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!

Eastwood XC- the tradition grows

It's been a bit since I last really wrote here (other than the little Dyestat blurb). Since then I made it out to watch the NCAA Midwest Regional in XC as well as the Pre Classic at Hayward Field, but I will pick back up where I left off. El Paso Eastwood Cross Country. Last season was a huge breakthrough as they returned to the State Meet for the first time since the 1986 season. 2011 was a season that resulted in a Region 1 2nd place, TX State 6th and NXN South 8th. Pretty impressive, coupling that with the bulk of the team coming back has raised expectations.
These young men have not disappointed. Ryan Saenz has stepped up to really take the reigns of this team. So far he is undefeated to any El Paso runner. Brian Casillas (the top El Pasoan at State last year) has been right there with him every step of the way giving Eastwood that potent 1-2 punch up front that any championship caliber team needs. Richard Mora and Steven Rios back them right up at a level that would put these two as the top two on most any other quality team. Returning State qualifier Caleb Buntyn, super soph Jose Silva and newcomer Steven Wallace round out what may be El Paso's best overall squad in many years. The team is currently undefeated with a big win over Del Rio in the Gold Seeded Race at the McNeil Invitational on the state course in Round Rock.
There are a couple factors that make this version of Eastwood Cross Country different than our State Bronze medalists squad of 1984. First and foremost, there is an overall culture change that extends to all levels of runners now. In the State ranked years of 1983-1987, we were always one injury or two from being in big trouble. Fortunately this never happened but outside of the top 7 each of those years there wasn't much depth. This year, Eastwoods JV is, in all reality, the 2nd best Varsity in the city! After winning the prestigious McNeil Invite in Round Rock, Coach McLain rested his top 7 for the El Paso City-Wide meet at the Chamizal. His JV, running as the varsity, defeated every El Paso team that day. The same JV also finished 3rd as a Varsity squad in the unseeded Varsity race at McNeil. Only a complete culture change could yield those type of results. In most other cities in Texas, they would compete week in and week out as Eastwood "B" in the varsity division as you see from perennial state powers like Southlake Carroll or The Woodlands. SLC's "B" or "Varsity 2" squad has run alongside the top 7 in such big meets as the Chile Pepper Invitational (Arkansas) and Marcus 1 (Lewisville,TX). The Athletic Director's office in the YISD (Ysleta Independent School District) will not allow this. Also, the top squads in the state travel more to compete. SLC has taken squads to Chile Pepper (AR), Nike South in Houston as well as meets in Kingsville, TX. All significant distances to travel to face competition. The YISD will only allow the programs in the district one out of town (requiring a stay) meet per year. Makes it quite a bit harder for the squad to face the level of competition they must to continue to grow. Ideally, Eastwood could use this to their advantage. Run McNeil or Nike South and then take advantage of El Paso's proximity to New Mexico and run one of the big Invites in Albuquerque against such national powerhouses like Rio Rancho Cleveland (NM) and Los Alamos (NM).Why this is, I don't know. Even if it comes down to dollars and cents I have been informed this even applies if the team funds their own way. Not the best decision by YISD and certainly not one that is good for the athletes. As I said last year, to be the best, you have to run and compete with the best.
Looking ahead to the Region 1 Meet in Lubbock the task will still not be easy. Southlake Carroll is fielding another "A" squad that will challenge CBA (NJ) and North Central (WA) for the National title.  Lewisville Hebron is relatively the same as last year, very potent at the very top but then a drop in their mid pack. Lewisville Flower Mound and Marcus are both much improved. Marcus is running with similar 1-5 splits as Eastwood. Flower Mound and Marcus both have top runners in Wesley Ward and Logan Hendrix but neither school matches the 1-2 of Saenz and Casillas. They key will be for EW to pack their top 2 close to each of these schools top guy. If that happens Eastwoods depth and a tight 1-5 split should get the Troopers a return trip to Round Rock. It is now time to ignore "Polls" and rankings. Respect must be earned over 3.1 miles starting in El Paso, Lubbock, Round Rock and NXN South. To the Varsity "B" ( a squad this good can't be referred to as JV) a good year awaits as you guys join Casillas and Silva to keep the dynasty growing and developing. Regardless of what happens here on out, you guys are worthy of being considered the best overall program the East side of El Paso has seen in some time. Go get em Troop!

