorrell saw a 28 second improvement from her debut in the event last year at the same meet with a 7:43.66 victory. While not winning their races, both Joanna Stevens and George Carter of Blacksburg ran impressive times in the final event of the evening in the two mile run. Stevens, the Group AA state indoor 1600 meter champion moved up in distance to run the state's fastest time and first sub 11 performance of the season in 10:59.90 for third place.  The Blacksburg sophomore Carter made a considerable improvement from his previous personal best to finish third as well in a time of 9:19.91 for full 2 miles. Volunteer Track Classic - Live Results

Photo by Tom Hoerner Outside of the three-time Group AAA state champions from Midlothian, the next two best teams in the state of Virginia could come from the same district in Group AA's River Ridge District in the Blacksburg and Hidden Valley girls' squads. Blacksburg has won two consecutive state titles in Group AA, while Hidden Valley became a quick upstart last fall with the addition of two star freshmen in Annie LeHardy and Haley Cutright. Both teams possess a great deal of depth and talent which will make them major players not only the state stage, but possibly nationally with Nike Cross Nationals aspirations. Blacksburg's sixth runner Trinity Foreman has ran sub 5:10 for 1600 meters, while Hidden Valley's fifth runner Mary Catherine Sowder runs a 11:44 for 3200 meters.