2023 WCAC Championship

Cross country is a challenging sport. It's difficult for people to appreciate just how difficult it can be unless they've participated in the sport.

Sometimes the sport is challenging because of the constant adjustments to different terrains. This year we dealt with challenging hills at Trials of Miles, a Glory Days course with several different elements including several hills of varying length and steepness, and a rainy and muddy course at MDXC.

Sometimes the challenge has to do with the weather. It feels like so long ago, but remember the extraordinary heat at the Chesapeake Invitational and especially during the week of practicing leading up to that race. Today was a similar challenge to that race. While the conditions today and this week were certainly cooler than they were back in that early September week, your bodies were similarly tested.

Coming off of multiple weeks of cooler temperatures, with our afternoon practices often being held in low 60s temperatures, the sudden rise into the 70s this week and then to a high of around 83 today did not give you much time to adjust. And while it is true that you were not the only athletes affected by these conditions, all 360+ athletes who competed today also had to deal with this, that does not make it any less challenging.

I am very proud of all of our athletes today. We had some terrific performances and we also had some athletes who I know are disappointed about their times. But I can't say I saw anybody wearing a DeMatha jersey today who I would accuse of not giving the best effort they were capable of today.

As we jump into our results, as always, in blue, I have noted all athletes who set a new PR (personal record) in the cross country 5k (3.1 mile) at the meet. Additionally, in red, I have noted all athletes who set a new SB (season best), but not PR, in the cross country 5k. For our returning athletes who ran on this course in last year's WCAC Chamionship, in silver I have noted all athletes who set a new PCB (personal course best) for the Kenilworth Park 5k course.

Freshman
Here are the results for our freshman athletes. The number in front of each name signifies their overall place in the freshman boys race (58 total finishers). In brackets are their first mile, second mile, and last 1.1 mile splits:

13 Arvin Mirchandani - 20:20 [(1) 5:55, (2) 6:49, (3.1) 7:36]
27 Julian Maring - 22:28 [(1) 7:00, (2) 7:34, (3.1) 7:54] PR by 6 seconds
29 Renaud Williams - 22:32 [(1) 6:55, (2) 7:33, (3.1) 8:04] PR by 52 seconds
55 Ronald Thurston Jr - 29:25 [(1) 8:31, (2) 9:57, (3.1) 10:57]

Congratulations to Arvin on medaling, as the top 15 freshman finishers received medals for their efforts. It had been a few weeks since Renaud last raced but he clearly got some good training in during that stretch as he ran a huge PR. Julian just had a little more in the tank for the last mile as he was also able to set a new personal best after setting a PR by almost 1 minute and 40 seconds at least week's parkrun.

Team Results
1. The Heights 35 points
2. Gonzaga 45 points
3. St. John's 51 points
4. Bishop O'Connell 95 points
5. Paul VI 155 points
Inc. Bishop Ireton 4 finishers
Inc. Bishop McNamara 3 finishers
Inc. DeMatha 4 finishers

Since we didn't have the required five runners, we didn't receive a team score for our freshman race today. Congratulations to The Heights on a strong performance with five medalists.

Varsity B
Here are the results for our junior varsity athletes. The number in front of each name signifies their overall place in the Varsity B boys race (120 total finishers). In brackets are their first mile, second mile, and last 1.1 mile splits:

