Washington dominates NXN

The finish chute at Nike Cross Nationals (NXN)

Once again the perks of living here in Oregon were evident. Woke up, had my morning coffee and then a quick 15 ride to Portland Meadows (PM's main function is a horse racing track). My body forgot we left Chicago as the temps were very Midwest like.
I thought the conditions would favor East Coast/MW teams in the circumstances but it turned out the State of WA put on a clinic. Girls up first and I was way more excited to watch this race over the Boys. In October I went down to the Dellinger Invite in Eugene (see entry below) and watched Alexa Efraimson (JR, Camas WA) get gapped by, then kick down and outkick Emma Bates of Boise St. for the win. I knew then and there that Alexa would beat NXN queen Sarah Baxter (Simi Valley,Ca). Emma Bates recently followed up that performance with a runner up performance at the NCAA XC Champs last month. The race followed true to form with Baxter, Efraimson and mile star Elise Cranny (CO) breaking away early.

Girls lead pack early on

The lead changed hands between Baxter and Efraimson several times with Cranny content to tuck in. Heading towards 2.5 miles it looked like Efraimson had been dropped. The announcers, a great crew of Toni Reavis, Rich Gonzalez and Chris Derrick, noted that she may be falling out of contention. Nope. Just as she put the hammer down with a furious kick at Dellinger she once again put the hammer down and powered past Cranny and Baxter as if they were practically standing still. She put a few seconds on them in no time and powered home in a course record 16:50.1.

Alexa Efraimson powers in for a course record. Kara Goucher holds the tape.

Cranny gapped Baxter 16:53-16:57 for second. Baxters last race ended with her first loss ever as a high schooler in XC. First loss ever! Still a mighty impressive career. Efraimson returns next year in what may truly be an exciting SR season. She closes with a national championship and a victory over an elite NCAA field. Imagine the amount of excitement she'd generate already if not for a certain newly minted 17 year pro named Mary Cain.
Huge surprises in the team battle as Wayzata, MN defeated 7 time defending champ Fayetville-Manlius for the win. Back runners were the key as FM was ahead after the first 3. Never underestimate the importance of the back scorers.
The boys were up next. I figured (as did most) it would be a battle between Gig Harbor (WA), CBA (NJ) and Arcadia (Ca). CBA was the winner in 2011 with Arcadia winning in 2010 and 2012. Gig Harbor however, already a national power, added the much needed final piece to the puzzle when Mahmoud Moussa (younger brother of former Arcadia/current CU star Ammar Moussa) transferred from Arcadia to Gig Harbor after a family move.

The boys individual race was a lot more wide open with no big name stars of past NXN's such as Lukas Verzbicas, Edward Cheserek, Chris Derrick or Futsum Zeinasellaisse. A lot of the pre-meet was attention going to CO state champ Cerake Geberkidane. I was standing where Cerake was doing a lot of pre-meet stride outs and if you asked me then I would have picked him as well just due to how fluid he looked as he warmed up in the cold.

Boy's start

The Boys went out and no one seemed to really take the race by the throat for the first half. Lot's of the faves just tucked together feeling each other out.

Boy's lead pack

In the last third of the race, Kai Wilmot (North Central, WA) broke away and started putting some distance on the chase pack. It was obvious he was making his decisive move and not just an attempt to string out the pack. Surprisingly, it worked. He hammered away and put the field away coming in home for a course record 15:00. Kai was definitely not on most peoples radar as a potential winner, however an 8:57 in the 2 mile as a Soph gave the indications the potential was there. He was also a 4 time NXN qualifier! The woman right next to me at the finish was Kai's mother. It was fun to watch her excitement as she watched her son cross the line with a national championship.

Kai Wilmot powers in to a course record. German Fernandez and Centro JR hold the tape.

Boy's team gave another victory to WA as Gig Harbor edged out CBA for the win. In an odd twist Moussa became the first runner to win 2 national team champs, for different schools! I think the win really took CBA by surprise as they were the most somber looking national runner up squad I have ever seen.

