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
Clovis Invitational (CA): Boys Championship: US#5 Arcadia, CA are downed by US#3 Royal, CA 138-165; US#9 St. John Bosco finishes 4th with 184 points behind unranked Davis, CA who scores 174 with Mountain View, CA fifth. Held over the famed Woodward Park 5000 meter course Royal stormed to a 15:46 average and a 78:50 total team time compared to Arcadia's 15:49 average. The team time is ranked #14 all-time over the heralded course. Individually US#10 Erik Olsen is downed by both individual champion Samuel Pons who storms to a 14:53 victory and Ammar Moussa who runs 14:57. Pons time of 14:53 is #11 All-time over the 5K course. Stanford 3rd place team Oak Ridge finishes in 9th place. Boys Team Scores: 1. Royal, 138, 15:46 avg.; 2. Arcadia, 165, 15;49 avg.; 3. Davis Senior, 174, 15:53 avg.; 4. St. John Bosco, 184, 15;58 avg.; 5. Mountain View, 206, 15:58 avg. Extra Large Division I Boys: Dana Hills dominates with 60 points and a 15:57 team average, impressive considering that their total team time of 79:46 is superior to St. John Bosco's time in the Championship race. Team Scores: 1. Dana Hills, 60, 15:57 avg.; 2. Birmingham, 128, 16:11 avg.; 3. Warren, 161, 16:11 avg.; 4. Clovis West, 185, 16:23 avg.; 5. Madera South, 191, 16:29 avg. Extra Large Division I Girls: Arcadia junior Catrina McCallister runs away from the field in a 17:46 5000 meter victory. Crescenta Valley, CA wins the girls team championship with 119 points over Clovis, CA even though Clovis had a better team time and team average. Team Scores: 1. Crescenta Valley, 119, 19:30 avg.; 2. Clovis, 150, 19:23 avg.; 3. Edison, 163, 19:41 avg.; 4. Arcadia, 165, 19:31 avg.; 5. Thousand Oaks, 214, 19:51 avg. Girls Championship: Nationally unranked Great Oak girls make a statement running the #20 all-time team time of 93:11 over the famed Woodward Park course. Averaging 18:38 over the course they have opened the eyes of the rest of the state. Montgomery junior Julie Nacouzi wins in 17:42. In a major surprise, US#10 Dana Hills, CA is soundly defeated finishing in 7th place. Team Scores: 1. Great Oak, 71, 18:38 avg.; 2. Canyon (Anaheim), 134, 19:02 avg.; 3. Oak Ridge, 144, 19:08 avg.; 4. Buchanon, 147, 18:58 avg.; 5. King, 158, 19:09 avg. Meet Page
San Gabriel Valley 1-On-1 Challenge (CA): US#5 Elias Gedyon blasts a 14:51 3-mile to lead Loyola to the combined flight championship. Winning flight 1 by over 45 seconds Gedyon's Loyola team scores 50 points. Colony freshman Valerie Mares wins the combined girls flights with a 18:23 victory however it was not enough in team scoring as St. Lucy's outdistances Colony 72-86. Meet Page
Nike South Invitational (TX): BOYS ELITE CHAMPIONSHIP: US#8 Craig Lutz dominates the boys Elite Championship with a 15:35.7 5K victory over a muddy course. Lutz also defeated US#13 Parker Stinson who finished 3rd in 15:47.9. This was a repeat performance as Lutz won the race in 2008. In a surprising turn of events, US#2 Cedar Park pulls most of their varsity out of the race as US#6 Boerne Champion dominates for the team championship. The Woodlands finish in second and Klein Oak finish in 3rd. Boerne Champion placed all five varsity scorers in the top 13 places with an incredible 29 second 1-5 spread and an even more unbelievable .7 second 3-5 spread. Team Scores: 1. Boerne Champion, 44, 16:23 avg; 2. The Woodlands, 57, 16:28 avg; 3. Klein Oak, 80, 16:35 avg; 4. Lewisville Marcus, 169, 17:07 avg; 5. Southlake Carroll, 187, 17:20 avg. GIRLS ELITE CHAMPIONSHIP: Plano's Rachel Johnson wins by almost a minute covering the 5K course in 18:18.4 to claim the individual championship. Hidden Valley wins the team championship with 58 points over Southlake Carroll's 89 points. Team Scores: 1. Hidden Valley, 58 points; 2. Southlake Carroll, 89 points; 3. Houston Cyprus, 103; 4. Kingwood Park, 123; 5. Conroe The Woodlands, 134. Meet Page | Meet Preview MileSplit Onsite Coverage
Richland Invitational (WA): Allan Shroeder of Mt. Spokane wins in 14:55. US#15 North Central wins the team championship with 63 points. In dominating fashion the defending national champions win with an impressive 15:31 3-mile average behind Ben Johnson's impressive 14:58 second place showing, he was followed by 8. Alexander Avila, 15:29; 12. Casey Adams, 15:33; 17. Vince Hamilton, 15:42; 24. JT Mellgren, 15:56. Co-US#15 Kamiakin finishes second with 134 points and a 15:52 average. Team Scores: 1. North Central, 63; 2. Kamiakin, 134; 3. MT. Spokane, 155; 4. Southridge, 161; 5. Seattle Prep, 183. In the girls championship North Central freshman Katie Knight wins with 17:56. Meet Page | WARunners Preview
Doug Conley Invitational (AZ): Steve Magnuson (Sr., Ironwood Ridge, photo right) ran to an easy win over a hilly 5K course at the Doug Conley Invitaional Saturday. Mesa Mt. View boys dominated the race winning the boys team event. Sarah Schmidt (So., Mesa Mt. View) won the girls title in 18:52:25. The Pinnacle girls won the girls team event by placing two runners in the top five. Meet Page | Meet Article | Results
Seaview League Cluster Meet (CA): US#12 Trabuco Hills still realing from an impressive runner-up finish at the Stanford Invitational dominates a league meet with 24 points. Placing four runners in the top five places and all seven in the top 15 Trabuco dominated with a 15:28 3-mile average. Individual championship went to Jantzen Oshier who wins in 15:07. Meet Page
GSL League Meet (WA): US#10 Ferris dominates with 26 team points. Led by a course record for Adam Thorne who ran 15:38 over the difficult 5K course Ferris looks agead to the GSL Championships. Thorne's record was 22 seconds superior to Michael Kiter's record, Kiter is remembered for a 4:08 1600m and 8:55 3200m in 2001; US#3 Shadle Park scores 18 points as they dominate GSL competition. Competing as a tempo run the top 3 for Shadle ran a 1.5 second spread. Next stop, Richland Inv. Meet Page
Utah Region Championship (UT): US#8 American Fork dominate with 27 team points, led by Austin West's individual victory in 15:19, while Steven Morrin was second, the Cavemen team was unstoppable. So dominant was Timo Mostert's crew they averaged 15:55 over the course for a total team time of 79:37. Hillcrest surprised Alta and Pleasant Grove to finish second with 67 points edging Pleasant Grove with 68. On the girls side, American Fork won with 19 points, Alta finished in second with 52 points while Jordan was third with 82 points. Placing all five scorers in the top seven places AF had an impressive 38 second 1-5 spread without #1 Runner Morgan Warner. Most believe this course is more difficult than the Utah State Championship course which makes the girls total team time of 97:47 and the boys 79:37 even more impressive. American Fork Blog Meet Page | MileSplit Onsite Coverage
Curtis Invitational (WA): US#11 Shane Moskowitz dominates again winning by a minute in 15:43.92 over a brutal 5000 meter course. Moskowitz has average between 15:-15:40 in every meet this season. Meet Page