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The annual DyeStat Elite Top 25 series (formerly Foot Locker Favorites and renamed given additional options available now) are national and regional rankings of cross-country runners based on distance-running accomplishments to date, with an emphasis on XC and 3200/2M track results, rather than a projection of how the Foot Locker Finals or NXN Finals will turn out (predictions run later in the season).
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Great American confirms two rising stars
Oct 9, 2009 Girls Rankings (through Oct. 3 meets)
The Top 25
Carolyn Baskir NC and Samantha Nadel NY show they're not 2nd fiddle to anyone in NC or NY, and move up
sharply in rankings; New York stars have ups and downs in early season; slight shuffle at the top
Story and rankings by SteveU
 | Carolyn Baskir wins Great American.
Photo Walter Pinion
| The Great American’s individual girls race may not have been the mid-season national championship showdown that it was during the past two years – that amazing coming together of the likes of Ashley Brasovan, Kathy Kroeger, Jessica Tonn, Emily Sisson, etc. – but it was still a heck of a race. It may not have defined the top-end of the national championship picture, but it certainly gave us a couple of top-ten contenders to think about: Carolyn Baskir and Sam Nadel.
Baskir's monster month - Baskir’s evolution this fall has been astonishing. The 2008 4A runner-up, an East Chapel Hill NC senior, was expected to be a solid regional contender this fall, but has vaulted into the US top-ten with a rather astonishing four-week progression.
- On Sept 12, Baskir was the stick by which NC frosh phenom Wesley Frazier’s greatness was measured at the Seahawk Invite. (Now Frazier finally got to race someone! She beat Baskir by 53 seconds!)
- On Sept. 19, Baskir was the afterthought – but a very strong afterthought – following another Frazier record at the Wolfpack Invite. (Yes, Frazier ran great again, but look at Baskir – 17:24 5k on the Great American course and only 14 seconds behind her!)
- On Sept. 26, Baskir wasn’t the measuring stick or the afterthought, but the champion of the US Army XC Festival at Maymont, after a strong 17:42 5k to edge the Stevens twins of Blacksburg VA.
- On Oct. 3, Baskir was suddenly the Great American champion with a time just four seconds slower (17:14) than Frazier’s course record, and clearly in the same conversation as the best girls in the country.
What’s happened during the past month? Well, Baskir has learned to race smarter (poor strategy at Seahawk), saw the effects of a great summer of training – including lots of hill work and weightlifting, and has found her confidence skyrocket. Now she is ready to be a top ten contender, whether she chooses Foot Locker or NXN.
Nadel joins Empire State's best - And how about Nadel, who was only three seconds behind Baskir at Great American? The North Shore NY soph has been trying to follow up on a great indoor and outdoor track campaign as a freshman, where she was 2nd in the NIN 5k (17:15.38) with a national freshman record, then ran 4:32 for 1500 and 10:24 for 3200 outdoors. Before Great American, there had been a DNF at the Warwick Wave meet, a 14:10 for an odd 2.75 miles, and not much else.
With her 17:17 for 2nd at Great Am, she confirms her progress during track and takes her place – now US#10 and the #2 New Yorker – in a fascinating drama regarding who will be the best girls in the Empire State this fall. Yes, New York is best known for its NXN-dominating teams. But there were six girls in the top 16 of our Preseason Top 25 from NY and no other state had more than two. After half the season, and Manhattan looming, this is where the other five seem to stand
- Aisling Cuffe (was #6, now #2) – Easily the best start of the group with record-threatening runs at both Bowdoin and Lehigh PA (and they’re very good records), she’s continued momentum from a spring where she won the USATF Jr 5k and is expected to threaten the girls CR at Manhattan.
- Emily Lipari (was #7, now #12) – Low key races so far, but solid results, which is typical Lipari. She hasn’t lost ground so much as newcomers have exploded up the charts, but she’s two-time Feds champ and she’ll be ready to take on challengers to her throne. The Brown Invite next weekend could be her first big race.