The trophies

Gig Harbor (WA) celebrates a team victory

Pretty impressive running the State of WA yesterday I must say. The Girls was one of the most exciting championship races I have ever seen in person. One must keep in mind though for the Boy's especially, despite the cold, the ground was in the best conditions it ever has been for this race. Lukas over Cheserek in 2010 and Derrick over Colby Lowe were still the shining performances.

On a personal note, I was lucky enough to jump in to some USATF XC Champ races. Got my butt kicked as I transition to Masters racing but look forward to a full XC season next year and running some Indoor Race this February. It's why I moved here. Jumping in races with the like of Alan Webb, German Fernandez, and watching Kara Goucher work her way back to fitness was a LOT of fun.

Kara Goucher en route to winning the USATF NW XC Champs last month.

Hats off to the Eastwood Boys for another great season, even if it didn't end as hoped. The Eastwood Girls, fantastic showing at NXN South with a top 10 finish. One thing you notice at the big dance (NXN) there a a LOT of schools that qualify both the Boy's and Girl's squads. Keep on moving on!
Gerry Escapita closed a great XC career with a 3rd place at State in class 4A. Brian Casillas has one of the best seasons an individual EW runner has had with a lot of early season victories. The same goes for Anna Mora of EW.
On to Indoors!

Close calls in Peoria

This past weekend brought us one of the most anticipated XC meets in quite some time. The Illinois State Meet. The 3a Boys race did not disappoint. On the individual side, all eyes were on the match up of Lukas Verzbicas and Jack Driggs. The team race figured to come down to York, Neuqua Valley and New Trier. The main question of the day was, would Lukas get Craig Virgin's long storied course record of 13:50? With Virgin on hand riding in the pace truck, all eyes were on Lukas from the gun. Driggs was the only runner game enough to go with him through the 1/2 mile mark before a 4:28ish mile split started putting a little distance between the two. After crossing 2 miles in roughly 9:10 Lukas had built close to a 100 meter lead. The race was his however he fell just short at 1354. That time will go down as the #3 time ever at Detweiller behind only Virgin and Chris Derrick (13:52).
(below, Verzbicas, Virgin and Derrick, photo credit unknown)

It was a run for the ages but the fun didn't stop there. With York trying to win a 27th team title, #2 runner Ron Hedman was disqualified for physical contact with another runner. It has been speculated that it was everything from shoving to a punch in the face. I don't know for certain. Fortunately York's #6 stepped up and the team narrowly beat surprise team Lake Zurich by a 2 point margin to get a record 27th title for Coach Joe Newton.
The 2a race had some great races as well. Woodstock senior Kayla Beattie set a course record of 16:22 in a 49 second win. The boys from Belvidere North set a 2a record low of 28 points. In fact, if you plug BN's times into the 3a race, BN would have beaten York. Can they beat York head to head? We will find out this weekend.
This Sunday in Terre Haute, IN is the Nike Cross Nationals (NXN) Midwest Regional. Lukas is apparently going for the FootLocker, NXN double and will be there with the rest of his Sandburg team. Jack Driggs will bring his York team looking to continue the streak of being the only team to qualify for every NXN National meet since the inception. York will be tested not only by Lake Zurich and Belvidere North, but also the top ranked team this year in the Midwest, Columbus North of Indiana. Don't forget New Trier, Naperville Neuqua Valley and early season favorite Oak Park-River Forest.
The team race should be amazing. Lukas will be favored to win the boys race and his expected competion will come from Driggs and the Ohio stars Zach Wills and Michael Brajdic. Wills was 5th at the NXN National Meet last year and Brajdic just broke Bob Kennedy's Ohio State Meet record. The only name absent appears to be Futsum Zeinasellassie who looks to be going only to FootLocker.
The same weekend the Texas State Meet will get underway with defending NXN Champion Craig Lutz of Marcus the overwhelming favorite. It would take an upset in the magnitude of Don Knott's knocking out Mike Tyson for anyone to beat Lutz in Texas this year. This was solidified by a 55 second victory on a slightly revamped Mae Simmons course. Who did he beat by 55 seconds? Only last years 5th place finisher at the State Meet and The Harrier pre-season All American, Donovan Torres of Lubbock Coronado. Lutz's Marcus team soundly beat favorite Southlake Carroll 33-68 for good measure.
Plano's Rachel Johnson should run away with the girls title as well. In 4a both El Paso Austin and Jefferson should contend for the title. Austin has one of, if not the, best 1-2 combo in the state with Isaac Spencer and Ramon Garcia, while Jefferson brings a little more depth. Both have the potential to medal.
A quiet little blurb recently came out of Texas in the news that Chelsey Sveinsson had returned to racing. She appears to still be a ways off form as she placed 6th in the SPC (private school) Meet. She finished in 19:53, about 3 minutes slower than one would expect from her in a 5k. At that rate, I wouldn't look for her until Track season. Hope she returns stronger than ever.

