FootLocker Nationals
Saturday, December 11,
2004 @ Morley Field, Balboa Park
Olympic medalist Meb Keflezhigi,
himself a prep star back in his day while
attending nearby San Diego HS, poses with half of the winning West Boys
Team:
(l-to-r) Brandon Bethke, Riley Booker, Robbie Barany, A.J. Acosta &
Jake Schmitt.
SAN DIEGO -- On the final day of the cross-country
season, "America's Finest City" turned into "Curveball
City" for many of the nation's top boys high school runners. With
one unexpected development after another, nothing went according to script
- or perhaps so it only seemed.
Unexpected minor course
alterations, a rumored mild difference in race distance, and some overly
soft footing were all factors catching several entrants off guard and
off their game. The biggest curveball, however, was tossed by Arizona's
Kenneth Cormier. A virtual unknown outside of state lines until this weekend,
Cormier pulled the shocker of shockers in upsetting a superb field to
win at the 2004 FootLocker Cross-Country Championships on Saturday morning
at Balboa Park's Morley Field.
Cormier capped an unbeaten
senior season with a bold exclamation point as the 19-year-old state champion
glided past pre-race favorite Andrew Bumbalough of Tennessee with less
than 250 meters to go, then held off Bumbalough's desperation reply to
bolt across the finish stripe en route to victory in 15:22. Bumbalough,
a slight pre-race favorite, appeared in familiar and ideal position to
unwind his trademark negative-split gear over the final mile, but ended
up being just short and citing unexplained sluggishness throughout race
morning as signaling a precursor to his uncharacteristic close.
On the girls' side, New
York's Aislinn Ryan bolted into the lead group early and then found a
familiar friend -- the lead "Gator" cart -- and wore down a
"Who's Who" field to pull away down the stretch en route to
her first national title. The likeable Warwick Valley HS senior was neither
the New York state nor Federations meet champion -- losing both times
to Saratoga Springs' venerable ace, Nicole Blood -- but emerged as the
best of the best here.
Ryan, who credited the
magnet-like presence of the lead gator vehicle to essentially pace her
into a groove in her victory at the Great American Cross-Country Festival,
had the same tempo-like presence established for her here, although no
other frontunners were able to match the pace.
"As the race wore on,
my focus and my confidence started to grow," said Ryan, who posted
an eight-second victory over runner-up Marie Lawrence, 17:31 to 17:39.
"By the time we hit the last mile, I was in groove and knew I was
going to finish well, regardless of how others around me did."
In each case, the pre-race
favorites were beaten fair and square while a feast of new faces also
surfaced on the national scene, led by the brightest new face of all...
"This is the greatest feeling,
to have everything finish up as I planned and win it!" quipped Cormier
as a bead of sweat trickled down his temple. "I was right in the
hunt in the last mile and knew my chances were real good. No one really
knew about me, so that was a plus and there was no pressure."
Cormier tabbed the weather conditions
(76 degrees and humid at nearby Montgomery Field during the morning despite
readings on the mid-60s on most Internet weather sites that used the coastline's
Lindberg Airport reading as reference) as an advantage for the California
runners, but said his own familiarity heat also helped, although it was
not as dry as he's used to. Lastly, being a relative unknown certainly
helped.
Former NCAA champion Adam Goucher
interviews
new national champion Kenny Cormier for TV!
"Definitely.
I didn't have a gorilla on my back," said he said. "I was able
to stay loose and focus without any distractions."
Cormier, a surprise winner
at the Foot Locker West Regional in California last weekend, knew a national
championship title was not out of the question. After all, he was unbeaten
all year and he only weeks before saw his cherished Boston Red Sox stun
the sporting world by ending the most ignominious drought in all of sports
to win baseball's World Series.
"After that, I knew it
was possible," gushed a smiling Cormier.
In reality, his confidence
was rooted during an intense cycle of training, reaching a summertime
mileage apex approaching 120 miles a week, then culminating with a near-triple-digit
weekly mileage log deep into the season.
"The mileage definitely
works for me, giving me the mental confidence and physical conditioning
I felt I needed to be ready for these races," explained Cormier,
a home-schooled talent who is, by Arizona's state association rules, able
to run for Douglas High, which he said is "located in the middle
of nowhere, near where Arizona, New Mexico and the Mexico border meet."
Tennessee's Bumbalough, tabbed
as the people's popular choice entering the weekend after blowing away
Alan Webb's course record in winning the FootLocker South Regional at
North Carolina's McAlpine Park, seemed out of his element early on. Rather
than flashing the poise and patience evident in previous standout performances,
a look of concern and labor blanketed "Bumbi's" face by the
middle mile, despite being in the lead group. Even when he moved into
the lead late in the race, it was clear this was not his day.
