Leesburg Cross-Country Teams Duel

By: Forest Langhorne
Leesburg, VA- On Wednesday, September 19^th, the Tuscarora High School cross-country team raced against Heritage HS and Loudoun County HS at the Oatlands Plantation in what many people are calling the “Battle of Da Burg”.
The boys team placed second in the meet, beating Heritage HS but losing to Loudoun County.  Senior Sam Rodgers finished first for Tuscarora, placing third in the meet behind Loudoun County junior Patrick Joseph and Loudoun County senior Josh Showalter.  The next Tuscarora finisher, sophomore John Dooney, placed fourth, with the rest of the varsity team coming in staggered waves intermixed with the rest of the Loudoun County and Heritage varsity teams.
Girls cross-country also placed second in the meet; in a dramatic twist beating Loudoun County but finishing just behind Heritage by three points.  Tuscarora sophomore Natalie Rosas finished first in the meet, finishing with a time of 20:09.  The next girl to finish for Tuscarora was junior Jannen Hermann, narrowly losing to the first girl Heritage finisher.  Senior Karrisa Love placed third for the team, with the rest of the girls top five finishing just behind her.
Coming off of the Oatlands Invitational, a meet also held at the Oatlands Plantation the previous Saturday which all the teams competed at, Tuscarora was geared towards an upset of the weekends results.  Despite losing to cross-country powerhouse Loudoun County once again, Tuscarora boys were able to hang on to their ranking over Heritage HS, while the girls team was able to beat Loudoun County, a team they had lost to four days ago.  Rosas was also able to hold on to her ranking over both the number one Loudoun County and Heritage girls, despite adding six seconds on to her time from the previous weekend.
With both Loudoun County and Heritage competing at the next invitational Tuscarora is set to race at, things are looking good for yet another upset in the Leesburg cross-country battle.