Photo Credit: DeAnna Turner/MileSplit California
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A busy weekend full of Foot Locker Regionals and the CIF State Championships made for some top-notch racing, as the nation's best threw down all-time performances.
The National Performer of the Week poll will close at 5 p.m. CT on Thursday, December 5, and the winner will be announced shortly after.
Take a look at five of the top-performing boys from last weekend.
This Week's Nominees:
Eyan Turk, Woodcrest Christian (Calif.): For the 11th time this fall, the Kentucky signee broke the tape, this time doing so at the CIF D5 State Championships, running 14:32.5, at 27-second improvement on his previous PB. Turk also ran the fastest time in the state this season, moving up to the No. 7 spot in the California record books. Turk was the D5 champ a year ago, notching his second state title after holding off Landon Pretre (Menlo School) by six seconds.
Jack Graffeo, Westford Academy (Mass.): In just his fifth race this season, Graffeo dipped under 15:00 for the second time, running 14:59.8 as he won his first Foot Locker Northeast Regional title. The future Colorado Buffalo finished pretty comfortably, holding off the field by 16 seconds. Graffeo will head back to Foot Locker Nationals for the second consecutive year after finishing 30th last December as a junior. The senior is undefeated on the year, sitting at 5-0.
Juan Gonzalez, Fremont (Neb.): Since NXN's inception in 2004, only one high school boy has ever won both Nike Cross and Foot Locker national titles, and Gonzalez is one of the few runners with a legitimate shot to repeat history. The senior has won ten races out of ten races this season, including a state and NXR Heartland titles, most recently the Foot Locker Midwest Regional title, where he broke the tape in 14:58.8, the 17th-fastest time ever ran on Wisconsin-Parkside's course.
Eli Fitchen-Young, Santa Cruz (Calif.): After back-to-back top-six finishes at the CIF D4 State Championships as a sophomore and junior, one of the next Duke Blue Devil stars finally won the ever-elusive state title, clocking 14:41.3 as he won by 16 seconds. Fitchen-Young put together a tremendous senior campaign, winning all six races, including league, CIF Central Coast Section, and state titles, punching his ticket to Nike Cross Nationals.
Keegan Smith, Knoxville Catholic (Tenn.): Just a week removed from running the fastest time of the year and the 19th-fastest at NXR Southeast, Smith was back at it in North Carolina, running 14:58.17 to win the Foot Locker South title. His second regional title kept his dream alive of winning a pair of national titles. The Colorado commit held off a loaded field, with just six seconds between Smith and the eighth-place finisher.
NPOTW's Previous Winners:
Week 1: Ruel Newberry, Denton-Guyer (Texas)
Week 2: Luke Alverson, James Clemens (Ala.)
Week 3: Alex Bruns, St. Xavier (Ohio)
Week 4: Tayshaun Ogomo, Herriman (Utah)
Week 5: Jackson Hogsed, Lambert (Ga.)
Week 6: Caden Leonard, Southlake-Carroll (Texas)
Week 7: TJ Hansen, Freeland (Mich.)
Week 8: Ethan Zuber, Ankeny (Iowa)
Week 9: Soheib Dissa, Newtown (Conn.)
Week 10: Grady Lenn, De Pere (Wis.)
Week 11: Ryan Sykes, Horace Greeley (N.Y.)
Week 12: Kaden Evans, American Fork (Utah)