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Great American
Cross Country Festival


Veterans Park, Hoover AL - Saturday, October 13, 2007

DyeStat Onsite with SteveU and Pat Davey

Preview: Girls Individual Showdown the Clear Highlight

By SteveU

A couple of great Southeastern team battles (with a little national flair thrown in), a super national-class girls individual race, at least three Foot Locker title contenders, and some near-perfect weather will be in store for those attending the 9th Great American Cross-Country Festival this weekend at Hoover, Alabama.

The greatest deal of attention will deservedly be focused on the lead pack during the Girls Nike Race of Champions, where defending champ (and 2006 Foot Locker champ) Kathy Kroeger TN will battle the same top Florida trio she beat last year – Ashley Brasovan, Emilie Amaro, and Kayla Hale – as well as several other national class runners.  The battle for the individual title for the Boys Nike Race of Champions may not be as deep, but will be led by national title contender Sean Keveren TN.  His 8:55 2-mile at NON last spring and unbeaten record this fall makes him the him the best contender for gold here, and at least one of the top 5 or so for top honors in the country.

Team-wise, the two Nike Race of Champions events will feature a combined nine regionally ranked teams.

Meet director Jim Spier says that the meet will host about 100 schools and 1,600 runners, down about 30 percent from last year.  The drop was anticipated, he said, since teams aren’t compelled to travel from distant states to boost their rankings now that there’s an NTN regional system in place.


Girls Individual ROC

This was the race in 2006 where Kathy Kroeger first really made jaws drop, on a national level, and set the course for what became a Foot Locker championship.  But, of course, due to what’s happened since then, she’s hardly the consensus favorite to repeat here in Hoover this year.

After Foot Locker, Kroeger, her family, coaches and doctor decided it would be best for her long-term health if she took the spring off to gain weight.  Kroeger had not had any blatant problems, at least that showed up in her racing, but all involved took the wise, prudent and preventative course.  She gained 20 pounds and was ready for a good summer of training leading up to cross-country.

Unfortunately, when Kroeger started back training, she picked up a stress fracture that set her back again.  She didn’t start training, then, until late summer and has run four races to date.  But her first “true” race didn’t come until last week, when she met a solid field at the Jesse Owens meet in AL.  While her coaches emphasized that she shouldn’t be promoted as an obvious champion in the field, Kroeger was able to move strongly away from the field in the second half of the race and on to a 23-second victory in 18:08.

The race showed good progress and Kroeger has almost two months to continue to get fit for FL South, then, hopefully, San Diego.  But winning this weekend will be significantly tougher than last year, due to a certain Wellington FL junior.

Ashley Brasovan was 2nd here last year, the only regular-season loss in her career.  Of course, the regular season hasn’t been a problem for Brasovan; making to San Diego has.  She has struggled in both attempts, finishing 16th and 19th.

But maybe she’s gotten that monkey off her back.  At the Nike Indoor 2M last year, Brasovan proved she could beat national competition with a scorching second mile to win the title.  Outdoors, she ran 10:13 for 3200, 2nd best in the country, and was a solid 4th at NON.  So far this fall, she’s been better than ever, romping to record victories in the UF Mountain Dew and Southern Stars races, beating Florida’s two 2006 Foot Locker Finalists, Emilie Amaro and Kayla Hale, by more than 30 seconds in each race.  If she can make it to San Diego, she will compete for the national title.  Here, she has to be considered the favorite.

Speaking of Amaro and Hale, they will both return here after finishing 3rd and 4th last year.  Amaro was 13th in the country last fall in San Diego, and came back from her loss to Brasovan and dominated the flrunners.com Invite last weekend in 17:34.  Hale was 21st at Foot Locker Finals and though she lost the Southern Stars race, she ran a near-PR 17:18.

Those top four from last year won’t be the only the only standouts in this great field.  Chamblee GA sr Emily Reese, a 2005 Foot Locker Finalist who struggled and did not make it back last fall, had a good spring (two 10:16 3200s) and has run very strong through the start of this campaign.  She has run five times from 17:40-18:10, but has not been pushed at all. 

Barnesville OH jr Stephanie Morgan is best known for her miling exploits – she was the NON champ last spring with a 4:46.13 mile – but has only lost once this fall (to fellow OH star Claire Durkin) and has been under 18 twice.  Another Morgan, Madeline, is the leader of the SE#2 Mountain Brook AL powerhouse.  The junior was 2nd only to Emily Reese at the Clara Bowl meet, was 3rd at the big Firman Invite in Idaho, and has won several other meets.  She ran her first sub-18 at a home meet two weeks ago.

