<b>WOODSON'S BROWN STARTS FAST AT TUFTS</b>
Earlier this month, Woodson graduate Tamara Brown was named the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Player of the Week for her exemplary work on the Tufts University women’s field hockey team.
Brown scored four goals in four days while her team posted a 2-0 record. After scoring once in a 6-1 win over Wellesley on Wednesday, Sept. 10, Brown notched her second hat trick of the season in a 5-0 conference win over Colby College on Saturday, Sept. 13.
Brown’s first hat trick came in a season-opening win over Wesleyan. On the season, during which the Jumbos are 5-0, Brown leads the team with 10 goals.
<b>ROBINSON CROSS COUNTRY SHINES AT OATLANDS</b>
With participation from 101 schools, some from as far away as New York and Colorado, last Saturday’s Oatlands Invitational just outside of Leesburg turned out to be quite the cross country meet. For a few area runners, the race provided a measuring stick against some of the most talented runners in the state of Virginia.
Robinson senior Jared Berman finished sixth overall in the Boys A race. Berman timed at 16 minutes, 8 seconds. The field consisted of about 325 runners, competing on the challenging 5K course.
“The hills are the biggest challenge,” said Berman. “You just have to keep going and cheer on your teammates.”
Berman said he and his Ram teammates had to keep their focus on their own individual races and the team as a whole, and not get wrapped up in the magnitude of a race which is one of the largest on the East Coast.
“It does get intimidating,” said Berman. “There are 101 teams and you can get a little scared. [Our team members] worked with each other to get through the race. This is one meet our team looks extremely forward to. It’s a good racing experience.”
In the team standings, the Robinson boys finished second overall among 48 schools, finishing behind champion Oakton and ahead of third-place Potomac Falls.
<b>LEE LANCERS TESTED AT OATLANDS</b>
<bt>An inexperienced Lee cross-country program competed at the Oatlands Invitational, a large showcase meet in Leesburg last Saturday. For Lancers coach Barry Mensh, it was an opportunity for his young runners to gain experience in a huge meet that consisted of 101 schools.
“We have a really young team,” said Mensh. “We only have three or four kids with two or more years running.”
The Lancer boys team’s top runner this season is junior Natnael Meseret, a junior from Ethiopia. Earlier last week at the Monroe Parker Invitational at Burke Lake Park, Meseret, competing in his first race, finished seventh overall.
On the girls’ side for Lee, junior Erin Moore, a team captain, and sophomore Nina Strikongyos finished 23rd and 34th, respectively, at the Monroe Parker, helping the Lancers to a 10th-place team finish.
Mensh said Meseret on the boys’ side and both Moore and Strikongyos on the girls’ side ran solid races at Saturday’s Oatlands meet. Strikongyos finished 20th overall with a time of 21:04.
“They ran as strong as they could,” said the coach.
<b>EDISON, WOODSON COMPETE AT WILLIAM & MARY</b>
Last Saturday, competing at the William & Mary Invitational in Williamsburg, Edison sophomore Myah Hicks, who finished second at last week’s Monroe Parker Invitational, posted a first-place finish in the Girls A race with a time of 18:22.
Hicks was joined in Top 20 by three girls from Woodson: Carrie Pryne (12th, 19:22), Aaron Pastor (13th, 19:26) and Sarah Haight (18th, 19:50). The Woodson girls cross country team finished second, while Edison finished fifth.
On the boys side, Edison’s Leoule Degfae placed fifth in the Boys A race with a time of 15:40, while Woodson’s Ethan Katz finished 18th (16:22).
Rounding out the Top 20, Woodson’s Alex Miller finished 20th with a time of 16:28. The Woodson boys team finished fifth, and Edison finished seventh.