1. Brendan Fennell
Pearl River NY sr

The race ended a mini-slump for Fennell after his win in the mud at the Manhattan Invitational put him high up on the all-time Van Cortlandt Park list. "My last two races were kind of rough," Fennell said. "I knew I had to come back with a strong race." He had 2 weeks after his disappointing 5th in the New York Federation championsnhips to refocus. "I thought how bad it felt not to qualify last year and how good it felt to qualify 2 years ago."

Fennell is going to concentrate on track instead of basketball this winter, so he should be seen at the New York Armory meets. "I'm going to try to qualify for the Millrose mile."

2. Hakon Devries
John Jay, E. Fishkill NY jr

Devries came out of the hills trailing the top 8 and out of a qualifying spot for San Diego. "I thought I was in trouble, because I'm not the greatest kicker," Devries said. "But I didn't want to not finish the season on a good note." So Devries dug deep to summon all his energy. "I passed a bunch of guys in the last 400 meters," he said. He did indeed, overhauling everyone but Fennell and only missing him by 1 second.

Gottesfeld told Don Rich, publisher of PennTrackXC

I ran better here than I did at States. I was really nervous here, I have to admit because I just didn't know. I was 35th last year, I had a stress fracture, and now I'm a totally different runner. During the race I wasn't feeling amazing, but I was feeling good, and I knew I had a chance to qualify.

I definitely could have won because I was leading on the straight, but I just shut down mentally there. I was like 'I'm qualified, but then five guys shot past me. And i said, OK, you've still got some work.' I was in the lead with a hundred to go. Anybody's got a shot if you're in the lead at that point, so obviously I could have won this. It's not that I'm trying to be brash, I'm just saying it's only logical. But it still surprised me, because I had no idea what was going to happen here.

It was really tough the beginning of the race because I had this really big wedge of dirt in my cleats. I was like running on a bump. It felt like a rock. It covered my 3/8th spike and hurt my footing and made my spikes useless. Then halfway through the race it fell off and I decided I better take advantage of it. I was catching the pack in the woods. I guess I ran how I wanted to run, not go out to hard, but be there with the lead guys at the end. I guess I ran well strategically.

I passed Fennell on the straight. I went too early I think. because then they flew by me.

This has been a big dream for me to get to go to Nationals, so it's a dream realized. It's one of thing I wanted to do in high school.

I trust Kevin, my coach, so I don't really worry about the peaking stuff. But I think it was good to have those weeks off and to reorganize myself. I ran well at States, but I don't think I was in top form. I didn't run smart at States. I led early and took all the wind, but I was a lot more tired in that race than this one.

I think a reasonable goal for nationals would be to be the top Northeast finisher. Northeast is probably the weakest region. It's gonna be tough, I know that. I'm just going to enjoy it, because I haven't raced any of those guys before. Just making it is the national scene. Making it as a senior is even better. The Northeast is stocked with juniors, most of the boys are juniors, and a sophomore made it.

My teammate Greg was the biggest help this year because he knew what I was going through. And he was there every step of the way. Someone to talk to. I think he has the ability to qualify. He just didn't have a good day.

The strategy was not to go out too hard like the PA guys last year.