With the close races and strong early performances of the first month of cross country, Pennsylvania boys teams have establishing themselves among the best in the region. As evidence, four

My one cousin, Vera Maurer lives here at my aunt\'s house during the week because the nursing school she goes to is right close to here

Jake Walker led his Ellwood City team to the Midwestern Athletic Conference title at Brush Creek Park with a solo 16:01. In the girls race, Moon\'s Lexa Gass led here team to a 15 point win over Ellwood City.

Complete team and roster listings for the 2005 Steel City Invitationa in Coatesville, and the Paul Short Run at Lehigh University. Both are big... and both feature ranked teams and elite individuals.

Katherine Ward is no longer an emerging star in PA. She proved the point with a big win over a talented field at the Steel City Invitational. A field that included defending champ Sarah Morrison of Chambersburg. Ward went 19:20, Morris 19:25, and Kate Ross 19:37, Chambersburg won the girls team, with 67, O;Hara 94, Council Rock North 174. Boyertown\'s Jason Weller ran 15:49, with Conestoga Valley Vince McNally at 15:56, and Greg Thomas, O\'Hara 16:10. Coatesville won for the 2nd week in a row. getting78, with O\'Hara at 122 and Parkland at 166. Natalie Bower is rocking western PA cross country this season, and she has company. Two teammates joined her in the top five at the Pittsburgh Central Catholic Invitational to lead Latrobe to a 41-72 win over North Allegheny.(Cover photo by Karen Ward of Boys Steel City champ, Jason Weller, Boyertown.)

In the first \"Battle of West Chester\", it was former state champs Henderson that got the better of NTN Northeast #7 East at Oakbourne Park, Henderson\'s home course. In a Central League showdown of potential state qualifying teams Radnor and Strath Haven, Radnor got the better of this one. (photo by John Dye of Duriel Hardy at Great American 9/24) Results are in the story...

Jake Walker, Ellwood City, wins another, but his team is 2nd to North East. Kacey Gibson, Neshannock, tears up another course, this one in 17:42, but General McLane girls too much for everyone.

Thomas Jefferson boys remain #1 after an off weekend, while many teams are chomping at the bits to get their first crack at the top ranked team as several squads moved up considerably after their performances this past weekend. The West Springfield (#4 state ranked), Clarke County (#5), and Hermitage boys (#6) all made jumps in the rankings. Culpeper senior Devin Cornwall retains his #1 ranking despite being only five seconds faster than previously #7 state ranked Mike Spooner of West Springfield (now ranked #3) on the same Great American course and with cooler race conditions. Christiansburg\' John Horst beats #1 AA ranked Griff Graves of Abingdon, but Northside senior Zack Edwards moves to the #1 spot as a result. #4 AA ranked Sherando boys and #5 AA ranked Levi Watson made a huge splash in this weeks rankings with a strong meet at Mercersburg Academy in PA this past weekend. The #1 A ranked Clarke County boys showing their surprising strong depth for a Group A school have the six top ranked individuals in the classification. Fork Union re-affirmed themselves as the #1 private school boys team with a win in the small school division at Great American as Polish import Axel Mostrag of Fork Union finds himself ranked of Hurricane Katrina displaced Stephen Chester of STAB this week after his 16:17 clocking at Great American. The Nike Race of Champions girls race shook up things between previously top ranked Midlothian, #1 AA ranked Brentsville, and pre-season #1 favored Oakton. The Brentsville girls move into the #1 spot this week with #2 Oakton and #3 Midlothian trailing. Running a 17:36 5K in the Nike Race of Champions college women\'s race did not hurt Oaktree Academy sophomore Aurora Scott\'s place as the top ranked runner in the state. #5 state ranked Becky Stewart of Brentsville and #7 ranked Kristin Wolfe of James River saw their stocks rise in the individual rankings considerably thanks to strong runs at Great American.

It was an out-of-state invasion as Virginia and Maryland schools dominated at the Mercersburg Invitational.

WHILE Mike Monaghan biked along Martin Luther King Drive Saturday morning, he saw Mayor Street riding a tandem bike with wife Naomi Post-Street... Dan Gross | Found wallet in the Street - in 9/28 Philadelphia Daily News

In Varsity Boys

We have a few weeks under our belts now, and a good base of results to base rankings. The rankings this week will be especially interesting because we\'ll get to stack them up against the results from this weekend\'s flrunners.com Invitational, which will witness just about every team and athlete listed in these rankings duking it out!

