Foot Locker Northeast (NY)
Noah Affolder, Madeline Davison Take The Wins
Noah Affolder Secures First Foot Locker Bid With A Win
Noah Affolder was up front from the gun. The Carthage High School (NY) junior stated his intentions early on and set the blistering pace with a host of others. While many dropped off, Affolder held the pace.
Affolder took the field through in 4:40 at the mile and then about 10:10 through two miles. It was in the back hills in Van Cortlandt Park where Affolder was able to separate himself.
"I just flew on the downhills and used the crowd to carry me through the finish line," Affolder said after the race.
Affolder was first out of the woods and maintained that lead through the finish.
Affolder is continuing a monster junior campaign. He won every race, including the NYSPHAA New York State Championship, before taking second at the NY Federation Championships to Aidan Tooker. He didn't have to deal with Tooker, the Saratoga Springs senior, who was at NXN New York Saturday.
Behind Affolder, it was anyone's race. For those who went out hard, they paid the price in the storied last half mile of Van Cortlandt. For others, it was open season once they got out of the woods.
Jake Brophy, the two-time Pennsylvania state champ exited the woods in eighth. But the wily Central Bucks East senior-who entered as the race's top returner-hawked down a handful of runners in the finishing stretch to take second.
Brophy described the early pace as a "shock to the system," but he eventually found his groove.
"As we were coming down the final stretch, they started to come back to me a little bit, but I was able to pick off enough of them to take second," he said after the race.
Conor Lundy used some experience on the paths of Van Cortlandt to navigate his way through the final mile of the race. Lundy is a senior at Fordham Prep in New York and found himself outside the top ten around the midway point. But he's used to running this course, seeing as he trains on it almost everyday. Lundy made his move a little sooner than Brophy and got himself into position in the final stretch. He wound up third.
"I would have been happy to just qualify, but I'm super thrilled to get third," Lundy said.
Only eight seconds separated second place from the last qualifying spot in tenth. New Jersey Meet of Champions winner Joshua Clark of Highland Regional was fourth. Eric Van Der Els, the Connecticut state champ and New Englands third place finisher, was fifth in 15:30. Viraj Deokar from Acton, Massachusetts was sixth, improving 31 places from a year ago.
NJ MOCs fifth place finisher Joe Dragon from High Point Regional was seventh in 15:31, while the fourth place finisher in that same NJ MOCs race, Matt Grossman of Millburn, was eighth on Saturday. Connecticut state runner-up Gabriel Altopp was ninth and Marcelo Rocha of Peabody in Massachusetts rounded out the qualifying 10.
Brophy is the lone returning qualifier for nationals from the Northeast region. The other nine from last year were all seniors, ushering in a new crop to San Diego in two weeks. With the group that came in relatively close together at Van Corlandt, we'll see if some of the Northeast boys opt to stick together at Foot Locker Nationals.
Home Schooled Madeleine Davison Wins In HS Season Debut
Madeleine Davison was nowhere to be found in the first mile. Well, unless you were looking past the top 25.
The high school senior from Wexford, Pa. went out slower than the rest of the field and reaped the benefits in the long closing stretch.
"I wanted to keep it comfortable, but still be in range of the top ten, " she said. "The crowd went out a lot faster than normal. Usually this race tends to favor a more conservative start, but most people took it out fast."
Davison found herself in 28th place entering the woods, a little before the mile mark. She stayed patient in the back hills and the pack slowly, but surely came back to her. With a little over a mile to go, she made her move towards the top ten.
She felt good enough that she could close out the race in the top ten and qualify for nationals. Then she heard a voice.
That voice came from her future coach at Syracuse University. Can't disappoint him, right? So Davison made a charge for the front. By the time she stopped, she was a Foot Locker Northeast champion.
"I just sprinted to reel them in and when I crossed the finish line, I couldn't even believe it," an ecstatic Davison said.
Davison was fourth a year ago at Foot Locker Northeast. She was 40th at nationals, so she'll look to improve upon that in two weeks.
"I'm trying not to place too many expectations on myself. I'm just going to try to keep the same strategy that's worked so well for me in my last few races-being patient in the beginning and trusting in my mental toughness at the end of the race," she said.
Jessica Lawson, a junior from Corning, New York took a different strategy. The NY Federations champ from a week ago wanted to get out of traffic in the early going. Lawson noted a few girls picked up the pace after the mile and she just wanted to hang on. She went into the last mile in about fourth. In the closing stretch she moved from fourth to second.
"The last mile was good," Lawson, who qualified as a freshman fro nationals, said. "I just tried to push and work my way up."
Maria Coffin from Annapolis High School in Maryland was third in 17:42, a second behind Lawson. She improved 31 places from a year ago when she was 34th.
Foot Locker veteran Hannah DeBalsi led most of the race and ended up fourth in 17:43. This will mark her third trip to San Diego for nationals. A pair of South Jersey harriers-Brianna Gess of Haddonfield and Alyssa Aldridge of Mainland Regional-was fifth and sixth in 17:44 and 17:47 respectively.
Ariel Keklak of Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School in Massachusetts brushed off the disappointment of finishing 11th-just out of a nationals spot-a year ago to finish seventh and book a trip to San Diego.
Ellie Lawler of South Kingstown in Rhode Island was eighth in 17:57, making her the lone sophomore from the Northeast to make the top ten. Sage Hurta, a Hamilton, NY senior was ninth with a huge PR of over 30 seconds, running 17:58 on Van Cortlandt's tough course to qualify. Kathryn Munks of Monroe-Woodbury in New York grabbed the tenth and final spot for San Diego.
Story by Dan Beck for PA MileSplit