18 Maxwell Ellison (Jr.) - 19:57 [(1) 6:04, (2) 6:32, (3.1) 7:21]
23 William Jackson (Jr.) - 20:14 [(1) 6:12, (2) 6:41, (3.1) 7:21]
30 William Herman (So.) - 20:29 [(1) 6:26, (2) 6:51, (3.1) 7:12] PCB by 1 minute 59 seconds
33 Jesse Holland III (So.) - 20:46 [(1) 6:26, (2) 6:51, (3.1) 7:29] PCB by 1 minute 39 seconds
46 Don DeRocha Jr (So.) - 21:27 [(1) 6:28, (2) 7:04, (3.1) 7:55]
49 Nicholas Berry (So.) - 21:37 [(1) 6:23, (2) 7:09, (3.1) 8:05]
61 Joseph LeGloahec (So.) - 22:08 [(1) 6:32, (2) 7:26, (3.1) 8:10] PCB by 3 minutes 2 seconds
63 Cameron Lamb (So.) - 22:27 [(1) 6:30, (2) 7:23, (3.1) 8:34]
66 Andrew Righi (Sr.) - 22:52 [(1) 6:56, (2) 7:39, (3.1) 8:17]
73 Xavier Raymond (So.) - 23:18 [(1) 6:29, (2) 7:39, (3.1) 9:10]
85 Daniel Traves (So.) - 23:59 [(1) 7:21, (2) 7:58, (3.1) 8:40] SB by 5 seconds
91 Ryan Pickett (So.) - 24:38 [(1) 6:28, (2) 8:08, (3.1) 10:03]
95 Peter Brown (Sr.) - 25:22 [(1) 6:57, (2) 8:27, (3.1) 9:58]
98 Brendan Dougherty (Jr.) - 26:21 [(1) 7:04, (2) 9:02, (3.1) 10:15]
99 Tyson Woods (So.) - 26:22 [(1) 7:46, (2) 9:01, (3.1) 9:35]
102 Jesse Kliman (So.) - 26:49 [(1) 8:05, (2) 9:01, (3.1) 9:43]
103 Alexander Davis (So.) - 27:01 [(1) 7:07, (2) 9:39, (3.1) 10:15]
105 Carter Leecost (Jr.) - 27:06 [(1) 8:05, (2) 9:16, (3.1) 9:45] PCB by 6 minutes 28 seconds
108 Aleko Rodousakis (Jr.) - 27:32 [(1) 7:45, (2) 9:12, (3.1) 10:35]
111 Elliott Kramer (So.) - 28:03 [(1) 7:59, (2) 9:09, (3.1) 10:55]
112 Caleb Garcia Jr (Jr.) - 28:14 [(1) 7:26, (2) 9:34, (3.1) 11:14]
Akintunde Shoetan (Jr.) - DNF [(1) 7:49]

Congratulations to Daniel on setting a new season best today. Clearly the conditions were very challenging for our JV athletes. It's not common for us to have such a lack of blue and red attached to our results.

It's worth noting that two of our athletes were able to get quite close to their PRs and/or SBs today:

• William Jackson was less than 20 seconds off his season best of 19:55 from MDXC

• William Herman was less than 15 seconds off his PR of 20:15 from MDXC

In addition, Maxwell, both Jesses, Don, Carter, and Elliott were all within 45 seconds of their PRs today.

Team Results
1. St. John's 33 points
2. The Heights 44 points
3. Gonzaga 48 points
4. DeMatha 115 points
5. Good Counsel 170 points
6. Paul VI 195 points
7. Bishop Ireton 196 points
8. Bishop O'Connell 203 points
9. St. Mary's Ryken 270 points
Inc. Bishop McNamara 4 finishers

While the top three teams in this race left a pretty substantial gap behind them, we should feel pretty good about the big gap behind us to fifth. Keep in mind just two years ago our result was nearly identical to O'Connell's today: 8th place with more than 200 points.

We may not have as much sub-20 depth as some of the other programs in the conference, but we've come a long way in a short time. If our athletes continue to encourage their friends to join us the way this year's sophomore class did this past offseason, who knows what the future could hold for us.

Varsity A
Here are the results for our varsity athletes. The number in front of each name signifies their overall place in the Varsity A boys race (68 total finishers). In brackets are their first mile, second mile, and last 1.1 mile splits:

1 Chase Lopez (Sr.) - 16:07 [(1) 5:05, (2) 5:28, (3.1) 5:34]
7 Sayid Shakur (Sr.) - 16:45 [(1) 5:10, (2) 5:25, (3.1) 6:10] PCB by 2 seconds
26 Graham Fenn (Sr.) - 18:04 [(1) 5:18, (2) 6:00, (3.1) 6:46]
29 Roman Zentek (So.) - 18:25 [(1) 5:35, (2) 6:15, (3.1) 6:35] PCB by 51 seconds
36 Jalen Neptune (Jr.) - 18:45 [(1) 5:48, (2) 6:09, (3.1) 6:48]
47 Daden Grogan (Jr.) - 19:30 [(1) 5:34, (2) 6:23, (3.1) 7:33]
50 Brandon Smoot (Jr.) - 19:35 [(1) 5:58, (2) 6:33, (3.1) 7:04] PCB by 47 seconds

Chase is the first individual champion DeMatha has had since 2009! Additionally, he now has the second fastest time of any athlete at the WCAC Championship in meet history (at least among all meet results I have access to)!