Top team rankings for the week of 9/26/2005.

North Penn, behind the 1st place finish of Jennifer Schofield in 20:43, won the team title over host Conrad Weiser by 22 points. . North Penn also placed one other runner in the top ten. In the boys race, Jason Weller led Boyertown to a team title with his first place 16:39, beating a strong Owen J. Roberts team that had challenged NTN-ranked West Chester East just two weeks ago at the Chris Fretz Invitational.

Three time Footlocker National finalist Kate Niehaus posted a fourth place time of 17:40.10 in the Girl\'s Nike Race of Champions, held in Cary, N.C. Saturday.

Photo Gallery of 9/24 HS Varsity Races @ Bulldog Invitational - Rose Tree Park, by Ryan Comstock

Amanda Quick remembers when she her whole little third grade world was nearly destroyed by an insensitive teacher who told Amanda she would never amount to anything. Her father encouraged her to take up running to help earn back self-esteem when his daughter needed it the most.

Little things that make me happy

18 images are now online for viewing only from the Great American Festival.

65 images are now online for viewing only from the high school portion of The Citadel Invitational, held on Sept. 24.

I

This great photo gallery of the 14th annual Bristol Cross, was sent to us by Mrs. Barger.

Photo Gallery of 9/24 HS Varsity Races @ Spiked Shoe by James. K. Wood

Registration is now closed! We have the final entry list and seed sheets for this weekend\'s big race!

Self-doubt began to flood into my brain

So on my run today I was thinking about what I could talk about

The Millers were the Millers in the boys Reebok Challenge race. Coatesvillle placed five in the top 24 with a compression of of 47 seconds, but Manheim Township was coming on in the end. In the girls Reebok Challenge race, Chambersburg emerged from the \'watch\' category to the \'win\' category with five in the top 20. Sarah Morrison led the team to a win.

Christopher Dock won the girls Class A race to go along with the individual championship by their #1 Beth Lambright. Central Bucks West won the Class AAA title, while Nazareth took the Class AA. In the boys race, Keith Capecci, Council Rock North, continued his strong season. CR North took the Class AAA win, Holy Ghost Prep Class AA, and Jenkintown Class A.

In Manchester, New Hampshire, the West Chester Henderson girls and boys teams each took 2nd in the hot varsity race.

At the 3rd Annual Lion Inv at Penn State Altoona, Carly Seymour, Central Cambria, was alone again to set a course and sophmore record. Her team was 2nd. The Central Cambria boys were two better than Canon McMillan. Travis Dean, Westmont Hilltop, set a course and junior record.

At Great American XC Festival in North Carolina, West Chester East was 6th in the Race of Champions, as Duriel Hardy was 10th overall. Running individually, Tamaqua\'s Isaac Dunkelberger took 9th in the race in 15:43. The Archbishop Carrol varsity girls team won the Small School girls race behind Amanda Cosful 20:33 for 7th place. In Seeded Boys, Malvern Prep was 2nd, with LaSalle College 3rd. Pat Jeffers of LaSalle took 9th in 16:06, while Chris Tilger of Carroll was 10th in 16:07. In Seeded Girls, Alexa Griffiths of Tamaqua was 14th in 19:39. The Twin Valley boys were 3rd in the Red Invitational. Varsity PA results below. (Photo of Duriel Hardy WC East, by John Dye, Dyestat.com)

At the Spiked Shoe in State College, emerging state star Katherine Ward of State College won in a PR over some tough competition. Governor Mifflin took 2nd. In the boys race, it was Strongsville OH over State College. Mike Guest of Hazleton was the top PA finisher.

Cardinal O\'Hara easily won the Large Schools race at the Bulldog Invitational at Media\'s Rose Tree Park behind another quick 5K by senior Greg Thomas. In the Small Schools race, Sean Mahoney of Radnor won in 16:25, but his team finished 3rd behind Wissahickon. Cardinal O\'Hara\'s girls also won for the second straight week, taking the Large Schools race, while in the Small School race, Marple Newtown\'s Natalie Finnerty posted the best time of the day, and 18:58.

