Julia Ghiselli didn’t know much about Heather Holt before the Monroe Parker Invitational, except that she was fast.
A lot of people are getting to know Ghiselli now, and she’s pretty fast herself. And Ghiselli was pleased to learn that Holt was also “very nice.”
The Annandale freshman ran 17:29 on Burke Lake’s 2.98 mile course to win, reaching the threshold to make the all-time list for the course, where will soon be 37th.
From left: Peter Morris, Jacob Windle, Chase Dawson, Noah Hunter, Kevin Carlson, Conor Wells, Colton Bogucki, and Sam Affolder. RunWashington photo by Ed Lull.
As last season came to a close in North Carolina, Loudoun Valley’s disappointment felt cushioned by potential.
Though the Vikings failed to make Nike Cross Nationals, they were on the cusp. They made up ground on a team that had beaten them soundly seven weeks earlier and one junior, Peter Morris, had qualified for the finals with another, Colton Bogucki, one spot away. Jacob Hunter, just a sophomore, was 20th.
“We weren’t good enough to go,” said coach Marc Hunter. “It would have taken one of those other teams to fall off. We ran well but we didn’t run great, but everybody improved, and as a coach, that means everything.”
With all of those runners and more returning, the clouds that hung over the team started to fade.
Then, in December, they parted. Jacob Hunter got a message from a kid he knew from Pennsylvania.
It’s cross country season again, and even though preseason practices have only been going for a few weeks, thoughts of this Fall’s harriers and their potential have been racing through the minds of coaches and athletes alike.
Name: John Ausema
Self-described age group: masters
Residence: Greenbelt, Md.
Occupation: high school science teacher and cross country coach
Why I run: I enjoy exploring on foot, communing with woods and trails, and of course the “runner’s high”. Running keeps me fit, and it’s become so much a part of my routine that I would have difficulty if I stopped.
While their peers may be slurping down ice cream cones or putting in hours at their part-time job, local high school runners are gearing up for the upcoming cross country season.
With little turnaround between the last school bell and the start of summer practices, athletes don’t have long to go before they lace up their shoes.
And their shoes are pretty important: It’s pretty common for a high school runner to log hundreds of miles over the course of one season. And they need gear up to the challenge. Like pads for football, sticks for hockey or swimsuit and kickboards for swim team, it’s important to get the right gear.
“Running is going to be the most efficient way of getting in shape and the least expensive sport a high schooler is going to participate in,” said Chris Farley, owner and general manager at Pacers Running stores.
Training Shoes
Training runs can be long, much longer than a race day 5K, so runners need a shoe durable enough to stand up to the demands.
“The most essential piece of equipment is going to be a training shoe,” said Ryan Long, COO of Potomac River Running. “The training shoe is going to be an everyday running shoe and typically a high schooler is going to like something a little lighter weight.”
Purchasing shoes can be overwhelming, so Long recommends runners head into their local running store and get a gate analysis, if they haven’t done so already. A gate analysis will check their movement, and result in a running shoe recommendation for their needs.
“Younger athletes are not accustomed to picking out their own shoes,” Long said. “They don’t really know what they’re looking for.”
Runners are looking for the proper amount of support and cushion based on their gate and foot type. And with shoes that have minimal cushion to those that look like pillows, a running store associate can provide the right guidance.
As their heel strikes down, some runners roll from their heels onto their toes and their arches bow in. This over–pronation is the result of too much movement of the foot and can put a lot of pressure on the ligaments up the leg. Stability shoes are designed to help alleviate the problem, with a dense piece of foam underneath the arch.
“The shoe will keep the runner in neutral position, all the way from heel to toe off,” Long said.
Following a cross country season that saw one local team and two individuals make the Nike Cross Nationals meet and three qualify for Foot Locker, RunWashington’s coaches panel gathered to select the All-RunWashington Postseason teams. Here are some, but not all, of their highlights. If someone has committed to run in college and we haven’t noted it here, please comment or email at [email protected].
