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| | Midwest Region
UW-Parkside, Kenosha WI
Nov. 24, 2007
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Tony Jones Stories - Durkin's 17:01 Leads 4 From OH -- It's Fout, Derrick and 4 from CO -- Lead Race Recaps
FootlockerCC.com - Press Release - *FSN will air Foot Locker Finals Monday, Dec. 17. Check your local listings.**
 |  | | Mike Fout and Claire Durkin celebrate victory. By Photorun.net |
Winners Table - click on event for results, stories and photos | Event | Winners
| Frosh/Soph Boys
| Zachary Wills OH 16:19 over Michael Atchoo MI 16:23 and Aaron Beattie IL 16:30 | GIRLS SEEDED
| Claire Durkin OH runs CR 17:01 over Katie Flood IA, 17:42
| BOYS SEEDED
| Mike Fout IN in 14:55 over Chris Derrick IL 15:03
| Frosh/Soph Girls
| Emma Drenth MI 20:02 over Sara Kroll MI 20:15 and Olivia McCormick MO 20:16 | Junior/Senior Boys
| Garrett Eklof WI 16:43 over Joe Dixon WI 16:48 and Matt Duncan MO 16:50 | Open Race
| Tim Keller WI 15:03 over Matt Thull WI 15:05 and Aaron Crague IN 15:19 |
Lead Race Recaps
By Tony Jones
Arctic-like temperatures were the first to greet athletes, spectators, and meet officials on a day that wasn’t exactly fit for optimal racing, let alone great individual performances. In addition to the 28F temperature and brisk wind, there was some snow on the course. However, there were quite a few surprises in store for the cross-country faithful as Claire Dunkin and Mike Fout came away victorious.
Claire Durkin (Columbus, Ohio) came into the meet without huge expectations. “My goal coming in [here] was just to qualify,” she said. She did just more than qualify. The rather shy Durkin let her feet do the talking for her in meet record time, clocking a mind-blowing 17:01, eclipsing Melody Fairchild’s 17:08 course record from 1990. This year’s edition was more about the margin of victory over a solid field. No one expected undefeated Katie Flood (Iowa) to finish more than 200m back in second. Flood may have held a little back with the Nike Team Nationals looming but said later she “tightened up” in the race and wasn’t able to give good chance to the Ohio star.
The boys’ field went pretty much to form as nearly all the pre-meet top ten favorites advanced to San Diego for the upcoming national championship. Senior Michael Fout (LaPorte, Indiana) won his second post-season race in a row, following his Mideast Meet of Champions triumph. This one he got over meet favorite Chris Derrick (Naperville, Il) by eight seconds. The field cruised through miles one and two in pedestrian mode splits of 4:50 and 9:41. Fout opened up a small lead at 1.5M and no one responded, though Derrick’s demeanor coming into the finish suggested he indeed was saving something for two hard weeks of championship racing ahead.
Fout, meanwhile, appeared very relieved and joyous in advancing on to San Diego – and maybe he wasn’t quite all-out either. “My goal wasn’t to push it as hard as I could have,” he said. “I wanted to come in and see what I could do… and qualify.”
Schedule
| 10:00 a.m. | Frosh/Soph boys | | 10:40 a.m. | Girls Seeded | | 11:25 a.m. | Boys Seeded | | 12:05 a.m. | Frosh/Soph Girls | | 12:45 p.m. | Junior/Senior Boys | | 1:25 p.m. | Open Race | | 2:15 p.m. | Awards |
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