Nationally Ranked College and HS Teams Featured
by Ricky Quintana
SAS Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. will be the site of some outstanding
competition on Friday and Saturday, September 26th and 27th, as
400+ teams and over 4,000 runners from 29 states compete in the
5th annual Great American Cross Country Festival. The two-day event,
now under the auspices of the National Scholastic Sports Foundation,
will feature 37 nationally ranked teams in 30 races. College races
begin the competition on Friday at 2:15 P.M. High school races will
begin early Saturday morning at 7:30 A.M. and continue throughout
the day.
The Great American Cross Country Festival will move for the third
time in its history to a new permanent home, SAS Soccer Park. The
newly designed course will begin inside the multimillion dollar
7,000 seat soccer stadium that served as the home of the WUSA’s
Carolina Courage.
After a spectacular introduction featuring a drum line, balloons
and much fanfare, runners will make their way through the SAS Soccer
Park grounds before finishing in the stadium. The third addition
of college races will kick off action Friday, September 26th, at
2:15 P.M. There will be eight college races in all with the featured
race being the NIKE Race of Champions, set to go off at 4:15 P.M.
for the women and 4:40 P.M. for the men.
The women’s race should be a real battle as 10 nationally
ranked teams toe the starting line. Last year’s Great American
winner, Brigham Young University, returns to defend its title. The
Cougars captured the 2002 NCAA Championship last year and entered
this season ranked #1. This will be their first true test of the
season.
Individually, 2002 NCAA Cross Country Champion, Shalene Flanagan
of the University of North Carolina returns to defend her title.
Flanagan will begin her junior season with an eye on a second national
cross country title and a berth in next summer’s Olympic Games
in Athens, Greece. She earned favorite status this past June in
Palo Alto, CA after placing second in the 5,000 meter run at USATF
Championships.
The men’s NIKE Race of Champions will be an equally tough
field as eight nationally ranked teams vie for the title. Last year’s
defending Great American champ and this year’s #5 preseason
ranked team, Northern Arizona will be the favorite. The Lumberjacks
will be challenged by #7 Michigan and #8 Central Michigan. Defending
individual champ, Northern Arizona’s Henrik Ahnstrom, also
returns to defend his title.
High schoolers will rise at dawn to make it to the start of the
races, which begin at 7:30 A.M. Saturday morning, September 27th.
The highlight again will be the NIKE Race of Champions. There will
be a reversal of order as the boys will start first at 9:00 A.M.
and are followed by the girls at 9:25 A.M.
The boys NIKE Race of Champions is aptly named as 13 state championship
titles are shared among the teams entered. Thirteen of those teams
are nationally ranked; arguably, the best field ever assembled for
high school cross country race. Preseason #1 ranked The Woodlands
(Conroe, TX) is favored to win the title. Last year, they were runaway
winners before their top two runners were disqualified for making
a wrong turn.
Individually, 2002 Footlocker National Cross Country finalist Galen
Rupp (Central Catholic, Portland, OR), Ian Gottesfeld (Henderson,
Westchester, PA) and Brian Sullivan (The Woodlands, Conroe, TX)
will face an early season test to decide the winner. Also entered
in the race will be the national sophomore mile record holder, Jeff
See of Middletown, OH. See broke Alan Webb’s four year old
record last June at the Adidas Outdoor Championships in Raleigh,
N.C.
On the girl’s side, three time Great American Race Champion
titleist and #2 preseason ranked, Saratoga Springs (NY) will seek
an unprecedented fourth consecutive title against seven other nationally
ranked teams which share ten state championships amongst them.
Saratoga Springs’ Nicole Blood is the favorite after winning
the Great American title last year, butwill face stiff challenges
from Footlocker finalists Laura Cummings (Bay Shore, NY), HeidiMagill
(Mt. View, UT), and Maddie Schueler (Sacred Heart Academy, Louisville,
KY).
The Race of Champions is not the only high school cross country
race loaded with talent. TheSeeded Invitational races will include
some of the premier high school milers in the country. #1ranked
returning miler Erik Stanley (Klein, TX), #3 Victor Gras (Belmont,
MA), #6 Ryan Deak(Smoky Hill, CO), # 8 Gavin Coombs (Griswold, CT),
#14 Chris Spooner (Lewisburg, PA)and #25 Jake Morse (Arlington,
TX) will race for the title on the boys side.
The girls Seeded Invitational race will be equally exciting as
the fastest returning miler in thecountry, Sarah Bowman (Fauqier,
Warrenton, VA) will compete against Footlocker finalist Katelyn
Kaltenbach (Smoky Hill, CO), Kate Niehaus (Spring Valley, SC) and
more than ten other Footlocker National hopefuls.
The festivities will end late Saturday night as the high school
runners will get a chance to eat, socialize and dance at the Regency
Park in Cary, N.C. in the annual Harrier Ball.
Check http://nationalscholastic.org/ and http://greatamerican.nationalscholastic.org/index.php
for instant results, picture, stories and interviews
Complete team profiles can be found at:
Boys - http://nationalscholastic.org/news.php?newsid=361
Girls - http://nationalscholastic.org/news.php?newsid=362
A complete profile of top rated individuals can be found at http://nationalscholastic.org/news.php?newsid=363
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