Western Wayne's Meagan Robbins began her season with a win, going 19:00 to win by eight seconds over Jessica Squier of Elk Lake.

PennTrackXC finally has forums which are much more intuitive and user-friendly. Our first two are one that is Open to all topics and users, and one we will make password-protected for coaches only.

The Tamaqua boys and girls teams took titles behind the first and second place finishes of their team leaders.

2003 FACA Girls Pre Season Rankings

College weekend meet action included Lynchburg College hosting their own home invitational, while CNU traveled north to compete in Salisbury, Maryland.

For me at least the season has not started until the Greenhill Six Mile Relays begin. This is a very unique race ran at Norbuck Park in Dallas.

With fans clinging to shade under the trees at Greenwood Park to escape the hot Florida sun, the Lake Mary Summertime Meet started off many Orlando area athlete's cross country season. Jenny Barringer and Andrew Chuplis were the high school divison champions.

The Christopher Newport Cross Country team showed lots of promise in the squad\'s first meet of the season at the Seagull Opener held at Winter Place Park. Both squads were the top finishing DIII squads in the invitational as the men finished fourth overall in the team standings with 124 points, while the women\'s team garnered a third place finish with 86 points.

In a driving rain, defending AA State Champ Chris Spooner of Lewisburg showed that he is ready to defend his title and maybe much more with a 15:54 showing on the 5,070 meter layout at the Big Valley Invitational.

Bryan Christian is hoping to win his first state title this fall. He started off on a good note, winning the 14-18 division of the Lake Mary Summertime with few real workouts under his belt.

Jenny Barringer kicked off her season this morning with a win at the Lake Mary Summertime Meet. We talked to her after the race.

This meet always produces some clues about the coming season, and this year was no exception, as a frosh burst onto the scene to win the varsity girls race, a senior set a course record, and a defending state championship team showed they may be even stronger.

Picking up on what a lot of college teams do for their first meet of the season, Henderson invited a few teams to a four-mile two-person relay, with one runner taking the 1st and 3rd miles, and the other taking the 2nd and 4th miles.

Henderson's Ian Gottesfeld returns for his senior year after winning the 2002 PA AAA XC title, qualifying for Foot Lockers in the fall, but getting injured over Indoor and finishing 5th in the 3200 in Outdoor. Gottesfeld returns to the Great American XC Festival in late September, and is featured in this NSSF article.

2003 FACA Pre Season Rankings

More photos from the pole-vaulting careers of sisters Courtney and Lindsay Regan of Easton HS.

This is the area where athlete interviews will appear, usually in a Q&A format. And if you find stories from your local newspapers, just send us a link, and look here for the story.

If two girls from Easton ever challenge you to a multi-event contest that begins with ten random SAT questions, the balance beam, and a cheerleading routine; then ends with a 5K race and "a friendly competition" in the pole vault, DON'T DO IT! It's a set-up!

Pre-season cross country rankings for the 2003 high school season in the state of Virginia.

While the summer is a time for relaxation for many, the track clubs that form the foundation of the AAU and USATF youth programs hit the road in earnest. This summer was even a bit busier, as the USATF added local qualifying meets prior to their Association meets.

Old rivalries are renewed as the 2003 Cross Country season opens up this weekend. Two meets of note are the Salisbury University Seagull Opener and the Lynchburg College Blueridge Cross Country Challenge/ODAC preview.

Julie Northrup and Lief Thomason won the girls and boys titles at this 2003 Space Coast Jamobree.

The Albemarle Patriot's senior Hari Mix returns for the 2003 cross country season as one of the strongest runners in Virginia. Mix also leads a supporting cast that is in positiion to capture its third regional title in four years, and contend at the state level. Niether the Patriots as a team or an individual appear dominant however, and there are multiple teams and individuals that will challenge Mix and his squad at their home course of Panorama Farms in Charlottesville October 30th.

