Replay of the Live Feed and Highlights, Courtesy of Foot Locker
Boys Race Finish | Girls Race Finish
Photos: Don Rich | Margot Kelly | Brandon Miles
Race Summaries by Geoff Decker:
Boys Story: Verzbicas dominates as Midwest sweeps
Girls Story: Cuffe wows with dominating win
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Girls Champion: Aisling Cuffe - 16:53 |
Boys Champion: Lukas Verzbicas - 14:59 |
Photos by Margot Kelly and Don Rich
Girls Championship Race: Aisling Cuffe, NY, left little mystery as to who the national champion was going to be. Taking over the lead for good after the mile Cuffe quickly built up a 100 meter lead that she held to the end, running one of the most impressive times in the meets history. Her 16:53 was the 6th fastest time on the Balboa Park layout. Full Story...
| Girls All-Americans |
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1. Aisling Cuffe (NY) - 16:53 2. Rachel Johnson (TX) - 17:27 3. Julie Nacouzi (CA) - 17:29 4. Kelsey Lakowske (CO) - 17:29 5. Megan Venables (NJ) - 17:35 6. Allison Woodward (WI) - 17:37 7. Erin Finn (MI) - 17:38 8. Shannon Osika (MI) - 17:46 9. Molly Grabill (CA) - 17:46 10. Joanna Thompson (TN) - 17:46 11. Gabrielle Anzalone (MI) - 17:46 12. Kayla Beattie (IL) - 17:48 13. Eleanor Fulton (CO) - 17:50 14. Waverly Neer (IN) - 17:51 15. Grace Tinkey (GA) - 17:53 |
Boys Championship Race: Lukas Verzbicas, IL, has had quite a year. Lukas won the NXN Championship last week to add to his 2nd straight state title. That left him with one more race to make history. Lukas completed his mission, winning his 2nd straight Foot Locker title, making him only the 3rd boy ever to win two title and the first individual to win both the NXN and Foot Locker titles in one year. Lukas took off after a 9:32 2-mile and quickly built a gap on his challenger Futsum. The lead held and Lukas was able to enjoy a 100 meter celebration sprint down the final straight to the finish. Full story...
| Boys All-Americans |
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1. Lukas Verzbicas (IL) - 14:59 2. Futsum Zeinasellassie (IN) - 15:10 3. Tony Smoragiewicz (SD) - 15:16 4. Andrew Gardner (WA) - 15:18 5. Chris Walden (IN) - 15:22 6. Billy Orman (AZ) - 15:23 7. Jimmy Clark (FL) - 15:24 8. Eddie Owens (NY) - 15:25 9. Ryan Pickering (FL) - 15:25 10. Chad Noelle (NY) - 15:25 11. William Kincaid (CO) - 15:27 12. James Martin (IN) - 15:27 13. Jack Driggs (IL) - 15:29 14. Ahmed Bile (VA) - 15:33 15. Blake Williams (NC) - 15:35 |
MileSplit Pre-Shows: Northeast Boys - Northeast Girls - South Boys - South Girls - Midwest Boys - Midwest Girls - West Boys - West Girls
Pre-Race Athlete Interviews: Aisling Cuffe (NY) - Billy Orman (AZ) - Rachel Johnson (FL) - Julie Nacouzi (CA) - Chris Walden (IN) - Jimmy Clark (FL) - Blake Williams (NC) - Michigan Girls Qualifiers (4) - Patrick Rono (NJ) - Sophie Chase/Mattie Webb (VA) - Darren Fahy (CA) - Grace Tinkey (GA) - Ryan Pickering (FL)
Additional Pre-Meet Footage: Athlete Course Preview - Boys Intro Practice - Girls Intro Practice - "Inked up in San Diego" - Course Walk Through
Boys Preview | Girls Preview | The Finalists
Pre-Meet Photo Albums: Don Rich | Margot Kelly | Brandon Miles
The athletes are already arriving in San Diego for the 2010 Foot Locker championships. The premier high school individual championship has crowned a boys and girls champion every year since 1979, making this years race the 31st consecutive running. There will be some interesting history on the boys side this year as well.
Lukas Verzbicas, the 2009 champion, could become only the 3rd boys athlete in history to be a repeat champion. Abdirizak Muhamud won in 1996 and 1997 while Dathan Ritzenhein won in 1999 and 2000. Making the feat even more historical is that Lukas has already won a national championship this fall.
Last Saturday he crossed the line first at the 7th running of the Nike Cross Nationals. So if he wins this weekend he will be the first individual to win both championships in the same year.
