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Chad Hall is popular winner in thrilling finish 

Big Bear CA sr Chad Hall won a furious seesaw struggle over the last mile. Early in the third mile, Hall pulled out from a 7-runner lead pack. Steve Murdock NY gave chase as they gapped the rest. From the second time up The Hill the finish, the two traded surges and sometimes were side by side. Turning for the finish with 150 meters to go, Hall got the lead for good. Murdock slipped to third behind a fast finishing Craig Forys. It was a slow tactical race with Hall finishing in 15:20, Forys 15:24 and Murdock 15:25.

by Rich Gonzalez

SAN DIEGO – Had all runners matched their previous best efforts, Californian Chad Hall figured to hold the advantage. Instead, nothing went to plan for Hall and most pre-race contenders – the early pace was too conservative, the splits were too slow, the field was too congested. Yet Hall awoke from the lull to unleash a mid-race burst that helped him regain the winning edge at the 28th annual Foot Locker Cross-Country Championships. Left: Hall leads Murdock, Mead on the second incline ~ photo by John Nepolitan - Right: Hall wins ~ photo by John Dye In then answering New Yorker Steve Murdock’s persistent late-race challenges, Hall fashioned a decisive kick for which there was no reply as the blonde-haired Big Bear High senior churned to the individual title at the on a sun-splashed Saturday morning at Balboa Park. Hall was among a 21-runner lead swarm that blanketed the relatively flat opening mile in 4:45, saw the group dilute to a pack of seven after the first series of climbs to reach the two-mile in 9:52, then prevailed in a see-saw battle over Murdock and a late-charging Craig Forys to win the 5,000-meter challenge in 15 minutes, 20 seconds. Forys, the Northeast Region champion two weeks prior, wheeled past five rivals over the last 700 meters to claim second in 15:24. Murdock, capping a sensational seven-week string of championship-level races, collapsed across the line to earn third in 15:25. Hall changed the dynamics of the race as the field snaked around the perimeter of the swimming pool area, inserting an aggressive rush approaching the two-mile mark that dropped any foes caught in moments of indecision. Hall gapped by the chase pack by 15-20 yards, setting into motion a series of countermeasures that drew others outside their comfort zone. While most expected frontrunners wished for a fast first mile, it failed to materialize and several admitted later that the middle-mile surge caught them napping. As it turned out, Hall – younger brother to former NCAA champion Ryan Hall of Stanford – ran tactically effective to earn the title in third-slowest winning time among the 19 Foot Lockers held here and 128th- fastest time overall in the Foot Locker races in San Diego. “I was hoping for a quick start, but no one wanted to go and I didn’t want to be the one to make the move,” reflected New York’s Tommy Gruenewald, who set the Manhattan Invitational meet record while riding an aggressive early pace along Van Cortlandt Park in mid-October. “In hindsight, not making my move while worrying about making a mistake cost me.” “It was probably an advantage for me that it went out slow,” said Hall, who torched the flat Woodbridge Invitational three-mile layout in 14 minutes flat early this year to signal his precocious fitness levels. “I probably would have felt terrible if it had gone out fast.” Murdock made a bold move just beyond two miles to briefly snag the lead from Hall, with Minnesota’s Hassan Mead (fourth in 15:28) covering the move as well. “That was my plan,” said Mead. “But I kind of know the other guys were planning the same thing. It was a matter of how I was pacing myself.” Reaching the top of big hill on the second loop was the peak of Mead’s showing as he caught Hall and Murdock at the crest, but could do no more as they pulled away from him on the downhill. To add insult to injury, Mead also had to withstand the hurricane force of Forys in the last 400. “Right then it was anyone’s race,” said Mead. “But I wasn’t feeling too good. They used each other to push it while I was still struggling. My legs weren’t moving well.” Murdock then seized the lead, but was undoubtedly approaching the red one while Hall was catching his own wind. “At that point, (Murdock) was pushing it and was hurting more than I was,” said Hall. “I was just trying to hold on. I knew if I could, I’d be in great position to win.” Hall, a proficient downhill runner, closed down the gap along the descent of Upas Hill inside the final half mile, then drew even with Murdock at the final turn leading into the humpback finishing straight. From there, Hall (who owns an 8:58.42 PR for 3200m) stretched his legs to pull away from Murdock for the win. Forys, who owns a sub-4:10 converted 1600m time on the track, shifted into a “long kick” from 700 meters out, where he was seventh at the time. Whether on the Upas descent, along the hook turn heading across the road, or the final turn heading for home, Forys was picking off adversaries one by one. “He’s amazing,” said Mead of Forys’ late charge. “He had a monster kick. He just blew past me.” "He said he knew he could have finished seventh, but he wanted to pick it up and give it everything he had in his last race,” said Forys’ coach at Colts Neck HS, Jim Schlentz. “If he (tried to go with Hall at two miles), he would have been done. The last downhill got him going again." New Mexico’s Matt Tebo, who was edged out for fourth by Mead, sought to better his chances via a stronger start than he gained during last weekend’s win at the West Regional, where he was just inside the top 40 after the opening 100 meters. “I ended up leading but I don't think it really made that much difference,” retorted Tebo, who recently committed to attend Colorado. “I wanted to take it out a little quicker at the start, but I wasn't planning on leading. I wanted to sit back and hang on the pace as much as I could, until two or two-and-a-half miles, then start my kick. “But Chad Hall was the one who ended up making the move. I was feeling okay leading up to the two-mile mark, but then I think I relaxed a little too much." Tebo admitted to having frustrations creep into his mind as he began losing contact with the leaders heading toward the final hill. "After that, I started to get mentally down and talking myself out of it. It started getting ugly," he said. “The last half-mile I got a little adrenaline. I knew it was the end of my cross-country career as a high-schooler." New Mexico’s Ben Johnson was among the nation’s late bloomers in 2006, with the Albuquerque Academy junior emerging as the top non-senior at nationals. Johnson, an 11th grader who qualified here via his second-place overall finish at last weekend’s Nike Team Nationals race, placed 6th in 15:31. "NTN gave me a lot of confidence that I could run with the best guys in the country,” Johnson said. “I had to convince myself I could run with these guys. Before, it was like 'wow, I'm running in the nationals!” Senior Michael Cybulski, the California state Division I champion and a Foot Locker qualifier via the NTN meet, pulled off a very surprising seventh-place finish (15:31) despite a hard effort in the mud-caked Portland Meadows layout seven days earlier. To boot, the Royal HS standout had caught the stomach flu at the start of this week and lost six pounds in preceding days. “I made sure I felt ready anyway, so there are no excuses,” said the UCLA-bound Cybulski. “I was happy with my finish.” Hall’s individual win combined with strong efforts from Tebo, Johnson and Cybulski sparked the West Region’s team triumph as the crew snared 4 of the top 7 places and scored 32 points to defeat the Northeast Region, which tallied 41. The South had its lead trio of runners place 9th, 10th and 11th and defeated the Midwest for third place, 73-89.