- Courtney Chapman (was #10, now #17) – Like Lipari, has only fallen because other more active racers have passed her. Manhattan is Fay-Man’s first big race of the year and Chapman, who was 2nd in Eastern States last year, will truly show where she’s at now.
- Danielle Winslow (was #11, now HM) – The Queensbury star, the defending NXN NY champ, missed some early-season action due to injury and has been training and racing her way back into shape. Still lots of time to get back into form.
- Lizzie Predmore (was #14, now HM) – The Shen standout has had one low-key race and missed another, and Shen has reportedly pulled out of Manhattan.
Meanwhile, at the very top - As was the case on the boys’ side, the top of the girls Top 25 got a necessary shuffle this week – but not in the #1 spot. Message board mavens had questioned Chelsey Sveinsson’s #1 ranking previously, given that she had only a few 3200/2M races to her credit against relatively modest competition – with those distances being common in Texas. After last weekend, Sveinsson still hasn’t raced longer than 2M and still hasn’t faced any ranked runners.
BUT … what the Greenhill TX junior did do, at the Cowboy Jamboree in Stillwater, was run an eye-popping time on a well-known course – 10:31.9, destroy a major-meet course record, and crush her own time from the previous year (which was a pretty darn good year). Yeah, Chelsey’s still #1.
The next three spots, though, have been shaken up a bit. Limited to racing in Michigan and with no high-ranked runners to push her, previous #2 Megan Goethals really hasn’t had a chance to do what Aisling Cuffe NY and Sarah Andrews TX have done. Cuffe’s last two races, 17:38 at Bowdoin and 17:06 at Paul Short – marks trailing only Nicole Blood and Aislinn Ryan on those courses - have earned her #2 for now. Andrews’ 16:01 course record at Woodbridge, topping Christine Babcock’s mark, merits #3.
More Great Am – Two other runners got a solid boost from their performances in Cary. Parkway Central MO senior Diane Robison ran a fine 17:37 for 3rd, elevating her eight spots to #13. Incidentally, her highly decorated teammate – Emily Sisson – did not register for the event due to recovering from injury problems, but did open her season very solidly back in Missouri with an 18:04 5k and easy win at a low-key invite. The NON 5k champ and 2006 Foot Locker 3rd-place finisher seems well on her way to a strong second half of the fall. In a year with some great girls 1-2 punches, this could be the best. Also from Great American, Blacksburg’s Joanna Stevens, 4th in 17:44, leapfrogged teammate and her twin Kathleen (17:46) into US#24.
Newcomers: Two more new entries to the Top 25
- #16 Kathryn Fluehr FL – A top-five Florida 1A runner last year, Fluehr and HER twin sister have emerged into the huge void left by Florida legends Ashley Brasovan and Kayla Hale, and become national contenders. Fluehr’s 17:00.73 on the very fast flrunners.com 10 course is just 14 ticks off of Brasovan’s CR and the speediest 5k in the US so far this fall. Fans will be looking forward to seeing how she does when she gets competition outside Florida.
- #22 Annamarie Maag OR – The junior leader of Jesuit OR’s fine team won her 2nd major invite, following her Nike Pre-Nats victory (17:45 5k) with a 17:39 3M to win the fast flight (and get overall best time) at Sunfair. In the latter race, she beat most of the Northwest’s best, including Idaho star Kinsey Gomez, Firman champ Liz Brandon ID, WA super frosh Amy-Eloise Neale, and Mead WA jr standout Baylee Mires.
