** Foot Locker West Girls' Seeded Recap**

"Drama Queens"
Zoe endures stiff challenge, sibling courtesies test Lawrence sisters, and
Californians fall at start and finish, but all are among the eight to advance!

Photo courtesy of Bill Leung
Defending national champion Zoe Nelson
was challenged to the finish (seen here with
one mile to go), but held on for the victory!

By Richard Gonzalez, DyeStatCal.com Editor

WALNUT -- Not far removed from the land of feature films, top females from within the West Region carved out their own Hollywood endings. In short, these rated as classic thrillers.

With superhuman defending national champion Zoe Nelson of Montana actually showing signs of mortality, freshman Marie Lawrence of Nevada refusing to pass ailing older sister Collier during a ctitical stage, and a pair of California girls succumbing to spills during vital segments of Saturday's race, the Foot Locker West Regional exhibited more drama than most hearts could endure.

But in the end, Zoe zoomed, sisters squabbled their way to success, and the Golden State girls picked themselves from off the floor to dominate.

"It wasn't super smooth, but at least I made it," gushed a smiling Zoe Nelson minutes after clinging to a two-second margin of victory over rising superstar Californian Lindsay Flacks in the Seeded Girls' Race at Mt. San Antonio College. Nelson, the defending regional and national champion, appeared to be breathing laboriously during the middle mile of the famed three-hill benchmark.

If anything, the semi-surprising development heading into next weekend's Foot Locker Nationals in San Diego only served to stir up more intrigue, more storylines, and more prospects of an Academy Award-esque final act.

It was Nelson that clearly earned the early respect of her rivals at the outset, as top challengers dared not to pass "The Zephyr" during a swift opening mile. The Montana state champ then bounded up Switchback Hill to open the second mile, leading a parade of talent that snaked its way up the race's first incline.

While slightly extending her lead upon completion of the descent of Switchback Hill some 700 yards later, it soon became apparent that Nelson's gasps for air and flushed cheeks signalled duress. Soon afterward, a buzzsaw of challengers began closing in.

First the Lawrence Sisters, then San Diego area's Claire Rethmeier, then a revitalized Liza Pasciuto of Southern California, only a few strides separated the lead pack, with a group of eight clearly beginning to distance themselves from the 150-plus runner field as it approached arduous Poop-Out Hill. It was at this stage that Nelson became plagued with the side-stitch ailment that has reared evil head on occasion, this time allowing others to match her pace on the steep climb of the second hill.

The crucial part of the race was about to unfold only moments later, as Nelson led a string of harriers down Poop-Out and toward the lonely path preceding Reservoir Hill.

"That was really the key point, where everyone made their moves," said Pasciuto, who snared her share of Foot Locker headlines to finish sixth at nationals as the top freshman three years ago. "At that point, things really picked up," chimed in Rethmeier.

Lead-pack runners described a flurry of action unfolding on the out-of-view backside of Reservoir, which included a continuance of reported pleading/encouragement from Marie Lawrence to Collier, who struggled to continue. Various accounts had the younger sister actually altering her pace to provide aid.

"We were going to make this together, that was the only way we wanted it," said Marie afterward.

Pasciuto was among those making the boldest move over the final mile, at one point moving into second on the backside. Charging up Reservoir Hill, the pecking order once again shifted, however, with Pasciuto falling back, California's Lindsay Flacks rocketing into contention for the lead, and the Lawrences rallying through the final hill. One of the race's mild surprises in the advancement by San Jose Presentation's Melissa Grelli, who outbattled many of the region's elite headliners to earn one of the coveted berths to San Diego. Grelli's strong close on the track was another bright sign for a West Region crew loaded with talent heading into nationals.

Californian Caitlin Chock (Granite Bay HS) managed to fight for seventh position by this point after being as high as second at 1.7 miles, but upon re-entering the flat airstrip at 2.5 miles, she struggled considerably to maintain pace as Rachel Bryan (Laguna Creek HS, CA) and Lindsay Allen (College Park HS, CA) wheeled on by. With 400 meters to go, a somewhat labored Pasciuto threw a quick look behind to size up her competition, which included national-class track speedsters Heidi Magill (Mountain View HS, UT) and Alicia Follmar (Saratoga HS, CA) quickly closing from a distance.

Up front, Nelson sealed her tough win with an 18:07 -- five seconds off last year's victorious effort here -- and Flacks flashed the all-around athletic strength she harbors to close in a lifetime-best 18:09 that typically runs about 70 seconds slower (for girls) on the conventional (2.91-mile) Mt. SAC layout. Flacks actually pulled even with Nelson entering the track, with Rethmeier a very close third at the time.

Pasciuto responded well in crunch time to show the heart of a champion over the final 250 meters that toured the tartan track, gaining a spot to safely move into qualifying position. While it then appeared that the qualifying spots were set, one last scene of drama was about to play out. Rethmeier, severely fatigued from her grueling effort, collapsed to the ground only 20 meters from the finish (after seemingly ready to challenge for the victory only a minute before), as two competitors raced by and earned berths to San Diego. Rethmeier, however, summoned the strength to regain her footing and claim the seventh spot, with the hard-closing Bryan earning a return trip to nationals via an eighth-place finish.

Bryan's advancement might have been the most difficult to achieve, as the popular Northern California standout was pushed from behind in the race's opening seconds, taking a nasty spill that allowed almost the entire field to zoom by her.

"I haven't felt this much hurt in a long time," said Bryan afterward, eyes welling up but fighting to hold back tears as she recalled the incident and explained of the tenderness in her ribs and revealed the scraped backside of her uniform. "This was tough."

Flacks, a transplant from club soccer, did not surprise anyone following the sport closely in recent years, with her superior athleticism and hard drive carrying her to success. She actually was as far back as 12th at the cross-over approaching Poop-Out, before powering her way through the field.

"So Lindsay," she was asked just seconds before heading toward the awards podium, "Is cross-country more enjoyable than track?"

Without hesitation, the popular teen flashed a huge smile and chipped, "Definitely!"

On to San Diego!!

FOOT LOCKER NATIONALS QUALIFIERS
1. Zoe Nelson (Montana) 18:07
2. Lindsay Flacks (California) 18:09
3. Collier Lawrence (Nevada) 18:18
4. Marie Lawrence (Nevada) 18:19
5. Melissa Grelli (California) 18:19
6. Liza Pasciuto (California) 18:24
7. Claire Rethmeier (California) 18:27
8. Rachel Bryan (California) 18:29
Alternates:
9. Lindsay Allen (California) 18:36
10. Heidi Magill (Utah) 18:38