"I actually had
a weird feeling before the race, but not sure what it was," admitted
the Brentwood Academy senior. "Usually, I feel right on for a big
race, but it just didn't feel right here."
Things felt just right
for Loyola HS senior Mark Matusak, who placed a distant and disappointing
22nd here a year ago, but was among three Californians moving strongly
in the final mile this year to improve their positions and play a major
role in the West Region team's victory. Matusak finished best among the
California trio of A.J. Acosta and NTN runner-up Brandon Bethke, closing
quickly to place third overall in 15:26, just ahead of Colorado's John
Maguire (15:27).
UC Berkeley-bound Mark Matusak
of Loyola (in green) made up
these last 10 meters in the next few seconds to edge Stanford-signed
John Maguire (cardinal) right at the finish. Three Cal-to-be athletes
ran!
The final shift
in placing was especially satisfying for the UC Berkeley-bound Matusak,
passing the Stanford-signed Maguire in the final strides. Matusak initially
entertained strong desires to attend Stanford, but was miffed when the
school made what Matusak termed as an unsuitable offer during the recruiting
process. Maguire appeared ready to challenge for the victory with a half-mile
to go, but looked uncorfortably out of sync on the final steep descent,
where Bumbalough effortlessly passed him and others closed in.
Wisconsin's Chris
Rombough (New London HS) bumped up his stock on the national scene with
a fine 5th-place finish, upholding the state's fine tradition here as
fellow statesman Chris Solinsky won the national crown here two years
go. Rumbough edged pre-race major threat Chris Barnicle of Massachusetts,
with Barnicle (the Northeast Region champion) faring favorably on the
national stage to take 6th in 15:34.
Recognition as
the nation's most improved runner during the season's stretch drive might
go to Washington's Robbie Barany, with his surprising 3rd-place finish
at the Nike Team Nationals prefacing a stunning 8th-place effort here.
The Eisenhower Yakima talent defied the odss twice in postseason, with
his squad earning a surprise berth to the NTN Nationals, and then earning
All-America honors via a Top 15 finish at FootLocker Nationals.
Other notable imrpvoements
down the stretch came from Oregon's Kenny Klotz and California's Diego
Mercado. Klotz stunned everyone with unexpcted wins at both the state
meet and the Nike BorderClash before earning his bid to San Diego from
FootLocker West. "I didn't feel good at all today, but I'm not letting
that overshadow what I was able to accomplish in getting here," said
Klotz, who placed 24th. "I had a breakthrough year and I hope to
carry that over into track season."
Mercado, privately
considered by us as perhaps the Golden State's most fit distance runner
over the last 16 months, came into his own after some nice adjustments
in recent months. A notoriously fast race starter a la his idol, Steve
Prefontaine, Mercado learned the value of patience after an overly quick
start in a big race at midseason led to problems once again. Since then,
a bit more conservation in the opening mile has led to better showings
by race's end, including here: "This was a great way to end the season,"
chimed Mercado, who placed 20th. "I don't think people expected me
to be here, but I was able to put some good races together when it really
counted and that got me here!"
The San Diego
area's Acosta, who passed at least four runners in the final half mile,
was the meet's top junior (9th in 15:38) while New York's Ryan Sheridan
placed 17th overall (15:50) to end the season as the nation's top sophomore.
Midwest Region champion Jeff See has a seemingly rough outing here, with
the Texas standout Scott MacPherson, considered a threat to win it all
by some after dominating performances in the Lone Star State this fall,
was in the lead near the mile mark, but faded in the final mile to drift
back and eventually place 39th, ending another rough outing for the South
Region, which had 7 of the last 12 individual spots.
NTN winner
Sean McNamara of national team champion York HS (Elmhurst, Illinois) found
it difficult to race at an elite level for a second consecutive weekend,
but still fought well to place 12th here in 15:42. Six of the top twelve
boys finishers this weekend were in action last weekend (three competing
at NTN and three others at the FootLocker West Regionals), and 5 of the
top 11 girls from the weekend bounced back strongly from a week ago as
well.
Cormier's
winning time was the slowest in meet history, but that detail could be
attributed to a few factors. For starters, the path was slightly different
than that undertaken in past years, with a large fallen tree along the
course in recent weeks forcing a re-directed route aroudn the obstacle.
Additionally, the tour of the dog park in the opening mile utilized a
wide, sweeping path a bit longer in distance than the conventional layout
pattern employed in years past. Finally, hard mid-week rains left the
course very soft in some patches, and downright muddy in others.
The lead camera vehicle carries
the girls' pack through just seconds
after the gun. The meet will be shown on Fox Sports in December 20th!