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Athlete (preseason in parentheses, plus grad. year, school, state)
| 1. (1) Chelsey Sveinsson, 2011, Greenhill HS, TX
| | 2. (4) Aisling Cuffe, 2011, Cornwall Central HS, NY | | 3. (3) Sarah Andrews, 2010, The Woodlands HS, TX | | 4. (2) Megan Goethals, 2010, Rochester HS, MI | | 5. (5) Jessica Tonn, 2010, Xavier Prep HS, AZ | | 6. (6) Molly Grabill, 2011, Rancho Bernardo HS, CA | | 7. (7) Wesley Frazier, 2013, Ravenscroft HS, NC | | 8. (12) Carolyn Baskir, 2010, East Chapel Hill HS, NC | | 9. (8) Kelsey Lakowske, 2011, Boulder HS, CO | | 10. (22) Samantha Nadel, 2012, North Shore HS, NY | | 11. (9) Eleanor Fulton, 2011, Highlands Ranch HS, CO | | 12. (12) Emily Lipari, 2010, Roslyn HS, NY | | 13. (21) Diane Robison, 2010, Parkway Central HS, MO | | 14. (13) Chelsea Ley, 2010, Kingsway Regional HS, NJ | | 15.(11) Katie Flood, 2010, Dowling Catholic HS, IA | | 16. (NR) Kathryn Fluehr, 2011, Community School of Naples HS, FL | | 17. (14) Courtney Chapman, 2011, Fayetteville-Manlius HS, NY | | 18. (15) Hannah Neczypor, 2011, North Royalton HS, OH | | 19. (16) Ashlie Decker, 2010, Dowling Catholic HS, IA | | 20. (17) Malia Cali, 2010, St. Thomas Aquinas HS, LA | | 21. (18) Megan Morgan, 2010, Torrey Pines HS, CA | | 22. (NR) Annamarie Maag, 2011, Jesuit HS, OR | | 23. (20) Katlin Hanenberg, 2010, Classical Academy, CO | | 24. (NR) Joanna Stevens, 2010, Blacksburg HS, VA | | 25. (25) Kathleen Stevens, 2010, Blacksburg HS, VA | | Honorable mention | Teeny Adams CA
Nicky Akande GA
Alaina Alvarez CA
Gaby Anzalone MI
Kaelyn Balch KS
Elise Beattie IL
Kayla Beattie IL
Allie Billmeyer CA
Liz Brandon ID
Emma Brink KY
Stephanie Bulder CA
Heidi Caldwell NH
Mackenzie Carter NY
Avery Clifton KS
McKenna Coughlin NY Madeline Chambers OH Chloe Curtis CA
Jenna Davidner MA
Maggie Escobar TX
Sarah Fakler AZ
Megan Ferowich TN
Erin Finn MI
Erika Fluehr FL
Amanda Fox IL
Leah Francis AK
Karis Frankian CA
Maria Frigo KY
Samantha George NC
Kinsey Gomez ID
| Carly Hamilton OH
Grace Heymsfield AR
Laura Hoer NC
Keelin Hollowood NY
Ashley Isham TX
Rolonda Jumbo AZ
Sydney King NY
Kim Kirby TX
Carly Kitts TX
Sara Kroll MI
Kathleen Lautzenheiser VA
Abbey Leonardi ME
Hannah Luber NY
Catrina McAlister CA
Cory McGee MS
Kaylin Mahoney CA
Mackenzie Maki KS
Molly Malone NY
Sydney Marshall GA
Megan Marsico VA
Bret McDaniel GA
Jenna McMiller WI
Danielle Menlove UT
Liberty Miller CA
Clara Milne NM
Baylee Mires WA
Amanda Moreland NY Michelle Moriset MI
Julie Nacouzi CA
| Amy-Eloise Neale WA
Waverly Neer IN
Andrea Nelson WA
Alyssa Nielson TX
Shannon Osika MI
Megan Patrignelli NY
Molly Pezzulo NY
Haley Pierce DE
Lizzie Predmore NY
Jillian Prentice NJ
Amanda Russell TX
Sara Sargent PA
McKinzie Schulz IL
Payton Schutte OR
Molly Seidel WI
Emily Sisson MO
Melissa Skiba CA
Jacque Taylor CA
Michelle Thomas OH
Regan Tindell TX
Jordan Tomecek MI
Sierra Vega CA
Megan Venables NJ
Laura Vigilante NJ
Meredith Wagner OH
Kelly Whitley IL
Danielle Winslow NY
Danica Wyson CA
Megan Yohe MO |
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