Late September update

October is a few days away and things are starting to get exciting on all levels. The big city fall marathons are just around the corner and Chicago looks to be quite the race. Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot , Tsegaye Kebede , Vincent Kipruto , plus top American Ryan Hall all are looking to defeat defending champion (and Olympic Chamion) Sammy Wanjiru. I wouldn't be surprised to see a sub 2:05 if the weather cooperates. A great story is on the women's side where the legendary Joan Benoit Samuelson (1984 Olympic Gold medalist) returns and hopes to run under 2:50 for the 3rd time as a 50plus year old. I really hope she does, Joan is such an important figure in US Marathon history. Amazing woman. Someday I will actually not run this race and join the spectators along the course to see some of the true greats battle it out in what is always an amazing race.
College XC is starting to get going and the top runners are slowly making their debuts. The much anticipated debut of German Fernandez led to a 6th place finish at the Cowboy Jamboree. It seems as he and teammate Colby Lowe ran it as a controlled tempo run as they finished together. OSU's Girma Mesecho won the race. It is a promising start for OSU who brought in a tremendous recruiting class. I did notice that Kirubel Erassa was held out. Stanford ran as a controlled pack as well at the Stanford Invite. Chris Derrick, Elliot Heath and Jacob Riley all came across the line together about 4 seconds behind winner David McNeill (NAU). Stanford looked very, very good as they did last year up until NCAA's. An interesting development is Jakub Zivec coming on at Florida State University. Refer to my blogs from the 2008 XC season if you need any info on this tremendous talent from Czech Republic.
On the womens side I haven't seen to much top level action. Lavinia Jurkiewicz , the IL 3a state champ last year, ran strong in her debut for Wisconsin. Top WI recruit Emily Sisson is yet to race. Megan Goethals (University of Washington) opened with a 4th place finish at the Sundodger Invitational. She ran as UW's number 2 behind former IL high school star Lindsay Flanagan.
On the High School side many of the nation's elite have yet to run. We are still waiting to see debut's from Lukas Verzbicas and Jim Rosa. It is very likely Joe Rosa is out for the entire season and we are still a bit in the dark on the status of Chelsey Sveinsson. We have seen strong starts from Craig Lutz(TX), Jack Driggs (IL), Ammar Moussa (CA), Elias Gedyon (CA) and Futsum Zeinasellassie (IN). I have been a bit surprised as I thought Zach Wills (OH) would be right there with them but he has faced 2 defeats against top level competition. As of right now, if most rankings were based on races already run (and not waiting for Verzbicas or Rosa) Futsum should be a strong US#1 right now. He has been extremely impressive and narrowly missed Chris Derrick's course record at the Culver Invitational.
With Joe Rosa probably out, one wonders if Lukas will now just run FootLocker again. It is known that due to schedules the Rosa's can only do NXN and many people anticipated them meeting in Portland. Lukas, as well as Lutz, had been expected to do both series. With the expectation that Joe is done until track, Lukas may only be in San Diego. The match up of Lukas and Fustum, one that failed to happen last year when Futsum didn't show in Kenosha, would still be epic. I  can only speculate right now as I anxiously await to see these guys race.
Down in West Texas the Eastwood  girls have silenced all doubters as they are the undeniable #1 team in the El Paso area. The Eastwood boys have been THE biggest and nicest surprise this season as they have finished no worse than 3rd (at the big Lubbock Invite) and have won twice. Right now they, along with Montwood, are the co-leaders as the top team in the city. Top runner Juan Blanco, who ran a great 15:52 in Lubbock, has had the luxury of having his teammates step up and run close to him.
It is my understanding that the course at Mae Simmons Park in Lubbock has been changed up a bit and is now a slightly faster course. Still, the performance of Isaac Spencer of El Paso Austin was tremendous. He ran the fastest time of all 5 classes with a blistering 15:01. Very, very impressive run.
That's about it for now. Things will really pick up over the next few weeks as high schools start heading to the state series. College meets will pick up with the much anticipated pre-Nat's being the highlight. Here's to hoping the Chicago Marathon is another one for the ages. EDIT: Between the time I started this and the end it has been announced that Ryan Hall has withdrawn from the Chicago Marathon.

