A strategy of starting fast helped the Potomac School Panthers bring home a third straight boys state cross-country championship.
The Panthers won the Division I private-school crown last Thursday (Nov. ) with 63 points on the 5,000-meter Panorama Farms course near Charlottesville. Saint John Paul the Great Catholic High School in Dumfries was second with 78.
Prior to the meet, Potomac School coach Meredith Valmon encouraged her runners to not be afraid to go out fast in the first mile. It was the reverse of what runners often hear — to start out cautiously and build to a winning pace later.
“You try to figure out what each race needs,” Valmon said. “We felt the best chance was for our runners to take a risk. We didn’t want them to run conservatively. They all met the moment, and they really wanted to win.”
Potomac School’s top runner was junior Luke Carter in third in 16:24.23. Next was senior Noah Altschuler in 12th (16:59.39). He was followed by junior Trip Moser in 13th (17:03.32), junior Eli Levine 15th (17:08.32), senior Zachary Dalva-Baird 20th (17:20.97), junior Avi Agrawal 51st (18:23.51) and junior Hugh Antonik 55th (18:20.58).
The top 20 finishers were chosen as all-state runners, meaning Potomac School’s top five each earned that honor.
“They all did a great job and got it done,” Valmon said. “I have a story for each runner.”
Valmon said Dalva-Baird was sick during the summer and missed a lot of base training, but got stronger as the season progressed. She said Moser bought into the team concept of cross country, and Levine ran very well.
Prior to the state meet, the Panthers won the Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference championship.
Valmon said a big key to the team’s success this fall was how the runners trained hard on their own during the summer months. So when the fall high-school season began in early September, they were in shape.
In one of their first meets of the season, the Panthers finished sixth at the 27-team Sept. 7 Monroe Parker Invitational on the 2.98-mile Burke Lake Park course. Levine, Carter and Altschuler were the Panthers’ three top finishers.
NOTE: The race on the Panorama Farms course was the first for the Potomac School boys team, but not its initial visit to the venue. Last fall, Valmon and the team attended the NCAA Division I championships that were held on the course, becoming familiarized with the setup.
