Kyle Satterwhite

Can any Virginian stop Solomon Haile at Saturday's Oatlands Invitational? The Ethiopian native competes at Sherwood High School in Maryland and is one of the nation's top returning distance runners after winning national titles in the 5K last year at Nike Indoor and Nike Outdoor Nationals. He will be given his toughest test likely until Foot Locker regionals as five of the top six runners in Virginia will be racing at Oatlands with #1 Tyler Stutzman, #2 Thomas Porter, #3 Ben Dejarnette, #5 Alex Ott, and #6 Kyle Satterwhite. (Photo from mocorunning.com) This Saturday should push the Oatlands Invitational over the top into becoming a nationally recognized event with a huge field of 101 schools featuring some national caliber teams and athletes including the Saratoga Springs girls of New York and Solomon Haile of Sherwood (MD). Both will be heavy favorites in Leesburg despite the fact that most of Virginia's best will be present to give their best against the national powerhouse squad and emerging individual national star.

Updated individual rankings for Virginia high school cross country as of September 11th. Western Albemarle's Tyler Stutzman impressed enough in his 9:42 split at the Ragged Mountain Cup to usurp pre-season #1 Thomas Porter, despite Porter winning the Chancellor Invite quite easily to start his season. Group AA boys are also well represented in the Cream of the Crop rankings with five of the top seven rankings in Tyler Stutzman, Andrew Colley, Alex Ott, Kyle Satterwhite, and Josh Morris. Newcomers to the Cream of the Crop (top 15 best individual runners in VA) include James Robinson's Jared Berman, Blacksburg's Allison Homer, Mountain View's Kaitlyn Davis, Midlothian's Leia Lautzenheiser, and Millbrook's Sullivan Parkes. Note: Updated Group A and private school rankings to be added on Friday.

Luke Noble and the Albemarle boys expect to be a tougher challenger for Western Albemarle at tomorrow's Ragged Mountain Cup. Western Albemarle will still be the favorites with three sub 16 minute 5K runners in Tyler Stutzman, Kyle Satterwhite, and James Howard-Smith and finished nearly 2 minutes ahead of a fourth place Albemarle squad at the 2007 Cup. However, Albemarle's confidence is much higher from a year ago with three of their cross country team members running on a 7:42 4x800 meter relay this past June. (Photo by Ted Plunkett) The Ragged Mountain Cup kicks off at 5 PM tomorrow at Panorama Farms as Charlottesville area schools will gather to compete in the 4x2 mile relay season opening race. Western Albemarle and Albemarle figure to battle it out in both boys and girls races.

Photo by Brandon Miles Despite being one of the state's best cross country teams and possessing two of the state's top distance runners in Kyle Satterwhite and Tyler Stutzman on their roster, the Western Albemarle boys could certainly not coast through the Jefferson District Meet with a formidable Louisa County squad as well as another top individual in AA 1000 and 800 meter state champion Logan Collins from Orange County. With Collins and several members of Louisa's squad now graduated, the Western Albemarle boys might not have to go into full throttle mode at the district meet this season as they approach bigger championship races at the Region II Meet, VHSL State Championships, and possibly NTN regional qualifier race.

Photo by Jeff Sitler Not all of Virginia's best will be at Southern Track Classic on Friday night (hard to believe when looking at the entry list for the boys mile). Western Albemarle coach Lindy Bain has made it an annual trip to take his top distance runners to the Loucks Games in White Plains, New York to compete against some of the top teams in the state of New York. The distance medley relay assembled for Thursday afternoon in three-day meet was simply of epic proportions. Already in the race were the top five finishing teams from DMR at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships. Meanwhile, Western Albemarle had won a national title in the DMR at the "other national meet" at Nike Indoor Nationals. The New York teams finishing in the top five in the DMR race and competing on the faster New York Armory banked track at NSIC all had ran faster than Western Albemarle's winning time at NIN of 10:25.73. When Western Albemarle got a chance to match up with those same NSIC teams for the first time on Thursday at the Loucks Games, they showed full well that they had much faster than a 10:25 in them from their national title in Landover by winning in a US #4 time of 10:11.32. Despite three solid legs with a 3:08.7 1200 split from Kyle Satterwhite, 49.0 400 split from Nick Ward, and 1:59.0 800 from Adrian Sitler, Western's 1600 anchor leg Tyler Stutzman received the baton with two teams ahead of him in Shenendehowa and Colonie of New York. Stutzman did not panic, he just ran fast. With a 4:14.5 split, Stutzman put Western Albemarle in the lead and brought home the big win as well as one of the faster times in state history in the DMR. More on ArmoryTrack.com with story on Western Albemarle boys DMR by Chris Hunt.  

Race video of the boys 3200 meter run at the 2008 Gus Lacy Track Classic. Despite the windy conditions which may have slow down the runners, the race was still thrilling due to the great field assembled. There were several lead changes, but Thomas Porter was the final leader as a 9:18.33 winner over Ben Dejarnette in second place at 9:19.50.  