Angela Bizzarri surprises!

Unlike last year, I was unable to make the drive to Terre Haute for the NCAA Cross Country Championships. What an odd day I missed at that. Fortunately VS network carried the race live and I took a seat on my couch to take in the action. The commentating left something to be desired but beggars can't be choosers. Surprises and unexpected placings seemed to be the norm for the day. I guess there is a reason they don't mail the trophy in advance and go ahead and run the race.
The women's race couldn't have gone more off the script. At the start of the race, Jenny Barringer (the HEAVY favorite)took off with FSU's Susan Kuijken in close pursuit. Soon after the 2 mile mark, Barringer appeared to slow and then slightly pull up, Kuikjen then darted to the lead. It looked briefly as if Barringer was going to stop. While Kuijken went on to what appeared to be a certain win, Barringer continued to fall back and actually hit the ground a ways after. It wasn't clear at the time if she fainted or passed out, collapsed. She got back up soon after and kept running. Kuijken, however, was starting to lose steam and the chase pack which included Illinois' Angela Bizzarri and Washington's Kendra Schaaf started making up considerable ground. Kuijken continued to struggle while Barringer labored back in the pack. Bizzarri, and then Schaaf went by Kuijken late in the race with Bizzarri holdong on strongest and pulling away for a 19:46 win. While considered a big upset it was the 2nd NCAA title for Bizzarri in 2009, she won the 5000 at the NCAA Outdoor Champs. Bizazarri also placed third at the USATF outdoor championships in the 5000, she just missed the qaulifying time for the World Championship team. She ran a smart race that still probably didn't go according to anyone's plan and it was nice to see Illinois come out with a champion.
The team race was a surprise as well as #2 Villinova upended defending champion U of Washington with ease. Villinova outscored FSU 88-133 with Washington in 3rd (188) just ahead of Texas Tech (191). Certainly,after the domination shown by Washington last year, a surprise, yet not unthinkable. Nova' had run well all year as they climbed to #2 in the rankings as the year went on.
Before this, the men had lined up and raced 10,000 Meters. Stanford was both a favorite for the team, having been ranked #1 all year, and the individual with undefeated Chris Derrick having beaten last years runner-up Sam Chelanga of Liberty at Pre-Nats.The race started the same way it did last year with Chelanga exploding from the start. A good pack tucked in behind him and hoped he would come back to them as he did last year and this year at Pre-Nat's. He didn't. Chelanga continued his blistering pace and extended his lead over the chase pack which, in addition to Derrick, included David McNeill (NAU) and Barnabas Kirui (Miss.). Scanning the pack it was becoming clear that Stanford was way out of the running with Derrick's usual support cast (mainly Elliott Heath) nowhere in sight. BYU held a very early lead but it was clear that the Cowboys of Oklahoma State were running tightly knit close behind. There was no sign of German Fernandez up front, but Colby Lowe was right up there and running strong. Chelanga never faltered and ran away to a course record win of 28:41 to beat last years record of 29:03 by Oregon's Galen Rupp. McNeill pulled away from an exhausted looking Derrick and held on 29:06 to 29:14 for second. Soon after Ryan Vail and Colby Lowe came in for OSU as both were in the top 10. John Kosgei and Girma Mesecho soon followed and the outcome was a done deal. German Fernandez crossed the line in 97th (77th team score) and it was clear that he was not himself this entire season. Some of the past results showed he was off but may have been rounding into shape, although