Foot Locker Regional Competitions 2005

Northeast, South, and Midwest Regions - DyeStat Nat'l Coverage

November 26th, 2005

NORTHEAST REGIONAL - SAT 11/26 - VAN CORTLANDT PARK - NEW YORK CITY

the story - girls

Saratoga Springs High School pulls a double quad. In a long-awaited rematch, Nicole draws first blood and earns an unmatched triple.

by Don Rich, DyeStat Northeast regional editor
with Eric Bonnette

Girls
1. Nicole Blood NY 17:42
2. Aislinn Ryan NY 17:50
3. Caitlin Lane NY 17:52
4. Lindsey Ferguson NY 17:55
5. Danielle Tauro NJ 17:55
6. Liz Costello PA 18:00
7. Briana Jackucewicz NJ 18:01
8. Liz Deir NY 18:01
9. Hannah Davidson NY 18:08
10. Shelby Greany NY 18:09

Runners from Saratoga Springs high school continue to set records and accomplish big-time firsts, even if they don't all run for the same team. In 2004, they took four of the top eight spots at the Northeast Regional, and in 2005, they repeated. Training and racing independently this season, senior Nicole Blood and sophomore Caitlin Lane took 1st and 3rd, exactly ten seconds apart; with current Saratoga Springs top runners Lindsey Ferguson in 3rd and Hannah Davidson in 9th, earning one of the two new NTN/FL slots.

With no wind and cool temps but some spotty mud from rain earlier in the week, the action heated up quickly with pre-race favorite and defending Foot Locker Champion Aislinn Ryan side-by-side with Blood at the top of Freshman Hill (left). They had gone through the mile in a brisk 5:24. Blood said she was surprised that she felt as comfortable at that pace as she did. Both she and Lane had different perspectives on the 2nd mile where the back hills loom. Lane also thought the first mile was comfortable, but said "the second mile got tough. But when doesn't it?" Blood was using the second mile for its intended purpose..."where people break."

Everyone fell back with the exception of Ryan. Blood said that she had led for a while before Ryan passed her. Ryan described it as back-and-forth. But by the time they completed the big downhill stretch after two miles, Blood had built a gap which she was able to maintain before breaking the tape in 17:42 for an unprecedented third consecutive Foot Locker Northeast title.

Both Blood and Ryan just started dropping their training miles, Blood from the 50's... and both working on turnover. Ryan said she was more confident entering this year's race, because "last year was my first time as one of the top people. The whole year was a blur." And she looked every bit as confident as Blood heading for the woods. Approaching the 4k though (right), it was Blood who looked like a person on a mission she had been waiting for for a long time. "The previous (open) races this season didn't mean that much to me. I had a lot more adrenaline here and I was really psyched. I waited for this race all season long."

Both talents are confident going into the national meet. Ryan, as defending champ, says she didn't conserve on the home stretch. She doesn't know how not to race. And both Blood and Lane can now join Ryan in focusing on the big race in two weeks. Blood didn't have a great Foot Locker race in 2004 after the long stretch of six consecutive high caliber meets. This year, her attention could be on fewer races and staying healthy..."If I had something aching, we'd take the next day off, or take it a little easy and come back strong in the next workout." As for Ryan, she has shelved the college search until this season is over. Both are obviously aiming to cross the line at Balboa Park in first. Blood has momentum. Ryan has precedent.

The remainder of the elite field going to Nationals includes five newcomers, New Jersey MOC winner Danielle Tauro, a Southern Regional junior, took 5th in 17:55; PA AAA State Champ Liz Costello of Conestoga, a senior, 6th in 18:00; frosh Briana Jackucewicz of Colts Neck NJ, 7th in 18:01; Honeoye Falls-Lima NY junior Elisabeth Deir, 8th in 18:01; and Suffern freshman Shelby Greany, 10th in 18:09. Finishing just out of the top ten was Suffern senior Kara McKenna, 11th, and Sayville NY junior Kristy Longman, 12th.

In the team race, New York didn't score a perfect 15 as they did in 2004 by sweeping the top five (OK, eight), spots. But 18 isn't too bad, especially since the top seven made the finals. New Jersey took 2nd with 55 points and two qualifiers, and Pennsylvania made a strong showing in 3rd with 73 points behind qualifier Liz Costello; Chambersburg junior Sarah Morrison, 13th, and homeschooled Neely Spence, 15th. Spence had been with Costello approaching 4k, but faded after exiting the woods.

