 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The annual DyeStat Elite Top 25 series (formerly Foot Locker Favorites and renamed given additional options available now) are national and regional rankings of cross-country runners based on distance-running accomplishments to date, with an emphasis on XC and 3200/2M track results, rather than a projection of how the Foot Locker Finals or NXN Finals will turn out (predictions run later in the season).
|
Goethals: State meet quality regardless of gender
Nov 6, 2009 Girls Rankings (through Oct. 31 meets)
The Top 25
Megan Goethals Michigan regional effort is among best "vs. boys" comparisons of decade; Frazier, Sisson,
Flood, Magg among this week's movers
Story and rankings by SteveU
| Unbeaten Megan Goethals may be ready for a historic race at MIS Saturday. Photo by Pat Davey
| One interesting way of measuring how good a girls’ time on a given XC course is, is to compare it to boys times. A “normal” differential between guys and girls times in elite-level racing is around 2:20. If you average out the 15 total Foot Locker and NXN regional and national races from last fall, the difference between winning times was 2:22.5. That’s a small sample, but reasonably accurate. So, when you see a girls time within 2:00 or less of the winning guys time, you know either the girls field (or at least, winner) was better or it was just a better performance.
One all-time amazing performance in this decade – using that comparison – was Kathy Kroeger’s state title in Tennessee in 2006, the year she won Foot Locker. That year she ran an epic 16:59 for 5k on a fairly tough state meet course, a time just 55 seconds slower than the best winning boys time of 16:04. Clay Adams ran that 16:04 and he was no slouch. Second was Sean Keveren, at 16:12, and he broke 9:00 the following spring in the 3200. Just 31 of the 455 boys in the meet ran faster than Kroeger.
Well, Rochester MI sr Megan Goethals produced a performance last weekend that makes the eyes pop in the same way. Granted, it was “just” a regional, but Goethals ripped a 17:24 for 5k that was a full 2:10 ahead of second place. The boys winner in the 119-runner field ran just 16:35, only 49 ahead of the top Foot Locker returnee. Even more impressive: Goethals would have finished 5th in the boys race. Yes, she would have qualified for the boys D1 state meet with ease.
So far this season, the performances of the senior have been perhaps a little undervalued here – partly due to the fact that she’s been limited to in-state competition and has gotten someone to run with (if even for a little while) on infrequent occasions. But Saturday’s state meet will provide a chance for Goethals to get some deserved national attention. She already has the state meet record at MIS (used since 1998) of 17:10, but hammering that down well under 17:00, which she just may do with the motivation and good conditions, would inspire some of the same awe that Dathan Ritzenhein’s 14:10 did here in 2000. Goethals’ effort last week moved her past Aislinn Cuffe to US#2
Other highlights that caused minor shifts in the rankings
- Ravenscroft NC frosh Wesley Frazier topped the CR at the NCISSA champs, running 17:36 to beat her own 17:42 from earlier in the season (from #6 to #5)
- Parkway Central MO sr Emily Sisson continued to sharpen for the post-season and a possible fourth Foot Locker Finals berth, taking her section meet in 18:58 after winning the district the week before. In both instances, teammate and fellow FL Finalist Diane Robison ran on cruise control, helping teammates further back (from #16 to #14). One hopes to see Sisson and Robison all out in the same race for the first time this season Saturday at the MO 4A state meet
- Dowling Catholic sr Katie Flood won her third Iowa 4A title in four years (losing only to teammate Ashlie Decker in 2008) with a 13:50 for 4k (from #18 to #15)
- Jesuit OR sr Annamarie Maag continued her complete rule of the NW with another sub-18:00, running 17:51 in her league meet (from #20 to #16).
