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Alabama
Carmen Carlos recently finished her senior cross country season as one of the winningest female runners in the state of Alabama. Running 17:20 at the Alabama state meet, she was less than a second off her PR. Always a tough competitor in the post season, this year Carlos looks to cement herself in Alabama prep history as only one of a few from the state to advance to the national race. Carlos finished 28th last year at the meet (No. 2 Ala.) and ranked 21st in MileSplit top 25 national rankings. Should Carlos qualify she will be one of a small group from the state that has made nationals.
Reid McCleney is in the seeded race as well. finished 3rd at state ....Could probably run 15:15 or so. He's fast. Maybe not fast enough to qualify....but fast.
Arkansas
Florida
Boys Preview
Andres Arroyo will be the first to admit that Foot Locker South 2011 didn't go the way he had anticipated. The junior was just coming off his first state championship and the nationally ranked runner had high expectations of making it to San Diego. However, when he toed the line at McAlpine Greenway Park, the start of the race was a little rocky. The Colonial High School star found out that cross country could be a contact sport. As he jostled with other runners he got the wind knocked out of him and quickly fell out of the hunt early on finishing in 186th place. 2012 he hopes for a different outcome. Arroyo won the 4A outdoor state championships in the 1600 and 3200 meters and was a member of the team's 4x800 meter relay that took gold. During cross country season all Arroyo did was dazzle. He won the prestigious Pre-State meet and capped off his regular season with a second straight 4A title. His time of 15:18.95 was the best of the day, but well off his personal best of 14:59.80 which he set last season. He is running great at a great time of the year and assuming he gets to the front early should be a top ten contender.
Arroyo isn't the only state champion to represent Florida in this race. 1A state champion Alex Brown of Holy Trinity and 3A state champion Thomas Howell of Niceville are also entered. Brown has experience with the North Carolina having gone with his HT teammates for the past six years to Great American. He finished 149th in the race, but is coming off a great run at state and will also have teammate Tristan Kattenberg to push him along the way. Coach Doug Butler told me earlier in the week that their is no game plan for the race, just to simply go out and have fun. Howell is also coming in with the same mind set. He told me that he runs better when he is enjoying himself. The Niceville junior was definitely enjoying his 3A win in the second fastest time of the day. Last year, Chris Godwin of Gainesville Buchholz made the trip to San Diego after finishing 11th and claiming a spot when a runner couldn't make it. Could another runner from the northern part of the state make it? Florida has had a representative in the boys race as well as the girls the past several years at Foot Locker Nationals. I believe the trend will continue in 2012.
Two wildcards for me are Tyler Bennett of Fort Myers and Carlos Miranda of Palmetto Ridge. Both have run this race in year's past and are familiar with the course. Bennett has been running well and led most of the state championship race this past weekend before finishing second to Howell. Miranda has had moments of brilliance this year and flashes of disappointment. He recently said he had an iron deficiency issue that he was trying to work out as well other nutritional issues. He finished 23rd at state in what might have been one of his worst races of the year. If a healthy Miranda shows up he could be right in their with the top guys as he usually is. If not, it could be a long afternoon and a disappointing end to a very good high school cross country career.
Other runners who should finish well are Brandon Marquez, Danny Fernandez, Nick Morken, Ace Brown, and Tristan Kattenberg.
* There are several races for each of the high school age groups with the most elite race being the seeded race. The top ten from the seeded races will move onto Foot Locker Nationals in San Diego, California on December 8th. In an event a runner can't make it the next highest finisher will take their spot.
Girls Preview
Blake, a seven time state champion in both cross country and track and field, is coming off her third straight 4A championship. Last year, Blake was seventh at Foot Locker South and finished 38th at the national meet. She is Florida's lone returning national finalist from 2011 when Florida sent three girls to nationals. She has been peaking as of late and has run season bests of 17:43.03 and holds a personal best time of 17:26.00 which she ran at McAlpine last year.
Estero senior Kacy Smith has a great shot in this race in my opinion and could surprise some people. Smith finished third this past weekend at the 3A state meet and was pushed by teammate Katy G. Solis. Smith is a tough runner and will have her Estero teammates and Solis to push her through this course. In 2010, she finished 16th and followed that up with a 22nd performance in 2011 at Foot Locker South. She hates to lose and I think this race she goes all out and gives cross country one last hoorah in an attempt to crack the top ten.