Costello, a senior headed to Princeton, isn't just a newcomer to Foot Locker, because 2005 is her first full season of running. She played soccer, and didn't even race at the District meet in 2004 because her team was in the playoffs. But Costello, who owns a 2:12 800, wanted to see how fast she could get in the half mile and decided to use cross country as a great training tool. Needless to say, she got pretty serious during the season as she raced to 3rd at Paul Short behind Ryan and Jackucewicz; and then took her district title along with a state championship, breaking the Hersheypark course record of 2003 Foot Locker finalist Frances Koons of Allentown Central Catholic (Villanova University). Running in 9th place as she approached the 4k mark, after being back as far as 14th in the back hills, Costello said she got a second wind when she came out of the woods. "Air just rushed into my lungs and I started to pick it up and found another gear. It was 'get out of my way, this is for San Diego.'

the story - boys

BOYS
1. Ayalew Taye MA 15:21
2. Sintayehu Taye MA 15:29
3. Noel Bateman NY 15:32
4. Greg Kelsey NY 15:34
5. Tradelle Ward CT 15:35
6. Brian Rhodes-Devey NY 15:36
7. Jeff Perrella NJ 15:37
8. Jay Koloseus CT 15:38
9. Keith Capecci PA 15:38
10. Josh Hibbs PA 15:44

The Tayes have it. Saratoga Springs qualifies a boy. PA sends two.

by Don Rich, DyeStat Northeast regional editor
with Eric Bonnette

Coming into this school year, Ayalew and Sintayehu Taye moved from Maine to Cushing Academy, a private school in Massachusetts. They spent the fall training with coach Stirling Ince, who was somewhat unsure of just how fast they could go when tested against great competition. Now they know, and so does the rest of the US. At Saturday's Northeast Regional in the Bronx, they toured the famed and chilly Van Cortlandt course in 15:21 and 15:29, respectively. Those quick trips earned them their first visits to a much warmer San Diego for the Foot Locker Finals on December 10th. That's good, because neither brother is a fan of the cold. Joining them in California will be 18 other very talented prep runners.
The two were at the front when they came through the mile in 4:40, and charged up Freshman Hill to the lead they would not relinquish the rest of the way. Actually, it was Sintayehu who led his older brother into the woods. "He encouraged me," said Ayalew... "and then I passed him." They hadn't run any courses like Van Cortlandt all season, and the hills weren't popular with Ayalew. "It doesn't look that tough, but it breaks your stride."
The brothers aren't making any predictions for Nationals. Ince says that with the competition they have had this year near their home, he couldn't learn a lot about their potential. But, he quickly adds, "I learned some things today."
at 4k mark

Saratoga story

While girls who attend Saratoga Springs High School were dominating the other race, the boys of Saratoga Springs looked like they might qualify two. First man Steve Murdoch was in 3rd place crossing the bridge at 2,000 meters, but fell, and did not finish. Saratoga's second man, Greg Kelsey, picked up the team, and a San Diego ticket, by finishing 4th in 15:34.

New Jersey's Jeffrey Perrella, a Westfield senior, was 3rd at last week's New Jersey Meet of Champs. On Saturday, he was 7th in the entire Northeast as the only boy from Jersey to quality.

Pennsylvania qualified two for the second year in a row, and almost had three. Keith Capecci, a Council Rock North senior, usually runs from behind in races, and had used that strategy with great success in winning his District meet, and later pushing Craig Miller over the final mile to a course record at the PA state meet. But Coach Dave Marrington said before the race that Capecci wouldn't use that strategy with the level of competition at Foot Lockers. Well, Capecci did use that strategy, although not intentionally. First, he found himself in the 50's at the mile. Figuring he had time, he pushed the pace over the back hills, and by the 4,000 meter mark found himself in 10th with just over 1,000 meters to go. Thanks to the two added spots in the finals afforded by the agreement between NTN and Foot Lockers over the NTN/West Region date conflict, Capecci's 9th place finish earns him a trip to San Diego.

Hatboro Horsham senior Josh Hibbs took the more even approach, staying near the front in 7th to cross the bridge, and holding off challengers to take 10th by three seconds. Ellwood City senior Jake Walker had been in 3rd-4th for much of the race, and even though he held 6th at 4,000 meters, he faded to 13th. Brad Miller of Manheim Township; Craig Miller's twin; was with Hibbs as they entered the woods, but would finish 42nd.

