Patriot Festival Recap

The Wolverines competed in the Patriot District Festival at Occoquan Regional Park this past week.  This year’s course had been moved up to 5k (last year was 2.98 miles) and many of the West Potomac runners registered new 5k personal bests.  The competition was divided into four races: underclassmen and upperclassmen divisions for both genders.  In each division the Wolverines had top 15 performances.

The Boys Freshmen/Sophomore race gave the Wolverines a chance to showcase their improvement throughout the season.  All of the scoring runners for West Potomac boys were completing their first season of cross-country.  Sophomore Shreyak Khanal was 14th with a time of 17:54, while freshmen Michael Bell closed hard to place 16th in a new 5k best of 17:59.  Not far behind was a nice pack of West Potomac runners with Joseph Leonard (19th, 18:08), Ben Slobodin (20th, 18:08), Carter Sibley (21st, 18:10) and John Whitney (24th, 18:17).  Overall the boys were 4th in the Freshmen/Sophomore division.

In the Girls Freshmen/Sophomore race the Lady Wolverines were able to put 3 in the top 15.  Sophomore Gabby Bomberg stayed with the chase pack for most of the race, ending up 7th in a new 5k best of 20:48.  Sophomore Natalie Babiuch moved up throughout the second half and closed strong to come in 8th in a time of 20:54.  Sophomore Nikki Amico also got a new 5k personal best of 21:16 to finish 15th.  In their first season of cross-country Zoe Smith (21st, 21:33) and freshman Lauren Airey (23rd, 21:36) rounded out the scoring for the Lady Wolverines and help the team place a close 4th overall.

For the Boys Junior/Senior race it was junior Brian Spitnale leading the way.  Spitnale continued to impress in his breakthrough season as he placed 13th overall in a new 5k personal best of 17:50, the fastest time for West Potomac boys across both boys races.  Junior David Cate came in 23rd in 18:09.  Junior Kelsey O’Hern led the way for the Lady Wolverines in the final race of the day.  O’Hern moved up steadily throughout her race to crack into the top 10 by placing 9th in a new 5k personal best of 21:12.  In the Girls Junior/Senior race the Lady Wolverines placed 6th overall.

Across all races athletes demonstrated their growth and improvement as cross-country runners and it was a great day for the team to see the rewards of hard work.  Having all the Wolverine competitors in the Patriot Festival put forth such strong efforts and setting personal bests is a trend that we hope to see continue on with the post-season and in the years to come.  For all the athletes that had their season come to a close this week thank you for all your hard work and we look forward to working with you in future seasons on the track or back in cross-country!