Julie Wollrath is the third highest finisher from 2011. The Holy Trinity sophomore won her second consecutive 1A state championship and has run well in North Carolina. She has run Great American several times and competed well in Foot Locker South last year where she finished 32nd in 18:02.
Others to watch include Caroline Barlow, Kelly Fahey, Emily Headley, Sarah Candiano, Emily Edwards, Scarlett Fox, Julia Rodriguez, and Katy G. Solis
Georgia
Kentucky
Jacob Thomson, senior at Holy Cross is back looking to qualify for Foot Locker Nationals again this year after a 19th place finish in San Diego last year. Last spring, he was the 5000 Meter National Runner-Up at New Balance Outdoor Nationals with a 14:34. This fall he dominated over his competition in Kentucky winning every race he attended in state with ease. He defeated West Virginia distance star Jacob Burcham at the Trinity Invitational while running a course record time of 14:52. He was second overall at Great American in an epic dual with Sean McGorty of VA with each running 14:43. Thomson will get to seek his revenge as McGorty will be at Foot Locker South as well.
Thomson finished his high school XC career with 2 Class A State Championships. He will or has already visited the University of Colorado, University of Oregon, University of Wisconsin, University of Oklahoma, and NC State.
Other Kentucky runners to watch in the boys race are Chase Geary of Muhlenberg County and Patrick Gregory of Butler. Geary was the 2012 Class AAA Kentucky State Champion, while Gregory was second in the same race. Both have the track times to show they can handle the speed of Foot Locker South.
North Carolina
Foot Locker South is an interesting race: runners of all ages and abilities go there seeking one last PR, but most who participate don't achieve that goal (often because they have passed their peak earlier in the season and were unable to sustain their training). There are 8 races for high school runners, plus more for younger athletes and even two open races for adults, but in the end most of the attention is on the seeded Championship Races. Last year, North Carolina qualified two boys and two girls for Foot Locker Nationals in San Diego. That is always a tough feat to repeat, but there are enough strong runners from the Tar Heel State in the seeded races to give the Old North State a good chance. The top 10 individuals from each seeded race will advance to run at Balboa Park in two weeks, and below are the North Carolina athletes that have the best chance to be there (based on the entry lists posted on the Foot Locker South website as of Thursday morning).
Boys' Championship Race
I can see three legitimate candidates to advance to the national meet in this race, with varying chances based on how fast they have run this season. Bakri Abushouk (Cary) seems to have the best chance, and he is also the NC runner most likely to break 15 minutes on Saturday (his PR is 15:03, and he clocked 9:04 for 3200 two weekends ago). The absolute worst Abushouk could be ranked in this race would be 11th, but many of those from the Southeast who have run faster times will be at Nike Cross Nationals, putting him firmly in the top 10 coming into the race. If Colin Godwin (Cary Academy) is back to full strength, he has a chance to advance, but a nagging injury has limited his training at times over the past month and that takes its toll. Don't count out Trevor Sleight (Carolina Day); although his best time this year is 15:27, which would not normally make him a contender, he has been focusing his training on this race all year and has not been challenged in a 5K over the past month. Sleight might have trouble matching the pace of the leaders over the first two miles of the race, but his elite stamina kicks in during the final mile, and he could make a late charge toward the top 10.
For the rest of the NC runners in this race, Saturday is more about running a PR and perhaps comparing themselves against the other NC runners. If they all run in the Championship Race, then you can expect to see Tanis Baldwin (East Henderson), Wyatt Maxey (Providence), Dalton Nickel and Ian Milder (Mount Tabor), Nikolaus Kreiling (Jordan), Patrick Sheehan (Lake Norman), and Philip Hall (Terry Sanford), as well as many others.
Girls' Championship Race
In all honesty, North Carolina is only putting up two girls that are contenders to make it to the national meet, but both of those girls have the benefit of having made it to nationals before. Alana Hadley has left no questions about her ambitions this fall, as she plans to return to Balboa Park and contend for the win there. She has upped her 5K racing load this fall, producing the #19 time in the nation back in September, and her workouts lately have shown she is clearly fit and prepared (9:55 for a solo 3K on the McAlpine course a few weeks ago, with a 5:13 first mile). On the other hand we have the mysterious Wesley Frazier, who has only raced once this fall that I can determine, although I am certain she would like to repeat her 2010 trip to San Diego after missing out last fall. Frazier certainly has the pedigree and the speed to compete in this race, but the Fraziers keep their training (and motivations) under wraps during the fall season, and I have no information regarding her fitness level or any possible injury troubles she may have suffered this fall.
