Loudoun County Leads To Greatest Day In VA XC?

This Saturday has to go down in history as one of the greatest days in Virginia cross country history and it is all thanks to Loudoun County. Pulling from a population just over 300,000 have come three huge stars that have changed the face of XC nationally.

This epic day all started at 9:30am all the way out in Louisville Kentucky at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park. Over 8K meters Loudoun County Alum and Virginia Tech Hokie Thomas Curtin took to the course just after the gun fired. To his sides were some of the greatest collegiate runners ever including Edward "King" Cheserek (Oregon) and Anthony Rotich (UTEP). None of those names mattered to Curtin though as he broke free late and help off the entire field winning one of the most prestigious regular season races in NCAA XC. He ended up clocking 23:18.2 for the win and earned himself instant legitimacy as one of the favorites for the NCAA National title next month.

Just a short while after that at 12:25pm the gun went off in Winchester at the Third Battle Invitational. In this race was over 200 athletes from Virginia and Maryland and one athlete with Eritrean heritage running for Heritage. This athlete of course was Weini Kelati and all the eyes were on her.

Last season Weini was somewhat of an unknown athlete, she was verified fast but we were not sure when she would adjust and how she would adjust to American running. With a huge language barrier it took a while for everything to work itself out but finally this season she has emerged in form that could be her best yet.

This form has seen her shatter the Oatlands meet record by over 50 seconds when she clocked a 17:11 back in September. This Saturday though she and her coaches knew the conditions were perfect for something special. She had stiff competition with Patriot's Rachel McArthur and George C. Marshall's Heather Holt but it was all her's Saturday.

She opened as she usually does, fast. She then gapped the field and kept going but this time it was different because she really did not stop going or speeding up. She split well each mile and came dashing down the home stretch to run a monstrous 16:29 VA #2 All-time! This time sits just behind Aurora Scott's 16:26 from Foot Locker South and is also the fastest time ever run in the Commonwealth of Virginia. This time as well positions her now as one of the favorites for the Foot Locker National title.

Andrew Hunter (Loudoun Valley) crossed the line in not only a US #1 14:20.8 but also a state record! This time broke Sean McGorty's state record set back in 2012 at Foot Locker South.

In the race itself he opened in 4:31 for a mile, went through the two mile at 9:15 and finally closed the race in 14:20.8 with a winning margin of 66 seconds over VA #8 Tyler Cox-Philyaw.

Loudoun County could just be the perfect place for distance running after all. It is located close enough to big competition thanks to Fairfax County but also far enough away from DC that it is has ample training hills and venues.

It lacks Indoor track as a sport, which is a shame, but could ultimately be the greatest benefit to these distance runners. Not having a "middle season" enables ample recovery and more training that has proved to serve runners very well.

Whether it is that or simple arithmetic that superstars will eventually arise or just luck we may never know what caused this influx of greatness. We can know one thing for sure and that is that Saturday was one of the biggest days in Virginia XC history and that it is all thanks to Loudoun County.