Move over Eleanor Roosevelt...its Landstown and Wesh's turn to shine (in pink)! (Photo by John Herzog) It was a solid first day for the Virginians at the Nike Indoor Nationals. Two great anchor legs by Marlena Wesh on the Landstown girls 4x200 meter relay and Tyler Stutzman on the Western Albemarle boys DMR gave both their schools a national championship each. Landstown girls overcame a big deficit put on by the Eleanor Roosevelt girls front loading with their best on their first two legs with Landstown coming back into the race with their third leg Cierra McGee and then Wesh running down the Roosevelt anchor in a thrilling win at 1:40.08. The entire relay event was a complete VA dominance with four All-American top six finishing relays and section winners in all five sections with Grassfield (3rd, 1:42.34), Osbourn Park (5th, 1:43.60), and Booker T. Washington (6th, 1:30.85) all sharing the podium with the national champions from Landstown. Kyle Satterwhite and Nick Ward built Western Albemarle a lead in the DMR on the 1200 and 400 meter legs, but Tyler Stutzman received the baton roughly four seconds down against an All-American 5K runner in Neal Darmody of Quince Orchard. Stutzman did not panic and instead ran one of the most comfortable looking 4:17 splits to roll past Darmody and bring home a national title for the boys from Crozet in 10:25.73. Western Albemarle was not the only Charlottesville area school earning All-American honors as Albemarle (10:42.31) snuck into sixth place despite not having a sub 4:30 1600 meter anchor leg. Thomas Edison also finished in the top six in third place at 10:34.23. David Wilson of George Washington was the lone individual champion from the state on Saturday in Landover. With a personal best leap of 49'9" on his second attempt, Wilson put the pressure on favorite and top seed Omar Craddock of Texas, who failed to make the finals. Rex Parker of Battlefield was more of surprise than Wilson's win to pull in a top six finish and ahead of several other Virginians to crack into the top six with a mark of 47'11.25". As expected, Brayden Burleigh dominated the freshmen mile run from start to finish as the Midlothian's young distance star led from wire to wire in a 4:31.21 victory. Javell Bullard of Bethel and Marlena Wesh of Landstown both have leading times out of preliminary action going into Sunday's sprint finals. Bullard ran the fastest prelim time in the boys' 400 meter dash at 49.43, while his close runner-up from the 500 at the state meet in Taylor Sykes of Great Beach will be the top seed in the slower section of two (with four finalists in each race) at 49.98. Marlena Wesh kept the momentum from her great anchor in the 4x200 in her heat of the 200 meter dash with the fastest clocking at 24.56. Read more of Saturday highlights...   More to come from NIN including highlights, photos, and videos. Saturday Results: Boys Field - Boys Track - Girls Field - Girls Track Nike National Champions in Saturday's events from Virginia: David Wilson (George Washington) - Boys Triple Jump - 49-9 Brayden Burleigh (Midlothian) - Freshmen Boys Mile - 4:31.21 Landstown - Girls 4x200 - 1:40.08 Western Albemarle - Boys DMR - 10:25.73 Nike All-Americans in Saturday's events from Virginia: Blacksburg - Girls 4xMile - 2nd, 21:03.22 Manchester - Girls Shuttle Hurdle- 2nd, 34.71 Ermesha Fair (Western Branch) - Girls Triple Jump - 3rd, 39-0.25 Kathleen Lautzenheiser (Midlothian) - Girls 5K - 3rd, 17:48.77 Grassfield - Girls 4x200 - 3rd, 1:42.34 Midlothian - Girls 4xMile - 3rd, 21:05.73 Nansemond River - Boys 4x200 - 3rd, 1:30.03 Thomas Edison - Boys DMR - 3rd, 10:34.23 Western Branch - Girls Shuttle Hurdle- 3rd, 34.74 Lia DiValentin (Chantilly) - Girls 5K - 4th, 17:57.31 George Carter (Blacksburg) - Freshmen Boys Mile - 4th, 4:37.61 Nefertiti Smith (Norfolk Collegiate) - Girls Triple Jump - 4th, 38-8.25 Johns Ross (The Potomac School) - Boys 5K - 4th, 15:23.85 Brian Zitterkopf (Fork Union) - Boys Pentathlon - 4th, 3318 pts Natalie Baird (Park View) - Girls Weight Throw - 5th, 51-2.75 Green Run - Boys 4x200 - 5th, 1:30.54 Midlothian - Girls 4xMile - 5th, 12:25.68 Mountain View - Boys 4xMile - 5th, 18:11.42 Osbourn Park - Girls 4x200 - 5th, 1:43.60 Osbourn Park - Girls SMR - 5th, 4:10.81 Western Branch - Boys Shuttle Hurdle Relay - 5th, 31.64 Rex Parker (Battlefield) - Boys Triple Jump - 6th, 47-11.25 Jasia Richardson (J.R. Tucker) - Girls Triple Jump - 6th, 38-0.25 Tim Smith (Cave Spring) - Boys 5K - 6th, 15:29.71 Albemarle - Boys DMR - 6th, 10:42.31 Booker T. Washington - Girls 4x200 - 6th, 1:43.93 Western Branch - Boys 4x200 - 6th, 1:30.85