2003 Girls 3A Cross Country Preview

2003 Boys 3A Cross Country Preview

This year's Eastern Region meet looks to be a Beach District show with the top two teams and top individual hailing from that district. The team title is a very close contest between perennial powerhouse Cox who have placed second or better in the region meet since 1997 except for 2001, and a fairly young and new team from Landstown that hopes to grab its schools first Region title.

Much like the Women's race, the 2003 NCAA Men's Division I Championship has clear favorites for the title, both team wise and individually.

This year's Eastern Region meet looks to be a Beach District show with the top three teams and top individual hailing from that district. The Beach has been the most dominant district at the regional meet for quite some time. The last non Beach District Girls Team to win the title was Great Bridge in 1994. Ocean Lakes and Kellam appear to be the strongest teams once again with Kellam returning a potential state champion.

Laura Bowerman kicks off her preseason with a 17:05 at the USF Twilight 5K road race in Tampa. Some doubt the course quite 5,000 meters, others swear it is... either way it is a fantastic mid-August performance!

FIU's track and field program has a new head coach--Steve Rubin, who was formerly head coach at Washington University in St. Louis.

The Dominion District finds itself in an unusual favorite role going into this fall's high school cross country season. Both defending team champions, the James River girls and Midlothian guys, are from the Dominion District and find themselves as favorites once again as they return strong lineups from last year's groups. Then top returnees on the male side, Ryan Witt of Midlothian, and on the female side, Lindsay Traudt of James River, reign from that same district. It would be quite a feat if all four of the favorites came through with victories at this year's Central Region Meet, but nothing is guaranteed and especially with how closely competitive the region will be this fall.

While the summer is a time for relaxation for many, the track clubs that form the foundation of the AAU and USATF youth programs hit the road in earnest. This summer was even a bit busier, as the USATF added local qualifying meets prior to their Association meets.

1992 Olympic marathoner, and 1991 World Championships marathon Bronze Medalist Steve Spence bettered Bill Rodgers' Masters' 5-mile road race American Record at the 16th Annual Tom Ausherman 5-miler in Chambersburg, Saturday, August 9.

Interested in writing for MileStat.com? MileStat.com is always looking for special individuals who have a passion for the sport as well as way to express it through their writing. If you think you may be one of those type of individuals please contact MileStat.com at milestat@comcast.net.

The Mary Washington girls' cross country team was top finishing Virginian team at last year's NCAA Division III Southeast Cross Country Regional Meet and return with a team this year that will look to improve upon their fourth place finish from a year ago.

2002 Girls 2A Cross Country Preview.

2003 Boys 2A Cross Country Preview.

2003 Girls 1A Cross Country Preview.

2003 Boys 1A Cross Country Preview.

The top division III cross country program in the state last fall was Lynchburg College by a hair. While Emory College (Atlanta, Georgia) dominated last year's NCAA DIII Southeast regional cross country meet, Lynchburg (87 points) finished second in last November's race as they were two points ahead of fellow Virginia school, Christopher Newport University. This year's battle for state supremacy seems to be once again a two team fight between the Hornets and Captains.

As the collegiate athletes are just starting to return to their respective campuses this fall in Virginia, one can only be excited for the upcoming cross country season in store. Many schools and individuals have goals set for themselves this fall whether it be as meager as just trying to find five bodies to field a team or just to be able to make the team at the time trial in late August to as big as advancing a team to a NCAA national cross country meet or earning All-American honors individually.

FLRunners.com reporter, Matt Baum catches up with Episcopal's newest addition, Tim McLeod.

Washington and Lee athletic director Mike Walsh has announced the appointment of Kris Hoey as head women's cross country coach, associate head coach of track and field, and assistant professor of physical education. Hoey begins her duties immediately.

Andy Gerard, who has helped elevate the distance running program at the College of William & Mary to one of the top tier programs in the nation, has been hired by Stanford University to become their head men's cross country coach and assistant men's track and field coach. Since becoming William & Mary's head cross country and track coach in 1997, Gerard has taken his team to the NCAA Championships in cross country every year. Before coming to William & Mary, Gerard served as an assistant at Stanford from 1993 to 1996.