Pack running was once again very evident in this race and the execution of various race plans went off without a hitch.  Zeb Gordon once again led the way for the Saints with his 14th place finish.  Zeb put himself in contention with the big boys early on and ended up closing strong in the last mile to drop 14 seconds off his time from last year.  Co-captain Max Dodge executed his game plan of staying close to Zeb in the first mile and then holding on as long as possible.  Although he was passed by a group of three teammates in the final mile, he did exactly what he needed to do for our team.  He also finished just shy of the medals in 27th place, only 10 seconds behind the 25th place time.

The trio of 7th graders that came on strong in the final mile were James Caven, Steffi Colmignoli, and Drew Vanichkachorn.  Finishing within 12 seconds of each other, and just ahead of Dodge, allowed our team to have a chance at scoring well.  Finishing tied for 3rd, we were able to see the rare occasion where the 6th runner comes into the scoring.  Thanks to a strong finish by Alex Rowe, beating the 6th man of Charlottesville Catholic by 11 seconds, the Saints emerged victorious.

Outside of the scoring, we had another big pack of runners average around 7:45 mile pace, and finish within 21 seconds of each other.  This enormous pack of 6 included: Luke Slyder, Adam Bowes, Boyd Peete, J. Hunter Dabney, Jack Girerd, and Grant Mistr.  Dabney dropped 57 seconds form last year's time.  Edward Millman and Will McKinnon also dropped time from last year.

Overall, it was a great meet that we can use as a springboard going into our final weeks of the season!