The coaches panel includes Steve Hays, Walt Whitman; Cindy Walls, Bishop O’Connell; John Ausema, Gonzaga; Mike Mangan, Lake Braddock; Scott Silverstein, Winston Churchill; Anthony Belber, Georgetown Day; Kevin Hughes, Georgetown Visitation; Chris Pellegrini, West Springfield and Kellie Redmond, T.S. Wootton.
In addition to top 10 boys and girls for the entire D.C. area, the panel selected teams for each state and district:
Rohann Asfaw, junior, Richard Montgomery
Rohann Asfaw got what he came for this season — a state championship and a trip to the Nike Cross Nationals meet, where he finished 94th. He has committed to the University of Virginia, where he’ll run with another tw0-time Montgomery County champion — Poolesville’s Chase Weaverling. At the Oatlands Invitational, he beat fellow All-RunWashington postseason honorees Peter Morris, future college teammate Saurav Velleleth and Patrick Lynch, along with Millbrook’s Alec Schrank, who later edged Asfaw on an incredibly muddy Glory Days course.
Ahmed Hassan, junior, Oakton
Oakton doesn’t usually race many other local teams, but when the postseason came along Ahmed Hassan was near the top, winning the Conference 5 meet, finishing second at the Northern Region meet and fifth at the 6A state meet.
Ryan Lockett, junior, Poolesville
After a year at Gonzaga, Ryan Lockett brought his long shorts back to his native Poolesville and took off as the season went on, finishing third at the DCXC junior race, second at the Montgomery County championship and then first at the Maryland 3A championship.
Patrick Lynch, senior, George C. Marshall
Saurav Velleleth, senior, Thomas Jefferson S&T
Saurav Velleleth started off hot, winning the Monroe Parker and DCXC Invitational senior races. Patrick Lynch broke out of a funk at the Glory Days Invitational and the two staged a great stretch run at the end of the Virginia 5A race, with Lynch building a three-second lead to take third place over Velleleth, who was fourth, and later 27th at the Foot Locker South meet to Lynch’s 21st. Like Asfaw, Velleleth will run at Virginia. Lynch will run at William and Mary.
Conor Lyons, senior, Lake Braddock
Lyons lost second place by a lean, according to the results but not most eye witnesses, at the Virginia 6A meet. He rebounded to finish 22nd at the Nike Cross Southeast meet. Strong second place finishes at the Monroe Parker and Conference 7 races, along with the Frank Keyser meet in Maryland, gave this Indiana native a strong season-long resume.
John Mackey, senior, T C. Williams
John Mackey kicked off the season with a hard effort on a miserably hot morning at the Monroe Parker Invitational and saw he had what it took to hang on at the end of races, finishing a close second to Saurav Velleleth at the DCXC Invitational and finshing sixth at the Virginia 6A championships.
Brandon McGorty, senior, Chantilly
Not content to be simply a two-lap sensation, Brandon McGorty took a chance in some cross country races and it paid off to the tune of a fourth place finish. He won the 6A North regional title. He likely won’t be pressed into service to run 10k cross country at Stanford next year.
Harry Monroe, senior, Gonzaga
Harry Monroe won the DC state meet, starting off scoring for the Eagles to win their first title. He also led the way at the WCAC meet. His third place finish in the DCXC senior race showed how competitive he was on the local scene.
Peter Morris, junior, Loudoun Valley
Morris took control of the Loudoun Valley team, leading it to its second straight 4A title and winning the individual title along the way. Two weeks later, he qualified for Nike Cross Nationals, where he finished 55th.
Olivia Beckner, junior, South Lakes
After two years of injuries, Olivia Beckner finally got to run cross country and capitalized on the opportunity. She finished third at the Third Battle Invitational, fourth at the Virginia 6A meet and 18th at Foot Locker South.
Abigail Green, junior, Walter Johnson
Abbey Green repeated as Montgomery County champion and Maryland 4A runner up, but then followed WJ great Sally Glynn and qualified for the Foot Locker Cross Country championships, where she led D.C.-area finishers in 21st place.
