Andrew McCullen

Here are the all-time rankings on the boys side for 5K

Check out the Virginia boys' all-time performances at McAlpine Park.

Here are the top 1,000 boys times ever records at Oatlands.

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

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!

Neither Paige Kvartunas of West Springfield nor Kevin Dowd of Fairfax would have been satisified with the finish to their seasons if they decided to shut it down following the state meet. After winning the Northern Region title over some of the state's top runners, Paige Kvartunas (pictured by John Olson of scrunners.com) failed to make even the top 15 and earn All-State in Group AAA girls state race. Meanwhile, Dowd had been the #1 ranked runner in the state during the middle of the season but had to settle for third place finishes at both the regional and state meet to runners who simply had stronger finishes. Those disappointing showings are distance memories for both Northern Region runners after qualifying for the Foot Locker Nationals on Saturday with ninth place finishes each in the seeded race at the South regional.

While the Nike Cross Southeast Regionals has pulled away many of the state's top girls either competing on contending teams or trying to secure one of the 5 individual quaifier spots, tradition and dreams of sunny San Diego still keeps the best Virginia boys coming back to Foot Locker South as the top ranked half dozen runners in the state will be racing on Saturday at McAlpine Greenway Park in Charlotte with top 10 aspirations. While the best Virginia girls who will be racing in Charlotte will be considered long shots of making it to nationals, one upside for both Brooke Point senior Katherine Walker and Lake Braddock freshmen Sophie Chase is neither has any problem pushing the pace and running up front, which is necessary in order to put yourself in position for a top 10 national qualifier position on the fast and flat McAlpine 5K course. MileSplit US will have on-site coverage for MileStat.com led by scrunners.com webmaster John Olson as a total of 422 runners are entered in Foot Lockter South from the state of Virginia.

This year's VHSL State Championships could be a historic meet for the Northwest Region. The Northwest Region has arguably the greatest assembly of individual state title contenders with a big three in seniors Kaitlyn Davis of Mountain View, Ariel Karabinus of Osbourn Park, and Katherine Walker of Brooke Point. Meanwhile, the Mountain View boys will look to not only get on the state meet podium for the second time in three years, but also claim the school’s first state title. In the first cross country season without Thomas Porter leading the Wildcats, Mountain View is in its best situation since the school opened five years ago to win a state cross country team title.

A thrilling regional race with close finishes, shockers, and history being made as well as a rainbow sighting to start the meet. The Lake Braddock girls and Oakton boys as well as individual winners Paige Kvartunas and Chris Foley apparently found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow on Thursday afternoon at Burke Lake Park. It was a redemption meet for the Lake Braddock (pictured by Charles Fulghum) as they were inspired by the return of their top runner Liana Epstein and rise of a new star in freshmen Sophie Chase.

Great American: A significant day for Virginia girls teams in putting the state on the national map for the 2009 cross country season as three of the top five teams in the Race of Champions were from the state in runner-up Blacksburg (116 pts), third place Midlothian (130 pts), and fifth place Hidden Valley (137 pts).   Octoberfest: The top ranked boys individual and team in Group AAA went down at Great Meadow with Centreville's Yazid Zouaimia and the Mountain View boys (pictured left by Nicoll Knudsen) defeating #1 ranked Kevin Dowd of Fairfax and the Grassfield boys. Kaitlyn Davis and Katherine Walker had a great Northwest Region duel with Davis picking up the win. West Potomac girls won by a wide margin.   Results from elsewhere: Andrew McCullen and the Oakton boys had very impressive 2nd place finishes at Wendy's with McCullen (pictured by Ken Charnock, LandsharkPhotos.com) losing the individual title at the line with VA's fastest 5K time of 15:18. At the flrunners.com Invitational, the Lake Braddock girls take second place honors in the Race of Champions behind Winter Park of Florida with 114 points. In Greensboro, the Lee-Davis girls repeated as team champions at the Hagan Stone Park Classic with 3 runners among the top 5.    

The 2009 Oatlands Invitational should prove to be one of the biggest and most competitive meets in the state of Virginia this year with another great field of teams assembled by meet directors Derek Farrey and Matt Oblas. The meet will feature team of all classifications and different regions throughout the state of Virginia as well as schools from the states of Maryland and West Virginia. At last count, close to 90 schools in all will be represented on the Oatlands Plantation 5K course in Leesburg on Saturday, September 26th.

Blake Theroux (pictured by Ted Plunkett) of Western Branch, Ted Richardson of James River, and Anthony Kostelac of Albemarle are the top three returnees from last year's AAA state race as five seconds separated them at Great Meadow. Theroux and Richardson will both be getting a head start on Kostelac, the star anchor leg for Albemarle's national record breaking 4x800 meter relay this past year who had been out for a while due to a stress fracture in the femur suffered at the end of the outdoor season. Theroux is the only returning sub 9:20 2 miler from track, while Richardson has been training hard over the summer and is the state's top returnee from last year's Foot Locker South regional race (25th).   Other returning All-State cross country finishers include Andrew McCullen of Oakton, Drew Paisley of Ocean Lakes, Chris Foley of Chantilly, and Jordan White of Great Bridge.

Oakton senior Joe LoRusso (pictured right by John Herzog) admitted to having doubts about his race strategy almost as soon as the gun went off Saturday at the McDonald's Cross-Country Festival at Maymont Park in Richmond. Before he could find his pace, a blur of bodies was already streaking past him. Did he start too slowly? After all, the meet is one of the most prestigious on the East Coast, with a fast field. Perhaps the pace was too quick for him? Two-thirds of the way through the race, LoRusso started to catch his second wind -- as well as the runners who had blown by him. A patient LoRusso picked them off one by one on his way to finishing in the top 15 and running a career-best time on the five-kilometer course. Read full story...   

  MileStat.com's Brandon Miles analyzes the top five teams in the state to look out for this cross country season as part of a series of preview articles leading into this fall. Midlothian is the front runner again after holding strong last fall as a pre-season #1 to the finish and onto a dominating AAA state title and Virginia's first NTN appearance. The Trojans will have the handle the pressure of the bull's eye on them once again in 2007. The Western Albemarle boys have a team that has the talent to match up with Midlo's front three with the trio under 16 minutes in the Footlocker South sophomore race back. Oakton has the power in depth and numbers as last fall with six runners back under 10 minutes in the 3200. Jamestown is the sleeper with a very youthful squad as all of their top five runners will be back in 2008 as well. Mountain View is only three years old, but the road to the state meet podium looks to be paved ahead of schedule.