Behind those two, there are a number of girls who are strong on the state level but are not contenders for the top 10, and they will try to find and beat their North Carolina rivals while seeking PR times. Interestingly, most of the top 15 runners in the girls' North Carolina rankings appear to be heading to NXN Southeast (or have ended their season already), but fans at McAlpine will still get to see many familiar names: Gabby Merritt (Greensboro Day), Kayla Montgomery (Mount Tabor), Tori Churchill (Grimsley) and her teammates Blair Ramsey and Gabrielle Maudiere, Emily Grimes (Reagan), Natalie Andrejchak (Robinson), Tristin van Ord (Chapel Hill), Sonia Payerpaj (Myers Park), Malia Ellington (CSD), and Grace Sullivan (Providence) among many others.
South Carolina
Boys Top runners
Andre Ivankovic (Daniel) - Class AAA boys individual champion and strong throughout the season. Helped Lions to team title. Personal best of 15:10 for 5K
Jack Manesiotis (Hilton Head) - Class AAA boys runner-up - did not run most of the season due to injury, close to qualifying last year. Personal best of 15:23 for 5K.
Michael Lantz (Blythewood) - one of top Class AAAA runners in the state.
Girls Top runners
Laura Miller (Mann) - Senior: sub-18 throughout this season, Class AAAA champion
Logan Morris (Spartanburg Christian): top private school runner, competes in mix with top public school runners.
Tennessee
Quintin McKinnish - McKinnish finished second in the AAA race at the Tennessee State Cross Country Championships. The Morristown-West junior ran a time of 15:55.31. He has personal bests of 4:19.47 for 1600 meters and 9:11.86 for 3200 meters. Two weeks ago McKinnish ran 3200 meters at the Knoxville Youth Athletics Post Season Cross Country Time Trial where he clocked that new personal best time. Others to watch include Nick McCormick of East Hamilton High School who finished seventh at the state meet in the A-AA class. Paul Patterson of Bradley Central could also be one of the top runners for Tennessee.
Texas
Last year Cali Roper of Willis and current Rice University freshman won the event in a time of 17:02. This year the question is who will lead the Lonestar State? The girl's top returner is Karis Jochen of A&M Consolidated. Jochen finished 9th at this meet last year and went onto finish 12th in San Diego. She is peaking at a great time having defended her 5A state title and winning the Nike South Regional in the last two weeks. Her biggest competition in those meets was Kingwood senior Sandie Raines. Raines finished second behind Jochen in both events. Both girls look to be top ten contenders and keep the Texas running tradition alive.
On the boys side, Robert Domanic was the top finisher from 2011. He was the number three runner for Texas behind individual champion Craig Nowak and third place finisher Daniel Vertiz, but punched his ticket to San Diego by securing the tenth and final spot. Domanic finished 20th at Foot Locker Nationals with a time of 15:42. Like Jochen, he is also coming off a 5A cross country state championship and a Nike South Regional championship which he won in 15:09.10. Look for Domanic to make a return trip to California.
Virginia
Boys
The state of Virginia has three returning Foot Locker finalists from 2011 who will be racing Saturday in the seeded races down at the PR producing speedway known as McAlpine Greenway Park in Charlotte, North Carolina for the Foot Locker South Regional. All seniors, Sophie Chase of Lake Braddock, Sean McGorty of Chantilly, and Thomas Madden of Skyline are attempting to make a return trip to San Diego for the Foot Locker Nationals. For Chase, the two-time Virginia state 3A cross country champion will have the opportunity to join select company as a three-time qualifier for Foot Locker Nationals. Both Chase and McGorty have excellent odds of winning the Foot Locker South Regional title if they choose to race for the win rather than just qualifying as some runners opt to do the latter and run hard enough to qualify with a top 10 finish.
The Chantilly senior McGorty is arguably the state's best cross country since over 10 years ago when Virginia enjoyed having two Foot Locker National runners-up between Alan Webb (2000) of South Lakes and Bobby Lockhart (2001) of John Handley overlap their high school years with Lockhart only a grade below Webb. McGorty has set several course records including most recently shattering the Virginia state meet course record at Great Meadow (used since the mid 2000s) in a time of 14:47.
