MoCoRunning






10 Years of MoCo at Oatlands
By: Kevin Milsted
Sunday, September 21, 2014
webmaster@mocorunning.com

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the mega meet that is the Oatlands Invitational. The course has remained mostly unchanged since the inaugural meet in 2005. Once a year, over 3,000 runners complete the course within a compact race schedule of 30 minutes per race with some races exceeding 500 runners on the course at once. One junior varsity race in 2012 had 941 finishers.

The scenic course is approxiately 90% grass, 10% trail, and is noted for its fast first mile, creek crossings, and large hill which makes or breaks runners at the 2.5 mile mark. The meet is also known for its shotgun blast starts, loud sound system with music/DJ, and outstanding prizes for race winners.

The meet has attracted teams from as far away as Colorado, and as elite as the Saratoga Spring girls (New York) in years in which they finished 3rd and 4th at NTN/NXN. (At Oatlands in 2008, Saratoga put five girls in the top 11 between 19:05 and 19:21).

While the meet has attracted teams from across the country, the meet remains mainly a local affair for Maryland, DC, and Virginia athletes and teams to establish themselves as the best in the area. It has become an annual destination for local media sources from running websites to newspapers, with the Washington Post being one outlet frequently covering the meet and citing it as a determining factor for All-Met selections at the end of the season. Coverage by Milestat.com is essentially guaranteed, and Mocorunning.com has made the journey to Leesburg each of the last eight Septembers.

Montgomery County girls teams have won the Oatlands Varsity A race twice. The Northwest girls won the inaugural meet varsity race in 2005. The Whitman girls won the varsity A race in 2011. The B-CC girls took second place in 2011 and 2012 while the Walter Johnson girls took 2nd place this year in 2014.

Montgomery County boys teams have never won the varsity A race at Oatlands. Whitman boys took 2nd place in the varsity A race in 2006 and again this year in 2014. Walter Johnson (2007), Northwest (2009), Magruder (2010), and Richard Montgomery (2011) have all won the Boys Varsity B race.

In honor of the first ten years of Oatlands, here are the top ten performances by Montgomery County runners in the history of the meet. Solomon Haile is the only Montgomery County runner to ever win the Varsity A race at Oatlands.

Haile, Solomon (1st in 2008) 	Sherwood 	15:25 
Weaverling, Chase (2nd in 2013) Poolesville 	15:28 
Palmer, Andrew (4th in 2008) 	Walt Whitman 	15:52
Woods, Evan (2nd in 2014) 	Walt Whitman 	15:55
Trzeciak, Joshua (6th in 2012) 	Wootton 	16:12
Reams, Jackson (7th in 2009) 	Sherwood 	16:17
Crilly, Collin (8th in 2012) 	Good Counsel 	16:18
Miller, Chris (2nd in 2010) 	Northwest 	16:19
Roederer, Alex (10th in 2014) 	Walt Whitman 	16:19
Barnard, Chris (2nd in 2006) 	Sherwood 	16:19.7

Gay, Morgane (2nd in 2007) 	Walt Whitman 	18:14.14
Rubin, Jessie (6th in 2009) 	Wootton		19:05 
Gay, Morgane (3rd in 2006) 	Walt Whitman 	19:08.2
Srour, Lucy (10th in 2013) 	Churchill 	19:11
Keller, Kiernan (7th in 2014) 	Walter Johnson 	19:11
Eckerstrom, Britt (6th in 2008) Northwest 	19:12
Srour, Lucy (7th in 2011) 	Churchill 	19:15
Green, Abbey (10th in 2014)  	Walter Johnson 	19:15
Ryba, Anna (11th in 2011) 	Walt Whitman 	19:21
Ryba, Anna (13th in 2008) 	Walt Whitman 	19:23






NameComments


Contribute to the Discussion
- Add A Comment


Email | About | Misc