In the coming weeks, IL XC awaits. I hope to get out to the Niles West Sectional (IL equivalent of Tx's Regional) to watch National Power Elmhurst York run as well as getting out to see the one and only Lukas Verzbicas speak on his recent life changing accident.
Lukas Verzbicas speaks

It is worth noting after my last entry that Dyestat has returned. They are now Dyetrack.com and have been re-added to my links bar.

Lukas "Superman" Verzbicas

I didn't intend to go right back in to a blog about Lukas all over again, but what he has accomplished since I last blogged has been THE story of Prep distance running.
I covered his performances going in to the two national XC meets pretty thoroughly. Remember, I noted the runner who scared me most as a challenger was Edward Cheserek. The first of the two meets was the NXN in Portland. The course was extremely wet and muddy and about as sloppy of conditions one could expect going into race day. The main guys (Lukas, Cheserek, Lutz, Moussa, Rosa, Gedyon) went to the front early. Lukas made a decisive move about 3k or so in and that was the race. Simple enough. The chase pack was down to Cheserek and Lutz and honestly, there was no doubt. Cheserek did gain a bit of ground at the end, but to be fair Lukas was letting up as the win was in the bag and he had one more big one to go.
On to San Diego for the FootLocker Finals where he was the defending champion. Lukas and MW runner up Futsum Zeinasellassie broke away fairly early on. Lukas took the workload on and as the race wore on simply ran the race out of Futsum. He eased up once again at the end and practically walked across the finish line. It was a truly epic career for Lukas in XC. He did (as I predicted) win the never before done double of NXN and FootLocker. He was a 2 time (2009, 2010) FootLocker National Champ and he NEVER lost a race in his Prep XC career.
In the couple months that followed he announced his signing with the University of Oregon and stated he would run Indoor Track where he would debut against the pro's at the New Balance meet in the mile. Meet #1 wound up with Lukas running a 4:03.88 for the full mile (4:02.5 for 1600) and finished ahead of Olympian Leo Manzano. This mark was good for #3 all time. A couple weeks later he lined up against Bernard Lagat at the Armory in NY as both were chasing records for the 2 mile. Lagat was chasing the US record and Lukas was clear he was chasing Gerry Lindgren's storied 2 mile record of 8:40.0. Lagat crushed the record with an 8:10.07 and Lukas managed to come home in 8:43.24 splitting 3200 at just under 8:40.
Over the next couple weeks it was announced that he was registered in the mile, 2 mile and 5k at the NBIN at the Armory. Could he actually pull off the triple? Many speculated he would run the 5k on Thursday and then pick one on Saturday. Several days prior he announced he was indeed going for the triple. His good friend (and IL XC runner) Kevin McDowell had just been diagnosed with cancer. McDowell finished 3rd to Lukas's 4th at the World Jr. Triathlon Championships. Lukas ran with him in mind.
Thursday nights 5k was a given, the only question was by how much would he break his own national HS record by. His 14:18 from 2009 stood as the mark to beat. Lukas made it his race from early on and started lapping runners after about the 6th lap. He crossed in a new NR of 14:06.78 (2 mile split was sub 9) and may have challenged the 14 minute barrier if he didn't spend the bulk of his race running in lanes 2 and 3 passing lapped runners. Even 2nd place finisher Eddie Owens (who just posted a 1:07 1/2 marathon) was lapped.
On to Saturday. The first race of the day, the 2 mile and the rematch with Edward Cheserek. Once again, Lukas went to the front. He ran lap after lap at a steady clip with Cheserek glued to his heels. Lapped runnners once again became an issue about the 3/4 mark. With 2 laps to go, Lukas started to let his stride out, like Futsum at FL, Lukas had run Cheserek's legs dead. With  a lap to go the only question was would he break the record. Lukas broke the tape in 8:40.70 to Cheserek's 8:42.66, good for #2 and 3 all time. There is no doubt that Lukas would have broken the long standing Lindgren mark if he wasn't weaving around lapped runners.
After that race one would figure he was done. Nope, not this kid. In a race that featured 5 of the fastest 6 HS milers in the US, Lukas lined up a mere 70 minutes later. He tucked in the middle of the pack, and then about halfway in started to move up. With about a quarter or so to go he took control. I knew at that point, nobody would take this from him, Chad Noelle (the Millrose mile champ) tried to challenge and failed followed by Elias Gedyon with the same results. Lukas blasted the last 200 and came home with the win in what may have been the greatest all around prep distance running performance ever. He finished the weekend with a NR in the 5k, the #2 all time performance in the deuce and then outkicked the supposed kickers for the win in the mile. Absolutely an epic performance to cap an epic career. Before he goes off to UO he has said he will run the Dream Mile at the Adidas Grand Prix again as well as go one last time for the World Jr. Champs in the triathlon. Hopefully we can see him gun for German Fernandez's outdoor NR in the 2 mile. The same challengers will more than likely present themselves in the early summer, and I'm sure the results will be the same. In the immediate future he will be running the Shamrock Shuffle 8k here in Chicago. It will be interesting to see him against this field of elite runners.