This is a huge deal and I am so proud of Chase and all the work he put in this season. I know going from soccer to track and then getting a new coach with a new training program for cross country made for a lot of adjustments for him over the past year, but he bought in and I couldn't be happier for him.

While the conditions also made it a challenge for our varsity athletes to set new PRs today, Roman and Brandon both ran much faster today than they did on this course last year, showing just how much stronger both have become in their second year of high school cross country.

Here's a bit of historical context for our performances today:

• Chase's 16:07 is the 12th fastest 5k in DeMatha XC history and is the 2nd fastest time by a DeMatha athlete at the WCAC Championship since at least 2000

• Sayid's 16:45 is tied for the 30th fastest 5k in DeMatha XC history and is the 4th fastest time by a DeMatha athlete at the WCAC Championship since at least 2000

• Graham's 18:04 is the 25th fastest time by a DeMatha athlete at the WCAC Championship since at least 2000

If we were to take all the athletes who have run at the WCAC Championship for DeMatha since 2000 (keeping in mind we've used three different courses in that span and Lake Fairfax was by far the most challenging of them), our Varsity 7 would be:

1. Cory Puffett '10 - 16:02 (2009 - Lake Fairfax)

2. Chase Lopez '24 - 16:07 (2023 - Kenilworth Park)

3. Sayid Shakur '24 - 16:45 (2023 - Kenilworth Park)

4. Jayden Keels '23 - 16:50 (2022 - Kenilworth Park)

5. Christopher Toomer Jr '23 - 17:06* (2021 - Bull Run Regional Park)

6. Graham Fenn '24 - 17:16 (2022 - Kenilworth Park)

7. Robert Patterson '09 - 17:20 (2008 - Lake Fairfax)

*In 2021, flooding caused the Bull Run course to be shortened to 3 miles. Christopher's 17:06 is the equivalent 5k time, converted from his 3-mile time.

Additionally, Roman's 18:25 makes him the 23rd fastest DeMatha cross country runner at the WCAC Championships since at least 2000.

Team Results
1. Gonzaga 31 points
2. The Heights 68 points
3. DeMatha 99 points
4. St. John's 110 points
5. Bishop McNamara 126 points
6. Good Counsel 127 points
7. Bishop Ireton 188 points
8. Paul VI 223 points
9. Bishop O'Connell 228 points
10. St. Mary's Ryken 311 points
Inc. Archbishop Carroll 1 finisher

Thanks in large part to the 8 combined points from our top two finishers, we managed to sneak into the Top 3!  With our top three runners graduating, it'll be a challenge for sure. But next year we'll be able to aim for four straight Top 3 WCAC finishes for just the second time in program history.

Final Thoughts
We had high hopes coming into this season off of taking home the team title in 2022. We wanted to claim our first back-to-back conference titles or at least finish in the Top 2 in three consecutive seasons for the first time in team history. As I've mentioned multiple times this season, though, you can't play defense (legally) in cross country so when we saw how strong Gonzaga, The Heights, and St. John's were through the season, it was clear that it wasn't entirely up to us whether we would accomplish those goals.

I'm never going to lie to my athletes or set them up for disappointment. I told them as we entered this final two-week stretch to WCACs that we were probably going to finish fourth. Gonzaga had been strong since we first saw them at Trials of Miles and St. John's beat The Heights at MileStat after we'd already lost to The Heights.

But I also told our guys that things happen and sometimes openings present themselves. While we can't play defense, we can absolutly play offense and take advantage of those openings. While we may not have had our best day of performances today, our guys took advantage of the opening St. John's gave us to claw our way into the Top 3.

We may not have a trophy or a plaque to show for our efforts today, but I believe our athletes did a great job demonstrating their grit and their spirit today. I'm so proud of all of you.

Athletes should keep an eye out for an email from me later this weekend. It will include training paces for the coming week for athletes continuing on to the Maryland Private School Championship and I'll need athletes to let me know if I've included them or excluded them from that list in error. I'm pretty sure I'm on top of who will be continuing and who is moving on to other winter sports, but I'll need them to check that email and let me know if I've missed anything. It will also include some details regarding jersey returns, particularly for those who are moving on to winter sports this coming week and will be ready to return their jerseys to me.

Once we get through the private school state meet, I will begin planning our end-of-season team banquet and will reach out to parents and athletes with details regarding that event.

"Never give up, never give in, and when the upper hand is ours, may we have the ability to handle the win with the dignity that we absorbed the loss." - Doug Williams