Great American XC Festival 2001

ROCK HILL, SC -- The 2001 Great American Cross Country Festival held at Winthrop Farm Meadows in Rock Hill, South Carolina, served as a battleground for some of the top teams and individuals and in the state to square off as well as go against the top teams in the nation. Many Virginians stood their ground.

The nationally ranked Midlothian boys ran strong in the elite Race of Champions where many other nationally ranked squads competed. The team finished 17th in the extremely competive race and 18th overall in the meet. They were led by senior Anthony D'Amato who took 43rd in the Race of Champions with a time of 16:21.8. The Midlothian boys had a strong wave of three runners next with Jason Call (81st, 16:51.5), Ryan Witt (87th, 16:54.5), and Taylor Matthews (92nd, 16:56.4). Rounding out the top 5 for Midlothian was Andrew Baker who finished in 129th place with a time of 17:23 to give his squad a 1:01.2 spread between their #1 and #5. No team in the state has the kind of depth that the boys from Midlothian have. Despite strong races from all of their runners, the Midlothian boys will most likely drop out of the national rankings and have to settle with being ranked #1 in the state of Virginia.

The only Virginia team able to reach the podium at Great American was the Jamestown boys, who just missed out on winning the small school race as they took second to Don Bosco of California. The Jamestown squad, ranked #1 in Group AA and #2 in the state, were able to overcome large amounts of adversity in the race for a fine showing. Jamestown's #4 runner Brandon Miles came into the race suffering from tendonitis in his peroneous brevis and had been not running for almost 2 weeks heading into the race. He was able to muster a 30th place finish with a time of 17:24.1. Jamestown's #1 runner, Bryce Ruiz had opened around a 100 meter lead with about 400 meters to go on Don Bosco's Mark Batres, but then ran off of the course for roughly around 10 seconds and allowed Batres to catch right back up to him. However, Ruiz was able to hold him off to win in 15:40.3. Ruiz's time was the fastest by any Virginian during the meet. The strength of the Jamestown squad was the performances by their #2 and #3 runners. Jamestown's #2 runner, Tony Davila, who was grieving the death of a close friend who was shot the day before the race, was able to control his emotions and run one of his finest races, finishing 4th in the small schools race with a time of 16:29 (5th fastest VA time). Jamestown junior transfer Jonna Reinhardt continues to show how great of an asset he is to the squad as he finished 9th in the race with a time of 16:42.

In the invitational seed boys race, Rockbridge junior John Crews ran a excellent race to take 6th in a time of 16:06.8. His 16:06.8 was the second fastest time by a Virginian behind Ruiz. Herndon junior Rasheed Thompson also ran well as he finished 14th in the race with a time of 16:30. Following behind Thompson in the race were South Lakes senior Richard Smith and Western Albemarle senior Josiah Cadle. Smith finished 21st with a time of 16:38.3 and Cadle right behind him at 16:39.2 for 22nd place. The James W. Robinson boys were the highest finishing team in the race beating state ranked teams such as Western Albemarle and West Springfield, although both squads ran without a few of their top runners. The Robinson boys finished 9th in the race with 281 points as senior Kevin McHale led the Rams with his time of 16:49 for 28th place.

Posting the fastest time from a Virginian in the two open division sections was Hayfield's Kevin Camp who finished 4th overall in the 2 sections with a time of 16:42.5. The Hayfield team also performed well taking 5th in the open division with 191 points.

Clocking the 4th fastest Virginian time of the day was Roanoke Catholic Brian Doherty who finished 3rd in the invitational race with a time of 16:22.2. Doherty looks to be the favorite right now to repeat as state champion in the independent school ranks, but will be challenged by Fork Union's Kippy Keino. The Douglas Freeman boys finished 6th in the invitational division with 182 points as senior Graham Kearney paced the squad with a 6th place finishing time of 16:41.

Top girls squad from Virginia was the nationally ranked James Robinson squad. The team finished 5th in the invitational division with 156 points. Joanna Rodgers, a James Robinson junior, posted the fastest time by any Virginian girl with her time of 19:32.2 which was good enough for 7th place in the race. Fellow Robinson junior Sam Ference ran a strong race as she finished 15th in a time of 19:59.7. Unfortunately, it looks as though the Robinson girls will drop out of the national rankings next week after having a spread of 1:44 between their #1 and #5 runners.

Atlee senior Tiffany Cross posted the third fastest time of the day by a Virginian as she finished 8th in the invitational seeded girls race with a time of 19:46.3. Caroline Bellis of South Lakes, who looks to be the top freshmen distance runner in the state currently, continues her great improvement as finished 10th in a time of 16:55.9. Bellis and sister Julia (17th, 20:16.6) helped the South Lakes squad (ranked #10 in the state) to a 5th place finish with 176 points. The Hayfield girls finished just behind South Lakes in 6th place with 188 points.

In the open division which was split up into two sections, the Jamestown girls were the top Virginian team as they took 6th place. They were able to put 4 runners under 22 and had the top Virginia finisher in the race with sophomore Elizabeth Winthrop finishing 2nd in a time of 21:23.