Sally Meyerhoff
Tempe AZ
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Joe Thorne
Dekalb GA
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by John Dye
BALTIMORE MD 11/9/01 -- DyeStat announces AZ senior Sally Meyerhoff
and Dekalb GA senior Joe Thorne as winners of the Nike
Athlete of the Week award for the ninth week of the 2001 cross
country season.
Meyerhoff has been running away from all competition in
Arizona since opening with a 2nd to Amber Trotter at the Great Race
of the Great Bay in San Francisco. Last week she demolished the
Arizona state meet field by 68 seconds in 17:26 (3.03m) for her
second straight 5A title. Meyerhoff led Mountain Pointe to the 5A
team championship as well, with 37 points to 128 for the runner-up.
Earlier, she won the big Doug Conley Invitational in record time
17:15 (5k).
Sally now takes aim on her seasonal goal: making Foot Locker national
finals. She has a month to shift her training toward the Foot Locker
West regional at Mt. SAC December 1. Her coach, Geoffrey Owers,
thinks she will be ready. "We are hoping that she can successfully
hit two peaks (State and
Footlocker), and we are being careful with her mileage and training
so as to time it all correctly."
Thorne humbled the competition and a very tough Georgia
state meet course at Carrollton GA last Saturday on a hot, humid
day that had good runners collapsing, winning by 41 seconds in 15:49
(5k).
 Thorne
showed last June that he is a tough runner when he won the adidas
Outdoor Championships steeple chase on his first time ever running
that gruelling event (left). This fall, he made a 2-man race
with Bobby Curtis of Kentucky at the Great American Festival seeded
invitational race, making a bold move at the 2-mile mark that Curtis
covered. Thorne ended second in 15:15, only 6 seconds behind Curtis
and third best overall for the day's races. That was Thorne's only
loss this year as he collected titles at Berry-Darlington, Alexander,
Furman, and Last Chance invitationals.
Georgia correspondent Andrew Hudson estimated that the Georgia
state meet conditions were 45 seconds slower than McAlpine Park
in Charlotte, site of the Foot Locker South regional. If so, Thorne
will be right in the hunt for the regional championship November
24.
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 will 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 November 9
Girls
- Phillips Andover MA sr Melissa Donais -
course record for
the fourth straight week with 18:01 3.1m in a dual meet on her
difficult home course.
- Killingly CT jr Meghan Owen - 14:50 (4k)
- adds Connecticut Open championship to her state MM title.
- Deerfield IL sr Erika Odlaug - finishes
season with a perfect record: 12 meets, 12 course records. This
time it was the Illinois State Meet, which she won in 13:25 (2.5m),
breaking Maria Cicero's state meet record by 24 seconds and her
own Detweiler Park Peoria course record by 5 seconds.
- Notre Dame Elmira NY sr
Molly Huddle - 17:35 (5k) for a course record in New York
Section 3.
- Saratoga NY 8th grader Nicole Blood -
17:26 (5k) to lead US#1 Saratoga to victory in powerful New York
Section 2.
- Ukiah CA sr Amber Trotter - 16:31 (2.97m)
win by 35 seconds over good competition in North Bay League.
- N. Allegheny PA sr Stephanie Madia - 19:04
(5k) runs down Council Rock soph sensation Jessica Cickay
at the wire by half a second
- Rockford MI soph Nikki Bohnsack - 17:40
(5k) leads US#3 Rockford to easy Michigan state meet championship.
- Mt. Tabor NC sr Carly Mathews - 17:44
(5k) broke the North Carolina state meet record.
- Gallup NM sr Felicia Guliford - 19:11
(5k) at altitude was 54 seconds faster than anyone else at the
New Mexico state meet, showing Felicia is primed for another shot
at the Foot Locker national finals (she was 3rd as a freshman
in 1998 and led the 1999 race into the home stretch).
- Fayetteville-Manlius NY sr Laurel Burdick
- 17:56 (5k) sets a new meet record for New York Section 3.
- Lakewood OH jr Michelle Sikes - 17:50
(5k) is fastest of the day at Ohio state meet.
- Allen TX sr Valerie Lauver - 11:02 (2m)
is fastest of the Texas regionals.
Boys
- Caledonia MI sr Tim Ross - 15:04 (5k)
is fastest time of day in Michigan state meet.
- Mead WA sr Jesse Fayant - 15:30 (5k) upsets
Chris Lukezic and leads US#13 Mead to Washington 4A championship.
- Arroyo CA jr Yong-sung Leal - 14:36
(3m) in the Hayward League shaves 5 seconds off the course record
set
by Rich Kimball
in 1974.
- St. Xavier Louisville KY jr Bobby Curtis
- shaking off a flu bug that cost him some training days, Curtis
won the Kentucky 3A championship in state record time of 15:06
(5k) on tough Kentucky Horse Park course on a very warm day with
soft footing.
- Handley Winchester VA sr Bobby Lockhart -
15:15 (5k) in Virginia AA regional at Great Meadows, site of the
state meet.
- Sayville NY jr Brian Dalpiaz - 15:46 in
the New York Section 11 division championship; the 10th fastest
5k ever at Sunken Meadows NY.
- Farragut TN sr Andy Baksa - led his US#5
team to the Region 2 championship with a meet record 14:44 3m.
- LaSalle Cincinnati OH sr Allen Bader -
15:07 (5k) finishes stellar season with thrilling win over Wesley
Smith in Ohio Division 1 championship. Bader answered every challenge
by Smith, who dogged him the entire way but could not pass.
- Hudson OH jr Wesley
Smith - 15:07.2 (5k) matched Allen Bader stride for stride
in a race that left friend and foe alike exclaiming, "What
a race!" Beaten by 0.2 second, Smith nonetheless led Hudson
to an upset victory over Bader's US#3 ranked LaSalle for the Ohio
Division 1 championship.
- Glenbard South IL sr Micah Vandenend -
14:19 (3m) to win Illinois AA championship in fastest time of
the day, finishing an undefeated season a year after he broke
his leg.
- Ridgefield CT sr Steve Mucchetti -15:53
(5k) - adds Connecticut Open title to his Class L championship.
- Berkeley Prep FL sr Rolf Steier - 14:26
3m is fastest of day in Florida district meets.
- East Central MS sr Jake Raines - 15:27
(5k) sets a new record for Mississippi 4A championship.
- Mt. Tabor NC jr Matt Debole - 15:02 5k
broke Ricky Brookshire's state meet record (1999)
- Baldwin sr Dan Mazzocco -- 16:03(5k)
is fastest of the the day at the Pennsylvania state meet.
- Farragut TN sr Andy Baksa - 15:03 (5k)
leads US #7 Farragut to Tennessee AAA title
- Austin El Paso TX sr Frank Lozano - 15:11
(5k) is fastest of the Texas regionals.
To nominate athletes, use the AOW Nomination
Form.
Nike Athlete of the Week home page
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