Heather Holt George C. Marshall
After a rare 5A loss at the state meet and an 11th place Foot Locker South finish in 2015, Heather Holt came back stronger and faster in 2016, winning a slew of local invitationals (Monroe Parker, Oatlands, Glory Days, Third Battle) and trailing only Kate Murphy at Great American. She dominated the Virginia 5A race, leading Marshall to its first team title in only its third appearance at the state meet.
Taylor Kitchen, senior, Lake Braddock
On a deep Lake Braddock team, Taylor Kitchen was a model of consistency, finishing 10th at the Virginia 6A meet and 32nd at the Nike Cross Southeast meet to help the Bruins to a return trip to Portland.
Page Lester, junior, National Cathedral
Meghan Lynch, freshman, Georgetown Visitation
On top of winning the D.C. state meet, Page Lester was the first girl from a D.C. school to qualify for the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships, where she finished 31st. An injury layoff after her summer triathlon season gave her a late start to cross country, which she credits with keeping her from burning out mentally in October and November. She was frequently chased by Megan Lynch, winner of the DCXC Invitational fresman race and a basketball and lacrosse player who was running her first season. She wound up second to Lester at the D.C. state meet.
Rachel McArthur, senior, Patriot
Kate Murphy, senior, Lake Braddock
Rachel McArthur and Kate Murphy have had a monopoly on the Virginia 6A race and Nike Cross Southeast titles over the last three years. Over the same time, they’ve established themselves to be even better track athletes than cross country, and at a certain point, sandwiched between late summer seasons (Murphy’s trips to the U.S. Olympic Trials and World Junior Championships in July and McArthur’s trip to Junior Nationals in June) and looming indoor seasons, cross country just doesn’t get the same emphasis. They both focused on getting through the season healthy and, for Murphy, getting Lack Braddock back to the Nike Cross Nationals meet.
Murphy, who will run at Oregon next year, went undefeated up until Portland, where she finished 33rd. McArthur finished second to Murphy at the state meet. She’ll go to Villanova.
Julia Reicin, senior, Winston Churchill
Julia Reicin made herself a factor in every race as the season wore, especially after finishing fourth at the Glory Days Invitational. She repeated that placing at the Montgomery County Championships and closed the year out in third at the state 4A meet. She’ll run at Maryland starting next year.
Samantha Schwers, junior, Lake Braddock
Sam Schwers came through for the Bruins in the postseason, finishing sixth at both the Northern Region and state meets and 26th at the Nike Cross Southeast meet.
D.C. cross country runners got to enjoy a new state meet course, Kenilworth Park, which gave them more sure footing and visibility for their championship meet, on which most of the selections were based.
Timmy Bitsberger, junior, St. Albans
Philip Wright, senior, Sidwell
Timmy Bitsberger finished seventh at the D.C.-Maryland Private Schools Championships, after winning the MAC Championships and finishing second at the Georgetown Prep Invitational. Philip Wright made up for a 17th place finish at the private schools championship by notching 45th place at the Nike Cross Southeast meet.
Michelle Horner, senior, Georgetown Visitation
Ruth Tesfai, junior, McKinley
Michaela Kirvan, junior, Georgetown Visitation
Michaela Kirvan and Michelle Horner finished fourth and fifth at the D.C. state meet, helping Georgetown Visitation to the team title. Ruth Tesfai finished eighth at the D.C. state meet.
John Colucci, junior, Gonzaga
A varsity contributor since his freshman year, John Colucci paired with Harry Monroe to push each other clear of the field at the WCAC and D.C. state meets, where he finished second at both.
Arrington Peterson, senior, Woodrow Wilson
Arrington Peterson finished seventh at the D.C. state meet and 21st among seniors at the DCXC Invitational.
Amal Mattoo, senior, Sidwell
Amal Mattoo finished fifth at the D.C. state meet and 14th at the D.C.-Maryland Private Schools Championships.