And if you’re looking for a darkhorse, consider Corinth MS jr Katlyn Will, who ran 17:54 to win the Brooks Twilight last weekend and topped MS defending state champ Cory McGee in another race.


Girls Team ROC

SE#2 Mtn Brook AL
SE#3 Episcopal FL
SE#7 Oak Ridge TN
SE#9 Collins Hill GA
HM Assumption KY,
HM Holy Trinity FL,
HM Roberson NC
HM Hoover AL


Four SE-ranked teams highlight this meet, but the class of the meet appears to be SE#2 Mountain Brook AL – provided they haven’t raced themselves out.

Indeed, it “seems” like the Spartans have been everywhere this fall … but actually, they have only raced out of state twice, including the Clara Bowl meet in nearby Rome, GA.  But what a race that other excursion was – a championship at the prestigious Firman Invitational in Boise, ID.  While the competition was probably similar overall to what they’ll face here, the triumph really put Mountain Brook on the map this year, and in The Harrier U.S. top 25 at #21.

Junior Madeline Morgan has led the Spartans this year, with freshmen Marie Demedicis and Catherine Diethelm playing big roles.

Episcopal of Jacksonville FL, has just moved up this week from 8th to 3rd in the SE, thanks to its big win over Eleanor Roosevelt MD in the flrunners.com meet.  Their top four of sophs Katie Traylor, Leslie Blackshear, and Mariah Loop packed together with Laura Steel in a 34-second span for the win.

SE#7 Oak Ridge TN and SE#9 Collins Hill GA will be among teams giving these two a challenge, but will probably be battling for third.



Boys Team/Individual ROC

SE#3 Baylor TN
SE#5 Hoover AL
SE#7 Parkview GA
SE#8 Oak Ridge TN

NY#5 Kellenburg NY
SW HM Desert Vista AZ


If you’re on one of the top boys teams from the Southeast and you look around Saturday morning and have an odd case of déjà vu, don’t worry.  You HAVE seen these guys before.

Back on September 22, then-SE#9 Baylor TN raced three other ranked teams at the McCallie Invitational in Chattanooga, TN.  They won the meet with 65 points, beating then-SE#8 Hoover AL (75), then-SE#10 Parkview (95), and then-SE#6 Oak Ridge TN.  It was a meet that has played a huge part in boosting Baylor to its current SE#4. 

This quartet of Southeastern powers will line up again Saturday and likely will be at least four of the top six finishers.  From outside the region, they will contend with Kellenburg NY, which is ranked #5 in its state, and SW#10 Desert Vista AZ.

With two strong leaders, the Baylor School, also in Chattanooga, has surprised some people this year.  Senior Waldo du Plessis has been leading the way, finishing 2nd behind Brentwood sr Sean Keveren in the McCallie race.  The Raiders have also benefited greatly from jr transfer Bill Matthews, a former state champ at Mountain Brook AL. 

Hoover is also a fast-rising program.  They are coming off a big victory at the Jesse Owens Invitational, where junior Pat McGregor led them to victory in 15:48.  Oak Ridge TN rebounded a bit from McCallie with a 4th in the huge Maymont meet, with sr Maclean O’Donnell taking 6th in 15:49.  The team’s “usual” #1, Chris Cole, recovering from an arch injury, moved up from 7th man to 4th man, and another jump Saturday could put his team in a very good position.

Parkview GA, meanwhile, has had two weeks off since the McCallie race.  At McCallie, they were led by Josh Pinson and Brett Richardson.  Auburn, the runner-up at Jesse Owens behind Hoover, is also in the race. 

Individually, it’s Sean Keveren’s race to lose.  The Brentsville TN sr has gotten more impressive as the season has gone on, with his 15:13 win at Memphis last weekend seeming to indicate he’s getting to the form his 8:55 2M would suggest.

Those with the best chance to challenge him, or battle for 2nd, include du Plessis of Baylor, Joe Bosshard of Crested Butte Academy CO, and Miles Svoboda of Pope HS in GA.

The seeded races will feature, among other teams, Tupelo MS, an honorable mention team in the South region for both boys and girls


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