Six photo galleries of the September 24 Carlisle Invitational by Don Rich

33 images are now online for viewing only from The Citadel Invitational collegiate meet.

Brentsville boys (11th) and Midlothian girls (11th) falter in Nike Race of Champions, while Brentsville (5th) and Oakton (6th) girls rise to the occassion. Brentsville\'s Becky Stewart (18:37) garners 11th place individually in ROC. Aurora Scott runs with the big girls and posts the third fastest high school 5K time of the day (13th, 17:36) in the college women\'s ROC. Top ranked Devin Cornwall of Culpeper places 11th in the high school boys ROC in 15:47. Junior Mike Spooner (15:52) and West Springfield roll to victories in red invitational division. Junior John Vial (16:13) and Hermitage boys do the same in white invitational division. Fork Union wins smalls school boys behind Polish duo of Axel Mostrag (16:19) and Szymon Rolla (16:22).

Held in the distant shadow of the Great American Cross-Country Festival, a meet with a distinctly Spanish flavor provided some hot action in Palm Beach County on Saturday morning.

Josh McDougal proved once again why he is one of the most elite runners in the country as he dominated the field at the 32nd annual Stanford Invitational, setting a new course record of 23:24 on the 8k Stanford Golf Course this evening. The new course record marked McDougal

The first annual Oatlands Invitational saw a large assembly of teams at the Oatlands Plantation in Leesburg. With over 40 teams in attendance, the meet was bound to be a success with many great teams and individuals battling it out. Group A defending champs Clarke County had a dominating team performance to win the boys\' team title over a Group AAA and AA heavy meet with #6 state ranked Herndon and #6 Group AAA ranked North Stafford with a 37 second spread between their top five. Herndon sophomore Daganchew (15:45.96) won an exciting duel over #4 state ranked Brad Siragusa (15:47.1), a senior at Chantilly High School. Daganchew was ranked #6 in the state in the most recent rankings. The #3 state ranked Westfield girls took runner-up honors to Northwest High School of Maryland, but ran with only one runner from their top five, while the Clarke County girls solidified themselves as one of the state\'s top teams by beating out #7 state ranked Brooke Point for third place honors.

After having their number owned by the Abingdon boys and sophomore Griff Graves thus far this season, the Christiansburg boys and senior John Horst got revenge at the Bristol Cross as the Christiansburg took first place team honors with 77 points, while Horst won by a 32 second margin over Graves on the 3 mile course with a 15:54 clocking. The Abingdon boys finished third in the team standing behind Daniel Boone (86 pts) of Tennessee with 93 points.

Furman sophomore Page Bridges (St. Joseph\'s HS) finished first at The Citadel Invitational in 19:16.25.

According to a live report by Ricky Quintana, Justin Harbor of FPC finished the Boys ROC at Great American in a 7th place time of 15:41. And the girls of Jacksonville Episcopal made their NTN mark, finishing 2nd in the Girls ROC.

Craig and Brad Miller went 1-2, joined by CV\'s Curtis Bixler under the old course record, but Coatesville\'s boys won the team title over NE#4 Manheim Township. Chambersburg took the girls Reebok Challenge race behind Sarah Morrison. Carlisle, Spiked Shoe and Bulldog Photo Galleries are on! At Great American, West Chester East was 6th in the Race of Champions, as Duriel Hardy was 10th overall. Malvern Prep took 2nd in the Seeded Boys race, just ahead of LaSalle. The Archbishop Carrol varsity girls team won the Small School girls race at the Great American XC Festival in Cary, North Carolina. At the Spiked Shoe in State College, emerging state star Katherine Ward of State College won in a PR over some tough competition. Handerson\'s girls and boys teams each took 2nd at the Manchester NH Inv. Cardinal O\'Hara easily swept the Large School races at the Bulldog Inv. Greg Thomas 3rd best time ever on Rose Tree course. Natalie Finnerty, Marple rocks with 18:58 in Small School Girls. (cover photo of State College girls start at Spiked Shoe Invitational - by Greg Johnson)

The official 5A Rankings for boys and girls. 4A and 1A will come out tomorrow.

Back at \"home\" in Switzerland... exciting to be signing a contract on September 22...