Zakyrah Haynie, senior, Woodrow Wilson
Cady Hyde, freshman, St. Johns
Cady Hyde finished third at the D.C. state meet, the second freshman in the top three after Megan Lynch. She won the WCAC meet in her first try. Zakyrah Haynie finished sixth at the D.C. state meet and seventh in the DCXC Invitational senior race.
Jack Beckham, senior, Gonzaga
William McCann, senior, Gonzaga
Will McCann finished sixth at the D.C. state meet to help Gonzaga win the team title. Beckham’s highlight came with a 22nd place finish at the DCXC Invitational in the senior race.
Sarah Pillard, senior, Georgetown Day
Sarah Pillard led the Hoppers at the D.C. state meet, where she finished ninth, and was second for GDS in eighth at the D.C.-Maryland Private Schools Championships.
Josh Shelton, senior, Georgetown Day
Josh Shelton took the lead for the Hoppers this year, and finished sixth at the D.C.-Maryland Private Schools Championships and third at the D.C. state meet.
Many of Virginia’s top runners were younger, lots of juniors, and that bodes well for an experienced group of returners in 2017.
Colton Bogucki, junior, Loudoun Valley
Along with Peter Morris and Jacob Hunter, Bogucki was part of the state’s strongest top three, and his 11th place finish at the Nike Cross Southeast meet helped the Vikings to a third place finish. He finished fourth in the state 4A meet, helping Loudoun Valley to its second straight team title. He finished fourth at the Third Battle Invitational.
Emma Wolcott, junior, Tuscarora
Defending 5A state champion Emma Wolcott started her season in earnest in October, and on slippery ground, finishing ninth in the mud at the Glory Days Invitational. She moved up during the state meet to finish third, then took 15th at the Foot Locker South meet.
Sean Grimm, senior, James Madison
Sean Grimm led the way for James Madison’s first state title this year, finishing seventh overall and holding off Lake Braddock’s Tyler Lawson in what was a three-point victory for the Warhawks.
Kiera Bothwell, senior, West Springfield
Emily Keast, senior, West Springfield
This pair helped West Springfield to fourth place at the 6A state meet. Kiera Bothwell finished ninth, two seconds and three places ahead of Emily Keast. Bothwell added a win at the Foot Locker South senior race, while Keast finished 10th.
Antonio Lopez , junior, Colgan
Tyler Lawson, junior, Lake Braddock
Colgan’s Antonio Lopez, a Spanish foreign exchange student, helped make the new program’s name with a ninth place finish at the state 6A meet. Tyler Lawson finished a few seconds ahead in eighth to serve as the second man for the Bruins’ runner-up finish.
Yared Mekonnen, junior, Thomas Edison
A few days’ rest while recovering from a stomach bug was all Yared Mekonnen needed to turn in a fifth place finish at the state 5A meet before finishing 28th at the Nike Cross Southeast meet. He also finished sixth at the Third Battle Invitational.
Ava Bir, junior, George C. Marshall
Ava Bir was a steady number two for Marshall during the team’s run to the state 5A title. She finished a strong seventh at the fast Third Battle Invitational, ninth at the state meet and won the Foot Locker South junior class race.
Ava Hassebrock, sophomore, Tuscarora
For the second year, Ava Hassebrock won her class’ race at the DCXC Invitational. Along with Wolcott, she powered Tuscarora to a second place state meet finish, coming in fifth individually.
Caroline Howley, sophomore, McLean
Caroline Howley’s third place finish at the DCXC Invitational sophomore race set up a solid season that ended with a 28th place finish at Nike Cross Southeast, after finishing 11th at the state 6A meet.
Derek Johnson, junior, Tuscarora
Derek Johnson repeated as his class’ DCXC Invitational champion, this time winning the junior race, before finishing sixth at the state 5A championship.
Natalie Morris, junior, Loudoun Valley
Natalie Morris’ second place finish at the Virginia 4A championships helped Loudoun Valley to second place.
