Boys: The National Scene
Saturday’s individual highlight, without question, will be the repeat of the classic Danner Invitational battle between Oregonians Kenny Klotz and Issac Stoutenburgh, and Washington’s Jeff Helmer. That race several weeks ago saw the trio separated by less than a second between 15:03-15:05. November 5, however, Klotz dominated the Oregon 4A race by 21 seconds over Stoutenburgh while Helmer was winning his state meet. Our Senior Editor Marc Davis says “In the end I just think that Klotz will be too tough for the rest of the field,” and I can hardly disagree. The No. 8 FL national returnee seems to be riding the beginning of a peak that could take him into serious national title contention.
When we last really checked in with the Golden State’s finest, we were watching Diego Mercado roll through the hills of Mt. SAC and beat the top national returnee, AJ Acosta. Now, after cruising through their league and section prelim meets, the pace will be accelerated for these two and California’s other FL national contenders at Saturday’s section finals.
The Southern Section finals are, of course, at Mt. SAC where we’ll see if Diego and brother Danny can again work their magic. In last week’s prelims, their times ranked third and fifth, but my guess here is that it wasn’t an all-out effort (Kent Morikawa of Torrence was fastest in 15:19 for 2.91M). Maybe this week’s won’t be either, but we have learned that in a special 2-mile at Azuza Pacific a week after Mt. SAC, D&D cranked out 9:04 and 9:05, with Danny getting the “W.” It looks like he may be up with his bro for good.
Meanwhile, AJ was taking the Avocado League Meet at Kit Carson Park, cruising to a 40-second win in 15:52 (5k). Saturday’s final is at Morley Field. Ben Sitler, my #3 Californian, coasted through the Central Coast Finals last weekend at Crystal Springs (2.95M) in 15:03, 27 seconds up on 2nd.
Many of the country’s other leading national contenders were training after state meets November 5 or earlier, but two of the South’s leading lights, Michael Eaton and Justin Harbor, were taking center stage in Lexington KY, and Dade City FL, respectively, with decidedly different results. Eaton, flying solo as he has all year, went out like a sprinting race horse in his AAA race and held on enough to clip a fraction off of the state meet (course) record of the venerable Bobby Curtis (15:06.00) in 15:05.81. He wanted the overall course record that the 2002 grad holds (14:58), but reported ¼-mile and mile times of 62 and 4:44 put paid to that.
Harbor, meanwhile, won his 4A race in 15:59, 15 ticks up on first, but Michael Anderson, running earlier (in cooler weather?) in 1A, had the best Florida time of the day in 15:53. Harbor ran stupendously at FL South last year (14:57) and in winning Manhattan this year. Since Manhattan, he hasn’t shown the same form. Time will tell if he can reach a new peak for the next few weeks.
Wrapping up this weekend, we’ll see if Brock Hagerman IN holds form in the Mid-East Championship against state champs from Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois (or if said champs will win and break my national list), and whether Ben Massam can remain Jersey’s finest in a showdown with Craig Forys in that state’s All-Group meet at Holmdel.
Also, what’s a CC season without a bit of track at the end for dessert? Jack Bolas and Sandy Roberts are among those running a special 3200 at the Cardinal Gibbons track in NC (put on by Raleigh TC) tonight (Friday) that has traditionally produced fast times. I’m told the friendly rivals will be running “in control,” but that we should still expect some blazers … around the 9:00 mark, I’m guessing.
Regionally Speaking …
… Here’s more of what’s going on:
Northeast: While our NE #1, Craig Miller, has been and will be continuing to train following his state meet, most of the rest of the region’s best have been or are still wrapping up their seasons.
We mentioned the Massam-Forys battle this weekend, which follows last week’s Group Championships in Jersey. Massam’s 15:44 led the day in Gr. II, with Forys 15:54 in Gr. III next. Watch out, though, for Chris Horel, the region’s leader at Manhattan, who may be letting it all out for the first time since then, and Gr. IV champ Jeff Perrella.
Probably the region’s biggest highlight last weekend was Brian Rhodes-Devey outkicking Steve Murdock for the AA crown in the New York public school champs, while Murdock’s teammate Greg Kelsey jumped into regional contention five seconds back in third. Owen Kimple in fourth was Fayetteville-Manlius’ No. 1 for the first time in a month, but as you know, F-M trailed Saratoga.
This week, with others like ‘A’ winner Noel Bateman thrown in, they’ll go at it again in the Feds meet at Bowdoin Park. (What a great name for a meet anyway; you can say, “I’m going to the Feds, man.” But I digress)
I’ve had a hard time getting a handle on who’s the best in Massachusetts this fall and last week’s divisional champs, on different courses at different distances, didn’t help me much. It’ll all shake out at the state meet Saturday at Franklin Park. Of course, I’m not including the Tayes in the above discussion because as prep schoolers, they’re not in the above competition. But Sintayehu and Ayalew did open some eyes at the New England Prep School D2 meet in CT last weekend, going 15:29 and 15:35 (Sinta’s first win over his bro). With almost a total lack of competition all year, will they be able to hang with Miller, Massam, and the rest? We’ll see.
