2006 USATF
Cross-Country
Junior Nationals
Previews by Joe Hartman/Rich Gonzalez
Saturday-Sunday, February 18-19, 2006
At Van Cortland Park, New York
On-site coverage w/ Marc Davis/Rich Gonzalez,
Joe Hartman, and Kirsten O'Hara

   

   
2005 USATF Cross-Country Junior Nationals champions Galen Rupp and Liza Pasciuto

Saturday-Sunday, February 18-19
At Van Cortland Park, NY

Race Weekend Weather Alert!
After the biggest snowfall in New York City history, USATF and the New York Road Runners
are proceeding with race plans. Snow and ice removal are under way at Van Cortlandt Park
to ensure the best conditions on the trails for the championships. More than two feet of snow
has blanketed New York in recent days. Forecast for the weekend is for sub-freezing
temperatures (high of 30 degrees) and a wind-chill on Saturday night in the single digits!

What: USATF Cross-Country Junior/Senior National Championships
When: Females on Saturday, Feb. 18 @ 11 am EST; Males on Sunday, Feb. 19 @ 10 am EST
Where: Van Cortland Park, New York
Who: Open to all runners American runners who do not turn age 20 until 2007.
Why: For the chance to represent Team USA at the 2006
IAAF World XC Junior Championships in Japan on April 1-2

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USATF Juniors Preview Area

By Richard Gonzalez, DyeStat/DyeStatCal
       Conventional wisdom says the higher-mileage collegians should fare well. Conventional wisdom also says such strength-driven high school harriers as A.J. Acosta and Ben Sitler should capably hold their own. Conventional wisdom even says aerobic machines such as Diego Mercado and Isaac Stoutenburgh will undoubtedly be in the mix.
       Conventional wisdom may end up frozen.
       It'll be the same for the females, where Nicole Blood will race a final time as a New Yorker before bidding adieu to the elements preceding her official move to sunny California in the hours after the race.
       In a bitterly cruel twist of fate after a decent winter thus far, Mother Nature is planning to cast a deep freeze along Van Cortland Park's storied pathways this weekend in capping off the worst snowfall in the
history of The Big Apple. Although late-week rises in temperature will help melt some of the residual ice, forecasts on race day have the mercury readings once again dipping into sub-freezing (below 32 degrees) readings, including a downright nasty single-digits wind-chill forecast for the Saturday evening between the two days of racing.
        Up for grabs are berths to the IAAF World Juniors (19-and-under) Cross-Country Championships in Japan on the opening weekend of April. The top six finishers in each "Juniors" race (comprised this year of frosh collegians and high schoolers) will make the squad. The men's Juniors race will be 8 kilometers (a shade over 5 miles) and the women will race for 6 kilometers (about 3.75 miles).
Here's our take on the weekend outlook, with Northern California correspondent Joe Hartman canvassing the young women's field with a thorough analysis and DyeStatCal editor Rich Gonzalez pinpointing the favorites in the men's field:

Junior Females Analysis (Hartman)         Junior Males Favorites (Gonzalez)

 

Junior females athlete entry capsules, by Joe Hartman
As of 2/13 - 27 high schoolers, 20 collegians

Arcata High's Yasmine White (center) and her Buffalo Babes teammates
will be seeking the national team title in New York!

HIGH SCHOOL - CALIFORNIA (8)

HIGH SCHOOL - NOT CAL (19)

FRESHMAN

SOPHOMORES

JUNIORS

SENIORS

COLLEGE (20, 6 from CA)

Past World Qualifiers by Year:
2005: 4 College, 2 HS (Jenny Barringer, Erin Bedell)
2004: 5 College, 1 HS (Jenny Barringer)
Next year’s meet: Boulder, CO

 