McGorty has not only dominated the competition in Virginia with an undefeated season, but scored a major national win earlier in the season at Great American with a 5K performance best of 14:43 in a great duel over returning Foot Locker finalist Jacob Thomson of Kentucky. A returning Foot Locker All-American (10th in 2011), McGorty is ranked among the nation's best currently and will be one of the individual favorites to win at McAlpine this weekend as the US #4 ranked runner according to MileSplit US. McGorty's 14:19 performance at the Burke Lake Park's 2.98 mile course for the Northern Region Meet tied him with a past Foot Locker great in 1995 and 1996 Foot Locker South champion Sharif Karie of West Springfield for second fastest all-time on the course behind only course record holder Alan Webb.
McGorty is one of five returning Foot Locker finalists for the South boys, which is a remarkable high number of returnees for most years. McGorty was 6th in last year's South regional with his first sub 15 minute 5K race of 14:54. McGorty then went from 6th in the regional meet to 10th in the national race at Balboa Park in San Diego. The only returnee who finished ahead of McGorty in both Charlotte for the regional race and in San Diego for the national race was Joshua Brickell of Georgia. Brickell placed fourth in the 2011 seeded race at Foot Locker South with a swift time of 14:41 before becoming an All-American with a 8th place effort at Foot Locker Nationals. McGorty faced Brickell earlier in the season at Great American when McGorty and Thomson were able to break away from him and the rest of the field in the final uphill to the finish before McGorty edged Thomson by only 3 tenths of a second, while Brickell was 14 seconds back in third place at 14:57. Thomson may be the toughest challenger and most likely to stand in the way for McGorty in becoming the 7th Virginian to win the seeded boys' race at Foot Locker South following in the footsteps of Dwight Stephens (1979) of T.C. Williams, Charles Alexander of St. Christopher's (1981), Andre Williams of Armstrong (1988), Sharif Karie of West Springfield (1995-1996), Alan Webb (1999-200) of South lakes, and Bobby Lockhart (2001) of John Handley. However, Brickell was the best among the returnees during this segment of last fall and there are other new faces in the mix.
North Carolina's Bakri Abushouk was fifth at Great American with a PR of 15:03 and won the North Carolina 4A state title by 18 seconds three weeks ago in a 15:13 performance. After tuning up for this race with a 9:04 3200 meter race two weeks ago, the MileSplit US #14 ranked Abushouk appears ready to breakthrough into the 14 minute range at McAlpine.
Texas 5A state champion Robert Domanic of Lewisville Hebron High School is already headed to the West Coast next weekend following a first place finish at the NXN South Regional last weekend in 15:01. Now Domanic travels to Charlotte this weekend to see if he can compete in both high school cross country nationals and qualify for Foot Locker Nationals for a second consecutive year. Domanic was the 10th and final qualifier last year for nationals in San Diego, but then moved up to finish a strong 20th place finish at Balboa Park.
Skyline's Thomas Madden will attempt to rebound from a disappointing 7th place finish and failing in his defense of his Virginia Group AA state cross country title two weeks ago at Great Meadow to push himself into the top 10 at Foot Locker South for a return trip to San Diego. The Penn Relays 3K champion and sub 9 minute two miler from last spring has had an up and down cross country season. Madden started his season crushing his regional rival Patrick Joseph of Loudoun County by over 40 seconds at the Judges Classic but then was soundly defeated by the other returning Foot Locker finalist from Virginia in Sean McGorty at the Oatlands Invitational by 38 seconds. Madden raced and finished behind McGorty again in his next two major races at Great American and the Glory Days Grill Invitational, but the margin was cut in half with Madden posting swift times of 14:59 for fourth at Great American and 15:03 for second at Glory Days.
While Madden's performances at Great American and Glory Days may have firmly conceded to McGorty being the top runner in the state, Madden looked clearly as the top runner and favorite in Group AA after beating Blacksburg's Nick Link decisively at Great American and Loudoun County's Joseph at Glory Days. Championship season started with a district title for Madden, but he was denied a regional title in an upset by Joseph and then Link claimed his first state title over both Joseph and Madden. While Madden cannot turn back time to get another crack at a second straight state title in cross country, the opportunity lies ahead for him on Saturday to make a return trip to San Diego and hopefully improve upon his 23rd place finish at Balboa Park. It is not unprecedent for a strong state title favorite who fell short at Great Meadow to come back with a great redeeming race in Charlotte to qualify for Foot Locker Nationals.