Lukas looks very difficult to beat, appearing to effortlessly glide away from some very talented competition over the muddy Portland Meadows layout to cross the line first. He was also within 4 seconds of Craig Virgin's legendary course record at the Illinois state meet with a time of 13:54 on the 3-mile layout.
Should Lukas win he will certainly be the best high school harrier of 2010, and arguably one of the best in history.
The toughest competition may just come from his own region as Futsum Zeinasellassie, IN, has been winning all fall. Futsum was 8th in this race two years ago so he knows what to expect at the front of the race.
Also tough will be Billy Orman, the Arizona senior who is looking to redeem his 34th place showing last year. Orman won both the NXN Southwest and Foot Locker Southwest titles in dominating fashion so look for a breakout run from him.
A talented sophomore follows Orman, Washington's Andrew Gardner, who had a solid year in-state. Gardner was 2nd to nationally ranked Kenji Bierig at states. Bierig ran at the NXN meet with his team.
Out of the South region comes Jimmy Clark, FL, who leads a contingent of 3 Floridians. Clark won his state meet with the fastest time of the day and then won the South regional race as well. Blake Williams, NC, was 2nd and looks stronger this year than when he placed 20th in last year's finals. Another runner to watch here is Ahmed Bile, VA, who was 4th at the region but is rapidly improving with each race this season.
Chad Noelle, NY, was a surprise win out of the Northeast, but looked very strong and is focused on the finals. Second was Morgan Pearson, NJ, who was running Noelle down in the final stretch, after leading much of the race early.
Other returners to watch for include Chris Walden, IN, and John Murray, MA. Walden, who was 11th last year, was buried in his region at 6th place, but had a very solid year. Murray was 36th last year, a race he was disappointed in. He was 4th in the Northeast region but mentioned that he was focused on 5000 more meters of racing to get the best race he could out of his final season.
California had the most boys qualifiers with 6 out of the West region.
The girls race won't have quite the historical context as the boys, but it promises some interesting story lines as well.
The favorite going in is Aisling Cuffe, NY, who was 4th last year. Cuffe went undefeated through the season and set several course records along the way. Her most prized was the NY Federation champs course record in which she recorded a 17:16.90 to crush Nicole Blood's old record.
Cuffe has looked stronger than ever this year, so much so that she was able to relax during the first half of the Northeast regional champs so that she could get the feeling of running with a pack. She said the strategy was to prepare her for the tight pack of elite runners that will surely make up the front of the race over the first mile or so of the Balboa Park course.
Joining Cuffe out of the Northeast is Megan Venables, NJ, who set two historical records this season, the biggest coming at her state meet where she ran 17:27 to take down the 17:35 course record set by 1983 Foot Locker champion Janet Smith. Venables faltered a bit at the Northeast regional, but if she is on her A-game she might be right up there with Cuffe.
That is not to say that the race is a foregone conclusion. There are quite a few harriers coming back with experience on this layout when the pressure is on.
Kelsey Lakowske, CO, was 6th last year. She had some injury problems that delayed her training this year, but has been getting better with each race. Wesley Frazier, NC, was 10th last year as a frosh and qualified in 6th place this year after a season spent largely away from the high school running scene.
Rachel Johnson, TX, and Molly Grabill, CA, were 11th and 12th last year, with Grabill one of the pre-race favorites. Johnson won the NXN South regional and finished 3rd at the Foot Locker South regional before winning in dominating fashion at the NXN championships last week. Johnson has a chance to pull the double just like Lukas, but faces a strong challenge in doing so. Grabill had a disappointing finish at her state meet but ran well for 2nd at the Foot Locker West regional. In her senior season she will be motivated to cap it off with a great race.
Allison Woodward, WI, won the Midwest region and the NXN Heartland region. She was 14th in the NXN finals but has the talent to do well out in San Diego. Woodward is joined by Shannon Osika, MI, who was 30th last year. Also from Michigan is Gabrielle Anzalone, who was 2nd to Brook Handler at the state meet, but then beat her at the Midwest regional.
Out of the South, in addition to Johnson, are Kathryn and Erika Fluehr, FL, who were 1-1 in the region. There might be a bit of a rivalry here was Erika is much closer to her sister this year, even beating her at the state meet this year. Kathryn was only 4 seconds up on her in the region.
In all there are 14 return qualifiers on the girls side from 2009.
2010 Foot Locker National Championship Finalists
The finalists are set for the 2010 Foot Locker National Championship to take place at Balboa Park in San Diego on December 11th. Check out each harrier's profile by clicking on their name.