Another favorite, New Jersey Meet of Champs winner Craig Forys of Colts Neck, ran despite having to stop a workout last Tuesday due to illness. He wasn't recovered, and toughed out a 28th place finish.

SOUTHERN REGIONAL - SAT 11/26 - MCALPINE GREENWAY PARK - NORTH CAROLINA -

McAlpine Speedway

Nichole Jones and Michael Eaton blaze paths to San Diego

By Ben Ackerly
DyeStat Southeast Regional Editor

CHARLOTTE, NC, Nov. 26 – Track gets going early in this part of the country. Saturday, on a crisp and clear morning at McAlpine Park, in the Foot Locker South Regional, it started at 10 a.m.
Nichole Jones, a junior from Houston and a cross-country novice, used her superior track speed to break away from a lead group of 10 that held together well past the 2-mile mark, winning by 5 seconds at 17:10, the fastest performance on the 5K layout at McAlpine in 21 years. Soon after, Michael Eaton, a senior from Bowling Green, Kentucky, took a very different approach on the way to a 5-second win of his own, at 16:46, equaling the No. 4 all-time mark.
Both will be leading contingents to San Diego that seem ready to run fast.

GIRLS
1. Nichole Jones TX 17:10
2. Kate Niehaus SC 17:15
3. Aurora Scott VA 17:15
4. Kathy Kroeger TN 17:16
5. Bona Jones FL 17:17
6. Catherine White VA 17:19
7. Kelly Parrish FL 17:19
8. Emily Reese GA 17:22
9. Miranda Walker TX 17:23
10. Brooke Upshaw TX 17:26

In the girls race in particular the pace was especially quick. Jones and the next nine finishers behind her dipped under the winning mark of 17:25 posted by Jenny Barringer last year – and Barringer’s 2004 mark was the fastest since 1997.

Early pace-setting duties were shared by a large group of frontrunners, 2004 Foot Locker finalist Aurora Scott of Virginia prominent among them. After a first mile of just over 5:15, Scott and fellow Virginian Catherine White led the leaders into the one portion of the course – a relatively short but steep climb and descent followed by another shorter climb and descent – that does not resemble an outdoor track. Meanwhile, pre-race favorite Ashley Brasovan remained bottled up in traffic as the 10 Foot Locker Finals berths raced away up front.
Scott and White emerged from the woods still in front, Jones and seven others right with them: 2004 Foot Locker finalists Kate Niehaus (SC) and Kelly Parrish, Kathy Kroeger (TN), Bona Jones (FL), Corey McGee (MS), Emily Reese (GA) and Miranda Walker (TX). Behind them the field was stringing out. The race was on.
Scott hit the 2-mile mark at just under 11:10 but soon yielded the lead to the indomitable Niehaus, vying for her fourth Foot Locker Finals berth.

Entering the back loop the lead pack remained 10 tight. 2004 Foot Locker Finalist Brooke Upshaw of Texas was about 15 meters back in 11 th.
Jones, biding her time on the shoulder of whoever was leading throughout the race, jumped Niehaus on the final lap around the lake and almost immediately opened up a 10-meter gap, a lead she would more than double by the finish.
“I was just hoping for the top 10,” Jones said, “but I surprised myself. I was surprised by how good I felt, and I just went for it.”

Niehaus had just enough to hold off Scott at the line (both were clocked at 17:15). Kroeger, the Tennessee freshman coming off a dominating win in the state meet, was 4 th at 17:16. Bona Jones was 5 th at 17:17, a 60 second improvement on her time here a year ago. White, winner of last year’s freshman/sophomore race at 18:33, held on for 6 th at 17:19. McGee, also at 17:19, Parrish (17:19), Reese (17:22) and Walker (17:23) rounded out the top 10. (McGee was subsequently disqualified for being an 8 th-grader, moving Upshaw, who crossed the line 11 th at 17:26, up to 10 th).

In the 26-year history of the meet here, only Virginia’s Erin Keough, who went 16:45 in 1984, and Texan Kathleen Smith, at 16:56 a year ealier, have run faster than Jones’ winning mark of 17:10. Walker’s 17:23 would have won every year but four. Last year, in very similar conditions, 10 runners dipped under 18:00. Saturday, the number was 25.

As for Brasovan, the diminutive freshman who had been so unbeatable this fall, inexperience may have finally caught up with her. “I just got boxed in,” she said. “I wasn’t ready for everyone going out like that, and then there were just too many people in front of me. It’s really hard to pass people on that little path.”

