XC 2009: Western US
WA, OR, CA, ID, UT, NV, AZ, NM, CO, WY, MT, ND, SD, KS, NB, OK, TX, IA, MO, IL, IA, WI, MN
(Follow the links for more in-depth coverage)
By: Aron Taylor & Jasen Parks, Western US National Editors
The season is underway in full force. Top teams from throughout the Western US are headlining Super Invitationals. We would like to begin the weekend by featuring some very good reads on two top US individual athletes Jessica Tonn and Brian Shrader and an awesome story out of Washington titled "A Kenyan Style".
Jessica Tonn Story Brian Shrader Story A Kenyan Style Story
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| US#2 Cedar Park Dominates |
Feast Flight Score Meet (TX): US#2 Cedar Park, TX boys and Woodlands, TX run impressively over 3200m flights. In the boys Flight 1 Jay McIllece wins with a 9:47; Flight 2 Austin Geerts wins in 9:51; Flight 3 Bobby McIllece wins in 10:04; Flight 4 Cameron Shoppach wins in 10:03; Flight 4 Weston Odonnel wins in 10:10. In the pre-race preview we had thought Cedar Park may have all five under 10 minutes, they were close. In team scoring Cedar Park wins the 7 flight meet with 10 points to claim victory...without US#10 Parker Stinson. The Woodlands wins with 8 points over 7 flights! US#7 Sarah Andrews runs 10:51 for the victory. Meet Story by Neal Baumgartner Meet Page
TAMU-CC Islander Splash (TX): US#5 Boerne Champion competed over the 3-mile West Guth Park in dominating fashion. Placing all five scorers in the top 15 with a 15:37 average Boerne Champion is quickly establishing themselves as a national powerhouse. SL Carrol-Green standout Neal Smith won in 14:50.5. He was followed closely by the two top scorers for Boerne, Travis Barkley (15:01) and Nathan Christiansan (15:22). Meet Results
Mountain West Classic (MT): US#7 Shadle Park dominates in historic fashion over 43 teams and 320 runners in the varsity championship. Placing 3 in the top 10 and 5 in the top 30, led by winner Andrea Nelson in 17:53 over the difficult 5000 Meter course Shadle scores 56 points. Nelson pushed the pace so hard that at a mile and a half Meads own Baylee Miles was broke. Coach Isitt, "I don't know how to phrase it, I just uh...it was a huge race and I just thought we would be pushed more. I don't want this to sound bad, but we want better competition." The call to the nation has been declared! 2nd place was MT#1 Bozeman in 101 points. 3. Kendra Weitz 18:07; 7. Katie Morris 18:35; 16. Shayle Dezellem 19:09; 29. Chelsey Chandler 19:34. At altitude of 4950 ft over a 5K course hit a 93:18 total team time. In the boys race, Shadle Park's super sophomore Nathan Weitz runs an amazing 14:58.44 to claim victory, only the second competitor ever under 15 minutes. Course record is held by Flatheads Kurt Michels who ran 14:47.21 in 2001. Running a 16:10 average, defending Washington State Champion Mead answered the call and claimed victory in the 363 athlete, 52 team meet with a score of 130 points.Meet Page Meet Preview by David Taylor Shadle On Top by David Taylor
Nebo Invitational (UT): US#10 American Fork runs wild over competition in Utah. Over the first flat 3.01 mile course that the team has been able to compete on, the Timo Mostert Coached program did not disappoint. Sending a message across the Southwest and perhaps the country the Cavemen averaged 15:24 for 3.01 miles at 4700 feet altitude. Course was measured before and after race with both a wheel and GPS, is confirmed to be 3.01 miles. Placing all five scorers in the top 9, this was by far the best team performance in Utah team cross country history within the State of Utah. Led by individual standout Austin West's impressive 14:56.27, the team filed in very close, 3. Clayton Young 15:16.43; 5. Mack Morrison 15:23.83; 7. Robbie Lee 15:39.81; 9. Jeff Nelson 15:47.64. American Fork wins with 25 points over the 17 team field. The top 3 AF runners were better than the 2008 meet champion and NXN SW Runner-up Jon Nelson of Timpview who held the course record in 15:34. Hows that for an impact? Meet Page
Complete California Coverage Here