Coaches did not seem to bite too much on the Brentsville Relays Results as many top teams competed in the untraditional cross country relay meet with each leg running half the distance of a 5K...2500 meters. Fairfax girls made a large jump in the rankings though as they are now ranked #5 in the state. Thomas Jefferson boys, Midlothian girls, Devin Cornwall, and Aurora Scott maintain their number one spots.

KYTRACKXC.com received the following email from Coach Brad Meredith of Edmonson County. Please keep the family, friends, and teammates of Andrew Basham of Edmonson County in your thoughts and prayers.\"

A slew of Virginia high school and collegiate teams will be headed to compete at the Great American Cross Country Festival in North Carolina. Quite a few teams will be trying to establish themselves nationally. Competing in the high school girls Race of Champions division will be NTN Southeast ranked #7 ranked Oakton, #6 ranked Brentsville, and #5 ranked Midlothian. The Oakton boys ranked #2 in the Nike Team Nationals Southeast Rankings, will be competing in the seeded Invitational, while the #3 NTN Southeast ranked Brentsville boys are slated to compete in the Nike Race of Champions. At last year\'s Great American, strong team performances by the J.R. Tucker boys and Oakton girls elevated them into the running for Nike Team Nationals berths. In the college races, the University of Virginia and College of William & Mary men\'s and women\'s squads will be looking to make splashes on the national scene with strong races in the collegiate Race of Champions races. A slew of Virginia high school and collegiate teams will be headed to compete at the Great American Cross Country Festival in North Carolina. Quite a few teams will be trying to establish themselves nationally. Competing in the high school girls Race of Champions division will be NTN Southeast ranked #7 ranked Oakton, #6 ranked Brentsville, and #5 ranked Midlothian. The Oakton boys ranked #2 in the Nike Team Nationals Southeast Rankings, will be competing in the seeded Invitational, while the #3 NTN Southeast ranked Brentsville boys are slated to compete in the Nike Race of Champions. At last year\'s Great American, strong team performances by the J.R. Tucker boys and Oakton girls elevated them into the running for Nike Team Nationals berths. In the college races, the University of Virginia and College of William & Mary men\'s and women\'s squads will be looking to make splashes on the national scene with strong races in the collegiate Race of Champions races. Two years ago, the UVA men used an impressive team performance at Great American to put them in the NCAA Nationals race thanks to an at-large berth.

Shots of the 1A-3A boys, 1A-3A Girls, and 4A Boys races.

Over 100 photos from Saturday\'s meet.

In a smaller invite, you can expect close scores, and that is exactly what happened as Seneca squeaked out a two-point win over Corry in the girls\' race. Harbor Creek freshman Lauren Zarger won. In the boys race, the margin was a lot wider, as Harbor Creek defeated Corry.

NE#8 West Chester East, minus #3 man Andrew Lobb, logged 33-54 win over a strong Owen J. Roberts team. Perkiomen Valley, with two in the top six, tallied just 37 points for a 51-point margin of victory in the girls\' race.

Allentown Central Catholic continued their winning, taking their second consecutive invitational after the bump in the road of Week #1. Exeter won a ten-point battle over Emmaus in the boys\' race as Tamaqua\'s Isaac Dunkelberger took home individual honors.

The Strath Haven girls took a trip to the brutal Hereford MD HS course to run the Bull Run Invitational, and came away with a 5th place finish in the Elite race.In the Small School Races, the Kennard Dale boys went one-two-three to seal a 2nd place for the team. In the girls Small Schools Race, Kari Blood of East Pennsboro finished 8th.

Big Spring sent one-two, but without five to score, had to settle for individual bragging rights at their home invitational, as James Buchanan girls and Mechanicsburg boys win team titles.

Two new course records were set in the varsity races, as Central Cambria swept the team races, but Central Cambria only got one of the records as Altoona held captured the other.

The Baldwin boys were team winners by 7 over Norwin behind one- two individual finishes... and the Norwin girls returned the favor.

Chardon Ohio invaded Meadville, and took away two team titles, but Franklin Regional\'s Justine Jeroski took an individual championship.

Four years ago, Carlos Garcia was one of the best runners ever to come out of Bishop Kenny. Fast forward to 2005 and Garcia is back with the team, this time as head coach.

This weekend Georgia

This weather is really killing me over here.

30 images are now online for viewing only from the Lake Murray Invitational, held on Sept. 17 at Crooked Creek Park in Chapin.