Live Blog

by TinaJ

Boys introductions ten minutes before the start...

And the cannon.... is... FIRED! Murdock has the early lead!

Tebo, Murdock, Hubers in front - Greunewald moves up with Tebo at the 2:00

Coming up on the half mile, 2:20, Hall, Tebo, Greuenewald together, Hubers, Murdock, Forys with them

Cybulski heading the chase group coming up on four minutes, Tebo still leading

Medina joining the top three - Hall, Tebo, Medina at 4:00

Hall, Tebo, CYbulski at the mile

4:45 at the mile about, climbed the first hill as one big pack...downhill holding top three pattern, 6:00

And Forys makes a big move on the downhill!

Halfway it's Hubers, Hall, Forys, Murdock, Tebo, and Mead joins the group... about 7:00 a pack of ten

Coming up on 2 miles, about 9:52, still a pack of ten - Hall and Murdock leading

at 10:28 Hall surges, followed by Murdock, Tebo, Cybulski, Hubers, Mead, Forys, and Centrowitz

at 11:30 Hall lengthens the gap between Murdock and Mecheso

at the hill, second time around, it's Hall, Murdock, Mead, 4th and 5th unknown, then Tebo and Cybulski in 6th and 7th!

Then it's Murdock taking the lead, Hall right behind, and Hassan Mead behind the two could come through with a kick, still 200 meters to go!

It's neck and neck, Murdock and Hall around the corner.... and it looks Hall might make it happen...

