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USATF Cross Country
Junior Nationals


Agricultural History Farm Park - Derwood, Maryland

Saturday, February 7, 2009



Preps to battle 2008 'Big Three' in Jr. mens race
Ashley Brasovan, Allie McLaughlin lead female HS hopefuls


Meet Preview by SteveU

Junior Mens Race - Junior Women

Rarely has a USATF Junior XC championship field been so top-heavy with super talent – and been cause for some serious hype – but this is one of those instances.  German Fernandez (left, photo by John Nepolitan), Chris Derrick, and Luke Puskedra generated waves and waves of excitement all year long as prep seniors and, hard as is to believe when you think about it, have actually exceeded the pundits’ expectations as collegiate yearlings.  All eyes were on the three-headed monster of Webb, Ritz and Hall when they were frosh back in 2001-02, but a good chunk of the ongoing buzz was based on potential and anticipation – with this year’s frosh, it’s all performance.

With that trio all set to toe the line Saturday on the Agricultural History Farm Park in Derwood MD, as well as Colby Lowe, Kevin Williams and several other outstanding college freshmen, it’s going to be tough for any prep to make the six-man Junior men’s team this year for the IAAF World Champs in Jordan.  Some top prep harriers are competing at the Boston Indoor Games (Reed Connor, Trevor Dunbar) or just not racing at this point.  But the high school part of the field is still pretty solid, with a distinctive Virginia flavor.  Foot Locker Finals 3rd-place finisher Thomas Porter leads the group, with fellow FL Finalist Kyle Satterwhite and Ben Dejarnette – who did not make FL Finals but is also a national-class performer – comprising a tough trio.  There’s also Bobby Nicolls CO, who was rated the top prep harrier in the country entering the fall, but had health/injury problems that caused him to cut things short.

The new Big Three

It’s hard to imagine, though – unless one of the them is sick or hurt or just has a horrible race – that Fernandez, Derrick, and Puskedra won’t finish in the top four Saturday.  But in what order?  Fernandez is the defending champ and came into the fall with the most hype, thanks to a senior year at Riverbank CA that included an historic record-setting state meet win, his USATF Jr. XC triumph, and the mind-boggling track performances at CIF and NON.  The senior XC season wasn’t perfect, though, with a somewhat disappointing FL Finals, and similarly, his otherwise super collegiate freshman campaign at Oklahoma State ended with a collapse on the NCAA XC course in Terre Haute due to injury.

So it would have surprised no one if Fernandez had taken plenty of time before coming back, maybe even until outdoor track.  No one anticipated two weeks ago that he would open on the indoor oval at Arkansas with an eye-popping 3:56.50 World Junior Record mile.  But he did and one can only wonder if there’s any limits to what he can do.

The freshmen campaigns of Derrick and Puskedra have been stunning in their own way.  The highlight of Derrick’s great senior season was the 13:55 5k at Arcadia, but illness then cut short his season at Neuqua Valley IL.  Expectations were fairly high for him at Stanford and he more than fulfilled them, taking 3rd, 5th and 7th in the PAC-10, NCAA Regional and NCAA Championship meets, respectively.  Then, as if saying, ‘you want more?’ he opened his competitive year last week with a dazzling solo 13:44 5k win on the big indoor oval at the UW Invite.

As well as Puskedra ran as a Judge Memorial UT senior, he was still seen as a small cut below Fernandez and Derrick.  So far, in his frosh campaign at Oregon, he seems to have completely closed that gap.  He was taking 2nd, 6th and 5th at the PAC-10, NCAA Regional and NCAA Championship meets, respectively, beating Derrick two of three times.  He has not raced since the NCAA champs, though, adding a level of intrigue.

After that, look for Colby Lowe and Kevin Williams.  Lowe was a strong mid to high varsity performer for the Cowboys with Fernandez, with a highlight being his 5th in the Big 12 meet (Fernandez won).  But health/injury problems kept him out of the NCAA Region meet and he was just 80th at the NCAA Champs.  He proved last year, however, that he could run with Puskedra and will probably be eager to prove that again.  His only race this year has been an 8:20.92 3k at Arkansas.

In that same Arkansas meet, Williams (right, photo by John Nepolitan) won with an impressive 8:16.54.  An Oklahoma Sooner freshman coming out of D’Evelyn HS CO, Williams redshirted XC, but is obviously in great shape.  Although he had a disappointing race at Foot Locker Finals as a senior, he went on to make the World Junior XC team in the winter; like Fernandez, he’s a returning Team USA member.  In track, he was 5th at NON in 8:51.30.

A number of other collegiate freshman should be up there, at least contending for the last two spots. That group includes Ryan Prentice (WA prep at Oklahoma State), Kyle Merber (NY prep at Columbia), Pat Dupont (NY prep at Syracuse), Griff Graves (VA prep at Syracuse), Kevin Havel (IL prep at Stanford), Ryan Hill (NC prep at NC State), Tito Medrano, Jim Walmsley (AZ prep at Air Force), and Joey Bywater (WA prep at Washington).

Uphill road for preps making US Junior team

With that kind of a group, it won’t be easy for preps to get in the top 10, let alone top six.  Mountain View VA sr Thomas Porter (left, photo by John Dye) has the best chance.  The three-time Foot Locker Finalist closed out his XC career with a bang, with a VA state title, a 4th at FL South, and a stunning 3rd at FL Finals.  So far, his winter has been relatively low key, with a 4:22.87y/9:28.49 double at the Montgomery Invite his only big outing.

