As the cross country season comes into October, thoughts start turning towards the post-season which is less than three weeks ago.  It is a time to assess the strength of the teams, and to see which individuals will be present in the fight for solo glory.  Competing at the Octoberfest Invitational, held at the Great Meadows course, site of November's state meet, the Charger cross country team, showed that they fully intend to make their marks both in terms of the regular season, and once the post-season begins.

Having not raced in two weeks, junior captain Chris Foley was admittedly antsy to compete, and the field that awaited the Varsity Boys contained some of the best in both the Northern Region and indeed, in the state of Virginia.  Foley continued his standout season with a very strong 4th place overall, en route to a personal best 5K time of 15:44.  He finished right on the heels of his two closest competitors from the Northern Region, and continued a campaign that has made him one of the favorites for this year's Concorde District & Northern Region titles.  Junior Matt Cumpian also had a strong race, earning a PR time of 17:10, and showing that he may indeed be a darkhorse for All-District honors.  Finishing 15th overall, the boys team also received strong varsity performances from seniors David Harsh and Patrick Roberts, and junior Harold Dockins.

The Boys JV teams also performed solidly.  The JV 9/10 team finished a solid 4th place overall, while sophomores Trey Tucker and Ryan Smith earned top 20 finishes.

For the girls, they continue to gel as a group and are growing into a real threat to advance from the Concorde District despite some early season losses to injury.  Junior co-captain Rachel Grochowski also continued her breakout season with her third consecutive medalling performance. Her 20th place finish saw her beat several seasoned state-level veterans, and with her success, confidence grows about her chances to place both at the  District and Regional meets later this month.  More importantly, the scoring pack is solidifying with sophomores Erin Horil, Hannah Strub and Kacey Norwood, along with senior Katrine Gast.  As each individual continues to improve, so too does the strength of the team, as does the hope that this team might still have some special performances ahead of itself.

The team has two more races prior to the district meet.  On Saturday, October 11th, they will compete at the Glory Days Invitational at Bull Run Park in Manassas.  On Thursday, October 16th, they will compete at Lake Fairfax at the Dobson Double Dual Invitational, which serves both as the de facto JV District Championship, and post-season team qualifier.

Full results can be found at:  http://www.chargercctrack.com/ccresults.html.

Thank you to Tom Foley for his Varsity photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/CHSrunning.