Stanford Invitational (CA): ELITE BOYS: US#7 Arcadia rebounds from a narrow loss a week ago to US#3 Royal and US#6 St. John Bosco, and tops US#4 Ferris, WA. Ferris finished a disappointing 5th place. Three of the four teams that defeated Ferris had to travel less than 50 miles to compete, whereas Ferris, WA travelled 1000 miles. Averaging 15:55 over the course Arcadia was followed by Trubaco Hills, CA in second. Other casualties included US#13 Mountain View who finished 11th. ELITE GIRLS: US#6 Torrey Pines dominates the field with an impressive 93:41 total team time. For the 2nd week in a row Torrey Pines wins a huge invitational in dominating fashion. Molly Grabill makes her presence known with an amazing 17:22 5K victory. Torrey Pines own Megan Morgan finished second in an equally impressive 17:39. In a surprising turn of events, NO SURPRISE IN WASHINGTON, DIV IV girls winner US#14 Glacier Peak finishes 2nd overall in total team scoring finishing less than 10 points behind Torrey Pines! DIVISION IV GIRLS: (Glacier Peak Snubbed Story) At the US Supermeet, US#14 Glacier Peak utterly destroys the girls DIV IV race with 22 team points over the 5000 meter course, defeating 27 team in the process. What was evidently clear, the race directors made a huge mistake placing Glacier Peak in the smaller division race as it was NO CONTEST! the total team of 95:48 was a whopping 31 seconds faster than 2008 winner Torrey Pines 96:19 from last year. Glacier Peak officially earned their national ranking, too bad we could not have seen them head-to-head with US#6 Torrey Pines in the championship race. Placing all five scorers in the top 10! GIRLS COMBINED TEAM SCORING Meet Page
Dana Hills Invitational (CA): Dana Hills dominates the class flights. In overall combined team scoring consisting of over 600 athletes, Dana Hills prevails with 44 team points! In combined scoring, places all five scorers in the top 20. Averaging 17:50 over the 3-mile course Dana Hills was sinply dominant. Meet Page
Rim Rock Farms XC Classic (KS): US#3 The Woodlands College Park, TX dominate the meet with five runners in the top 20. Winning with 54 points over Iowa City West, IA who finishd second with 83 points. Iowa City West, IA had been the team that defeated previously ranked US#11 Dowling Catholic, IA at last weekends Heartland Inv. Not today, Iowa City was no match for the strength os College Park. Meet Page
Bob Firman Invitational (ID): In a surprise turn of events, Mountain View, UT boys and girls win the Northwest Supermeet team titles. In a shocker, Mountain View defeats US#14 North Central 75-100. Running a 10 second 1-5 spread Mountain View overwhelmed the defending national champions with a team effort. Boys individual crown would go to Gig Harbor's Conner Peloquin who won with 15:39.80. In the girls race, Mountain View, UT likewise had an impressive 1-5 spread of 43 seconds to defeat Davis for the team championship. Girls individual crown would go to Eagle's Liz Brandon who won with 18:38.20. Meet Page
John Martin Invitational (CO): US#14 Fort Collins is downed by two teams. Losing to Legacy and Loveland in a closely scored event. Kirsten Follett wins the individual title with a 18:49.60 5K performance. Meet Page
Rock Canyon Invitational (CO): US#12 Classical Academy breezes to victory with a 38 point team score. Placing all 7 varsity runners in the top 15 did not hurt either. Led by individual standout US#15 Kaitlin Hanenburg's individual victory in 20:55, Classical Academy was just too much to handle. Meet Page
Albuquerque Academy (NM): US#12 Albuquerque Academy wins the home invitational with 30 team points. The team average over the 5000 meter course was 16:44, a team average over 10 seconds faster than last years 11th ranked team. Alb placed all five scorers in the top 10. Meet Page
Roy Griak Invitational (MN): Formerly ranked Dowling Catholic, IA rebounded with a tremendous team performance to defead Iowa City and take home the title! Placing 6 competitiors in the top 10 Dowling was led by individual standouts US#12 Katie Flood and US#13 Ashley Decker whom finished 1-2 in the same time of 18:07 for 5000 meters. Expect Dowling Catholic to climb back into the top 15 following a slew of national upsets and top 15 losses. Meet Page
Nike Pre-National (OR): Jesuit, OR girls run impressively to win, led by Annamarie Maag's impressive 17:45 over the 5K course, Jesuit scores 55 points. Looking like a nationally ranked program Jesuit, OR is making a statement. On the boys side, Palos Verdes, CA wins with 49 points. Meet Page
WEEKEND PREVIEW