What a tremendous pleasure it has been to watch this kid run here the past few years.

I got the chance to go back to the Eastwood Invitational after many, many years. 25 years ago I won this meet in the 3200 and the meet is still going strong and better than ever. I got a chance to see many of my old competitors and my old coach, Doug Littlejohn. It was great to see the EW runners in action for the first time.

(l-r, Dave Medlin, EP's all time HS record holder in the 3200 at 9:01, Coach Doug Littlejohn, the only coach ever in El Paso history to coach an El Paso school to the Regional Track Title, in 1981, and myself.)

It was a great pleasure to watch the EW distance runners in action. At the time of this blog, Coach McLain has churned out a 1600 meter factory. Senior Juan Blanco leads the way with a blazing 4:19.6 (breaking his own school record), Junior Elias Leija Garza is at 4:32 and super freshman Brian Casillas at 4:37. Throw in a slab of guys in the 4:50 area (Luis Salazar, Alex Blanco, Caleb Buntyn, Steven Rios and Steven Wallace) and the potential for a great 4 x 1600 squad in the post season exists. Getting one of the last group of guys down under 4:40 and the potential is there for a sub 18. Post season EW kids??   With EW's great ability in the sprint relays, the making is definitely there for a blazing distance medley. Would be interesting to see. The talent and coaching is definitely there.

Lukas going for the double

This weekend is Part 1 of what Lukas Verzbicas hopes to be a legendary double. Saturday's Nike Cross Nationals in Portland will probably be his toughest race, ever.
The path started at State, which was covered in my last blog. He then went to NXN MidWest in Terre Haute, IN and came away with both a convincing win and a course record. His time of 14:53.1 beat Chris Derrick's old mark that was set before the addition of the hay bales. Jack Driggs closed strong to beat Zach Wills of Ohio for second. More importantly, Driggs led York to the team title over Columbus North (IN). York is now 7 for 7 in qualifying for NXN, the only team to go each and every year. Quite the legacy.
The next step for Lukas was FootLocker Midwest in Kenosha WI. I made the trip to watch this race as I wanted to be there for this stacked field. Also on the starting line were Driggs and Wills, along with IN star Futsum Zeinasellassie, OH star Michael Brajdic and Tony Smorgiewicz of South Dakota, the NXN Heartland winner.
Lukas went for it from the gun. I was at the start then made my way to the mile marker area. (Start below, Lukas at the mile after that, he was all alone)

Lukas had gapped the field by the mile mark. Close to the 2 mile mark they announced his split at 9:20. The announcer noted at 2.5 that Futsum had closed some ground. Coming in to the homestretch Lukas looked back, saw Futsum and came in strong. It is worth noting that he certainly didn't appear to be straining to much at the end. It may have been the closest that ANYONE has ever been to him in XC.

What has he done so far in his journey to the double to indicate he can pull it off? Plenty. Let's start with Sectionals. At Lockport he set a course record taking down Chris Derrick's old mark. State, he recorded the #3 time in IL history, only the legendary Craig Virgin and Derrick have run faster. NXN MW in Terre Haute? Course Record, taking down Derrick's once more. FLMW? The # 2 time in meet history. Only Dathan Ritzenhein has run faster. Lukas's 14:44 on that freezing day was quicker than Chris Solinsky, Matt Tegenkamp, Jorge Torres, Todd Williams, Bob Kennedy and a host of other future stars and Olympians. His performances so far indicate he can do it. He seems to have not gone all out in any race other than IL State. He will be challenged for sure, no one will win NXN in easy fashion. Not with this cast. Let's start with defending champ Craig Lutz of Texas who I am sure has no intention of surrendering his title. The CA duo of Ammar Moussa and Elias Gedyon are improved over last year. Zach Wills has a history of performing well in Portland. Lastly, the NJ stars. Jim Rosa, Jeremy Elkaim and Edward Cheserak all will be gunning for the title. Now, I know that Rosa is 2 and 0 against Cheserak, but this runner scares me the most of any of the challengers. I think over time he will become an incredible runner and Futsum will still have much to deal with in him next year. If Lukas gets by this crew his only challenge in San Diego will be to not let down against a fresh Futsum who is only running Footlocker. The best doubles so far have been by Chris Derrick (1st NXN, 2nd FL), Craig Lutz (1st NXN, 4th FL) and Colby Lowe (2nd NXN, 4th FL). It is a tough run. It is a lot of hard racing. I'm going to go out saying I think he can do it. We'll see. He stated here in the interview below that he wouldn't be doing it if  he didn't have the highest of expectations. Good luck to him.