those results were skewed perhaps, as OSU seemed to tempo run to all their victories. After the race, Coach Dave Smith said German had been injured all summer and had just begun to get into training in October. While a great testament to his team ethic to sacrafice his ego, status, for the good of the team and to be part of the team title, one has to wonder if he would have been better off redshirting this season. He was clearly not the German the running community has revered and admired, the defending NCAA 1500 meter champion who also ran a 13:25 5000 this summer. You have to think there were some surprised runners running alongside him back there. In fact, OSU would have still won the title without him in the race at all. Hopefully, if he is not healed and ready, he will redshirt indoors and come back very strong for the outdoor season.
OSU (127)convincingly won the title over Oregon (143) and Alabama (173). Could Oregon have won had Andrew Wheating not redshirted? That's a question to ponder. Stanford fell back to 10th. They looked soundly beaten as Chris Derrick was the lone high point. Chris continues to impress as he moved up from last years 7th as a Frosh to 3rd in his Sophomore campaign. He was the 1st American born runner across the line and also only 19 (Chelanga is 24). He, as well, did Illinois very proud.
A performance worth noting was the 5th place showing by Freshman Allie McLaughlin in 20:01. I knew she was in line for a breakout performance and she didn't disappoint. Fellow Frosh Jordan Hasay ran 18th in 20:23. I think both will share many, many All American honors for the years to come. Also, worth a note out of Colorado was the performance of redshirt Freshman Aric Van Halen. Yes, the name is right. Alex's son, and Eddie's nephew ran as CU's 5th man after redshirting last year. Many people may remember when he first started making his name (albeit a bit differently than cousin Wolfgang!) in California a couple years ago. I wonder if Alex was out there cheering him on?
Down in Texas Nike South got rolling. Texas 4a champ, Boerne did what a lot of people expected and defeated 5a champ The Woodlands 61-81. Boerne was very impressive, as they have been all year, and The Woodlands still surprised when looking back to pre-season. Many people didn't give The Woodlands much chance this year after the departure of legendary coach Dan Green and stars Drew Butler (to Arkansas) and 2008 Gatorade Cross Country runner of the year Reed Connor (to Wisconsin). Coach Juris Green (Dan's son) simply picked up where they left off and The Woodlands did what they usually do, they won. They won District, they won Regionals and they won State. They qualified for their 4th trip to Nike Cross Nationals in a year when most of the early season attention went to Cedar Park. CP was 3rd and will have to wait (along with Loyola, IL) to see if they get an at-large bid. They both very much deserve it. In the boys race Ryan Dohner (Klein Oak) surprised favorite Craig Lutz for the muddy win. Parker Stinson (Cedar Park)also got by Lutz to earn his trip to Portland.
The girls race was without heavy favorite Chelsey Sveinsson but it wasn't as wide open as it may have seemed. Last years runner-up and Texas 5a champ Sarah Andrews of The Woodlands easily defeated Rachel Johnson of Plano, TX.Southlake Carroll took the title over Kingwood (Humble, TX) with Kingwood Park (TX) waiting for a possible at-large bid.
Footlocker awaits next. It looks like the best race should be the Midwest with Lukas Verzbicas slated to race Futsum Zeinasellassie for the MW title. Futsum should be very well rested as it has been 4 weeks since the IN state meet. Hopefully the nagging achilles that bothered Lukas at IL state is cleared up as well. This is one race I have been waiting to see for some time and hope it delivers on the promise.

