Team Spotlight - Lake Braddock High School, Burke, Virginia
This interview features the Lake Braddock High School, Burke, Virginia, girls’ team; interview with head coaches Mike Mangan and Jeff Custer. Lake Braddock returns six of the top seven from their 2011 team, led by two of the top high school female runners in the U.S. - Sophie Chase [senior, 11th at Footlocker, PR’s – 3000m(9:37.86), 2 mile(10:19.14), 5k XC(17:06)] and Hannah Christen [junior, PR’s - 3000m(9:42.97), 2 mile(10:26.99), 5K XC(18:08)].
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School, location (city, state) - Lake Braddock High School, Burke, Virginia
Team (boys, girls, both) – Girls
Head Coaches - Mike Mangan/Jeff Custer
Assistant Coach(es) – Jason Switzer/Steve Hoogland/Megan Liss
Top (national level) athletes; name, grade, PR’s –
Sophie Chase (Sr) - 2 time footlocker finalist, Penn Relays 3000 champ
Hannah Christen (Jr) - Penn Relays 3rd place, All American Indoor Track 2 miles, 7th at Outdoor Nationals 2 miles
Katie Roche (Jr) - 1:17 500 meter runner, part of our state championship 4x800 this spring.
Key(s) to the success of your team – TEAM. We work very hard to make this a family.
Your favorite meet(s) – All Championships season races; and our yearly big trip, this year to Nike South in Texas.
What you most love about cross country - Team Race is often decided by your 5th best person. In how many sports is the team placing so effected by your 5th best?
Teams you most enjoy competing against - West Potomac and West Springfield, both from our own districts. Quality programs with great kids and coaches.
Team goals for the season - Always to put ourselves in position to go for a State Championship.
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See the Lake Braddock MileSplit webpage at https://va.milesplit.com/teams/LB .
Photo - Lake Braddock’s Hannah Christen and Sophie Chase, by marleenvandenneste.com.