Post-Race
Review
- by Marc Davis
A
local hero says goodbye. And "distance" controls the verdict.
Dyestat
has been in New York City 4 times in the last 6 weeks covering
various indoor meets throughout the city. And every weekend in
the Big Apple the temperature barely went below 50 degrees. So
naturally this past weekend, when we finally had to report outside,
it was freezing cold with blistering winds. Boy, Karma and Fate
were sure at work at Van Cortland Park. With temperatures reaching
only about 15 degrees, and snow flurries during the races on
Saturday, the youth of America were forced to be at the top of
their game.
This
past Saturday and Sunday, the mens and womens Junior National
cross country teams were decided for the upcoming World Champioinships
in Japan on April 1st and 2nd. And once again two very distinct
outcomes were evident between the men and women’s finishing
results. While the women’s event was almost dominated by
high school harriers, the men’s squad could only muster
one lone hero to represent the grade school athlete. By the way,
junior athletes is defined as any runner under the age of 20
years old, and also not turning 20 years old anytime in that
calendar year.
In
the women’s race, Nicole Blood, formerly of Saratoga
Springs High School in New York State and now a member of Royal
Semi Valley in California, showed why she is one of the best up
and coming runners in the country. The local hero and future
University of Oregon student/athlete stayed in the lead pack
from the gun and waited only until the last 200 meters to show
her winning ways. After Mckayla Plank from Iona College came
in, two more high schoolers, Kauren Tarver of Wrightwood, CA
and Marie “Mel” Lawrence of Reno, NV roared past the finish line. Filling out the top
6 and earning a birth to the World Champs was Erin Bedell of
Baylor University and Madeline McKeever of Duke University.
But
where was Aislinn Ryan (current US#3 in the
1600/mile and 3000m)? Where was the newly crowned US High School
Record holder in the 5000m Megan O’Reilly?
Where was the “phenom” National Cross Country Champion
Jordan Hasay? What about the rest of the Saratoga
Springs arsenal of runners and a slew of other top Dyestat
Elite listed female
runners? Some would say that with these top female runners, the
women’s
junior team would have been completely filled with high school
runners. Heck maybe even more of the top 10 spots! And yet, on
the men’s
side, only one non-college runner, Michael Eaton of
Bowling Green, KY was able to slip in for 6th place and the final team
spot. Why is there such a huge difference of high school boys and
high school girls?
One
opinion would say that female athletes develop quicker at a younger
age. Take a look at the statistics of the Foot Locker Championships,
and you will see a huge amount of underclassman female athletes
winning that event than men. While only one non-senior has won
the boys race, 7 junior, 2 sophomore and even 2 freshman girls
have beaten the best in the country (Source – Foot
Locker Analysis). But perhaps
a more clear explanation can be used by simply looking at the two
different distances run between the men and women at the Junior
level. In the women’s
race the distance is 6000m (just under 4 miles). Most of the
season, high school runners compete at least at 4000m
(2.5 miles), and eventually at the national level they go
up to 5000m (just over 3 miles). So moving up only 1k, really shouldn’t
be that difficult. All the while, the eligible college freshman
women are only competing at 6000m themselves, so they do not have
any clear advantage.
However,
on the mens side, the juniors run 8000m (just shy of 5 miles).
Again the high school boys are running only a minimum of 4000m,
and up to 5000m at the top levels. So they having to move
up almost 2 miles in distance (3000m more). Meanwhile, the college
freshman that are potentially eligible as a junior have already
gone through a whole cross country season of 10k cross country!
(typical distance for most NCAA invitationals) So they are actually
moving DOWN 2 full kilometers to compete in this event. This
is a major advantage in cross country. Especially under the weather
conditions we had just last weekend.
So
where does this put Michael Eaton? Well, surely after what some
would say was a disappointing 13th finish at last fall's Foot
Locker Finals, he showed great strength in dominating over the
other high school runners. Eaton beat some very fine athletes;
including the National Champion himself, AJ Acosta of El Camino
HS in Californina (9th overall); as well as 3 other top 10 Foot
Locker finishers in Landon Peacock (7th place), current US#1
for 3000m indoords Kenny Klotz (15th place), and Ben
Sitler (23rd
place). This has to look well for him going into the outdoor
season, as well as his college prospects.
But
now, with the event over and done with, everyone wants to know
one simple thing. How are they all going to do against the best
in the world? With the African dominance over the last 20 years
in both the senior and junior fields, it’s hard to say
that either of these teams are expected to win it all. But Blood,
Lawrence, and Bedell both have
lots of internationally experience; being on US Junior teams
in the past (this is Bedell's second US Junior Cross team). And
some of the college men should by now know what it’s like
to race international athletes themselves; seeing as there
are so many foreign runners in the NCAA system these days. So
what does this all say? With the right training and preparation,
hopefully some comfortable traveling conditions, and a solid
coaching staff to prepare this youthful crew for the big dance,
it should be said that the US Junior team will be amongst the
top teams in the world. But more importantly, these precious
dozen runners are getting the experience of a lifetime. And that
can only look good for them when they become the future senior
leaders of the United States runner scene.