  The Western Albemarle and Louisa County cross country teams made the trip together down to Cary, North Carolina this past weekend for the adidas Wolfpack Invitational. The Western Albemarle boys, recently ranked #3 in the latest Southeast region rankings, did not have the showing they hoped for with a third place finish behind two unranked North Carolina squads Broughton (1st, 64 pts) and Enloe (2nd, 77 pts). Despite having two of the top four finishers with Tyler Stutzman (3rd, 16:07) and Kyle Satterwhite (4th, 16:09), the two North Carolina teams were able to pull ahead of the Warriors (3rd, 79 pts) in the remaining top five positions as Broughton gained a 10 point advantage alone in the fifth man position. Louisa County had a solid showing in fifth place behind last year's NTN squad Chapel Hill (4th, 134 pts) with two top 8 finishers in Thomas Baker (6th, 16:31) and Lawrence Minor (8th, 16:42).   L.C. Bird also represented the Commonwealth well with a sixth place finish in the invitaitonal division as they were paced by race runner-up Justin Kendall in a time of 17:09. Hannah Best's third place run of 20:27 led the Louisa girls to a fourth place showing in the invitational division, while the Western Albemarle girls finished sixth in the championship race.  Aurora Scott also competed at the Wolfpack Invite as she won the championship division race easily with a 18:27 5K at SAS Park. Scott had competed two years ago at the same venue for the Great American Festival as she raced unattached in the college race in 2005 with a time of 17:35. 

Video interview at the 2007 Ragged Mountain Cup with Western Albemarle coach Lindy Bain. Coach Bain's Western Albemarle boys, currently ranked #4 in Virginia, opened their season with a win at the Cup over last year's champs from Fork Union. Western Albemarle had three runners well under 11 minutes for their two mile splits with Tyler Stutzman (10:02), Kyle Satterwhite (10:14), and James Howard-Smith (10:22).

 Yeah...she can definitely run with the boys. MileStat.com will be on-site with coverage on Tuesday evening at Panorama Farms for the Ragged Mountain Cup, which the 4 x 2 mile relay will be the first race of the season for all of the Central Virginia and Charlottesville area schools competing. Plenty of outstanding talent will be showcased at Panorma with some great cross country squads such as the VA #4 ranked Western Albemarle boys, VA #8 ranked Fork Union boys, and VA #10 ranked Louisa County boys. Top individuals will be battling each other possibly on different legs for the fastest split of the meet with the likes of VA #9 ranked Thomas Baker of Louisa, VA #11 ranked Kyle Satterwhite of Western Albemarle, private schools #1 ranked Austin Ellis of Covenant (pictured above, left), and private schools #3 ranked Jeremy Haney of Fork Union. Among the girls, the big name will be Liz Barclay (pictured above center in the 2006 Cup) as Albemarle's star runner begins her junior year as the #3 ranked runner in Virginia. The first race is at 5 PM.

  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.

 Group AA boys will feature two of the best individuals and two of the best teams in the state this cross country season with Griff Graves of Abingdon and Peter Dorrell of Blacksburg as pre-season favorites as Footlocker Nationals qualifiers, while both Western Albemarle and Jamestown have Nike Team Nationals aspirations along with AA state team titles after returning the majority of their runners from state meet podium teams last November. Pictured right by Ted Plunkett: Tyler Stutzman and James Howard-Smith are part of a talented trio of rising juniors including AA 3200 indoor state champ Kyle Satterwhite, who will be leading the Coach Lindy Bain's Western Albemarle Warriors to AA state title and potential post-season NTN run. All three were under 16 minutes at Footlocker South last November. More in-depth preview as well as pre-season predictions from MileStat.com's own Brandon Miles to come in August. 

Gus Lacy Track Classic Highlights: Light rain and cool temperatures throughout the day did not keep the Gus Lacy Track Classic from being another classic held at Fork Union. The meet featured a US #6 4x800 performance by the Forest Park boys at 7:55.37, thrilling finishes in all three boys distance races, and the Manchester boys showing their strength outside of an injured Anthony Chesson. Complete results are posted with performances entered. Pictured left by David Fleenor: Manchester senior Reggie Hill picked up the slack in Chesson's absence with wins in the 100 and 200 meter dash and a dramatic come from behind anchor leg on the 4x100 to give the Lancers the win.   Gus Lacy Track Classic - Video Clips - All running events except for 4x400's. Gus Lacy Track Classic - Miles Photo Gallery - 1228 photos total by Brandon Miles. Gus Lacy Track Classic - Fleenor Photo Gallery - 151 photos total by David Fleenor.

The All-MileStat.com Boys Cross Country Team has been selected for the 2006 season. Awards were given out to runner of the year, coach of the year, freshmen of the year, most improved runner of the year, and comeback story of the year. Also being named were first, second, and third teams consisting of seven members for each team. Performances throughout the season were looked at with championship and post-season races being given stronger, but not ultimate consideration. The very unpredictable and inconsistent nature of the sport on a week to week basis makes any selections tough to break down into a science, but our hope is the main goal of trying to give as much as recognition as possible to individuals in the sport is noted and appreciated.