Eastwood starts 2013 strong/Dellinger Invitational

There were lots of good things going on this past weekend in the middle of the XC season for 2013. For starters, Eastwood has picked off where they did last year and are undefeated midway through the season. They have run the table on the local competition and have just returned from repeating their winning performance of last year at the prestigious McNeil Invitational in Round Rock, TX. Brian Casillas (below) has been the leader that he was expected to be. Jose Silva (the other returner from last years South #4 squad) has shined as well. Last year I mentioned the culture change at Eastwood that spread down to their JV. The JV last year was the best team in El Paso other than Eastwood's varsity and those kids have stepped up to the plate. At mid-season they have ranked as high as TX#4. The rest of the state may have seen this as a rebuilding year but people close to the program could have sensed this. The usual challengers await at Region 1 but this year has a lot more uncertainty that keeps this year up for grabs. Defending state champion Southlake Carroll is vulnerable. They ran without Connor Hendrickson  (a 9:10 3200 runner) at Nike South and were well beaten. Lewisville Marcus who many may have pegged the favorite if SLC faltered has yet to run JR Logan Hendrix (5th at Region 1 last year) and without him, same story. So Eastwood is in the same position as the last couple, just need to get to Lubbock first and then pack them in within 40-45 seconds from 1-5. Large gaps between scoring runners will be a killer.

Eastwood's Brian Casillas 

As I am nowhere near El Paso (or Texas) I did the next best thing and went out to the Bill Dellinger Invitational in Eugene, just a bit south of me to see the Oregon men and women run on their home turf. The men's race had UW's Aaron Nelson break the field and put a good distance on the field. Close to 4 miles in, the chase pack which included Oregon ex Trevor Dunbar and current Ducks Parker Stinson and Edward Cheserek, looked out of it. Cheserek the decided he had enough left and dropped the others and went after Nelson before just falling short 23:54 to 23:59. I had to do a double take at the mid pack early in the race when I thought I spotted Alan Webb running comfortably and talking to runners. It turns out Webb is an Assistant Coach at Portland State and was pacing his group through. He picked it up around 5K and ran a hard last 2 miles to finish a very respectable 24:45

The Chase Pack

Alan Webb mid race

The women's race was the highlight however. It was announced at the start that WA high school star Alexa Efraimson was in the race. She went right with the leaders and never strayed from there. Boise State all-american Emma Bates was the only one to keep pace at the end and then even tried to pull away to no avail. Efraimson used her 1500 meter closing speed to lose the gap and win an exciting finish, both ran 16:35. An additional highlight for me was meeting the one and only Bill Dellinger himself. Great way to spend 2 hours on a beautiful Saturday.

High Schooler Alexa Efraimson (WA) kicks down Emma bates

With the one and only Bill Dellinger  (R) and Vin Lanana (L)

I hope to blog more frequently here and look forward to getting out to NXN here. Can't close without mentioning the great starts to the XC college season by A&M's Isaac Spencer (EP Austin) and Houston's super frosh Brian Barazza (EP Franklin).

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.

York rolls at Sectionals

I got a chance to take in the Skokie (Niles West) Sectional this past Saturday. It was the first meet of the year that I had been able to make it out to, but it was a great one. I expected a great battle between York and Oak Park-River Forest as York's only defeat this season had been at the hands of OPRF. Instead, it was New Trier (Winnetka, IL) who gave York all they could handle. York prevailed 57-62 with OPRF a little ways back in 3rd with 96. It may have been even closer but as it had been all year, Jack Driggs led York with an individual title. Driggs (pictured below at the sectional meet) won in 14:53.

