Bobby Lockhart
Winchester VA
photo by Conrad Haber
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Tracey Brauksieck
Homer NY 
photo by John Dye
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by John Dye
BALTIMORE MD 10/19/01 -- DyeStat announces Handley Winchester VA
sr Bobby Lockhart and Homer NY sr Tracey Braucksieck
as winners of the Nike Athlete of the Week
award for the sixth week of the 2001 cross country season.
Lockhart has a history of staying in the Shenandoah Valley
until it is time to go out and conquer a big meet. Last April, he
went all the way to Arcadia CA to go sub-9 in the 3200 against top
flight competition. Then he caught mono and skipped the outdoor
championships at Raleigh after a sub-par state meet. He was quiet
this season until the last two weeks, when he blistered the Great
Meadows and Bull Run courses in Virginia. His 49-second win at Bull
Run last Saturday (15:03 5k) took two seconds off the course record
set in 1995 by Sharif Karie, later a star at the University of Arkansas.
Now, DyeStat TrackTalk fans
are debating a Foot Locker finals matchup of Lockhart against Louisville
KY jr Bobby Curtis, who caught Lockhart in the last stride in the
Nike Indoor Classic mile last March.
For his part, Lockhart thinks he will be ready in December:
"So far the season has gone well and my training
is going better than ever. Mark Stickley (former All-American at
VA Tech and four time world cross country team member) has helped
me out greatly with my training. Last year I was running 35-40 miles
a week on no set schedule through the season, and now I'm running
around 65 a week with excellent fartlek, interval, and tempo workouts
weekly.
"Well, as for racing I'm not doing a lot of
racing for the simple fact that I'm still running intense weeks
of training. Racing invitationals weekly off-sets the week in terms
of training and doesn't allow me to get in the kind of workouts
I would if I was doing a race. Though I have run a few races pretty
fast and am feeling strong the whole way through. But as far as
this season is going I'm running stronger and faster than ever before
so by Footlocker I should definitely be in top form."
Brauksieck also lives in a small town environment far from
the city lights (Homer is in mid-state New York between Binghamton
and Syracuse). Tracey is a modest, sweet appearing young girl until
she steps to the starting line. Then she turns into a tiger. Last
Saturday at the Girls Eastern States Championships, she tamed venerable
Van Cortlandt Park in a battle of Foot Locker finalists present
and future. Brauksieck spotted wunderkind Nicole Blood (just an
8th grader but already the ace of the US#1 Saratoga Springs NY team)
and Fayetteville-Manlius NY sr Laurel Burdick (a Foot Locker finalist
last year) the early lead, but came out of the woods in front and
finished impressively in 14:28 2.5 miles, 2 seconds ahead of Burdick
and 4 ahead of Blood. Brauksieck was a surprise Foot Locker finalist
as a sophomore 2 years ago and then was injured last year. She is
pointing to return to Van Cortlandt on November 24 for the Northeast
Regional and claim one of the 8 tickets to Disney World for this
year's Foot Locker national finals.
The Nike Athlete of the Week award is presented each Friday to
the boy and girl who had the most outstanding achievement of the
previous week. Winners receive a long-sleeved Nike dry-fit running
shirt and Chris Lear's award winning book, Running with the Buffaloes,
which can be purchased online at ShopDyeStat.
Honorable Mention Week ending October 17
Girls
- Carolina Day NC sr Laura Stanley - 17:35
5k, is impressive 28-second winner at the Furman Invitational.
- Bingham UT sr Laura Zeigle - 17:48 3m
winner of Utah State Meet 5A, fastest girl of the day.
- Templeton CA jr Kristen Browning - meet
record 19:26.2 5k at Venue/Cal Poly Invitational.
- Corona del Mar CA sr Julie Allen - third
straight Orange County championship in 17:13 3m, sixth best in
country this season
- Murrieta Valley CA soph Liza Pasciuto
- last year's 6th at Foot Locker finals as a freshman is getting
warmed up - 17:56 3m with 1:15 margin winning the Inland Empire
Challenge.
- Chiles FL sr Zita Magloire - 17:57 3m
winner of Florida Pre-State.
- Bentonville AR Jamie Owensby - 15:36 winner
to lead her team to the Invitational title in the Chile Pepper
Festival at U. of Arkansas.
- Groves Birmingham MI sr Rebecca Walter
- 18:57 5k is fastest girl at the Gabriel Richards Invitational.
- Zoe Nelson, Flathead Kalispell MT - course
records are the norm for this undefeated freshman - this week
she knocks another 27seconds off her home course record she set
earlier this year with an easy 17:13 4.73k win.
- Mountain View OR jr Emily McMahon - 18:35
5k takes down the course record at the Lava Bear Invitational.
Boys
- Lakeside Dekalb GA sr Joe Thorne - 15:15
5k takes 10 seconds off the Furman Invitational course record
of Ricky Brookshire, former Watauga NC star who is now at North
Carolina State.
- Jamestown VA sr Bryce Ruiz - 14:47 4.8k
ties or breaks (depending on whether you round to tenths) meet
record of former Foot Locker finalist Dan Coval in William Tennent
Invitational.
- LaSalle Cincinnati sr Allen Bader - 15:09
5k leads his US#2 team to victory in neighborhood fight over St.
Xavier in Cincinnati Greater Catholic League championships
- Taft CA sr Billy Nelson - meet record
15:48.2 5k at Venue/Cal Poly Invitational.
- Hurricane UT jr Tony Jones - 15:24 3m,
comes out of Division 3A to chalk up fastest time of the Utah
State Meet.
- Woodbridg CA soph Michael Haddan - another
victory in a fast time - 15:00 3m for fastest time of the Orange
County championships.
- Etiwanda CA jr Mike Poe - adds another
invitational victory in 15:21 3m at Inland Empire Challenge.
- Berkeley Prep FL sr Rolf Steier - impressive
turnabout win over Steven Hassen in Florida Pre-State in 14:54
3m, reversing the result of the flrunners.com Invitational 2 weeks
earlier.
- Daniel Sayko, W. Monroe LA - got his second
straight invitational victory in 15:38 5k at the Chile Pepper
Festival at U. of Arkansas.
- Novi MI sr Tim Moore - 15:10 5k leads
his team to victory in Gabriel Richard Invitational.
- Flathead Kalispell MT sr Kurt Michels
- continues his winning ways with a 14:34 4.73k romp at home.
- Klamath Union OR jr Lauren Jesperson -
15:23 5k is a winner in course record over strong Pacific Northwest
field in Lava Bear Invitational.
To nominate athletes, use the AOW Nomination
Form.
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