Coastal Carolina\'s Nelson Oliveira captured the individual men\'s title at the Coastal Carolina Invitational Saturday. Coastal Carolina captured the team title over Furman.

46 images are now online for viewing only from the Wingate (N.C.) Invitational, held on Sept. 17.

Ben Hahn, Smethport, posted the fastest time of the day in leading his team to a 2nd place finish in Division II, while Sarah Lonzi, Bradford, also ran the fastest time of the day, an 18:57, as her Bradford team finished 3rd in Division II. Her teammate, Steve Kirkland, was 4th in the Division I race.

Diane Filtz of Penn Trafford beat a strong field to win on the new Cooper\'s Lake course just south of Slippery Rock. In the boys AAA race, Max Brown went 16:21 to lead North Allegheny to a statement win. But the best times of the day were reserved for the AA races.

Four photo galleries of the 9/17 Slippery Rock University HS Invitational @ Cooper\'s Lake by Karen Ward

Surprise... surprise... surprise. Cardinal O\'Hara has not only sent a shot across the bow of their own league, but the region as well. At one of the tougher courses in the state

Emily Reese and Emily Borsare were at it again on Saturday and this time, the young lady from McIntosh found herself on the winning end both individually as well as in the team standings, as the McIntosh girls looked most impressive at the Boling Park Invitational edging out kennesaw Mountain for the win.

Ocala Vanguard\'s Kelly Parrish proved she was one of the nation\'s top high school distance prospects last spring and this fall she is entertaining offers from all corners of the collegiate world. In an flrunners.com exclusive, Kelly reveals her final five.

Cardinal O\'hara\'s boys and girls teams sweep the Championship flights at the Briarwood Invitational on a overcast, hot and very muggy day. Greg Thomas led the Lions with the 2nd fastest Philadelphia Catholic League time ever on the course. His effort set the stage for an upset of NTN Northeast US#9 Ridgewood, New Jersey. At the Chris Fretz, NE#8 West Chester East held off Owen J. Roberts. At Cooper\'s Lake, At Cooper\'s Lake, Diane Filtz of Penn Trafford won the AAA race as North Allegheny took both team titles. Best times of the day came from AA. Allentown Central Catholic wins at Northern Lehigh. Fast times at new course at Cooper\'s Lake. Franklin Regional\'s Justine Jeroski won the Allegheny Classic (photo by Carl Strub)

Katie Caples Invitational photos from last Saturday\'s meet, submitted by Bob Owens.

28 images are now online for viewing only from the Appalachian Clash of Classes, held on Sept. 10 in Boone, N.C. Greer HS attended the meet.

Well, I am at home, sitting at MY computer (God Bless a cable connection), spending time with the family while I can and eating a lot of STEAK and chocolate

LaSalle was on home ground at the Triple Threat race at Belmont Plateau. The unique 2K, 3K 5K format makes teams put their best runners in specific races. In the varsity girls race, it was Upper Dublin winning in 2:01.47 by just over a minute.

Mercersburg places 4th at Spiked Shoe Invitatonal in Maryland.

Central Cambria wins two teams titles as sophomore Carly Seymour sets a course record.

Kate Rose continued her winning ways, taking her second consecutive big meet win, while Paul Springer took over as Unionville\'s top man at the Central Bucks East Invitational.

Rankings compiled through tallied polls of rankings sent in by coaches on a weekly basis. If you are a coach and interested in participating in next week\'s rankings, send your rankings into MileStat.com at milestat@yahoo.com

It was a day when two Christiansen course records were broken by two very good runners, Jake Walker of Ellwood City and Kacey Gibson of Neshannock.

West Chester East is demonstrating that their mention as a contender for state honors is well-deserved. For the second week in a row, they won an invitational, but this time it was over Northeast US#5 Coatesville, while in the girls\' race, Gwynedd Mercy was four better than Henderson, despite the win by Henderson\'s Megan Durkee.

The latest proof that one freshman can make a big difference came in the person of Natalie Bower of Latrobe. She simply refused to be intimidated by a talented field at the growing Red, White & Blue Classic in Pittsburgh\'s Schenley Park.

While the Boys Varsity Group 1 race overshadowed the meet, they weren\'t the only stellar performances on a perfect day for racing.

For the second week in a row, the girls of Easton, behind an 800 runner in her first season in cross country, beat a team with a great program. No, make that several teams with great programs.