The Lake Braddock program has seen an incredible total of 8 girls over the years qualify for Foot Locker Nationals, but never sent a boy to San Diego. Group AAA state cross country runner-up Nick Tuck will try to become the first. Tuck is the 8th highest returnee from last year's seeded race at Foot Locker South when he placed 22nd for All-South honors in a PR of 15:22. Tuck might not have the fastest track times in relation to other runners around him in the region vying for top 10 spots, but has proven on the 5K courses this fall that he belongs.
The 9:18 3200 meter runner Tuck had the second fastest time of the day at the VHSL State Championships with a 15:29 runner-up finish in the Group AAA race to Chantilly's McGorty. A former native of Hawaii, Tuck posted a time of 15:03 at the historic Burke Lake course at the Northern Region Championships, which the 15 minutes flat range is usually a good indicator historically of a Foot Locker Nationals caliber runner. In his two biggest regular season races, Tuck was a top 10 finisher at the Nike South Invitational in Texas and a runner-up finisher to MileSplit US #9 ranked Jacob Burcham of West Virginia at the Maymont Festival. The last time a school from Virginia sent multiple qualifiers to Foot Locker Nationals was back in 2007 when Midlothian qualified three in Jason Witt, Michael Hammond, and Kathleen Lautzenheiser. Tuck and teammate Sophie Chase are hoping to add to Lake Braddock's storied and successful history.
Loudoun County senior Patrick Joseph almost had a Group AA state title in reach, but ran out of gas after kicking a little too soon and Blacksburg's Nick Link seized the moment to pass Joseph in the final 100 meters for the win. Joseph held on for second place in 15:40. Joseph is the 2012 Group AA state outdoor champion at 1600 and 800 meters, which both races were won in a kick. He will need to put himself in position through the first 2 1/2 miles at McAlpine to utilize that kick to give himself a shot for a trip to San Diego.
Joseph has the third fastest 5K time among all the Virginian entrants behind only 2011 Foot Locker finalists McGorty and Madden with his 15:26 clocking at the Glory Days Grill Invitational. With track bests of 4:13 for 1600 and 1:54 for 800 meters, Joseph has shown that he can race with and beat Foot Locker finalists with his two recent wins against Madden including for the Region II title earlier this month. At last year's Foot Locker South Regional, Joseph placed 48th in the seeded race with a time of 15:45 and has the potential to be one of the most improved runners from that race on Saturday.
Third place finisher from the Group AAA state race with a 5K PR of 15:36, Thomas Edison junior Louis Colson will look for another PR drop and be the second Foot Locker Nationals qualifier from his school in five years to follow in the footsteps of 2008 Foot Locker Nationals All-American Leoule Degfae. Colson has come through in big races against top competition this season including a runner-up finish at the Oatlands Invitational to defeat both Madden and Joseph as well as his state meet run. Colson began his cross country season with a win against Tuck and the two Northern Region runners have battled close with each other in many races, so if Tuck has a shot at San Diego, Colson has to be considered in the mix as well.
Girls
The state of Virginia has three returning Foot Locker finalists from 2011 who will be racing Saturday in the seeded races down at the PR producing speedway known as McAlpine Greenway Park in Charlotte, North Carolina for the Foot Locker South Regional. All seniors, Sophie Chase of Lake Braddock, Sean McGorty of Chantilly, and Thomas Madden of Skyline are attempting to make a return trip to San Diego for the Foot Locker Nationals. For Chase, the two-time Virginia state 3A cross country champion will have the opportunity to join select company as a three-time qualifier for Foot Locker Nationals. Both Chase and McGorty have excellent odds of winning the Foot Locker South Regional title if they choose to race for the win rather than just qualifying as some runners opt to do the latter and run hard enough to qualify with a top 10 finish.
Chase is the top returnee from last year's race when she was the race runner-up with a time of 17:06. Saturday may be Chase's best opportunity to join other past Virginian greats in course record holder Aurora Scott (16:26) and two-time national champion Erin Keogh (16:46) as the only two Virginians to have broken 17 minutes at Foot Locker South. Her 17:06 performance from a year ago at McAlpine ranks her #3 all-time in meet history (for Virginians) behind only those two past regional champions.