Down in Lockport, Lukas Verzbicas went about his business as well winning that Sectional in 15:09. The time doesn't seem that impressive on paper until you realize that the course record there was previously 15:15 set in the 2007 season by one Chris Derrick. Enough said. Many people are looking to the battle brewing next week downstate in Peoria between Driggs and Verzbicas. Lukas has never lost a cross country race in his high school career and in fact, doesn't appear to have had a strong challenge in a high school race. Even at FL Nationals last year he made it look easy. Go to the FL website and watch the replay sometime. I think that Driggs is going to be up for the task of challenging him. The question of  will Lukas beat Craig Virgin's course record has to be asked along with, will Driggs go with him? It's going to be a great meet on Saturday both individually and with the teams. Look for Neuqua Valley to challenge York and New Trier.
Down in Texas the post season has just started. We saw the Humble Kingwood boys dominate The Woodlands at the district level and the El Paso Eastwood girls team win a 5th consecutive district title. Region 1 should be loaded with some great races. The top individual boy and girl (Craig Lutz and Rachel Johnson) in Texas will both run Saturday at Mae Simmons Park in Lubbock. It is very possible that we will see the same school, Southlake Carroll, win both the boys and girls titles. Look for the SLC boys to be challenged by Marcus and Amarillo Tascosa, and the SLC girls to be challenged by Coppell and EP Eastwood. The 4a races should be a great time for El Paso with Isaac Spencer (EP Austin) and Joel Flores (El Paso Jefferson) contending for the individual title with Chuy Alegria of Ft. Worth Boswell. El Paso Jefferson will be a strong favorite for the team title.
On the University level the conference meets have seen some great performances in the way of tempo runs. Stanford won the Pac-10 the same way it has run all year with Chris Derrick, Elliot Heath and Jake Riley coming across the line in a dead heat. Oklahoma State did the same with Girma Mesecho, German Fernandez and Colby Lowe doing the same. Both teams have run like this all year and seem to be on a collision course to meet in Terre Haute, IN in a few weeks. Look for the team spreads to be a little higher as Derrick and Fernandez will undoubtedly be going after Sam Chelanga at the front. Question is for Stanford, will the team follow. To me if both teams run to their full capabilities it is still a toss up.
Jordan Hasay (Oregon) defeated Kathy Kroeger (Stanford) for the girls Pac-10 title. How many times did we see these two go back and forth at past FL Nationals?! Stanford was able to take the team title on both sides.
Speaking of Stanford, the Rosa brothers out of New Jersey have committed to the Cardinals and rumor is that Chelsey Sveinsson (Texas) has as well. It doesn't appear as if we will see Chelsey this cross season unless she runs USATF Juniors. Hope she is healthy soon.
Last but not least, the 2010 edition of the Chicago Marathon was one for the ages. Sammy Wanjiru of Kenya defeated Tsegaye Kebede of Ethiopia (2:06.24-2:06.42) in a great battle. Truly an amazing race, watch the finish of the race on Flotrack or find it on youtube. There is no doubt that Sammy Wanjiru is a true champion.

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.

