In 48 years of Stuart cross country, no male runner has ever advanced to the State Meet. So last weekend it would have been easy for junior Abiy Mohammed and senior captain Ethan Rissell to remain content simply representing the Raiders at Virginia’s State Championship.
However, the duo continued to live up to hype and expectations, with outstanding runs in the Boys 5K Virginia AAA race in Great Meadows.
Rissell finished 33rd in the State final, in a field of 130 of the state’s top runners, and 14th among Northern Region runners. He finished the race averaging 5:31 per mile, with a final time of 17:09.7.
Mohammed’s race was even more impressive, taking a blistering pace in the race’s last leg, to capture 18th in the entire state, and 7th among Northern Region Runners. Mohammed’s final time of 16:51.69 (averaging 5:25 per mile) was tops among National District runners and earned him All-State accolades.
Stuarts boys cross country team finished the regular season at an undefeated 14-0, and were runners-up in the district contest.