It's Hall for the win, and Forys comes in from somewhere, Murdock drops to third and fourth/fifth are tebo and

Results

results from footlockercc.com

Place	Time	Bib#	Name	Grade	Region	School	City	State
1	15:20	82	Chad Hall	12	West	Big Bear HS	Big Bear Lake	CA
2	15:24	51	Craig Forys	12	Northeast	Colts Neck HS	Howell	NJ
3	15:25	54	Steve Murdock	12	Northeast	Shenendehowa H.S.	Clifton Park	NY
4	15:28	71	Hassan Mead	12	Midwest	Minneapolis South H.S.	Minneapolis	MN
5	15:28	81	Matt Tebo	12	West	Eldorado H.S.	Albuquerque	NM
6	15:31	89	Benjamin Johnson	11	West	Academy H.S.	Albuquerque	NM
7	15:31	90	Michael Cybulski	12	West	Royal H.S.	Simi Valley	CA
8	15:34	55	Matthew Centrowitz	12	Northeast	Broadneck H.S.	Arnold	MD
9	15:34	64	Girma Mecheso	11	South	Berkmar H.S.	Lawrenceville	GA
10	15:35	67	Colby Lowe	11	South	Southlake Carroll H.S.	Southlake	TX
11	15:36	62	Ben Hubers	12	South	McEachern H.S.	Marietta	GA
12	15:36	58	Brandon Jarrett	11	Northeast	St. Benedict's Prep.	Hillsborough	NJ
13	15:44	85	Russell Farnsworth	12	West	Highland H.S.	Pocatello	ID
14	15:45	83	Jake Riley	12	West	Sehome H.S.	Bellingham	WA
15	15:46	86	Maxwell O'Donoghue-McDonald	12	West	Seattle Preparatory School	Seattle	WA
16	15:50	52	Sintayehu Taye	11	Northeast	Cushing Academy	Portland	ME
17	15:52	60	Ryan Collins	12	Northeast	Mansfield H.S.	Mansfield	MA
18	15:52	78	Richard Medina	12	Midwest	Grand Junction H.S.	Grand Junction	CO
19	15:55	84	Mikel Thomas	12	West	Clovis H.S.	Clovis	CA
20	15:56	53	Tommy Gruenewald	12	Northeast	Fayetteville-Manlius H.S.	Manlius	NY
21	15:57	56	Donn Cabral	11	Northeast	Glastonbury H.S.	Glastonbury	CT
22	16:02	88	Jared Ward	12	West	Davis H.S.	Kaysville	UT
23	16:03	65	Michael Spooner	12	South	West Springfield HS	Springfield	VA
24	16:06	80	Dan Chenoweth	12	Midwest	Geneseo H.S.	Geneseo	IL
25	16:07	76	Joseph Manilafasha	10	Midwest	Denver North H.S.	Denver	CO
26	16:08	61	Ryan Hill	11	South	Hickory H.S.	Hickory	NC
27	16:09	72	Anguel Tolev	12	Midwest	Thornton H.S.	Northglenn	CO
28	16:11	63	Griffith Graves	11	South	Abingdon H.S.	Abingdon	VA
29	16:12	75	Evan Appel	10	Midwest	Dakota Ridge H.S.	Littleton	CO
30	16:18	66	Duncan Phillips	12	South	A&M Consolidated	College Station	TX
31	16:19	70	Thomas Porter	10	South	Mountain View H.S.	Fredericksburg	VA
32	16:21	79	De'Sean Turner	12	Midwest	Warren Central H.S.	Indianapolis	IN
33	16:22	73	Elliott Heath	12	Midwest	Winona Senior H.S.	Winona	MN
34	16:25	87	Kent Morikawa	12	West	Torrance H.S.	Torrance	CA
35	16:25	57	Brian Rhodes-Devey	12	Northeast	Guilderland H.S.	Slingerlands	NY
36	16:27	69	Luke Lovelace	11	South	Chapin H.S.	Chapin	SC
37	16:29	68	Michael Anderson	12	South	P.K. Yonge D.R.S.	Williston	FL
38	16:33	77	Robert Moldovan	12	Midwest	Northrop H.S.	Fort Wayne	IN
39	17:33	59	Paul Springer	12	Northeast	Unionville H.S.	Kennett Square	PA
40	17:48	74	Emil Heineking	12	Midwest	Chardon H.S.	Chardon	OH

Foot Locker National Finals