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The Lines Are Drawn
With the addition of individuals to the new NXN, athletes and their coaches will have to decide where the best experiences and opportunities lie. What do those coaches and athletes who are impacted most have to say about it?
By SteveU
PAGE 2
4. Holy Trinity FL's Doug Butler (Kayla Hale)
5. FL Champs Ashley Brasovan and Jordan Hasay (Coach, Father)
6. Gill St. Bernard NJ's Ryan Grote (Doug Smith)
(continued on) PAGE 3 - PAGE 4 - PAGE 1
(other pages include comments from Albuquerque Academy NM Coach Adam Kedge, Neuqua Valley IL Coach Paul Vandersteen, Knoxville TC coach Marty Sonnenfeldt, Regis Jesuit CO coach Bob Nicolls, and Neuqua Valley's NTN Champ Chris Derrick)
4. Holy Trinity FL's Doug Butler (Kayla Hale)
Down in the Sunshine State, Doug Butler coaches Holy Trinity Episcopal, which has been led by standout Kayla Hale the past three years. He also has advised 2007 Foot Locker National Champion Ashley Brasovan in the past. Kayla has made Foot Locker Finals each of the past two years. Their team has been strong, though not a clear national contender. Coach Butler favors the NXN direction – with a couple of qualifications.
 |  | | Ashley Brasovan (left) and Kayla Hale at FL Finals last fall. |
“I like the NCAA style format that Nike is going with,” he says. “I only have two issues with it. One, Kayla will go back to Foot Locker this year in hopes of becoming Florida’s only 3-time qualifier for Nationals. If I asked her to go to NXN she would, but I couldn’t do that to her, as I know what Foot Locker means to her. After Kayla is gone, we will probably go with the Nike team route, if I have strong teams that have a chance.
His other issue is no surprise – the December weather conditions in Portland. Coach Butler is a warm-weather guy, through and through. “Don’t get me wrong,” he says with a smile, “I have only been to Portland once and I loved it. But I hate the cold, especially running in it.”
In the end, Butler thinks NXN is the future. “I think this event will be huge in 2-3 years time, when the graduating Foot Locker kids are all gone.”
5. FL Champs Ashley Brasovan and Jordan Hasay (Coach, Father)
Brasovan doesn’t like the cold weather either, and has mixed feelings about the development.
“I am split on the change,” she says. “I have always wondered what the difference was between this competition and Foot Locker. I think the two races should combine to form one major race or stay separate. I think the whole point of NTN was to have teams duel it out for a team title. It was Foot Locker that the individuals would go to.
But Brasovan did not rule out forsaking a chance at a repeat title in favor of the new NXN, even though her team at Wellington has not been and is unlikely to be a national class contender.
“I think when the time comes to choose between the two, that I will go to the race that offers the best competition,” she says. “I would consider NXN, if more of the other girls decide to go there as well.
 | Jordan Hasay at FL 07
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“I think more people may choose the Nike series because of the name Nike has made for itself,” she adds. “In the end, it may cause Foot Locker to end. I am not really sure how soon, but this XC season should be a good indicator of the years to come.”
Out west, Mission Prep CA star Jordan Hasay and those who guide her career – Coach Armando Siqueiros and her dad, Joe – confess they’ve had little time to think about the changes during the heat of the track season. Hasay rocked the XC world with her Foot Locker national title in 2005 as a freshman, and while she has been 10th and 3rd the past two years, her USATF Jr. XC wins and leading track performances have generally kept her at the top of prep girls distance running.
“I'll give this some more thought, but my gut feeling is this will dilute fields,” says Coach Siqueiros. “It’s kind of like the NIN and NSIC meets. Not everyone will be able to go to both. My gut feeling would also tell me that we would stick with Foot Locker.... it's her last year.
“I try to plan meets for the year worrying less about where other people are going, but where can we achieve what we want,” he adds. “That's what I've liked about Foot Locker. We've known we don't have a team and, traditionally, that's where people have gone. That's what I like about World Junior XC Trials – everyone knows this is where it happens.”
Joe Hasay, on the other hand, acknowledged the competition level at each event may be a factor. “To be honest with you, we really have not had the time to read the details of the change,” he said. “Without knowing all the details, we honestly can’t accurately comment. As this all progresses, we would certainly want to choose the race (NXN or Foot Locker) where the top competitors will be running. We’ll see how this all unfolds.”
6. Gill St. Bernard NJ's Ryan Grote (Doug Smith)
Doug Smith, a junior at Gill St. Bernard’s in New Jersey, missed making Foot Locker Finals last fall when he finished outside the top 10 at FL Northeast. As his 9:01 3200 indoors showed, however, he is clearly one of the country’s most talented non-seniors and will likely enter next fall considered as one of the country’s very best.
Smith’s coach, Ryan Grote, has not had a team around his standout to have considered running NTN in the past. But Grote’s good experiences with the Nike national track meets, and his feelings about the trends developing, have led him and Smith to think along those lines in the future.
 | Doug Smith at FLNE 07
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“Like many, I have had a feeling a change like this would occur,” he says. “This hunch was reinforced last year when I felt that FLNE was considerably smaller than I have ever seen it (that is, less people in general in the park), with the first year of NTN Regionals.
“I have been to FL Nationals in San Diego as a coach,” he adds, “and it is a great experience for the athletes. I would imagine that the experience was enhanced by the partnership with Nike at that time. I own a store and have had a few customers from teams who have been to NTN, and by all accounts, it is also a remarkable event. Clearly, Nike goes all out for it.
“In anticipating this possible move, I have felt that should Nike add individuals in an attempt to form a one-race, big-time national championship for teams and individuals, that I would be inclined to steer Doug towards that race – even in its first year, even if Foot Locker still existed, and even if he has never made it to San Diego and even if it meant not getting to race a 5k at Van Cortlandt. I just feel that Nike, and people who work with NTN, NIN, and NON, do a tremendous service for the sport. And I believe that this event would become an experience that would be the best for the kids involved, in terms of exposure to Nike athletes, seeing the campus, a big, fun race, and preparing for racing XC at the next level where the field is bigger with teams and individuals and time doesn't really matter.”
Grote can hardly be accused of being a shill for Nike. He doesn’t even carry the brand at his running store. But he does like the way the Nike meets, with their NSSF management, are run. “I don't particularly like the company as a whole or the running shoes they produce these days, but this meet I think is a great idea. Long story short, I would anticipate that Doug will train for the NXN Regional and hope to compete for a national championship at NXN in Portland.”
And, with the irreverence he has become famous for in the running community, he concludes, “It doesn't hurt that I'm a University of Portland alum and I'm dying to have burritos from El Burrito Loco near campus.”
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