Last weekend’s other big highlight was the New Englands, contested at Thetford Academy in VT. There, Tom Webb, RI, running his best race since Great American, took down red-hot Jay Koloseus, CT, by five seconds. Steve Duplinsky stayed on the list by taking the Maryland private school meet.
South: Outside of Eaton’s and Harbor’s exploits, the biggest news in this region was everything getting settled in the Longhorn State. Duncan Phillips, his season coming nicely to a peak, outran young Colby Lowe for the 5A title, 15:20-15:22. They will clearly carry their state’s flag at McAlpine, I would think. Travis Fort, the state’s top FL South returnee, won 4A by 10 seconds in 15:43, so we’ll see if he has another gear.
In Virginia, FL South #6 returnee Brad Siragusa has been ranked behind a handful of his peers, most notably Mike Spooner, all year long. But last Saturday he stepped up like a champ and won the big AAA enchilada over Spooner, 15:22-15:26. They will both definitely contend for San Diego berths.
Harbor getting tagged for the day’s best time was not the only surprise (to me, anyway) in FL. Luke Russell topped James Osborne in 2A, 16:02-16:10. Another nice run came from Sean Blaney (16:05) in 3A.
In other action, Kevin Schwab OK, stayed hot in winning the Oklahoma-Arkansas All-Star meet in 15:22. I haven’t given Louisiana, rebounding from Katrina in every way, much press this year. It’s also been pretty rare to get an FL qualifier from LA, but Brett Guidry had a nice 15:15 (3M) in winning their state meet this week.
Midwest: Things were pretty light in SteveU’s part of the country last weekend, but several of our top dogs are going to clash in Dayton (Kettering, actually) this weekend at the Mid-East Championships. State champs Hagerman (IN), Steve Finley (IL-AA), Landon Peacock (MI-D2), and Chad Balyo (OH-D1) are all going to be there, along with Ryan Craven (IL), who was just a tick behind Finley. It’s basically five of my top 15 or so, and will provide an excellent preview of what could happen in Kenosha (minus several other contenders, of course).
West: The California scene for FL West goes much deeper than AJ, the Mercados, and Sitler, of course. We’ve been tracking Michael Coe, Michael Cybulski, Patrick Milloy, Riley Booker, and others and from what a quick run-through tells me, these guys are still on track. While things will be much clearer after this weekend, another one of the SD section league finals saw Booker upset by Marco Anzures (14:59-15:00 3M).
You may not have heard of Hawaii’s Jeremy Kamaka'ala, but don’t be stunned if he comes over to the mainland in two weeks and gets a FL qualifier. Girls from the Aloha State have done so before, of course. Kamaka’ala won his state meet last week in 15:23.
This week, besides Border Clash (which could introduce some other long-shots for San Diego as well) and CA sections, we’ve got the Border War in Albuquerque. A glance at the rosters indicates the best of each state have enlisted, including no less than top FL contender Matt Tebo, who will be going for the course record he shares with Shadrack Kiptoo (15:21). How close the rest of NM’s and AZ’s finest get to him this week will give us a better idea of some more FL outside contenders.
|
Girls:National Scene
The New Jersey and New York cross-country championship progression that concludes this weekend at Holmdel Park and Bowdoin Park, respectively, may be a tale … The drama may have hit its peak in the Empire State last week, but it definitely will peak this weekend in the Garden State. Meanwhile, in California, the peak is just a week away.
(some content in the following paragraphs could fall under the Northeast header, but we just can’t split it up like that this week, now can we?)
Unfortunately, Brittany Sedberry won’t be running to defend her title at Holmdel, her team unable to qualify without her while she was still ill last weekend at the Group Championships. But fans will still be treated to another battle between the 1-2s of Gr. IV, Danielle Tauro (18:06 5k) and Amanda Marino (18:18), and Gr. III, Colts Neck duo Bri Jackucewicz (18:22) and Ashley Higginson (18:55). The quartet last met in the Shore Conference meet. But you also have to consider underrated-by-me Gr. II champ Vanessa Wright (18:30), the All-Group runner-up last year, as well as Roxbury duo Jenn Ennis (Gr. IV 3rd 18:36) and Kristen Stevens (4th 18:47), and Lara Heigis (1st Non-Public A 18:42).