Zachary Holden, junior, James Madison
Zach Holden paired with Sean Grimm to form a strong lead pair for the Warhawks on their way to their first state title. He came on the strongest at the end of the season, finishing 11th at the state 6A meet and 39th at Nike Cross Southeast.
Like in Virginia, youth dominated in Maryland, where 10 of the top 15 boys and 12 of the top 15 girls at the Montgomery County Championships were underclassmen.
Aaron Bratt, Sophomore, Walt Whitman
John Riker, Sophomore, T.S. Wootton
A pair of sophomores that both wound up in the top five among their class at the state 4A meet, Whitman’s Aaron Bratt matched strides with Wootton’s John Riker at the DCXC Invitational and separated themselves from the rest of the pack in the third mile, with Bratt getting a narrow lean over Riker. Riker got a larger edge, four seconds, at the Montgomery County Championships, before Bratt, along with teammate Josh Engels, put some distance on Riker at the 4A West regional. Though Riker had the edge at the state meet at 11th to Bratt’s 26th with a 13-second margin between the two, the 17 seconds Bratt finished ahead of Riker was worth 48 places, 77th to 125th, at the Nike Cross Southeast meet. If all of that is confusing, suffice it to say they’ll be in for two more years great races between the two, who are the fastest in their class in Montgomery County.
Nandini Satsangi, sophomore, Poolesville
After a second place finish at the state 3A meet in 2015, Nandini Satsangi maintained a strong sophomore season, with repeat second place finish in her class race at the DCXC Invitational and a third place finish at the Montgomery County Championships. Though she slipped to eighth at the state meet, she rebounded with a 29th place finish at the Foot Locker Northeast meet.
Joshua Engels, junior, Walt Whitman
Josh Engels finished 12th at the state 4A meet after finishing 10th at the Montgomery County Championships.
Yasmine Kass, junior, Paint Branch
With a runner-up finish at the Montgomery County Championships, Yasmine Kass matched her former teammate Bethlehem Taye’s spot a year before. She won the 4A North regional and finished ninth at the state meet before going 27th at Nike Cross Southeast.
Andrew Lent, senior, Poolesville
Along with junior Ryan Lockett, senior Andrew Lent gave Poolesville a strong top two that drove them to a fourth place finish at the state 3A meet, which was also Lent’s individual finish position. He was Maryland’s second finisher at the Foot Locker Northeast regional, finishing 28th.
Heather Delaplaine, junior, Damascus
Heather Delaplaine’s junior season was an exercise in consistency, with sixth place finishes in both the Montgomery County Championships at state 3A meet.
Simeon Mussie, junior, Albert Einstein
Simeon Mussie added depth to the Montgomery County junior class, finishing fourth at the county meet and eighth at the state 4A meet.
Morgan Casey, junior, Montgomery Blair
Josephine Brane-Wright, junior, Montgomery Blair
The Montgomery Blair pair of Morgan Casey and Josephine Brane-Wright powered the Blazers to an eighth place finish in the 4A state meet, along with a fourth place finish at the Montgomery County Championships. Casey finished just ahead of Brane-Wright in 14th.
Adam Nakasaka, Junior, Bethesda-Chevy Chase
Adam Nakasaka wasn’t thinking about waiting for anyone’s turn as he gunned for Rohann Asfaw in basically every race. Though he faded down the stretch at the county championships and saw Ryan Lockett pass him for second, his courage paid off at the 4A state meet, which he finished second with a lead of a little over one-third of a second ahead of third place.
Katrione Kirsch, senior, Walter Johnson
For four years, Walter Johnson’s girls have been winning state cross country championships, and Katrione Kirsch has been around for all of them. This year, she finished second in the senior race at the DCXC Invitational, eighth at the Montgomery County Championships and then seventh at the state meet.
Jason Scott, senior, Wheaton
Jason Scott’s highlight came with an eighth place finish at the Montgomery County Championships, a few weeks before he took third at the 3A South regional on his way to a 14th place finish at the state meet.
