Suliman wins another 5A cross country title By Dylan Garner Richmond Times-Dispatch THE PLAINS — On Sept. 17, Douglas Freeman senior Waleed Suliman took his first lead of the season at the William & Mary Invitational. Six meets and almost two months later, he never lost that lead. He carried it all the way to another state championship. Suliman jogged across the finish line in 15:13 and won his second consecutive 5A state cross country title on the second day of state championships at the Great Meadow Foundation on Saturday. The Deep Run boys clinched the second state title of the day for Richmond, taking the 5A team championship with 76 points over runner-up Glen Allen (105). The Lee-Davis boys finished eighth – one point behind 6th place Albemarle – and the Confederate girls finished 11th in their respective races. Atlee’s boys finished 12th. After his win, the celebration initially was put on hold for Suliman, as he whisked away to find some relief from the 40-degree temperatures. After warming up in his Turkey Trot long-sleeve T-shirt, the backto-back titles and the 6-for-6 season set in for the Jordanian runner. “I’m glad that I had the opportunity to do that. ... There was a lot of competition,” Suliman said, listing many of his opponents throughout the season. “I’m pretty sure our state is gonna have a bright future with runners. So far, we have a lot of good runners, and I’m proud to be one of them.” He’s the first Richmond-area runner since Thomas Dale’s Alex Tatu to win consecutive VHSL state cross country cham-
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Dave Lawrence/The Local
Above, Douglas Freeman’s Waleed Suliman (344), Lee-Davis’ Jack Ikenberry (834) and Deep Run’s Bashir Mosavel-Lo (319) lead the pack at the start of the boys race in the Virginia High School League Group 5A state cross country championships at Great Meadow Park Saturday. Suliman and Mosavel-Lo finished first and second, respectively, while Ikenberry finished ninth. Right, Lee-Davis’ Nicole Van Ess approaches the finish line..
pionships. Tatu won the Group AAA races in 2001-02. Suliman was quick to distribute credit for his win, starting with his coach, Brian Reutinger. “He took me all the way on this journey and brought me all the way here,” said Suliman. “Without him, I wouldn’t be able to do anything.” He also was happy with the combined success of himself and teammate Ryan McCracken, who finished eighth. It was the best performance by a pair of Rebels at the state meet. It’s the manner in which Suliman has taken in his victories that has impressed his
The Mechanicsville Local
November 16, 2016
coach the most. “It’s been awesome just because of where he started from to where he is now. And just how gracious he’s been, how good of a sport he’s been, how much of a teammate he’s been, and how much of a great competitor with the people he competes against,” said Reutinger. “He’s down to earth, just a great kid. It’s good to see.” Within sight of Suliman at the finish line was Deep Run senior Bashir Mosavel-Lo, who powered his way to a runnerup finish in 15:26. While he has individually fallen in place behind Suliman the past couple of months, Mosavel-Lo got his
share of fulfillment as he saw his next two teammates finish. “To be able to turn around and see my boys from Deep Run finishing, to see them all killing their races: It was better than anything I could’ve done,” said Mosavel-Lo. “It made me very happy.” After Lee-Davis’ Jack
Ikenberry finished ninth. “It was really tough,” Ikenberry said. “I went out a little fast, but it’s OK, though. I’m just really glad I got what I got.” Lee-Davis head coach Neil Mathews said Ikenberry’s performance was a marked improvement over last year.
“Jack Ikenberry, he was all state. We’re real pleased with that, as he bounced back from last year’s state meet, which was a disappointment for him,” Mathews said. “He really wanted to right the ship this year and he ran really, really well in his third trip to the state meet.” Deep Run juniors Matthias Cannon and Zachary Levet dove across the finish line side by side. Both were timed at 15:55, although the timer gave Cannon the edge for 10th place by a fraction. Atlee’s top finisher was Connor Moses, who came in 42nd in 16:57. The performances from Mosavel-Lo, Cannon and Levet set the foundation. Colby Burcham and Austin Cook did enough to finish it. “It was like no feeling that I could really put in words. Just to know that your team left it all out there. It kind of completes the season and completes what we’ve been trying to be as a team,” Mosavel-Lo said. “To see them have some of their best races where it really counts is just unbelievable.” The Wildcats finally got the ending they wanted after going back and forth with Glen Allen the past two weeks, winning the Conference 11 meet and losing the 5A South meet. “To put it honest, they kicked butt this week,” Reutinger said. “For the most part, I don’t think there’s been a team today that’s been as dominant as that boys performance was.” Glen Allen senior Caroline Robelen was the top Richmond finisher in the girls race, taking fourth place in 18:15 and leading the Jaguars to fourth as a team. Deep Run sophomore Lily Snow crossed the line in sixth (18:25), with the Wildcats following the Jaguars in fifth. see SULIMAN, pg. 38