Glory Days Grill Invitational Recap

The Wolverines returned to Bull Run Regional Park (site of the first meet =PR= Kickoff Invitational) for their last major invitational of the 2012 cross country season.  With ideal weather and a fast course the team saw a number of 5k personal bests throughout the day with several teams placing in the top 10 of large fields.

Starting the day off with the Boys Freshman race, John Whitney and Ben Slobodin teamed up to have their best races of the season and demonstrate significant progress in their first season of cross country.  Whitney moved up throughout the race and closed strong to finish 15^th in a swift time of 17:56.  Slobodin held on to finish 37^th in a personal best of 18:15 and West Potomac placed 10^th out of 36 teams in the race.

For the girls Freshman race Lauren Airey (47^th, 21:47) and Jennifer Thomson (69^th, 22:26) returned to racing to lead the Lady Wolverines.  Classmate Meredith Barber was not far behind, crossing the line at 22:33 in 72^nd place.  Overall the team placed 15^th out of 26^th scoring teams in the race.

In the Junior Varsity races the boys were 10^th in the second division, out of 23 teams and the girls were 28^th out of 34 teams.  Brian Spitnale (37^th, 18:27) was the top finisher for the boys and Juliette Lash (141^st, 23:24) was the top performer in the race for the girls.

Maura Finn finished in the top 20 for the Varsity B Girls

West Potomac also competed in the Varsity B races and demonstrated their depth.  Sophomore James McNulla put together his best race of the season thus far and placed in the top 30 with his 27^th place finish and new 5k personal best of 17:20.  For the girls sophomore Maura Finn moved up into the top 20, crossing the line in 20:31.  The girls team placed 10^th out of 35 teams in the Varsity B races.

Corey Rosenberg and Luca Halladay led
for the Varsity Boys seeded race

The Seeded races were the last race of the day and the boys team put together its best race of the season.  The Wolverines moved up significantly during the last half of the race and were led by captains senior Corey Rosenberg (28^th, 16:27) and junior Luca Halladay (29^th, 16:28).  Both runners closed strong and took significant time off their 5k personal bests.  Sophomores Nick Cucinotta (45^th, 16:37) and Eric Turner (65^th, 16:47) continued their breakout season.  Classmate Cullen O’Boyle (17:16) rounded out the score for the team as they placed 7^th out of 31 teams.

Leading the way in the Seeded Varsity Girls race was junior Katie Genuario, as she was the top individual finisher for West Potomac with her 10^th place finish in a deep field.  Genuario set a new 5k personal best of 18:51 and was over a minute faster from her 2011 performance.  Seniors Sophia Passacantando (19:58), Lauren Price (20:14), and Allison McNulla (20:15) all ran new season bests.  The girls placed 8^th out of 24 teams.

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