Atlee VA sr Ben Dejarnette, has also had limited races, with a late start, but has been even more impressive.  He ripped a 4:15.64 mile to win Virginia Tech, then a week later ran 9:12.83 3200 at St. Christopher’s.  He had been 19th at Foot Locker South.  Western Albemarle sr Kyle Satterwhite was 7th at FL South, then 20th at FL Finals.  He had a disappointing 3200 at Virginia Tech, and is hoping for a return to form.

Two other Foot Locker Finalists are in the field:   New Bedford MA sr Phil Galebach (7th FL NE, 32nd FL Finals) and Holmdel NJ sr George Galasso (9th FL NE, 27th FL Finals).  The top performer from Nike Cross Nationals in the field is Chenango Valley NY jr Max Straneva, who was 11th at NXN and one of the fast-rising 11th-graders in the country.  Two others with national-class talent, who didn’t make it to Foot Locker Finals – Chapel Hill NC sr Taylor Gilland and Reno NV sr Bryan Tibaduiza – are also among the top prep entrants.

But the most interesting prep contender may be Regis Jesuit CO sr Bobby Nicolls.  The top junior in the 2007 Foot Locker Finals, and considered by most the #1 runner in the country going into last fall, Nicolls had some outstanding victories early in the season, but was befallen by health problems that led to some losses and finally ending his season before Foot Locker Midwest.  His first race back was a 3200 at the Air Force Invite a few weeks ago, that showed decent fitness, and if he’s even most of the way back he’ll be a contender to finish as the top prep and maybe battle for one of the last spots.

While the top six finishers will comprise the US team for the IAAF World XC Championships in Amman, Jordan (should they choose to accept the bid), the top five finishers will also be eligible to represent Team USA at the NACAC Champs March 7 in Orlando.

Junior Womens Race

The outlook for the women’s USATF Junior XC Championship is significantly different.  There is no ridiculously good trio of collegiate freshmen.  There is an arguably more top-heavy field of prep girls who could take perhaps half the World qualifying spots.  And, most significantly, there is no Jordan Hasay.

Hasay, the Mission Prep CA senior who has been in the headlines the last few weeks for winning the Gatorade Athlete of the Year title and for announcing she’ll attend University of Oregon, told DyeStatCal’s Doug Speck after the Gatorade honor that she was going to pass up the harrier event.  The past two seasons, Hasay has won the race in dominating fashion and had a chance to become the first 3-time winner.  

The race, however, will hardly be without prep contenders to make Team USA, or even win the meet.  Ashley Brasovan, Allie McLaughlin, and Alex Dunne should see to that.

It will be the first time Brasovan (right, photo by John Dye) has competed in a USATF Jr. event in her outstanding career and it will be fun to see what she can do.  It will be her first race of the new year.  Of course, the Wellington FL senior was the Foot Locker Finals champ in 2007 and has also won NIN and NON track titles.  Only Hasay’s brutal finishing kick prevented her from repeating in San Diego this past fall.  It will be interesting to see how she fares over the longer distance.  

McLaughlin brings intrigue after big FL push

It will also be interesting to see what McLaughlin does.  She won’t be soon forgotten for the way she ran Foot Locker Finals, taking it out hard and way ahead of the “Big Three” (Hasay, Brasovan, Kathy Kroeger) and leading until the final trip on the big hill.  The Air Academy CO senior eventually got passed into fifth on the straightaway, but she’s clearly a major talent.  Whether she will explode into the lead again or maybe bide her time will be fascinating to watch.  Either way, she has a shot to make the team.

Dunne, a San Clemente CA senior, is coming off an outstanding fall as well.  She won several meets and lost only to Hasay and NXN runner-up Sarah Andrews TX during the regular season.  The CA D1 champ was runner-up in Foot Locker West, then ran with the chase pack at the Finals – including that Big Three as they chased McLaughlin – before a major fade in the last mile to 19th.  It was really her only disappointing race of the year and one imagines she is eager for a great race Saturday to put it further behind her.

Dunne actually leads a group of three Foot Locker Finalists from California.  Torrey Pines CA junior Megan Morgan (5th FL West, 24th FL Finals) and Casa Grande jr Jacque Taylor (10th FL West, 30th FL Finals) will also be competing.  Taylor was 8th at USATF Juniors last winter.  A fourth Californian who is one of the top preps is Molly Grabill, the Rancho Bernardo soph who was tearing it up early in the CA season before illness and injury slowed her.  At her best, she’s not far behind Dunne.

Another prep to watch is Rolanda Jumbo of Chilne AZ, who had a fine freshman campaign where she was 3rd at NXN Southwest and 12th at Foot Locker West.

Among the collegians, all eyes will be on Shippensburg’s Neely Spence, who was a two-time Foot Locker Finalist.  She won FL Northeast in both 2006 and 2007, placing 4th in Foot Locker Finals as a senior.  In track, she claimed the NON 2-mile title last June.  Collegiate competition did nothing to slow Spence’s progress, as she placed 2nd in the NCAA D2 championships this past fall.  

There are probably few athletes who have made World Junior teams three years apart, but Arizona State frosh Kauren Tarver has a chance to be part of that group.  As a Serrano CA soph, Tarver had one of her best races ever to make the team and traveled to Japan for the Worlds.  She was a four-time Foot Locker Finalist.


USATF Junior XC Index
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