National berth #6 for York...IL/TX State finals

Before we get to far into the heart of the blog, the Cross Country championship season so far in 2009, I would like to make a special mention/congratulations to the first American to win the New York City Marathon in 27 years, Meb Keflezighi. Meb dropped a quality field one by one en route to a 2:09.15 win over Robert Cheruiyot. An American had not won New York since Alberto Salazar won in 1982 and this was a major accomplishment in what has been a banner year for American long distance running.
High School action was in full swing the past couple weeks. In Illinois, Loyola served notice to the US that it was for real when it beat York at the Niles West sectional. Loyola's Nico Composto defeated the York duo of Andrew Smith and Jack Driggs for the individual win. Down in Lockport, Neuqua Valley and Lukas Verzbicas cruised to easy wins. Loyola jumped to the top of the National rankings and headed down to Peoria as the favorite and the title of US#1. Not so fast,while the individual race was a foregone conclusion, the team race was a fierce battle. When the announcement came out, Neuqua Valley (99) had toppled the favorites as they defeated Loyola (111) and York (118) for the State title. Verzbicas easily defeated the field with a 21 second win over York's Smith and Driggs. Verzbicas ran on record pace through 2 miles before a sore Achilles slowed him in the final mile. Many were disappointed he didn't break the long standing course record, but his time of 14:07 still ranks him in the all-time top 10 on the course and he has a couple more years to go after it.
Down in Texas, things got rolling quickly. In Region 1, Craig Lutz (Lewisville Marcus) ran away with the title at Mae Simmons Park in a time of 14:37. Lutz now joins Colby Lowe and Bobby Aguirre as the only runners under 14:40 on the course. El Paso dominated the 4A ranks as Jefferson, Austin and Horizon swept the State berths in the Boys division while taking 7 of the top 10 individual spots. In 3a, Clint took the girls title, while 5a didn't fare as well. The Eastwood girls were 5th in a highly competitive team race and with the bulk of the girls back next year they should make another serious run at the State meet.
Region 2 served as a preview to what was to come as The Woodlands boys defeated Cedar Park and Klein Oak for the team title with Parker Stinson (CP) taking individual honors. The girls titles went to The Woodlands College Park and Sarah Andrews (The Woodlands High).
This past weekend the Texas State meet certainly didn't disappoint. Lutz ran away from the field, and a very good field at that, for a 14:45 to 15:08 win over Mark Pinales (Round Rock Stony Point). Parker Stinson won the bronze with a time of 15:11. The Woodlands boys picked up right where they left off when Dan Green retired and handed the program to son Juris, they won. The Woodlands outdistanced Region II foes Klein Oak and Cedar Park for the win. The interesting story was 4a winner Boerne Champion who easily won 4a (30-120 over El Paso Jefferson) and would have beaten The Woodlands based on an integrated race. This showdown looms big as Nike South approaches.
Sarah Andrews (The Woodlands) won the girls title over Rachel Johnson of Plano while Humble Kingwood won the team title over The Woodlands College Park and Southlake Carroll. In the 3a race, the Clint girls missed a medal by the narrowest of margins as 1 point separated the 2,3 and 4 teams. So close.
The post-season has started in the Midwest and what a race at Nike Midwest! York, who after finishing 3rd at the IL state meet stepped up big to win the Nike Midwest title over Neuqua Valley. Loyola, as recently as 2 weeks ago was ranked #1 in the US, was left out. Loyola's chances of an at-large bid however, should be very favorable when considering their 3 wins over York this season. York will be running in their 6th consecutive National meet , the only program to have qualified for every Nike Cross Nationals final. They won in 04 and were runner-ups in 05 and 08. Neuqua Valley won the title in 07 as Illinois has been extremely competitive at this meet.
Lukas Verzbicas and Futsum Zeinasellassie (IN-Footlocker top 10 as a Frosh last year) sat out this race to concentrate on Footlocker Midwest leaving Zach Wills of Ohio to claim an easy win. On the girls side , Magnificat OH edged Illinois State Champs Palatine for the win while individual honors went to Ohio's Hannah Neczypor.
Many great races still lie ahead as we head to Footlocker Regionals and Nike Cross Nationals. I hope to see many of the top stars tangle one on one. Chesley Sveinsson has been resting and training and should be raring to go at the post-season meets.
El Paso is starting to see a resurgence as a cross country power (mostly in 4a vs 5a) as El Paso Jefferson is now the #6 ranked team in the South rankings. Isaac Spencer (Austin) won the 1-4a regional meet and was 7th at the State meet. Jefferson is coached by former El Paso prep star Alfredo Trejo who was top 20 at Footlocker (then Kinney) in 1980.
On the NCAA side of things, Stanford is still the favorite as they cruised to conference and regional wins both times led by individual winner Chris Derrick. Oklahoma State should contend still as German Fernandez seems to round into shape after an early season injury. They ran regional as a team tempo run with all the team coming across together. Colby Lowe is still the key I think as he needs to step up from last years performance. If he does they will be right there in contention with Stanford.
Washington remain the favorite on the women's side with Jenny Barringer (CO) being an overwhelming favorite to win the individual title. Look for prized frosh Jordan Hasay (Oregon) and Allie McLaughlin (Colorado) to have breakthrough races in Terre Haute.
I hope to attend some of the bigger meets coming up here in the next couple weeks and will be sure to blog on them and hopefully share some pics.