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.

The Class of 2011 is ready to roll!

Well, Track and Summer have come and gone. We saw great performances from the likes of Lukas Verzbicas (IL-4:04.38-Jim Ryun Dream Mile), Joe Rosa (NJ-8:44.06-NBN 2 Mile-Jr class record) and Parker Stinson (TX-29:32-10,000 World Jr. Champs) on the boys side. The best girls performances hands down came from Emily Sisson (MO) who skipped her HS season and recorded a 9:51 3200 in a paced time trial and then a HS Record of 15:48.91 in the 5000 at the World Junior Champs. Sisson's times would be great for most HS Boys!

Andrew Wheating and Leonel Manzano impressed with some great miles in a year with no World Championships or Olympics. If Alan Webb is to come back, he will face a very formidable task in beating them for mile supremacy.

Today is Labor Day, marking the unofficial end of summer. This means Cross Country is upon us. Here in Illinois all eyes will once again be on Lukas Verzbicas and his quest to break Craig Virgin's record at Detweiller Park. He will not go unchallenged as York's Jack Driggs recorded one of the nations fastest miles (4:08.24) at the Midwest Distance Gala in June. The Chicago area had two of the top 10 HS milers in the nation and both return.

4:04.38 **Lukas Verzbicas (Sandburg, Orland Park, Il’)

4:05.50i Alex Hatz (Fayetteville-Manlius, Manlius, NY)

4:05.86+ *Elias Gedyon (Loyola, Los Angeles, Ca)

4:06.18 Jake Hurysz (Eastern Alamance, Mebane, NC)

4:07.28i Kirubel Erassa (Grayson, Loganville, Ga)

4:07.70 *James Rosa (West Windsor-Plainsboro North, Plainsboro, NJ)

4:07.98+ Ben Johnston (North Central, Spokane, Wa)

4:08.07 Pat Schellberg (Delbarton School, Morristown, NJ)

4:08.24 *Jack Driggs (York, Elmhurst, Il)

4:08.46 Isaac Presson (Asheville, NC)

York is looking like a heavy team favorite this year despite losing Andrew Smith, the State Champ in the 3200, but that is what York does every year under legendary Coach Joe Newton. Yorks recent time trial indicate Driggs is fit and the front runner with a solid 2-5 backing him up. They have a nice spread from 2-5 (6 seconds).

Driggs 8:47 Hedman 9:13 Hedman 9:15 Mimlitz 9:16 Gornick 9:19

We won't see Lukas (pictured below at FLMW, a meet that left me muddy as can be, as a spectator!) until end of month at earliest, at least on an XC course as he preps for the World Jr. Triathlon Champs later this month in Hungary. I'm sure he won't miss a beat as his running splits in these races are usually nothing short of spectacular.

Will he repeat as National XC runner of the year? This will be his last season as he took summer school courses to graduate early in 2011. He will be hard pressed by many in the class of 2011 including the Rosa twins, Craig Lutz (TX), Ammar Moussa (CA) and Elias Gedyon (CA). Others that can't be discounted are Zach Wills (OH- remember he edged Lukas at NON in 2009), Jeremy Elkaim (NJ- 8:46 3200 in a win over the Roas's), Futsum Zeinasellassie (IN-7th at FL Nationals in 08) as well as Driggs.

To me the overwhelming girls favorite has to be Chelsey Sveinsson of Texas. The "experts" disagree as most have picked her second behind Aisling Cuffe of NY based mostly off of her 10:02 for the full 2 mile at NBN, That would be a sub 10 in the 3200 which Chelsey has yet to run. I, however, think Chelsey would have had she not had an injury shortened track season. If she comes back fully healthy this year, she will be THE one to beat. It is worth noting that Freshman Natalie Rathjen (Highland Park, TX) just won the opener at Marcus 1 in 10:45, the same time Chelsey ran last year. Girls races are never as clear cut as the boys it seems.