In New York, the titans of AA met last weekend in the public schools champs at Queensbury and while the win from Aislinn Ryan (17:24 5k) was not unexpected, the relatively slim margin of victory (9 seconds) over Saratoga’s Hannah Davidson (17:33) was. I’ve been told by an unnamed source not to worry about Aislinn, though, that she’ll be ready for the next three races, so we’ll see.
The order after Ryan basically followed form – Davidson, teammate Lindsay Ferguson (17:40), and Suffern teammates Shelby Greany (17:48) and Kara McKenna (17:56) – with one major exception: Hilton’s Amanda Griggs back in 11th (18:22). She was apparently sick and also dealing with some shin soreness. Her team declined a Feds invitation, so they’ll have two weeks to heal until FL NE.
And if the NE (and its national implications) isn’t interesting enough with all those developments, consider those independents preparing for Vanny on Nov. 26. At the New York Road Runners CC Champs on that course last week (5k), New Yorkers and former Saratogans Nicole Blood and Caitlin Lane went 1-2 in 18:11 and 18:21, while Pennsylvanian Neely Spence went 18:37.
Another nice showdown this weekend will take place between PA’s AAA champ and new state course record-holder, Liz Costello, and Ohio’s dominant star Bridget Franek at the Mid-East Meet of Champions.
While there could be development of some nice regional contenders at this weekend’s two “Border” battles, I’d be surprised to see either Megan O’Reilly or Kari Hardt challenged. O’Reilly should put a cap on a wonderful season in the Northwest (her season will continue in California, of course) with a dominant win at the Nike Border Clash in OR, while Hardt should be the best of the Border War between Arizona and New Mexico’s finest.
A freshman was fastest in Florida this year, with Ashley Brasovan completing her year-long rule over the state with a 17:47 in 4A. Can a freshman do the same in California? Jordan Hasay would have you believe just that. She added a brutal 17:02 to her resume at the Central Section champs back on Nov. 10. That’s for 5k. Yikes. She’s certainly the D5 favorite, but I’m talking about fastest time for all classes. Annie St. Geme is probably the senior with the best shot for the best time of the day come Nov. 26. She joined the Mt. SAC sub-17 club with her 16:58 Southern Section prelim run (2.91M).
Regionally Speaking …
… Here’s more of what’s going on:
Northeast: We covered NY and NJ pretty well now, didn’t we? As I was saying, the Feds in NY may be a bit anti-climatic, with only ‘B’ winner Liz Deir having a good chance from other classes of breaking into the top group of AAs. … Similar to the boys side, I have a lot to learn about Massachusetts. Kirsten Kasper could be the best bet to win it all this weekend. None of the top 25 FL returnees are from MA, but it has been stronger in the past. … At the New Englands, Amie Schumacher CT (19:33) outran Kelly Sorrell CT (19:39). She was just ninth, 39 seconds behind Sorrell, at the CT State Open a week earlier. … It wasn’t just Spence from PA running well at Vanny last weekend. Sarah Morrison was at 18:37, Kassie Meholick 18:49, and Lara Crofford 19:09.
South: The main events from the South last weekend came from TX, FL, and VA. In Florida, besides Brasovan’s win, you had seniors Kelly Parrish leading the way in 3A (18:00) and Bona Jones (18:02) in 2A. It’s a shame they weren’t all in the same race!
Things returned to form in the Longhorn State, where all of the best runners were pretty much in 5A (top 10). Brooke Upshaw, after losing her region meet by quite a bit, won decisively at state in 10:47 (3200m), ahead of Nichole Jones (10:55), teammate Miranda Walker (11:00), and Carlene Mayfield (also 11:00). While others close behind could surprise and jump in at McAlpine, all but Jones from that top quartet were in San Diego last year and should all contend for the top 10.
In Virginia, Catherine White (17:49 5k) and Rachel Rose (17:58) confirmed themselves as the dominant public school runners with their wins in AA and AAA, respectively. Laurel Pritchard led the way in Alabama (17:58 5k) with the 6A title.
Midwest: There’s plenty more to talk about in this weekend’s Mid-East Championships from my region besides Franek. Several other contenders to make it to San Diego are in the race as well. Ohio D3 champ Sarah Foster and Illinois 2A runner-up Shannon Phelan weren’t quite the fastest in their respective state meets, but both are veterans who will place high here and have a shot next week in Kenosha. The same goes for Indiana runner-up Sarah Kehe.
West: Pretty much covered all the ground in this region with one *huge* exception. All year long, I’ve overlooked Lauren Ho (Hawaii Baptist Academy), who was ninth in FL West last year and the fifth returnee. Of course, it’s not like she’s been flying back and forth to the mainland and been mixing it up with runners I’ve been following, but she won her state meet last week in a fine 18:32. And you don’t have to have too long a memory to recall Hawaiian Vicki Chang’s winning the whole thing in Florida (1999). Sorry, Lauren!
|
