All three diocesan schools turned in excellent results at the 2005 WCAC Cross Country Championships, which were held Oct. 29 at Lake Fairfax Park in Reston.

The Boys Order of Finish: Gonzaga College High School in Washington (32 total points), Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington (66), Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria (86), DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Md. (97), Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in Wheaton, Md., (110), Paul VI Catholic High School in Fairfax (137), St. Mary’s Ryken High School in Leonardtown, Md., (220), 8) Bishop McNamara High School in Forestville, Md., (225) and St. John’s College High School in Washington (234).

The places of the first five finishers from each school when added together determine the team score. Thus, the lower the total score the better.

Ireton is coached by Rich McCoppin and Brad Byrnes; O’Connell is coached by Cindy Walls and Mike Hardy; Paul VI is coached by Melanie Gesker-Kiernan and Mike Kiernan.

Ireton senior Rob Sagar placed first overall with an excellent time of 17:29 on the 3.1 mile course.

"During the first two miles or so, I was drafting off of both Mark Tynan and Mark Petroski," said Sagar, who finished fifth at last year’s championships. "In the last mile or so I kind of put it in gear."

O’Connell’s Mark Tynan (17:45), who was fourth overall out of 61 total runners, said, "I was in first place for approximately a mile and a half. Looking back at the race, I probably went out a little too fast. However, I’m not disappointed at all. I ran tough."

O’Connell’s Mark Petroski (17:52) was fifth overall.

"I was up towards the front during the first part of the race," he said. "I started falling back as the race progressed."

Ireton’s Matt Sagar (17:54), Rob’s identical twin brother, finished sixth overall on the muddy course.

"I was trying to keep up with the guys at the head of the pack," he said. "We’ve got another chance to try to win a team title this Friday at the Virginia State Catholic Meet."

Other top finishers included: Paul VI’s Robert Grazioli (18:31) — 11th; Ireton’s Nick Herndon (18:37) — 13th; O’Connell’s Drew Carpenter (18:39) — 14th; Paul VI’s Ian McGinn (18:43) — 15th; O’Connell’s Bryan Gunst (18:52) — 20th and O’Connell’s Michael O’Donnell (18:57) — 24th.

The girls order of finish was Paul VI (42 total team points), O’Connell (45), Good Counsel (58), Ireton (93), St. Marys Ryken (164), St. Johns (172), Holy Cross (178) and Seton (200).

Top diocesan finishers included Ireton’s Julianne Tela (21:17) who finished second overall.

"I was literally knocked down about two and a half miles into the race," she said. "I was fortunate to have been able to get back up and passed all but one of the girls."

O’Connell’s Megan Fitzpatrick (21:28) finished third.

Her coach, CindyWalls, said, "Megan did awesome here today. She ran the race of her life. She has very good potential."

Paul VI’s Michelle Kew (21:29) placed fourth. "Mentally, I wanted to take it out strong. I did my best to get into good position," she said.

O’Connell’s Katie Walls (21:50) finished fifth. "Katie ran the best that she could have today," said her coach and mother Walls.

Other top finishers included: Paul VI’s Kelsey Budd (22:11) — eighth; Paul VI’s Tessa Reed (22:23) — ninth; Paul VI’s Natalia Cowden (22:23) — 10th; O’Connell’s Susan Nnaji (22:25) — 11th; O’Connell’s Julia Terrell (22:33) — 12th; Paul VI’s Jennifer Scolese (22:42) — 16th; Ireton’s Hannah Goeltz (22:43) — 17th; O’Connell’s Lucy Tamberino (22:51) — 18th^; Paul VI’s Katherine Still (23:23) — 20th; Paul VI’s Nicole Kauffman (23:47) — 22nd and Ireton’s Colleen McFadden (23:56) — 25th.

In summing up the O’Connell efforts, Walls said, "in the last couple of years, both our boys and girls programs have improved by leaps and bounds."

Ireton’s McCoppin said, "both the boys and the girls did very well — especially Rob Sagar, Matt Sagar and Julianne Tela."

The Virginia State Catholic Championships will be held Nov. 4.