The season is underway in full force. Top teams from throughout the Western US are headlining Super Invitationals. We would like to begin the weekend by featuring some very good reads on two top US individual athletes Jessica Tonn and Brian Shrader and an awesome story out of Washington titled "A Kenyan Style". Jessica Tonn Story Brian Shrader Story A Kenyan Style Story
Stanford Invitational (CA): A national supermeet, on the boys side we have US#4 Ferris, WA; US#7 Arcadia, CA; US#13 Mountain View, CA, and US#3 Royal, CA colliding in an epic matchup of elite programs. Could we see a new national #1? If Ferris dominates the field they will surely make the case. On the girls side US#6 Torrey Pines continues its march up the national rankings latter by heading to another major invitational after already dominating the massive Mt. Carmel Invitational. Should Torrey Pines win big, expect a major jump in the national rankings. Meet Page
Bob Firman Invitational (ID): The NXN Northwest Region Championship course gets a warm-up as top programs from seven states compete in a northwest supermeet. Led by US#14 North Central the boys field will be a good match-up of national bubble teams against a true national powerhouse. North central may not be that dominant national championship team from 2008 however, they are a benchmark for teams such as US#27 Mountain View, ID; US#25 Highland, ID; and Gig Harbor, WA. On the girls side ID#1 Mountain View is knocking on the national rankings door. There will come no greater time to make a national impact than at this meet. Meet Page
Feast "Flight Score" Meet (TX): Headlines by US#2 Cedar Park boys going head to head against US#5 Boerne Champion, TX, this event should be fun and exciting. One more major week to back up the sheer dominance of recent weeks and Cedar Park should be a sure lock for the top slot in the country. Last week Cedar Park ran a 15:42 average over 5000 meters at the Cedar Park Inv. while Boerne Champion ran a 15:43 5000 meters average at the UTSA Inv. With massive national implications following this meet and Stanford, we willd efinitly see new #1 and #2 nationally rankings! Meet Page
Sunny Hills Invitational (CA): US#6 St. John Bosco will be competing after an impressive showing against US#3 Royal and US#7 Arcadia last week at the Woodbridge Invitational. Running a 15:01 3-mile average last week St. John should be dominant in this weeks race.
Nebo Invitational (UT): US#10 American Fork continues its path to the state championships as they travel to Maple Mountain. The spread is getting tighter and the team is head and shoulders ahead of the rest of the state and perhaps region. Meet Page
Nike Pre-Nationals (OR): Featuring teams from seven states and even Canada this meet with allow programs an opportunity to compete at Portland Meadows, the home of the national championships. Mountain View, ID will be in attendance as well as US standout Cody Helbling. A massive amount of teams are registered for this meet but notably this meet will be absent any natinoally ranked programs. Meet Page
Albuquerque Academy invitational (NM): US#12 Albuquerque Academy hosts the top teams in New Mexico at the home invitational. Albuquerque recently won the 78 meet Liberty Bell Invitational, will be looking for a dominant team performance to climb back into the top 10 nationally. Meet Page
Bellevue Invitational (WA): US#15 Kamiakin heads into Bellevue to show the state and country their meet against US#4 Ferris and US#14 North Central at Tracy Walters was no fluke. The team is preparing for Sunfair where we expect them to step up and show the true potential of this mega team from Washington. Expect fireworks in the Puget Sound. Meet Page
Mountain West Classic (MT): US#7 Shadle Park continues their team dominance and quest for a state championship and national recognition travelling to Montana. A team motto "seven is one", Shadle is the darling of the US National Rankings, having burst onto the scene with tremendous early season team performances. Meet Page Meet Preview by David Taylor
Rim Rock Classic (KS): US#3 Woodlands College Park travels to Kansas to the great plains supermeet. Looking to legitimize their top national ranking College Park competes against top competition from multiple states. Meet Page
John Martin Inv (CO): US #13 Fort Collins girls highlight the competition in Colorado this weekend. Cherry Creek boys and Walter Schafer will highlight the boys competition. Meet Page
Rock Canyon Inv (CO): MileSplit On-Site Meet Page