In fact, it’s a dream come true, said Jeremy M. Brown, who saw his Mustangs go from fifth place a year ago to the top of the podium. It was the fourth straight win for the girls’ team and the first championship in over a decade for the boys.
“All I dreamt about this year was being on that podium,” said Brown, whose teammate Jeremy K. Brown clocked the school’s top finish — seventh — on a 3.1-mile course at the Great Meadow in The Plains. “We actually were a little tired of watching the girls celebrate, we wanted to be up there celebrating with them.”
The boys finished ahead of Parry McCluer and Wilson Memorial, while the girls topped Strasburg and Wilson Memorial in the A race. Michele De Mars and Eva Estrada, members of the school’s first championship team as freshmen, placed third and seventh, while Julia Estrada finished fifth to lead the Mustangs.
The most anticipated matchup of the day, which featured six championship races across the three Virginia classes, came in the boys’ AAA race and it lived up to its billing. Bile defended his title against Chantilly’s Sean McGorty. Bile, the lone Atoms’ runner in the event, ran even with McGorty until early in the third mile, then pulled away on the last uphill. He finished five seconds ahead of his regional rival, with a time of 15 minutes 16 seconds — over 10 seconds faster than his championship time of a year ago.
Bile, who had to be helped to the podium to claim his medal, due to the lactic acid build-up in his legs, said even though he was confident he could beat McGorty, a junior, he still had to execute on the course.
“It was a complete, 100-percent effort,” he said. “I was just exhausted, but it was worth it. I didn’t underestimate any of the guys at all, I’m extremely happy.”
Stafford earned the state team title with no runner finishing lower than 31st. The Indians were led by seventh-place finisher Greg Bohmke, who said the state title was something he and his teammates have been gunning for since ninth grade.
Chase won the top-level girls’ race in a time of 17:33, nearly a minute ahead of runner-up Nicole Park of Ocean Lakes. The race couldn’t equal last year’s photo-finish suspense since Stafford junior Hannah Lowery, the defending champion, was sidelined with health problems stemming from a low iron count in her blood.
That didn’t prevent Chase from savoring her fist title.
“Coming down that last straightaway, knowing that I had it, it was just nice,” said a breathless Chase.
Midlothian won the girls’ AAA title, while Blacksburg swept the AA team titles.
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