After many years of only one or two Georgia junior college cross country teams, this season we are happy to find six teams competing in the Georgia Region of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA).

In a town that knows a lot about history, Craig Miller, Vince McNally and Brad Miller made some of their own at the Gettysburg Invitational. The Varsity Group One race could arguably be recorded as the fastest prep 5k in Pennsylvania history.

In an excellent early season test, the 2005 Memphis Twilight Girls Varsity Meet resulted in a formidable Scottsboro, AL (# 1 in the NTN Southeast rankings) winning easily over in-state rival Hoover and surprising third place finisher Harpeth Hall. Tupelo MS, ranked # 9 in the NTN South rankings finished fourth.

Here are a few pictures from the UTC PowerAde Invitational. This is my first attempt at this so maybe it will get better over time.

The George Mason men\'s cross country and track and field teams has added an Olympian to the coaching staff as Juli Henner has been named assistant coach for the program. Henner, a 1996 Olympian in the 1500-meters, comes to Mason from Georgetown where she was an assistant coach to the men\'s and women\'s teams for five years.

Six photo galleries of the September 10 Gettysburg Invitational by Don Rich

Sophomore Aurora Scott kicked off her season in high gear as she simply demolished the Hardy National 3 mile course record at the Fork Union Invitational with a blazing time of 16:46.97. Scott recently left Western Branch High School in Chesapeake and enrolled at Oaktree Academy, a half home-schooling and half classroom Christian school in Chesapeake. Scott, a Foot Locker finalist last fall as a freshmen seems primed for even bigger things this fall. In remembrance of Kelly Watt, who lost his life last month after a heat stroke on a run, Fork Union coach and meet director Winston Brown honored last year\'s Fork Union Invitational boys\' race champion by renaming the varsity colonial divisions of this year\'s race the Kelly Watt race divisions.

Well Great Meadows Invitational certainly shook up any perceived order and structure held in pre-season rankings as the Midlothian girls knocked off not one, but two Nike Team Nationals ranked squads in SE #3 Oakton and SE #7 Brentsville. Coach Morgan\'s Lady Trojans won by 6 points over Brentsville (89 pts) and defeated Oakton (93 pts) as well with a team score of 83 points. A bunch of new faces are found on this year\'s Midlothian squad with more than a several freshmen and a transfer making immediate impacts. Forest Park senior Stefanie Slekis was a convincing winner in the girls\' race as she won by 33 seconds over Oakton\'s Kayley Byrne (19:12.25) in a time of 18:38.55. The Brentsville boys, a NTN SE #3 squad, also were upset at Great Meadows as the defending Group AA state champions (82 pts) finished second to the Oakton boys (70 pts). The Oakton boys were led by race champion James Phillips who had a strong individual run of 15:54.71 to win the boys\' 5K race.

Abingdon sophomore Griff Graves continued his streak of victories in Southwest Virginia as he notched another victory over Christiansburg senior John Horst. Running in his third race in eight days, Graves beat Horst by 14 seconds on Horst\'s home course at the Blue Demon Invitational with a winning time of 16:08. The time broke the old 5K course record held by Horst at 16:19. The Blacksburg girls (66 pts) took it to the Cave Spring girls (73 pts) for the second week in a row. The Cave Spring girls had looked better on paper based off of personal bests going into the season, but the Blacksburg girls have been the better team thus far this fall.

The annual Northern Region kick-off invitational, the Monroe Parker Invitational, once again stacked up some of the region\'s best teams and individuals against one another and has given a clearer picture of what is in store for this cross country season. The defending Group AAA state champions and NTN SE #8 Lake Braddock girls (98 pts) were upset by the Westfield girls (62 pts) by a large margin of 36 points. The Westfield girls were led by a third place finish by junior Alexis Deegan in 18:21, while sophomore teammates Tasia Potosinski (5th, 18:48), Brittany Sevachko (15th, 19:32), Carly Stephens (23rd, 19:45), and Chrissy Esposito (26th, 19:55) finished out a solid top five for the Lady Bulldogs. Meanwhile Lake Braddock\'s Erin Klein dipped under 18 minutes on the 2.98 mile Burke Lake course to win the girls\' race convicingly in a time of 17:57 as W.T. Woodson junior Sarah Hadiji took second in 18:17. Chantilly senior Brad Siragusa started off his 2005 cross country season just as he started his 2004 cross country season with a decisive victory at the Monroe Parker Invitational. Siragusa crossed the line in a time of 15:18, which was just four seconds slower than last year\'s time, but he took an important 13 second victory over West Springfield junior Mike Spooner (15:31), who is considered by many to be one of the contenders for the Group AAA state crown this fall along with Siragusa. Coach Ryan\'s Thomas Jefferson boys left little doubt that they are the top team in the state and the defending Group AAA state champions as they simply bullied the field as they finished 78 points ahead of second place West Springfield (141 pts) with a 63 point team total. Leading Thomas Jefferson on Saturday was a sophomore in Paul Norland as he finished fourth overall with a time of 15:40.