An All-American last spring at two miles (4th, 10:19) and one mile (6th, 4:53), Chase has been running even faster than last year in her races leading up to this point of the season. After two big wins during the invitational season at the Maymont Festival (17:54) and Nike South Invitational (17:40), Chase rolled through championship season despite having two of the best runners in the state next to her in West Springfield's Caroline Alcorta and Lake Braddock teammate Hannah Christen to face at both the district and regional level prior to the state champions. Chase has dipped under 17 minutes this season, but on the short (2.98 mile) and very historic Burke Lake Park course with a 16:42 clocking to claim her third Northern Region title in the third fastest time in the course's history.
While helping lead her Lake Braddock squad to their second Group AAA state cross country title in four years, Chase also broke her own state meet course record from a year ago with a resounding 17:24 victory to repeat as individual state champion. The rest of her Lake Braddock team will be north in Carolina for the Nike Cross Southeast Regional in Cary. Chase as well as her team and coaches are hopeful that their team can pull in a third place team finish at NXN Southeast to draw at-large consideration and even more consideration with the knowledge that Chase would race with her MileSplit US #12 ranked squad in Portland, Oregon next weekend for the Nike Cross Nationals.
Chase is ranked #9 nationally according to the MileSplit US rankings with only Alana Hadley at US #5, an unattached high school athlete in North Carolina, ranked ahead of her from the South Region in the top 25 list. While Hadley lost in both races to Chase as a freshmen at Foot Locker South and Foot Locker Nationals, she has improved as well this year with two 17:16 5K performances under her belt.
A 11th place finisher at the 2011 Foot Locker Nationals, Chase is one of three returning Foot Locker All-Americans from the South Region including Grace Tinkey (6th) from Georgia and Karis Jochen (12th) from Texas. MileSplit US #18 Jochen defended her Texas 5A state title two weeks ago with a 17:18 performance, while dipping under 17 minutes for 5K at her regional meet prior. The state of West Virginia possibly has not seen a girls' distance runner of the caliber of Maggie Drazaba, who after missing a trip to San Diego last year with a 13th place finish in the South Regional is now of the top individual contenders for this year's race in Charlotte. Drazba is her state's record holder at 5K (17:17), 3200 (10:27), and 1600 (4:51) with numerous state meet records and titles.
The next runner from Virginia with the best shot and a very likely chance to break into the top 10 with top returnee Sophie Chase is West Springfield junior Caroline Alcorta. In only her second season of cross country, Alcorta has really established herself as Virginia's second best runner after Chase in cross country. Her invitational racing season included three major victories at the William & Mary Invite (18:20 5K), Hagan Stone Classic (17:57 5K), and Glory Days Grill Invite (17:42 5K PR). Her worst finish in any race has been second place this fall to All-American two miler Hannah Christen at Monroe Parker or four runner-up finishes to Chase at the Maymont Festival, Patriot District Championships, Northern Region Championships, and VHSL State Championships.
Alcorta's 16:56 runner-up race to Chase at the Northern Region Meet placed her 7th on the Burke Lake Park 2.98 mile course all-time list ahead of quite a few former Foot Locker finalists and Foot Locker South Regional race champions. Alcorta is not only capable of breaking into the top 10 at McAlpine, she could find herself finishing deep inside the top 10 among the first five places. A two mile best of 10:40, Alcorta has shown herself to be just as good as girls who have ran 15 to 20 seconds faster than her at that distance on the cross country course with her last four head-to-head wins over Lake Braddock's Christen (a 10:20s two miler) this season. If the MileSplit US #16 ranked Alcorta were to punch her ticket to San Diego, it would be the third Foot Locker finalist trained by young West Springfield cross country coach Chris Pellegrini following Mike Spooner (2006) and Paige Kvartunas (2009).
Following Chase and Alcorta, there is a pack of Virginia girls who are certainly capable of top 30 All-South finishes, but one or two could have a breakthrough race to sneak into the top 10 onto nationals. Cave Spring junior Katie Fortner may have the most ability and talent to become a Foot Locker finalist. Not too many girls in this field if any have ran as fast as Fortner has for one mile (4:49 All-American at the 2012 New Balance Indoor Nationals). Fortner has had to endure a very competitive cross country season between her district rivals Carolyn Bethel of Hidden Valley and Bonnie Angermeier of Blacksburg. She will get a break from both at season's end with Bethel and Angermeier both racing with their teams at NXN Southeast on Saturday, so it may be the opportunity for Fortner to focus on herself in putting together a dream race for San Diego. She seems to race well every time that she comes to North Carolina.