Brasovan, who was near 50 th at the mile, finished 17 th at 17:46.

BOYS
1. Michael Eaton KY 14:46
2. Daniel Gerber TX 14:51
3. Jack Bolas NC 14:54
4. Ben Hubers GA 14:55
5. Duncan Phillips TX 14:59
6. Brad Siragusa VA 15:00
7. Justin Harbor FL 15:01
8. Sandy Roberts NC 15:02
9. Colby Lowe TX 15:07
10. Rob Sorrell TN 15:08

Eaton, a 2004 Foot Locker finalist, wasn’t about to make the same mistake. And with all the burners on the starting line next to him, Eaton had no intention of letting anyone sit on him either.

“I decided it was best to go with how I like to run – go out hard and hold them off,” said Eaton, who finished 8 th here last year at 15:06.

“I’ve never been a fan of holding back and kicking at the end, because I don’t really have a kick. I’d rather go out hard and try to wear them down.”
Wear them down he did. By the mile mark, which he hit at about 4:30, he held a lead of more than 25 meters on a field that included fellow 2004 finalists Jack Bolas (NC), Justin Harbor (FL) and Sandy Roberts (NC), all of whom seemed perfectly content to bide their time farther back. Eaton hit 2 miles at just over 9:20 and had doubled his lead.

“Today my whole idea was that if I run by [spectators] and can still hear them cheering for someone else then they’re too close and I need to keep going,” Eaton said. “I didn’t want to have to worry about having to out-sprint somebody.”

Pained of expression but comfortable of lead, Eaton sailed home in 14:46. Daniel Gerber of Texas, closing well over the final mile, was 2 nd at 14:51, followed by Bolas at 14:54.

“The goal was to advance,” said Bolas, who will lead his Chapel Hill team at Nike Team Nationals next weekend. ( Chapel Hill #2 Ryan Workman finished 14 th at 15:23.)

Ben Hubers of Georgia, 22 nd last year at 15:32, finished 4 th on Saturday at 14:55, and Duncan Phillips of Texas also dipped under 15:00, clocking 14:59 in 5th. Brad Siragusa of Virginia (15:00), Harbor (15:01), Roberts (15:02) Colby Lowe of Texas (15:07) and Rob Sorrell of Tennessee (15:08) rounded out the top 10.

MIDWEST - SAT 11/26 - KENOSHA WISCONSIN

the story

Above All, An Illini Kind of Day

By Stephen (SteveU) Underwood
DyeStat senior editor

After the Midwest’s best runners tried to earn a ticket to San Diego on a sunny, but un-California-like snowy Saturday morning, one had several choices in how to summarize the proceedings. It was a Colorado day, with Mohamud Ige (14:58 for the boys) and Keara Sammons (17:26 for the girls) showing that you can predict this year’s winners based on last year’s top returnees. It was a Minnesota day, with girls from that state taking three of the top nine spots.

BOYS
1. Mohamud Ige CO 14:58
2. Landon Peacock MI 15:01
3. Brock Hagerman IN 15:05
4. Ryan Craven IL 15:06
5. Jeremy Stevens IL 15:08
6. Dan Roberts CO 15:09
7. Steve Finley IL 15:10
8. Noah Shannon CO 15:12
9. Evan Jager IL 15:16
10. Deshawn Turner IN 15:18

But above all, it was an Illinois kind of day, with an intensely focused group of boys from different schools in that state working together to get four in the top ten for clearly the best performance of the day. Ryan Craven in fourth (15:06), Jeremy Stevens in fifth (15:08), Steve Finley in seventh (15:10), and Evan Jager in ninth (15:16), finished within a 10-second span. Three more Illini finished in the top 16.

Meanwhile, Ige outkicked Landon Peacock MI 15:01 for the win, followed by IN Brock Hagerman’s 15:05. Daniel Roberts CO repeated with a berth in sixth (15:06) after qualifying with Vicksburg MI last year. Noah Shannon CO in eighth (15:12) made it two from his state and De’Sean Turner in tenth (15:18) ensured he’ll be making two trips to the West Coast. The Warren Central IN leader qualified in tenth, and is already going with his club to Nike Team Nationals in Portland December 3. Jager and Turner, both juniors, were the only non-seniors to make it.

After Sammons had outkicked Betsy Bies SD (17:29), the Minnesota surge began with surprising Hanna Grinaker in third (17:30) and Bria Wetsch in fourth (17:33). Their teammate Elizabeth Yetzer, a prerace favorite, didn’t have her best day, but held on for ninth (17:51).