Great shots of some of the leaders, with race commentary, of the big meet in Titusville!

Some great shots of the leaders from the \"A\" Races at yesterday\'s Hoco Invitational.

The Twin Valley Boys placed first and set a new course record of 44:54 beating the previous record set by West Chester Henderson in 2003. And the St. Pius X girls used a big 3rd leg to come from behind to beat Lancaster Mennonite\'s B team.

Over 300 photos from the Lake Brantley Invitational.

The University of Virginia men\'s and women\'s cross country teams both looked impressive in winning the team titles in their opening home hosted meet, the Lou Onesty Invitational. The Cavalier men won by a 39 point margin over second place Duke University, while their female counterparts took first by 22 points over a William & Mary women\'s squad not at full strength.

35 images are now online for viewing only from Coaches Classic, held in Columbia.

18 photographs are now online for viewing from Coaches Classic, held in Columbia.

MEMPHIS, TENN. (September 8, 2005) Runners and walkers now have a third race option during marathon weekend with the addition of the new Memphis Grizzlies House 5K. To be held Saturday, December 4, in conjunction with the St. Jude Memphis Marathon and Half Marathon, the new 5K is named for and will benefit the Memphis Grizzlies House, a short-term stay facility for patients receiving treatment at St. Jude Children

A foggy, cool morning gave way to the best prep 5K in PA in over a decade, as senior Craig Miller was challenged by Conestoga Valley sophomore Vince McNally, breaking the finish line in 14:56. McNally was clocked at 15:02. Manheim Township won by 20. Allentown Central Catholic rebounds from a loss last weekend, to win by six over Chambersburg. In Pittsburgh, frosh Natalie Bower leads Latrobe over powers Mt. Lebo and North Allegheny. Van Kooten, Brown battle @ Red, White & Blue Classic. At the Big Red Inv, two Christiansen records were rewritten. In Abington, West Chester East ran the course and the competition to perfection, beating NE#5 Coatesville. Kate Ross wins again. Paul Springer strong at CB East Inv. Results now on for all EXCEPT BLUE-GOLD.(Cover photo by Kerry Barry at the Big Red Inv - Jake Walker is in charge and under control.)

The high school cross country season will get a jump start this coming weekend with the running of the Gettysburg XC Invitational, at Gettysburg Area High School, Gettysburg, PA.

About mileage

Lane King is off to a fast start for Fairview, winning the Mentor, Ohio Invitational by three seconds...

West Chester East has been mentioned by many as a team to watch at States. Well, the guys got off to a great start at the Maroon & Gold Invitational at Kutztown University...

50 images are now online for viewing only from the Wando Beach Run, held on Sept. 7.

Anderson college freshman Diana Willard received the Women\'s Runner of the Week honor by the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference (D-II).

16 images are now online for viewing only from the Covered Bridge Open, held in Boone, N.C. The meet took place on Sept. 2.

First rankings released for the season. This year\'s rankings will also include NAIA schools to include the defending national champion in Virginia Intermont College. Expect better rankings next week with coaches having a better idea of where teams and individuals stand after this week\'s races. University of Virginia\'s Lou Onesty Invitational at Panorama Farms this Saturday will have a handful of top programs butting heads for the first time. Coaches remember to send in your rankings by every Wednesday evening. Women\'s rankings will be posted soon.

James Madison University senior Shannon Saunders and the University of Virginia women sit a top our initial collegiate women\'s rankings. Saunders will be looking to make a consecutive return trip to the NCAA National Meet, while the UVA women would like to make the journey to Indiana after missing out the past few years. Division III rankings to be posted soon.

