Great Oak becomes first California school to win Race of Champions title, second program to sweep both in same year in meet history; Tuohy smashes 5-kilometer course record with 16:22.76 and Blanks elevates to No. 6 all-time performer on WakeMed layout in breakthrough victory

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Katelyn Tuohy amazed for the first of many times this season.

Graham Blanks arrived with the biggest performance in his small-school career.

And Great Oak CA astounded with its depth in both genders in the Nike Race of Champions, which Loudoun Valley VA and the rest of the elite fields couldn’t match Saturday at the 20th Great American Cross Country Festival at WakeMed Park in Cary, N.C.

RESULTS | PHOTOS | INTERVIEWS

Tuohy, a North Rockland NY senior, used a blistering first mile of 4 minutes, 52 seconds to propel her to run the fastest 5-kilometer girls time ever on the WakeMed layout, clocking 16:22.76, eclipsing both the meet record – 16:40.9 held since 2010 by Aisling Cuffe of Cornwall NY – and the all-time mark of 16:36.2 set in 2015 at the Cap 8 Conference championship meet by former Leesville Road NC standout Nevada Mareno.

Blanks, an unheralded senior from Athens Academy GA, elevated himself onto a national level by not only winning the boys Race of Champions in 14:45.6, but ascending to the No. 6 performer in course history to lead three athletes under 15 minutes, including Loudoun Valley senior Carlos Shultz (14:55.6) and Lake Wales FL senior Anderson Denton (14:57.3).

But perhaps the biggest statement of the event was made by Great Oak with its 69-108 victory over Loudoun Valley in a showdown of the top two boys teams at last year’s Nike Cross Nationals, with Rhode Island powers LaSalle Academy (167) and Bishop Hendricken (207) placing third and fourth.

The Wolfpack not only became the first California program to win either Race of Champions in meet history, but joined Saratoga Springs NY in 2005 as the only schools to sweep both titles in the same year, with the girls team also prevailing against Loudoun Valley by a 71-125 margin.

Although Shultz finished nearly 15 seconds ahead of Great Oak’s top athlete, 11th-place finisher Chris Verdugo (15:10.2), the Wolfpack had all five scorers – Cole Sawires Yager (15:15.5) in 15th, Gabe Abbes (15:17.4) in 19th, John Worthy (15:22.1) in 22nd and Aric Reza (15:24.6) in 26th – in the top 26 with a 14-second gap, in addition to all seven athletes in the top 50, with Christian Simone (15:34.2) in 39th and Mateo Joseph (15:37.3) in 49th.

Great Oak held a projected 29-point advantage over Bishop Hendricken and 43-point lead over Loudoun Valley at the 2-kilometer split on its way to running 76:29, eclipsing the team time course record of 77:00 set by Christian Brothers Academy NJ in 2012.

Although the Vikings were ahead of Great Oak through three scorers, with Taylor Ney (15:13) finishing 13th and Kellen Hasle (15:23.1) taking 24th, the Wolfpack placed five scorers in front of Loudoun Valley’s No. 4 and had all seven athletes finished in front of the No. 5 for the two-time NXN champions, who ran 76:51 for the No. 2 performance in course history.

It marked the first setback at WakeMed for Loudoun Valley, which was looking to become the first three-time boys Race of Champions winner in meet history, since placing third at NXR Southeast in 2016.

After Tuohy and Great Oak in the girls race, there was a strong Southeast presence, both individually and in the team competition. Following Loudoun Valley, Pine Crest FL (147) was third, then North Carolina programs Chapel Hill (169) and Cuthbertson (176), which prevailed on a sixth-runner tiebreaker over The Bolles School FL (176).

And the 16 female athletes who finished in between Tuohy and Great Oak’s top individual, 18th-place Tori Gaitan (18:08.6), all represented the Southeast, including Science Hill TN sophomore Jenna Hutchins (17:04.6) and John Champe VA senior Bethany Graham (17:09.5), who improved to the Nos. 8 and 10 all-time girls performers on the WakeMed 5-kilometer layout.

Hutchins set a Tennessee record on the course, in addition to running the fastest sophomore effort in WakeMed history, eclipsing the 2014 mark of 17:07.3 by E.C. Glass VA graduate Libby Davidson.

Graham improved to No. 3 Virginia athlete in course history, trailing Lake Braddock Secondary graduate Kate Murphy clocking 17:00.7 in 2015 and the aforementioned performance by Davidson.

Great Oak held a projected 62-point lead over Pine Crest at the 2-kilometer split, with Loudoun Valley in sixth. But the Vikings moved up in the second half of the race, with Ricky Fetterolf (17:53.3) placing ninth, Ava Gordon (18:10.3) finishing 21st and Elise Abbe (18:18.5) securing 27th to help Loudoun Valley elevate to the runner-up position.

Much like the boys Race of Champions, Loudoun Valley led Great Oak through three scorers, but the Wolfpack had all seven athletes in front of the Vikings’ No. 4 scorer. Audrey Dang (18:14.8) was 25th, Aishling Fabian (18:18.8) placed 28th, Kelli Gaffney (18:20.1) secured 30th and Aubrie Nex (18:28.8) took 35th for Great Oak, which also had Melinda Dang (18:40) in 44th and Divine Torza (18:41.3) in 46th.

In the seeded races, Walter Johnson MD senior Jenna Goldberg won the girls event in 17:48.7 and Ardrey Kell NC junior Murphy Smith won the boys competition in 15:35.3.

In the red division races, George C Marshall VA senior Sophie Tedesco prevailed in the girls competition in 18:38.7, with Cary Academy NC junior Kenny Eheman securing victory in the boys event in 15:32.7.

In the blue division races, St. Mark’s DE sophomore Tiffany Herrera clocked 18:59.6 to earn the girls win, with Cuthbertson NC junior Mickey Shihl achieving victory in the boys competition in 16:05.9.

In the 10th installment of the Cedric Walker Historically Black Colleges and Universities races, Fayetteville State NC edged Maryland-Eastern Shore by a 62-68 margin in the women’s competition, with North Carolina A&T senior G’Jasmyne Butler capturing the individual 5-kilometer title in 18:55.2.

North Carolina A&T secured the men’s HBCU title with a 24-43 victory over Benedict College, which was led by individual champion Mathew Chesum, with the freshman covering the 8-kilometer layout in 27:59.9.

In the men’s invitational college race, Richmond senior Miles Clikeman prevailed in the 8-kilometer event in 24:30.1, with Duke edging the Spiders by a 25-37 margin.

Sarah Latour, a redshirt athlete for North Carolina State, won the women’s invitational 5-kilometer race in 17:32.7. Richmond was one of only two teams with five scorers and prevailed over Emmanuel College.