Newcomers
- North Royalton OH jr Hannah Neczypor returns to the Top 25 at #22, following a regional meet victory in 17:33.07, beating Madeline Chambers, the leader of MW#1 Magnificat
- Pennsbury PA frosh Sara Sargent enters the rankings after topping previous #25 Meghan McGovern to win the PIAA Class AAA District 1 meet in 17:39
|
Athlete (preseason in parentheses, plus grad. year, school, state)
| 1. (1) Chelsey Sveinsson, 2011, Greenhill HS, TX
| | 2. (3) Megan Goethals, 2010, Rochester HS, MI | | 3. (2) Aisling Cuffe, 2011, Cornwall Central HS, NY | 4. (4) Molly Grabill, 2011, Rancho Bernardo HS, CA
| | 5. (6) Wesley Frazier, 2013, Ravenscroft HS, NC | | 6. (5) Sarah Andrews, 2010, The Woodlands HS, TX | | 7. (8) Emily Lipari, 2010, Roslyn HS, NY | | 8. (9) Kelsey Lakowske, 2011, Boulder HS, CO | | 9. (7) Carolyn Baskir, 2010, East Chapel Hill HS, NC | | 10. (10) Megan Morgan, 2010, Torrey Pines HS, CA | | 11. (11) Jessica Tonn, 2010, Xavier Prep HS, AZ | | 12. (12) Chelsea Ley, 2010, Kingsway Regional HS, NJ | | 13. (13) Kathryn Fluehr, 2011, Community School of Naples HS, FL | | 14. (16) Emily Sisson, 2010, Parkway Central HS, MO | | 15. (18) Katie Flood, 2010, Dowling Catholic HS, IA | | 16. (20) Annamarie Maag, 2011, Jesuit HS, OR | | 17. (15) Diane Robison, 2010, Parkway Central HS, MO | | 18. (19) Ashlie Decker, 2010, Dowling Catholic HS, IA | | 19. (17) Eleanor Fulton, 2011, Highlands Ranch HS, CO | | 20. (21) Malia Cali, 2010, St. Thomas Aquinas HS, LA | | 21. (22) Sara Kroll, 2010, Livonia Churchill, MI | | 22. (23) Hannah Neczypor, 2011, North Royalton OH | | 23. (23) Avery Clifton, 2010, Washburn Rural HS, KS | | 24. (24) Carmen Carlos, 2013, McGill-Toolen Catholic HS, AL | | 25. (NR) Sara Sargent, 2013, Pennsbury HS, PA | | Honorable mention | Teeny Adams CA
Nicky Akande GA
Alaina Alvarez CA
Gaby Anzalone MI
Kaelyn Balch KS
Saylah Barserian CA
Allie Billmeyer CA
Liz Brandon ID
Emma Brink KY
Stephanie Bulder CA
Heidi Caldwell NH
Mackenzie Carter NY
Courtney Chapman NY
Allison Clark WA
McKenna Coughlin NY Madeline Chambers OH Chloe Curtis CA
Jenna Davidner MA
Kaitlyn Davis VA
Maggie Escobar TX
Sarah Fakler AZ
Megan Ferowich TN
Erin Finn MI
Erika Fluehr FL
Amanda Fox IL
Leah Francis AK
Karis Frankian CA
Maria Frigo KY
Samantha George NC
Kinsey Gomez ID
Carly Hamilton OH
Kaitlin Hanenberg CO
Grace Heymsfield AR
| Laura Hoer NC
Keelin Hollowood NY
Ashley Isham TX
Rachel Johnson TX
Oliva Jones IL
Lavinia Jurkiewicz IL
Rolonda Jumbo AZ
Ariel Karabinus VA
Sydney King NY
Kim Kirby TX
Carly Kitts TX
Kathleen Lautzenheiser VA
Abbey Leonardi ME
Alex Leptich MI
Hannah Luber NY
Catrina McAlister CA
Cory McGee MS
Meghan McGovern PA
Sarah McIntosh IL
Kaylin Mahoney CA
Mackenzie Maki KS
Molly Malone NY
Sydney Marshall GA
Bret McDaniel GA
Jenna McMiller WI
Erin Menefee CA
Liberty Miller CA
Clara Milne NM
Baylee Mires WA
Amanda Moreland NY Michelle Moriset MI
Julie Nacouzi CA
Sam Nadel NY
| Amy-Eloise Neale WAAndrea Nelson WA
Alyssa Nielson TX
Shannon Osika MI
Megan Patrignelli NY
Britten Petrey IL
Molly Pezzulo NY
Haley Pierce DE
Savannah Pio CA
Lizzie Predmore NY
Jillian Prentice NJ
Amanda Russell TX
McKinzie Schulz IL
Payton Schutte OR
Molly Seidel WI
Erika Setzler AR
Melissa Skiba CA
Makenna Smith CA
Joanna Stevens VA
Kathleen Stevens VA
Jacque Taylor CA
Michelle Thomas OH
Regan Tindell TX
Jordan Tomecek MI
Sierra Vega CA
Megan Venables NJ
Laura Vigilante NJ
Meredith Wagner OH
Kelly Whitley IL
Danielle Winslow NY
Brooke Wolfe IL
Danica Wyson CA
Megan Yohe MO |
|
Top 25 Index
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