Joining them are Bridget Franek OH in fifth (17:37), repeat qualifier Alison Eckert SD in sixth (17:42), Lindsay Anderson ND in seventh (17:44), Alexandra Banfich IN in eighth (17:47), and Meredeth Snow in 10th (17:52).

Sunshine, 3-4 inches of snow, and temperatures around freezing greeted the seeded girls as they took off on the first big race of the day. With only a moderate wind and the snow packing manageably into the trails, times still proved to be surprisingly fast – for both genders. In fact, the 10th-place times of 15:18 and 17:52 are the fastest ever in the DyeStat era (since 1999) and maybe the fastest ever.

Girls:
Keara Winning the Big Ones Now

GIRLS
1. Keara Sammons CO 17:26
2. Betsy Bies SD 17:29
3. Hanna Grinaker MN 17:30
4. Bria Wetsch MN 17:33
5. Briget Franek OH 17:37
6. Alison Eckert SD 17:42
7. Lindsay Anderson ND 17:44
8. Alexandra Banfich IN 17:47
9. Elizabeth Yetzer MN 17:51
10. Meredith Snow MO 17:52

It sure looked like the fastest girl of them all would be Betsy Bies, the super Yankton, SD junior who grabbed the lead after the long half-mile hill and immediately pushed the pace.

But the race doesn’t always go to the runner who starts the best, even when she is as good as Bies. Just call Keara Sammons “The Closer.” A month after outrunning Colorado’s best, the Smoky Hill HS senior moved up steadily during the race and surged by Bies in the final 200 to win by three seconds, 17:26-17:29.

It was the third time in four years a Greg Weich-coached runner has taken Foot Locker Midwest, following the Megan and Katelyn Kaltenbach sister act in 2002 and 2003. In fact, in the last six years he has had at least one qualifier every year, with four girls making San Diego a total of nine times. But the Kaltenbachs seemed to be more natural winners and leaders, where Sammons has been very, very consistent in the biggest meets, but usually in second or third.

Not any more. The coach had high praise for his newest champion. “Keara ran really well,” he said. “She’s probably the smartest kid I’ve ever had, tactically speaking.”

For someone who is becoming adept at gunning down early leaders, well, let’s say Sammons doesn’t fit any stereotypes. Actually, she redefines the word mellow. “I just wanted to go easy the first mile, then try to bring it the last two,” she said with an easy smile. “The pack started breaking up at about one-and-a-half miles. Then I started moving at about two-and-a-half. I was in third or fourth at that point.”

Meanwhile, Bies had held the lead at a mile in 5:36, with a large pack that included Franek, Anderson, Grinaker, Snow, Wetsch, Franek’s teammate Cassandra Schenck (who finished 12th), and WI’s Jocelyn Burke (11th) trailing in 5:39.

When Bies expanded her lead to six seconds in the next 600 or so, Wetsch broke away from the pack and took up the chase in earnest. They would eventually pass two miles in 11:03 and 11:06. “I felt really good after the mile, so I went into second,” said the Holy Family Catholic HS senior from Chaska. “But I could never quite catch her. Then Keara came up and we ran next to each other until almost three miles. It was a 20-second PR, though, and I’m really happy to make the team after trying for four years.”

Bies was passed by the smoothly surging Sammons shortly thereafter, but she, too, was quite satisfied with the overall result. “Actually, I just really wanted to finish in the top ten,” she said. “I’m very happy with it. I wasn’t really trying to push the pace, I just ended up in front and was running my race. I heard Keara coming and then she just came by me (at about 3 miles) and there was nothing I could do.”

Amazingly, along with the Smoky Hill dominance, Yankton runners have now taken first or second the past three years.

In the end, Wetsch was also passed by Grinaker, the MN Class AA runner-up who stunned with the race of her life. She was 18 seconds behind Yetzer for 4k at state, with 14:18, and now she’s suddenly a 17:30 5k runner and has earned the title of Minnesota’s finest, at least for now. Better yet, she’s headed for San Diego.

“I had some problems with iron earlier in the fall, but I felt pretty good at state,” she said. “But today I felt a lot better. I was feeling more confident, but when I was up there early, it was like ‘it feels weird to be up here.’ I just kept going. It was like a dream come true.”