Mid October ramblings

Before I touch on the XC season thus far, this past weekend was a great one on the roads. Sammy Wanjiru broke Khalid Khannouchi's Chicago course record by 1 second with his 2:05:41. It was the fastest marathon run on US soil. Wanjiru who is only 22 is now 4 and 0 in the major marathons. His 4 wins have all been between 2:05.10 and 2:06.39. Amazing athlete. Props need to be given to this years pacemakers. Patrick Ivuti (2007 Chicago Marathon champ and a pacesetter this year) led the group through the 1/2 marathon in 1:01.59-1:02.00.
Speaking of the 1/2 marathon, American Dathan Ritzenhein continued his amazing 2009 with a Bronze Medal at the World 1/2 Marathon Champs (also on Sunday). Eritrean Zersenay Tadese won his 4th straight title in 59:35 while Kenya's Bernard Kipyego edged out Dathan for the silver 59:59 to 60:00. Another amazing performance in what has been a career year for Dathan Ritzenhein.
In the college XC ranks it is always exciting to see which freshmen step up to the transition. After last years great freshman crop everyone is wondering who will be the ones to break through. We saw great performances in early season victories from Arkansas' Soloman Haile (last years Footlocker champ) and Wisconsin's Reed Connor (last years NXN champ from The Woodlands, TX). Both were upstaged though recently (and soundly beaten in same race!) by Iowa's Jeff Thode. At the Wisconsin Adidas Invite on October 3rd Thode was edged for the win by Georgetown senior Andrew Bumbalough 23:54.0 to 23:54.7. Connor and Haile ran 16th and 17th about 30 seconds back. After winning the IL state meet last year Thode did not run NXN or FL but won the Mideast Meet of Champions. His track season was chronicled well in this blog with a 4:05 1600 and 8:51 3200. Very impressive young man and I hope to see him do very well at the NCAA level.
Jordan Hasay made her college debut that weekend as well and finished 6th at the Dellinger Invite. Jordan ran as the Oregon #2 to Alex Kosinski. Neither the Oregon Men or Women looked as good as expected. My NCAA favorite on the mens side this year is Oklahoma State. In addition to German Fernandez, Ryan Vail (All-American last year) returns for his final season and transfer Girma Mesecho (All American last year as a Frosh at Auburn) is eligible and ready to go. Colby Lowe should step up from last year and help the team win the title. Look for the Chris Derrick led Stanford team to challenge as well. On the women's side, I don't see any team capable of beating last years champ Washington.
On the prep level there is not much reason to take back any early season predictions. Chelsey Sveinsson (TX) dominated the Cowboy Jamboree in OK and while Lukas Verzbicas (IL) has only run once (an early season course record in Lyons, IL) he won the World Duathalon Champs which found him closing the last 2500 meters in 4:11 mile pace! Unreal. According to the Chicago Tribune, Lukas ran ill as well in his defeat of 18 year old Mario Mola, the World Junior Triathalon Champion from Spain.
While most everyone has Zach Wills (OH) as his main competition the Rosa twins from New Jersey are quickly stepping up as his main rivals. Joe has been setting course records and brother Jim has been right behind. Wills beat 2009 FL All-American Futsum Zeinasellaisse (IN) a few weeks back as well.
Down in TX, Region 1 and 2 are really heating up. Cedar Park, The Woodlands and Klein Oak all make Region 2 the toughest Team region in the State, if not the US.
Region 1 has seen some fantastic individual performances. Connor Adams (Flower Mound, TX) beat Craig Lutz early on. Lutz has since bounced back and won Nike South over a high quality field that included Parker Stinson (Cedar Park), Ryan Dohner (Klein Oak) Neal Smith (Southlake Carrol) and Travis Barcaley of Boerne. Also making noise out west is Lubbock Coronado jr Donovan Torres. Torres ran a fantastic 15:20 at Mae Simmons Park at the Lubbock Invite for the easy win. He followed that with a very close 2nd place (14:53-14:55) to Connor Adams at the McNeil Invite.
Look for Lutz, Adams, Torres and Smith to all challenge for individual honors and sub 15 at the Region 1 meet. After those 4 hopefully we can see some talent from El Paso make the State Final. In 4a, Region 1 on the boys side looks to go to the El Paso area as Jefferson is the favorite for the team title and the 1-2 Austin High duo of Isaac Spencer and Ramon Garcia will be very tough to beat. Keep an eye on the Clint girls in 3a and still don't discount El Paso Eastwood in the 5a girls.
On the national level, remember some of the names discussed as they will be names you will hear for some time. Verzbicas, Wills, the Rosa's, Zeinasellaisse, Lutz, Torres, and Elias Geydon (CA) will all be back next year. Maybe we will see a repeat winner on the boys side in 2011.