The Battle of the Potomac Cross Country (XC) Championships is set.  Your regular season's hard work, mileage and well-deserved honors are being rewarded. Saturday November 17 is the 2nd annual BATTLE OF THE POTOMAC XC CHAMPIONSHIPS: MD vs VA, or as it's known on the running trails, the XC BORDER WAR 2.  Team Maryland is hosting this year's event for the second year in a row and looks poised to defend their boys and girls titles. Virginia runners will be looking to even the score after last year's inaugural losses. 

List of Registered Runners

“You Can’t Script October” 

Photo by Ted Plunkett

As likely as it seemed that Lia Divalentin win the Glory Days Invitational Seeded Race, no one could have predicted the intense battle that ensued.  With less than a mile to go, a pack of 6 girls were still tightly packed together with DiValentin from Chantilly leading the way as expected.  Over the next half mile, the 6 girls furiously charged around the pancake-flat fields of Bull Run Park.  Mustering all the strength in their bodies, DiValentin along with Kristen Wolfe (pictured right by John Herzog) of James River High School pulled away from the others.  Wolfe led DiValentin around one sharp turn, and then another, until all that was left between her and the finish line was a slightly uphill 75 meter stretch.  The race clock in front of her was clicking in the 17:30’s.  Behind her, the star from Chantilly was breathing down her neck.  Some how, some way, she was able to keep her eyes forward and hold off one of the most elite fields assembled in Virginia this year for a victory in 17:49.
 

Video Interview by Kevin Milsted with Kristen Wolfe @ Glory Days 

Race Videos: Seeded Varsity Boys - Seeded Varsity Girls

HUGE Glory Days Grill Invite Photo Gallery by Ted Plunkett 

Hannah Davidson led Saratoga Springs NY with a 18:04 victory at Oatlands. Photo by Ted Plunkett

After the 2006 Oatlands Invitational, the meet organizers from Loudon County High School created a DVD of the meet and mailed it out to 100 cross country programs across the country in hopes of drawing a more elite field in 2007.  Answering the call was Saratoga Springs High School from Saratoga Springs, New York.  The nationally renowned program from over 400 miles away made the trip to Leesburg, Virginia to get a taste of cross country in the Mid-Atlantic.  Likewise, upwards of 70 teams from Northern Virginia and the DC Metro area had the privilege of racing against one of the finest teams in the nation.

Oatlands Invite Race Videos: Varsity A Boys - Varsity A Girls - Varsity B Boys - Varsity B Girls

Interview with Louise Hannallah and Coach Dave Warren.

Kevin Milsted interviewed Marika Walker, Emily Vannoy, Justin Murdock, and Lamar Thomas, click here to listen. Also check out Kevin\'s interview with Centrowitz.

Kevin Milsted interviewed Matt Centrowitz of Maryland after his historic 2 mile performance in last Saturday night\'s 2 mile battle between Centro and Craig Forrys.

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Audio Interview with Ashley Brasovan after fourth place finish at Nike Outdoor. Brasovan says no one really pushed the pace in her Seeded Two Mile race, leaving her to lead. That took its toll on her at the end of the race when the other girls dropped big negative splits and her legs didn\'t have it. She will hang up her track spikes for the summer and start training for cross country after a short break.

Also be sure to notice the rest of the NON photos that have been uploaded in the Floridia at NON Gallery.

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It was an incredible night for Maryland's biggest stars!  Early in the evening the Blazing Raiders of Eleanor Roosevelt tore it up in the 1600 SMR with a new national record of 3:51.09! Marika Walker held off the likes of New Jersey star Danielle Tauro to split 2:06 in the record breaking run. Walker returned later in the evening to anchor the 4x800-meter relay, making up a significant gap for a come-from-behind victory in 8:55.50.

Several underclassmen made their presence known at Nationals. Thomas Johnson's Emily Vannoy launched the shot to a personal best 47-10, earning her 4th place and All-American status. Only a sophomore, she hopes to continue improving so that she can return next year and win it all.

Maryland's deadly sprinters Justin Murdock and Lamaar Thomas battled each other in the prelims.  Both came up short of Texas star Whitney Prevost, but both were able to qualify for the finals based on time. Murdock's 10.78 edged out Thomas in the prelims, but Thomas got the best of Murdock in the finals, running 10.60 to Murdock's 10.69. The two athletes earned 4th and 6th place respectively and hope to return next year to go 1-2!

Three Marylanders made the finals in the Emerging Elite 100-meter hurdles. The duo from CH Flowers High School, Imani Colbert and Lorraine Graham showed great promise for the future with their finishes in 14.52 and 15.26 respectively, but it was Kristen Brown from McDonogh who took home the Emerging Elite crown with the victory in 14.16.

Graham Bazell of Atholton High School improved on his personal best with a 9:10 finish in the two mile race. Bazell took the lead in the final laps of the race but was unable to hang on for the victory.  His time would not hold up against the 25 athletes who broke 9:10, but it makes the sophomore the best two-miler in Maryland behind Centrowitz this year. 

More Results & Coverage from our team on site in North Carolina

In all likelihood, the athletes who participated in the Cougar Relays were not watching basketball the night before the meet, but rather dreaming up some madness of their own. Anything could happen for those athletes who chose to run the Devil Takes the Hindmost race, a race in which the length is undetermined until the race unfolds. In both the boy