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Makena Morley threw down a serious time at the Montana State Champs! A new favorite in the mix for Foot Locker? (File Photo by Margot Kelly)

Saucony Elite 50 Individual Girls | Week 7

*Editor's Note: The Saucony Elite 50 refers to the top-50 individuals in the country (25 boys and 25 girls).  

Mt. SAC and the first crazy wave of State Championships across the nation made for quite the busy weekend for XC!  And what a weekend it was!

Let's begin with Mt. SAC and all the madness that was.  #2 Sarah Baxter (CA) came into the meet with loads of hype for a possible sub-16 effort.  She certainly stuck to the script, going out in 4:58 through the first mile.  But it was hot and she was running all alone, finishing in 16:11, a senior class record on the course and #2 All-Time behind her 16:00 from last year.  Certainly a fine effort and a very entertaining race to watch.  But that wasn't all, as #16 Fiona O'Keeffe (CA) surprised #17 Marissa Williams (CA) in the Individual Sweeps with times of 16:54 to 17:14.  And #6 Anna Maxwell (CA) ran on Friday in the D4 Sweepstakes and recorded a winning time of 16:56.  Also on Friday Bethan Knights (CA) recorded a sub-17 in the D3 Sweeps with a time of 16:59.  

Are you ready for this State Champs frenzy?!  In Utah, #21 Lucy Biles (UT) won 5A with a winning time of 17:41 while #20 Sarah Feeny (UT) rolled in 4A with a state record 17:25 clocking!  In Colorado #3 Elise Cranny (CO) was way better than everyone else, winning the 4A crown in 18:07.  #7 Frosh Lauren Gregory (CO) won the 5A crown with a time of 18:36.  #8 Jordyn Colter (CO) had a rare off day to finish 7th on her team.  

Perhaps the biggest performance of the weekend came from #5 Makena Morley (MT) who won the Class B crown with a shocking 16:35.31 for 3 miles! For comparison Makena won last year in 18:13 and qualified for Foot Locker that year as well!  #1 Alexa Efraimson (WA) won her League champs with a time of 17:52 by over a minute.  #25 Autumn Eastman (VT) won a state title in Vermont by a large margin in Division 1.  And in the Connecticut Divisional Champs #10 Hannah DeBalsi (CT) won over watch-listed Claire Howlett (CT) 17:41 to 18:03.

A big add to the watch list is Briana Gess from Haddonfield NJ, who recorded a 16:57 course record, winning by well over 2 minutes.  We'll see how she stacks up during NJ sectionals in two weeks.  

Stay tuned for another exciting week of XC coming this week and of course each week as we bring you the Saucony Elite 50 Individual Girls every Monday morning!