It’s a challenge to make Foot Locker Nationals for the first time; Alison Eckert SD (sixth) and Elizabeth Yetzer MN (ninth) found making it again even tougher. Eckert was injured in an auto accident at the beginning of the season and her first race back wasn’t until Roy Griak, September 24, where she finished back in 13th. By her October 22 state meet, she was still a distant 30 seconds behind Bies over 4k at their state meet. Saturday, she was only 13 seconds back over 5k.

“The time after state I was able to use to get in better shape,” she said. “I just got in a lot of mileage and more training.”

Feeling as good as she’d felt all year, she started out in the top 20 and worked her way up through the woods. “I got up to 10th or so and stayed there most of the way until the end,” she said. She passed three runners in the last half mile.

Yetzer started near the back of the lead pack, hung with it, but never made a move toward the lead. “I don’t really know what happened,” she said. “I just didn’t feel that good. The training has been going well; hopefully I’ll just be peaking later.

“Hopefully, I’ll figure it out.” Last time Yetzer had a tough loss, to Wetsch at an early September invitational, she figured it out all right. She came back with an outstanding win at the Griak race.
Boys: Illinois Effort Smells Like Team Spirit
Apparently, anyone who judged the finest male runners from Illinois by last week’s showing at the Mid-East Championships better look again. With four of the top nine, and seven of the top 16, Illini boys dominated at Kenosha and wildly celebrated their combined efforts afterward.

At least for those who have wailed about perceived slights to their state in NTN rankings and Page One coverage on the DyeStat message boards, it was sweet vindication. Steve Finley of Palatine, whose Class AA runner-ups behind York have been lifted up by dozens as a rankings victim, could have crowed the loudest. Instead, as the emotional leader of the group, he could not have shown more graciousness and class. “I understand why we didn’t make it (they could still get an at-large berth),” he said. “I wish the team could go, but this is good here.”

Running together was the plan, he added, of the top Illinois runners who banded together. “We all started together and our strategy was to get to the top of the hill in good shape without wasting too much energy. Then we wanted to go down and move together starting at the mile.”

It wasn’t quite a home meet for Illinois runners, though the course is just north of the state border, but you would have thought so by the fan support. “We had about 25 or 30 people here from Palatine,” said Finley. “There’s a lot of people in the school who follow the sport.”

Finley, who was a bit under the weather at Mid-East last week, was seventh, behind Ryan Craven (fourth) and Jeremy Stevens (fifth), and ahead of Evan Jager (ninth). Said Jager, “We had amazing depth this year in Illinois this year. Everyone was really good. Before state, I would have said there were at least 10 guys who could win it.”

“It was pretty sweet,” added Stevens, who also won the unofficial award for the best regurgitation performance after the race. Recovered at the award ceremony, he added with a laugh, “I was hoping we could get five runners, so it could be Illinois vs. the nation (at Foot Locker).”

Craven’s assistant coach at Prospect, Pete Wintermute, watched these kids at Dayton last week and Saturday. “The Illinois group as a whole is a close group,” he said. “Finley got a lot of the guys ready here.”

Of course, it wasn’t just an Illinois story Saturday in Kenosha. And at the front, it was hardly relaxed as Landon Peacock MI, building on his Mid-East triumph, through everything he had at top returnee Mohamud Ige CO.

Not surprising to anyone who’s watched him, Ige went to the lead at the top of the hill, just like he did last year. Running regally and relaxed, one wondered if he would run away with it. But Peacock, as is his habit, powered up with the Coloradoan before the mile, which they passed in 4:42.

Unfortunately, Ige left shortly after filling out his Foot Locker forms and skipped the awards ceremony (and key media opportunities). Maybe he had a plane to catch. Peacock was left to wonder what else he could have done and look forward to another battle at Balboa Park.

“We were constantly back and forth,” he said. “He just had a better kick. I PR’d by eight seconds, but I really wanted to win.”

Not all of the top contenders cared about winning, at least in Kenosha. After losing the end of his junior season to an iron deficiency, Brock Hagerman IN has been building to a San Diego peak all year. Since he blitzed the field at his state meet, he has kept a few aces in reserve while earning his national ticket.

“I just really wanted to get up with the lead pack and stay there most of the race,” he said. “But I gained quite a bit at the end and finished strong. First is as good as 10th here.”

One can only wonder if he can use a powerful move in the final 2k to win in San Diego as he did at Terre Haute. Thing is, there will be a big handful of stars in two weeks who have designs on the same thing.

But after a great day in the Midwest, Hagerman – as well as Ige, Peacock, Sammons, Bies, and some others – will have a good a chance to wear the crown as any.