News Post

"Over the first mile of Saturday’s D.C. State Athletic Association girls’ cross-country championship at Kenilworth Park, five runners were crowded together at the front of the pack. The mash-up of colors representing different schools suggested the favorite might be having an off day.

But in the middle portion of the race, when it became a slog, the training that Georgetown Visitation’s Vivian Kelly endured in Colorado over the summer paid off. The junior ran every day in high elevation for a month, just for moments such as this. As her competitors’ breathing became jagged, she felt herself pulling away, and the crowd told her what she couldn’t see.

“One hundred-meter lead!” some shouted.

“This girl is moving!” a spectator yelled.

Her advantage kept growing. She finished the 5K course in 18 minutes 27 seconds, and it took 35 more seconds for the runner-up (National Cathedral’s Cecilia Wright) to cross the line. Kelly entered as the favorite, but this dominant of a performance could not have been anticipated. The junior shaved more than a minute and a half off her winning time from last year (20:12).

“I was shocked,” Kelly said. “I honestly was just hoping to break 20 [minutes].”

Instead, she ran the fastest girls’ time at the DCSAA meet since 2017, when National Cathedral’s Page Lester finished in 18:05. ...

After a successful 2022, Kelly wanted to make sure she put herself in the best position to run in college. Alongside her two sisters, who run as well, the family took a month-long vacation to Boulder to run in higher elevation. Kelly boosted her mileage and trained every day to prepare for this season, and that more than paid off."

- Washington Post's "Visitation's Vivian Kelly races to another DCSAA cross-country title," by Sam Jane, published on November 4, 2023