Jeff Weiss wins the Northern Arizona Invitational in 1st college race. The story from Slippery Rock University

Roberts Saltsman of Lyman is a relative newcomer to the sport of cross country. He had a big coming of age last cross country season and looks for even bigger things this year.

55 images are now online from the high school boy\'s portion of the Eye Opener for viewing only.

MileStat.com is asking for support from all coaches around the state in doing this upcoming season\'s cross country rankings once again. In years past, we devised a fairly thought out concept on how to rank the top cross country teams and runners in the state. We ask the coaches in the state of Virginia to send in their votes for the top teams and athletes in their classification on a weekly basis. We feel that this process of ranking teams and athletes is the most accurate and fairest as a single person doing the rankings may be swayed by other outside factors or show bias. In a coaches poll, there will end up being a majority consensus on who the top teams and athletes are. The poll system is very similiar to the one used by the NCAA in college football and basketball. And for those coaches that fear of their picks being made public, no need to fear, you are participating in this poll completely anonymous. Only yourself and I know that you are participating in the rankings. And for coaches that also worry that they may not know enough about whats happening in the state to make somewhat educated picks...USE MY WEBSITE! It is a great tool to research who are the top teams and how they stack up against each other. Also, the more coaches we have participating in the weekly rankings, the better the rankings will be.

Four photo galleries of the 9/3 Big Valley Invitational at Indian Valley MS by Karen Ward.

Well, today was the doctor\'s appointment with the lung specialist

A Harbor Creek freshman is at the front of the pack, and her name is Lauren Zarger. In the boy\'s race, North East and Pittsburgh Central Catholic got a dose of Strongsville, Ohio.

Why aren\'t you giving us any love on your blog?

Maria Monks, the Hazelton senior, looks poised to have a great final campaign as a prep runner. In the boys\' race, Lakeland\'s Mark Bucklaw had a few chasers as he set the pace from the gun...

Coatesville

East Pennsboro\'s Kari Blood

15 photos by Barry Jones from Saturday\'s preseason race in Melbourne.

around the course was they had a 9th grader coming in who would make some noise. Well, only half that prediction is true...

The weekend action had a few surprises, some strong confirmations, and some firsts, along with some weather that was as good as it gets in early September (still hot for the runners - but NO humidity). (Front Page Photo by Karen Ward at Big Valley Inv)

Culpeper senior Devin Cornwall kicked off his season in a big way as he broke the 10 year old Loriella Park 5K course record as he won the Chancellor Invitational in a time of 16:02.70. Cornwall demolished the old record by 20 seconds as he posted the fastest time on a course that is considered by some more than 30 seconds slower than the Great Meadows state course. While Cornwall finished 16th in last fall\'s Group AAA cross country state race, busting out such a tremendous performance at Loriella has to make him a sudden early favorite for the state crown along with other top state meet returnees such as Patterson Wilhelm (E.C. Glass), Brad Siragusa (Chantilly), and Mike Spooner (West Springfield).

Plenty of rumors had been circulating over the summer about Griff Graves, a talented high school freshmen in Alabama last year who ran a 9:30 3200 and 15:39 5K, had transferred to Group AA\'s Abingdon High School in Southwest Virginia. Well the rumors became truth at the Run Fer Da Hills Invitational as Griff Graves proved his legitimacy as a strong favorite to win this year\'s Group AA state crown as he defeated one of Southwest Virginia and Group AA\'s best in Christiansburg senior John Horst with a winning time of 15:41 on the challenging three mile course in Bristol, Tennessee. Horst finished 11 seconds behind Graves with a solid clocking of 15:52. Graves\' time was one second slower than current Georgetown University runner and Marion High School alumn Fleet Hower ran in 2001. Hower would go onto become a Footlocker All-American in that same season.

43 images are now online for viewing only from the Eye Opener, held in Spartanburg at Milliken Research Center.

For the first time in a long time, the soup early September soup kitchen that is Tamanend Park in Bucks county became bearable - but this is cross country, so it was still considered hot. And some quality teams and individuals heated things up even more as the first real race of the season showed some predictions will be right on, while other will have to be revised.

Wednesday, August 31, 2005

First 3,000m, then 2,000m, 1,000m, 1000m.