Welcome to Terre Haute!

I decided this year to make the drive down to Terre Haute, IN to see the NCAA D1 Championships in Cross Country. I must say it was worth the long drive. I encountered a variety of weather conditions (snow, rain,sun) on the way down but things were as good as could be hoped for in Terre Haute.It was cold but precipitation free.

The women's race started about 15 minutes after I got set and in place. Seeing the wave take off towards me sent shivers down my spine. I have not been so excited to be a spectator at ANY type of event in recent memory. The course is laid out very well for fans. The course loops for both the men and women and if you feel like doing some running yourself you can catch several good vantage points.
Sally Kipyego of Texas Tech won her 3rd consecutive title running away from Susan Kuijken of Florida State. Tasmin Fanning (VaTech) and Brie Felnagle (UNC)were the top 2 American finishers in 3rd and 4th. Freshman Christine Babcock of Washington (also the team Champs) ran very well as the 1st frosh across the line. Washington won, followed by Oregon and Florida State. El Paso XC followers should note the 46th place finish by former Montwood High star Christina Munoz. Here is a photo (poor at that, I know) of the top 25 women.


The womens race was over before you knew it. 6k goes by real quick at that pace! As soon as I saw the majority of the women cross the line, the men were getting ready to roll.
As a huge fan of HS Track and XC I was very eager to see the greats of the class of 08 (Fernandez, Derrick, Puskedra, Lowe, Mesecho, etc) run for the first time. I thought they would do well but not as well as they did! First, as far as German goes, he was not even close to the lead pack at the first viewpoint. The lead pack being the pack chasing Galen Rupp and Sam Chelanga. About 3k I noticed he was gaining on the pack, but more importantly, he looked very smooth and under control. Rupp was starting to pull even with Chelanga, who took off like a bat out of hell to start the race. See Video.



Puskedra and Derrick were sitting comfortably in the lead chase pack as well. I saw the same positioning for a while and went to about the 8k mark. German had moved into about 3rd-4th place and still looked very smooth and controlled. I ran back towards the finish area to get a space. The crowd was going nuts as Galen and Chelanga came into the homestretch. Galen started pulling away and looked very strong. He took the win with a course record. Sr's Andrew Ledwith (Iona) and David Kinsella (Portland) took the 3 and 4 spots. Puskedra was tearing in right with them with Chris Derrick right behind him. I was so happy to see the Chicago Area star do so well at his 1st NCAA meet that I failed to notice that German did not come in. I spent the next couple minutes watching many XC/Track stars come across the finish line. I then moved towards a group of OSU people and heard them saying German was on the bus and feeling very down and upset. As the day rolled on we found out he had been injured (soon after I saw him last) with an apparent Achilles injury. Here's hoping he makes a full recovery as nobody has energized the young distance running scene like he has. 

As far as winner Galen Rupp goes, I was more than impressed. Galen gets a lot of flack for such things as his training with Alberto Salazar, rather than Vin Lananna, amongst other reasons. What I saw was a true XC Champion. He stayed cool when Chelanga tried to run away with the race early. He stayed poised throughout and then pulled even. He saved his energy and brought home his 1st NCAA XC Championship. He seemed happier actually with Oregon's team win. He was having a blast with his teammates down towards the awards area and they all seemed very happy to be with each other. Watching the Oregon team celebrate was like watching a former HS All-American parade (Galen Rupp, Luke Puskedra, Shadrac Kiptoo-Biwott, Matt Centrowitz JR, Diego Mercado, Kenny Klotz) and Galen's fellow 2008 Olympian Andrew Wheating.Pretty fast bunch of kids. Oregon defeated Iona and Stanford for the team title.
I look forward to making the trek down again next year and I'll try to not forget my camera! I do apologize for the cellphone pics and videos.