Fortner was 24th in the seeded race last November at Foot Locker South with a time of 17:54, while she ran her 5K PR of 17:35 at Great American (Cary, NC) last fall. Her season best of 17:41 came at Great American this September. A Group AA state cross country runner-up two weeks ago, Fortner is the 13th highest returnee from last year's race to certainly put her on that bubble for a top 10 finish.
Ahead of Fortner in last year's regional race with one of the best races ever by a freshmen from Virginia at Foot Locker South was Oakton's Allie Kimkiewicz when she placed 16th in a personal best performance of 17:42. Klimkiewicz has yet to beat that time this season, but Saturday would be the opportunity to do it on the McAlpine course to see if she can improve upon her 16th place in the 2011 seeded race.
The star sophomore was the top runner all-season for the eventual Group AAA state team runner-up Oakton squad. Her regular season included invitational wins at the Woodberry Forest Invite and Salesniam Invite in Delaware as well as a close second place finish to eventual Group A state champion Hannah Rose of Wilson Memorial at the Albemarle Invite. Her season best 5K time of 17:51 came with a solid sixth place finish in the Race of Champions at Great American. Klimkiewicz struggled finishing at the state meet with several runners passing her down the home stretch before she came across the line in 18:27. She is looking to bounce back from the tough finish at the state meet with a strong close at Foot Locker South for one of Virginia's top underclassmen distance runners.
It is tough to mention Klimkiewicz and not mention Macey Schweikert in the same breath as the James Robinson junior has been neck and neck with Oakton's #1 runner in several races this fall. Klimkiewicz just edged out Schweikert for the Concorde District title and finished one place ahead of her at a historically fast Northern Region Meet (Klimkiewiz - 4th, 17:16 and Schweikert - 5th, 17:27). An 800 meter specialist last spring with a 2:13 best, Schweikert had the better finish at the state meet to claim fifth in the Group AAA race with a season best 5K time of 18:08. A personal best of 18:01 from last fall, Schweikert is one of the state's better runners who is yet to break 18 minutes for 5K yet. She skipped Foot Locker South last year in her first cross country season as a sophomore, but aims to make a strong first impression with a sub 18 minute run and Foot Locker All-South showing.
The Northern Region is well represented at Foot Locker South and carrying the banner well for the state of Virginia has 7 of the top 11 fastest entrants (based on season best 5K times) are from the lone region with Chase, Alcorta, Klimkiewicz, Schweikert, Robert. E Lee's Bailey Kolonich, Thomas Edison's Jennifer Flack, and West Springfield's Maddie Wittich. Wittich impressed last week as Team Virginia's top finisher at the Battle of the Potomac to beat both Flack and Kolonich. Flack, a senior transfer from Kansas, has had a great first season in Virginia including two notable invitational wins at Oatlands and Octoberfest.
Private school state champion Molly Breidenbaugh of Trinity Episcopal did not have much competition to run with at Woodberry Forest two weeks ago to pick up her first individual state title at her new school. She will see a lot of competition and old faces from her days at Group AAA's Hanover High School in Charlotte to potentially push her back under 18 minutes again for 5K, which she achieved as a freshmen two years ago at Foot Locker South with a 17:51 performance. She has come to close to going under 18 minutes for a second time since then including a 18:10 run at the 2011 MileStat.com Invite and 18:02 run on the track at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals.
This fall, Breidenbaugh has a season 5K best of 18:13 on her lone opportunity on a fast course at Norfolk Academy, but with no competition. She raced well and put up good times on challenging hilly courses with three 18:40's efforts at Maymont and twice at Panorama Farms. The Trinity junior won the Virginia Independent Schools Division 1 state title comfortably by 13 seconds with a 19:16 performance at Woodberry Forest two Fridays ago. Breidenbaugh is looking to erase a poor race from last year at McAlpine (18:41) with an even better race than her freshmen run (17:57) at Foot Locker South.
West Virginia
Drazba at the 2012 WV State Championship - Lance McDaniel photo
West Virginia Foot Locker South Entrants
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