The girls' race was a tale of two extremes for New York athletes, with
Ryan's exhilirating win almost being overshadowed by an uncharacteristically
rough outing from the great quartet from Saratoga Springs HS. After another
dominant showing at the NTN Nationals the week before, the SS foursome
seemed out of sync here. Nicole Blood (21st), Hannah Davidson (23rd),
Lindsey Ferguson (24th) and Caitlin Lane (38th) represented the famed
crew here, with the unit claiming 3 of the first 6 placings by Northeast
Region athletes, compared to 4 of the 6 they garnered at the Northeast
Regional at Van Cortland Park two weeks before.
One
would have to think that three all-out, high-quality efforts in consecutive
weeks might have been too tall an order. According to Saratoga Springs
coaches Art and Linda Kranick, a few of the girls did mention in a post-race
meeting here that perhaps "too many races" this year led to
the sluggish close, although the girls were reported to admittedly concede
they could think of no particular races they'd have given back from their
schedule either.
Nevada's
Marie Lawrence appeared in ideal position for the win in the girls' race,
moving to the lead on the final mile and approaching the steep downward
slope where she bolted so well on a year ago, but Ryan closed even better
(much as 2003 champion and speedburner Katelyn Kaltenbach did) to snare
the top spot. Although earning the runner-up position for a second consecutive
year, the popular Lawrence was undeterred.
"My
main place goal was to finish at least as high as last year, and hopefully
to improve," said the Reno High sophomore. "I wasn't able to
stay with her in the end... she was just stronger toward the finish."
South
Dakota's Ramsey Kavan had quite a close to her senior cross-country season,
earning top honors at the inaugural Nike Team Nationals, then taking an
impressive third here in 17:47. Kavan also shared the lead in spurts,
then held off Colorado phenom Whitney Anderson and Ohio's Brittany Tinsley
(both in 17:49) to take third. Kavan and Anderson, a transfer from Alaska,
were the top senior finishers in the field.
Washington's
Brie Felnagle, a transplant from soccer who has dazzled in her two short
years in the sport, took sixth in 18:02 and figures to battle for distinction
as the lead 800/1600 talent in the nation this coming track season. Montana's
Zoe Nelson closed out a phenomenal cross-country career with a rare fourth
consecutive trip to nationals, matching last year's placing with an 8th-place
effort (18:09). Arizona-to-Colorado transfer Keara Sammons (11th in 18:20)
and teammate and defending national champion Katelyn Kaltenbach (15th
in 18:28) showed well for NTN runner-up team placer Smoky Hill HS. Kaltenbach,
slowly by her season-long absence due to injury, actually defied the odds
and the skeptics by earning an FL berth from the Midwest Regionals, then
keying the NTN team showing.
Lauren Saylor of Buchanan (left)
in the Central Section shares
fun times with Alma Escobar of Corona in the Southern Section!
Californian Kauren Tarver earned the distinction of being the nation's
top frosh placer, placing 16th in 18:28 and being the second-best Californian,
right behind sophomore sensation Lauren Saylor of Buchanan HS of the Fresno
area. Tarver was among five frosh represented here and smashed two-time
nationals qualifier Liza Pasciuto's 9th-grade course record at Mt. SAC
earlier this fall.
Natasha LaBeaud (#47) of Folsom
and Alma Escobar (#43) of Corona
flank national star Nicole Blood (#11) of Saratoga Springs, NY.
At least two individuals toured the course in GPS-calculated distances
of 4.98 kilometers, creating curiosity as to if the layout in previous
years might have been a tad short. "The course seemed longer and
it was definitely slower," said 9th-place finisher A.J. Acosta, who
is very familiar with the park layout as his El Camino High School campus
is located within 40 miles from here. "The course doesn't take water
well, and the rains made it slushier in some areas. Times were a bit slower,
maybe a few seconds each."
If
so, however, it would not explain why only the boys times were abnormally
slow while the girls' performances were typical of what has been achieved
here in years past. In reality, the tactical nature of the boys race had
an effect on times as much as anything. With Bumbalough out of his groove
and others in the field in search of the first true major victory of their
careers, it could very well be that no one else in the field courted the
credentials to post a screaming time.
Still
skeptical? Well, be advised that 21 runners were within 30 meters of the
lead at the two-mile mark -- a much larger pack a that late stage that
in past years. It appears the pace was just not as torrid as in editions
past. However, it sure made for a thrilling dash to the finish line!
Jake Schmitt of redwood HS (#98)
embraces Mark Matusak
of Loyola HS after the race. Both will join fellow FL Nationals
qualifier Yosef Ghebray of James Logan HS at UC Berkeley
next year. The Northern California university has the #1-ranked
recruiting class in the nation, according to Track & Field News.
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