09/12/2026
Just Wow!!! In one of Virginia's best, and largest, XC Meets of the year, our Valley Blaze runners were right there. If it wasn't enough what our runners did who ran for the Blaze today, it got even stronger if we add a couple of our runners that ran for their middle schools today. Unreal. More than 2500 runners, and we dotted the leaderboard and medals were had. Here's the story.
Girls Middle School Race (369 Runners)
Harper. 3rd overall out of 369 runners. Repeat, 3rd overall as a sixth grader. Simply put, another amazing run. She ran a 16:01.30. Coming off of another XC race Thursday where she set her 6th grade school record by 19 seconds, she simply killed it today. She ran with the leader (an 8th grader from NC) most of the race before succumbing at the end to 3rd place. Last year, as a 5th grader, Harp puffed to an 8th grade finish. This year, she huffed to 3rd overall. Next year, maybe she'll kick the door in to challenge for the overall win. Incredible run. The next sixth grader in the race was 2 minutes behind Harper. Well done.
Brynlynn. 5th overall out of 369 runers. Repeat, 5th overall as a 7th grader. Are you kidding me with her too? Brynlynn also had herself a day. Brynlynn ran a 16:14.90. She was steady the entire race. Went out strong. Competed strong through the middle. And was solid in the finish. Brynlynn was the 2nd best 7th grader in the entire race. To watch her and Harper come around each nook and cranny near the lead was just awesome to see. During the race, Brynlynn went back and forth for 4th and 5th place, and finally settled in to fifth. Not bad for a girl still in the middle of building her training for the rest of the year. Judging by the talk in the car ride home, Brynlynn was thrilled with her run, and she should be. It was pure awesomeness. To see Bryn and Harp on the medal stand so high was priceless. Awesome!!!
Boys Middle School Race (463 runners)
Elias. Elias had a really good race today as well. He was 39th overall today out of 463 runners. He finished in the top 10% of the race, which is terrific seeing that he is training heavy in both running and swimming. When Elias gets his conditioning in both sports to match up, he is priming for a great run at the Middle School State Championships coming up in October. Today was a very solid race for him in a huge, and talented, field at Knights Crossing. Great job Elias.
Brooks. How about Brooks? Brooks just came to us about a little bit ago, and he ran his first race today. Brooks was 106 out of 463. He slipped in to the Top 25% of the race as only a 5th grader, which was awesome. When he starts learning how to make a plan, execute it, and compete it hard, he's got a shot at an awesome future. His mindset was awesome too. This is almost about the biggest stage you can get in running so early in the year, and he wasn't fazed. He's going to improve really fast. Brooks had a fantastic first race. Can't wait to see him at the end of the year.
Vincent (Vinny). We had a goal for Vinny to finish in the top half of the race today. He killed that. Just an awesome day for Vincent in his run. He didn't just finish in the top half, he finished in the top third. That's terrific. We've been talking to Vincent about race mentality, along with aggressiveness needed to compete at a higher level and he's getting it more and more each race. He comes to every race and practice in such a positive mindset. He's fun to be around, and we love what he brings to our team. Can't wait to see his next race.
Elementary Race
Abigail. Abby has been a bit under the weather lately. But she toughed out a 1k race today in pretty good form. On the girls side, our 4th grader went 10th out of 28 racers. Not bad at all. We are working on Abby's stamina, but haven't had a chance yet to have regular practices. It'll come, but in the mean time, she's gaining what it's like to race in big groups. It will pay off by the end of the season.
Theodore. Theo has the same goal as Abby. We need to build his stamina to be able to compete at the level we want him to compete at. He's young and we will get there once we get to work with him more regularly. The goal now is to just learn how to compete and not be scared of the big races he will continually be in. It'll come, we are just learning the ropes of racing at the moment.
Today was pretty darn impressive. Uriah, Avery and Brooke had great races as well. It was good to see all of the Valley Blaze folks hang out despite being on different teams today. Can't wait to see our entire team together.
