GIRLS ALL-DECADE SECOND TEAM (TOP 7)
* Top left, clockwise (Kelati, Seidel, Dudek, Oakley, Ostrander, Chmiel, Cranny)
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Molly Seidel (University Lake HS, WI)
Career Timeline: 2010-2011
Highlights: Seidel started the decade with some incredible domination in the Heartland, winning 13 straight races at 4K over 2010-2011. She missed out on Foot Locker in her junior season by one place, then proceeded to take over her senior year, winning in 17:21.40. She's No. 3 all-time for 4K, with a PR of 13:10.08 and broke 13:20 twice for 4K over her career.
Quick Thought: Seidel was probably more dominant than we realize. She's arguably the best to ever come out of the Heartland.
Weini Kelati (Heritage HS, VA)
Career Timeline: 2012-2015
Highlights: Kelati came to the US from Eritrea late in her youth athletics journey, so she was only eligible for high school competition through her junior season. But she managed to have a stellar year over that season, winning seven straight races before culminating it with a Foot Locker Nationals title in 2015. Kelati broke 17 minutes three times over 2015 before sitting out 2016. She also won a VHSL State Cross Country Championship and a Foot Locker South title, posting a time of 16:43.00. Her PR from that season was 16:29.00.
Quick Thought: Kelati's story has continued. She won the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in 2019.
Kelsey Chmiel (Saratoga Springs HS, NY)
Career Timeline: 2015-2018
Highlights: Chmiel was incredible over her career -- it just so happened she was going up against Tuohy in every major race. So the New York talent never won that coveted national title. But she did have a remarkable career, finishing top five in four straight seasons at NXN. She ran a best of 16:54.80 at NXN in 2018, the year where Tuohy set the course record at Glendoveer. That's second all-time. She won the Edinburgh XCountry Challenge in 2018 when she was a junior, in a PR of 14:10.00. She also broke 17 minutes four times over her career, with a PR of 16:43.80.
Quick Thought: Chmiel didn't take the spotlight often, but that probably only made her that much more dangerous in cross country.
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Allie Ostrander (Kenai Central HS, AK)
Career Timeline: 2011-2014
Highlights: Ostrander would have been more dominant had she been closer to major states. But she still managed anyway. She won NXN in 2014, and the Alaskan proceeded to have the second best 5K in the country that season with an effort of 16:40.00. She broke 17 minutes three times across the 2013 and 2014 season and holds the Alaskan state cross country record of 17:06.00.
Quick Thought: Ostrander is a pro now, and her star has only risen, only making her beginnings that much more impressive.
Brie Oakley (Grandview HS, CO)
Career Timeline: 2013-2016
Highlights: She won the 2016 NXN title in 17:10.10 and won eight straight races in 2016. She posted a top 5K of 16:44.0 for 5K and won a Colorado State Cross Country Championship that same year. She now owns the new Norris Penrose Events Center record of 17:07.83 -- she also got a late start to XC, transferring over from soccer in her junior season.
Quick Thought: Oakley came to the scene late, but she made sure to make a rather sizable imprint.
Elise Cranny (Niwot HS, CO)
Career Timeline: 2010-2013
Highlights: Cranny, a 2-time NXN All-American, is the highest athlete on this list who didn't win a national title. But her career is what gets her the nod here. In another year, the Colorado athlete would likely dominated the rankings, but she so happened to be battling with Baxter and Efraimson for much of her reign. She was the runner-up at the 2013 NXN race, largely considered the best battle in the event's history. She also won two Colorado state championships and holds the old Norris Penrose Events center record at 18:07.80. She broke 17 minutes three times for 5K. She's a 2-time NXR Southwest champion, winning from 2012-2013.
Quick Thought: Cranny was Colorado's finest athlete of the early 2010s, without a doubt. Her career was so strong, she surpassed a few who won national titles over the decade.
Zofia Dudek (Ann Arbor Pioneer HS, MI)
Career Timeline: 2017-2019
Highlights: Dudek's entire 2019 was remarkable. But her star truly started to explode this fall when she blitzed courses in Michigan and proceeded to win her first and only Foot Locker Nationals title in 16:45.00, now the fifth-fastest effort all-time. It was the first effort under 17 minutes since 2010. She also was fifth at the European U20 Cross Country Championships, won NXR Midwest and was second at Foot Locker Midwest. She won her first MHSAA LP Division I title this season, too. She broke 17 minutes for 5K three times.
Quick Thought: Her performance in 2019 was the predominant reason she made this list. But it's impossible to overlook it -- she's now fifth all-time at Balboa Park, cementing a legacy at Foot Locker Nationals that will hold up the further her star rises.
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