Jessica Trzeciak, sophomore, T.S. Wootton
T.S. Wootton’s second place finish at the state meet followed Jessica Trzeciak’s sixth place overall finish, in which she cleared all but two of the 11 people who had beaten her at the Montgomery County Championships. She had finished sixth in the sophomore race at the DCXC Invitational.
Six D.C.-area runners made the two national cross country championships, with Kate Murphy repeating as Nike Cross Southeast champion and leading Lake Braddock to its second straight appearance in the championship and Page Lester making history as the first female runner from Washington, D.C. to make the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships. Richard Montgomery’s Rohann Asfaw and Loudoun Valley’s Peter Morris both made the national meet on the boys’ side. A year after she missed out on the Foot Locker finals, George Marshall junior Heather Holt qualified by finishing second at the South regional. Along with Lester, from the National Cathedral School, Walter Johnson’s Abbey Green advanced from the Northeast meet.
Murphy was the first of seven local girls in the top 50 at the southeast meet in Cary, N.C., running 17:13. McLean sophomore Caroline Howley was 23rd in 18:35, with Lake Braddock senior Sam Schwers in 26th (18:39), Paint Branch junior Yasmine Kass one point and one second behind, Lake Braddock senior Taylor Kitchen another second back in 32nd place, Loudoun Valley junior Natalie Morris in 38th (18:47) and Lake Braddock junior Sarah Daniels in 18:49 for 41st place.
The second place Bruins team, which also included senior Shannon Browing (58th in 19:05) and Emily Schiesl (65th in 19:09) will race in Portland, Ore. Dec. 3. They’ll be joined by Asfaw (15:15) and Morris (15:25) — behind winner Brodey Hasty‘s 14:54 winning time — who qualified as individuals. Morris (seventh), junior Colton Bogucki (15:34 for 11th) sophomore Jacob Hunter (15:43 for 20th) led Loudoun Valley’s team — the Jungle — to third place.
Five other locals joined them in the top 50. Lake Braddock senior Conor Lyons finished 22nd in 15:47, Edison junior Yared Mekonnen ran 15:52 for 28th, Bethesda-Chevy Chase junior Adam Nakasaka was 33rd in 15:55, James Madison junior Zach Holden was 39th in 15:58 and Gonzaga senior Harry Monroe was 45th in 16:02.
In Charlotte, Holt was two seconds behind Footlocker South winner Nevada Mareno‘s 17:21 to qualify for her first national final. Holt’s Virginia 5A rival Emma Wolcott was 15th in 18:02 and South Lakes’ Olivia Beckner was 18th, one second behind Wolcott. Patriot senior Rachel McArthur was 41st in 18:35 and Fairfax junior Chloe Tran was 47th in 18:47. On the boys’ side, Marshall’s Patrick Lynch (21st) and Thomas Jefferson’s Saurav Velleleth (27th) ran 15:36 and 15:44, respectively. The Foot Locker final is Dec. 10 in San Diego.
At the Northeast regional, Lester was the first girl from a D.C. school to make the finals, and the first D.C. student since 2001 to qualify. From a few miles north, Green is the second Walter Johnson runner to make the final, after Sally Glynn, who was second in 1994. She is also the first D.C.-area Maryland runner to make the final since Sherwood’s Solomon Haile won the race in 2008. Then-St. Albans senior Tai Dinger made the Foot Locker final in 2013.
Lester was fifth in 18:04, behind winner Alyssa Aldrige in 17:40 and trailing Annapolis senior Maria Coffin (third in 17:59), who has won the last two Maryland 4A championships over Green, who was ninth in 18:08. Behind Lester and Green, Poolesville sophomore Nandini Satsangi finished 29th in 19:04. Leya Salis, a former Oakton runner now living in New Hampshire, finished 16th in 18:47. DCXC senior race winner Hayley Jackson was fifth in 18:05. The Poolesville duo of Andrew Lent (16:22) and Ryan Lockett (16:41) finished 28th and 46th, respectively.
