Spalding Girls Varsity Cross Country team wins at Bull Run 2008

 Archbishop Spalding girls Varsity Cross Country team wins small school championship race at Bull Run Invitational at Hereford High School.  On a beautiful fall day, October 11, 2008, schools from the mid-atlantic region converged to participate in the 13th annual Bull Run Invitational.  This race was rescheduled from two weeks prior due to excessive thunderstorms on that date and flooding of the course.  On the rescheduled date, the skies were blue and the humidity was low.  However, by the end of the day, for the 1th and 12th races, it had warmed up to the upper 70's, making it a hot race in the sun.  It was a fast start, with Sam McElroy of Liberty and Amanda Twigg of Fort Hill leading the girls.  Right behind the top two were five Spalding girls running:  Sam Dennis, Elisa Heacock, Ally Logan, Kaye Philbin and Allie Dennis.  The first mile of the race was fast, with a 6:07 mile pace set by the top two runners.  As the race continued, the field spread out, and top 20 finishers were spaced over a 3 minute time frame.
With a total score of 92, Archbishop Spalding girls won the team title. Freshman  Elisa Heacock came in first for the team with a time of 22:12.  She placed 10th in the overall standings.  She was followed by junior Samantha Dennis, who came in 15th overall.  Her time was recorded at 22:52.  Kaye Philbin, another freshman, was 18th, coming in at 23 minutes, 2 seconds.  Freshman Ally Logan placed 19th with a time of 23 minutes and 3 seconds.  Additional runners for the varsity team were Carolyn Harper and Allie Dennis.  Carolyn recorded a time of 24 minutes and 24 seconds.  Allie Dennis came in at 24 minutes 26 seconds.  Katrina Strumsky rounded out the varsity team, coming in at 25 minutes and 42 seconds.
Overall, the Archbishop Spalding team won with a score of 92.  They beat the second place team, Winters Mill, by 6 points.  The third place team for the small school category was Liberty High School.