Junior Males Leading entries, by Rich Gonzalez

2006 USATF XC Jr- Nationals Sizing Up The Male Favorites By Rich Gonzalez (times below are for miles/2-miles, unless noted)
Kiel Uhl	Andrew Bumbalough	Brandon Bethke	Kenny Klotz		A.J. Acosta	Michael Maag
Freshman @ Iowa State	Freshman @ Georgetown	Freshman @ Wisconsin	Senior @ Central Catholic HS		Senior @ El Camino HS	Freshman @ Princeton
Placed 67th at 2005 NCAA Division I XC Championships. Placed 2nd at 2005 NCAA Division I Cross-Country Midwest Regional.	Redshirt XC frosh. Placed 2nd at 2004FootLocker Cross-Country Championships. Prep personal bests of 8:49.87/4:06.53	Redshirt XC frosh. 2004 California State Cross-Country Division I Champion Prep personal bests of 4:09.53c/9:02.15c	Placed 4th at 2005 FootLocker XC Championships Nike Team Nat'ls Champion 2-timeBorder Clash champion		2005 FootLocker XC Nat'l champion California state Division I XC champion 4:08.63c/9:02.02c personal bests	Placed 23rd at 2005 NCAA XC Mid-Atlantic Regional PRs of 3:56.44 for 1500m/8:36.57 for 3k

  

2006 USATF XC Jr Nationals Sizing Up The Male Lead Challengers
						????
Eric Giddings	Diego Mercado	Andy Biladeau	Ben Sitler		Isaac Stoutenburgh	The wild cards!
Freshman @ Stanford 11-time state champ in Maine	Senior @ West Covina HS 2-time FootLocker XC Nat'l finalist	Freshman @ Virginia 173rd at NCAA D1 XC Nat'ls	Senior @ St. Francis HS in North Calif. FootLocker nat'l finalist in 2005		Senior @ Crater HS, OR 14:38.23 5k on the track in '05	Will Arkansas' Chris Barnicle enter in? Can Liberty's Jordan McDougal snag a berth? How about super preps Michael Eaton & Landon Peacock or Duke frosh Geary Gubbins?

 

Full Juniors male entries as of February 15th
Andrew Acosta unattached
Chris Ahl University of Washington
Marco Anzures unattached
Miles Batty Brigham Young University
Brandon Bethke unattached
Simon Biddle-Snead Clarke Kents
Andrew Biladeau University of Virginia
Bradley Bogdan unattached
Riley Booker unattached
David Brent Eastern Michigan University
Andrew Bumbalough Georgetown University
Daniel Callan Clarke Kents
Greggory Cantwell unattached
Patrick Caulfield Iona College
Alvin Charles unattached
Anthony Coglianese Deep Six Racing
Alex Crabill unattached
Craig Curley Wings of America/Earth Circle Foundation Inc.
Daniel Dougherty Deep Six Racing
Michael Eaton unattached
Jimmy Elam Humboldt State University
Eric Giddings unattached
Daniel Goetz Bryan College
Casey Gramling unattached
Geary Gubbins unattached
Josh Henry unattached
Stephen Hill Christian Brothers University
Zachary Hine Cornell University
Matthew Kisenwether Deep Six Racing
Kenneth Klotz unattached
Rick Koubek Deep Six Racing
Alexander Krichels Deep Six Racing
Jordan Kyle unattached
Nathan Lee Wings of America/Earth Circle Foundation Inc.
Edward Leonard Clarke Kents
Dan Lewis unattached
Collin Love Deep Six Racing
Michael Maag Princeton University
Dustin Martin Wings of America/Earth Circle Foundation Inc.
John Martinez North Carolina State University
Alexander Mason Georgetown University
Clay Mayes Wings of America/Earth Circle Foundation Inc.
Jordan McDougal Liberty University
Jordan McNamara University of Washington
Diego Mercado unattached
Levi Miller Georgetown University
William Mullaney unattached
Chris Mulvany unattached
Benjamin Murphy-Baum unattached
James Nally unattached
Kenyon Neuman University of Colorado
Landon Peacock unattached
Richard Schmitz unattached
Ben Sitler unattached
Ware Smalley Clarke Kents
Todd Smalling unattached
Darryl Stevenson unattached
Isaac Stoutenburgh Southern Oregon Sizzlers R/C
Charles Swartz unattached
Jonathan Thomas unattached
Donovan Tsinnijinnie Wings of America/Earth Circle Foundation Inc.
Kiel Uhl unattached
Brian Vallie Wings of America/Earth Circle Foundation Inc.
Joseph Ver State University of New York College at Plattsburgh
Richard White unattached
Jory Zunich unattached