Texas is already rolling. Craig Lutz dominated the Marcus 1 meet as expected. Southlake Carroll served notive that they may be the team to beat in Region 1 as they dominated the field winning with an impressive 39 points. Amarillo Tascosa showed they may be the sleeper team in Region 1 (5a) with an impressive 3rd.

In El Paso, Issac Spencer (Austin) ran away with the season opener in what should be a banner year for him. The surprise of the meet was the Eastwood Troopers (yes, I'm biased!) who were edged by a single point by Austin. The Troopers who had and have had a strong JV every year regrouped and served notice they are a team to be dealt with. The rapid off-season improvement by runners such as Luis Salazar will be key as team leader Juan Blanco can't do it alone. The Trooper Girls, who were expected to be solid, ran away with the girls title over very good Clint and Horizon teams. If Melanie Stires has the type of season she is capable of the Trooper Girls will look to improve on last years 5th place finish at the Region 1 meet. Coach Mike McLain has done a great job in developing the JV squads to step right up when the time has come. I look forward to seeing my Alma Mater proving the naysayers wrong.

For those who ran XC in El Paso, you should check out Coronado ex's Vince Bejarano's alumni website. It is open to all and can be a great place for some people to reconnect after many years. Look for it in the links section on your left.

Outdoors is here! Finally.

Well, I for one am real glad that outdoors is here. Indoors is a season that I am always really excited about, I never had the opportunity to run indoors as a youngster in Texas. I remember actually ordering a pair of Nike indoor distance spikes and being convinced they were the reason I had such a good senior year in outdoor track. Yep, they were my secret weapon. Uhhh, yeah. This year indoors seemed a bit lackluster to me. Chelsey Sveinsson skipped indoors, there was talk she was going to swim for her school team. The much anticipated NIN 2 mile match up between the Rosa twins and Lukas Verzbicas never transpired. Lukas skipped indoors as well as the Shamrock Shuffle 8k here in Chicago that he was entered in as an elite. Joe Rosa did not run indoors and Jim won NIN in a time of 9:00 meaning we are still waiting for the first sub 9 in the full deuce. Others, such as Craig Lutz, Zach Wills ran but were not at top strength. There were some great marks, Kirubel Erassa (GA) ran a 14:19.82 for #2 all time in the indoor 5000 and Alex Hatz (NY) crushed NIN with a 4:05.5 mile. Good enough to break Alan Webb's meet record. The girls 2 mile was thrilling with Megan Goethals (MI) edging Emily Sisson (MO) 10:10.14 to 10:10.21

At the NCAA's we saw some great marks from the freshman class. Jordan Hasay (Oregon) split a 4:32.55!!!! in the Distance medley in an effort that almost put Oregon past Tennessee in the race, as well as well as a 4:38.2 in the mile final for 4th (the first non-senior). Robby Andrews (Virginia) edge out Olympian Andrew Wheating (Sr, Oregon) by a mere 100th of a second for the 800 title. Oregon's other frosh mile star, Mac Fleet placed 2nd in the finals.

Of course, some upper classmen flexed some muscle. Angela Bizarri (Sr, Illinois) and Lisa Koll (Sr, Iowa State) took the 3 and 5 k's while Dorian Urley (Sr, Arkansas) and David McNeil (Jr, NAU) did the same on the men's side.

German Fernandez apparently sustained an injury in his conference mile finals and was absent from the NCAA's leaving teammate Colby Lowe as OSU's lone representative. Colby finished 8th in the 5k final as he is continuing to establish himself as a threat in any race he runs. Great to see him back up there. Interesting as German's NCAA meets have resulted in a DNF, DNR, Outdoor Mile Gold, 97th and a DNR. Good thing he has the stuff to be one of the all time greats and I hope to see him back and fully healthy for outdoors.

One last indoor mention, congrats to former Eastwood star Jessica Ubanyionwu on her 16th place finish in the triple jump. Only a sophomore, she will be back.

Outdoors is in full swing in Texas while Illinois is still winding down indoors, the Illinois Prep Top Times Classic still looms ahead. We have seen some great marks down south from Parker Stinson (Cedar Park) with a 9:06 3200 and Cedar Park clocked a 17:29 in the 4x1600.

While in high school, a meet we always looked forward to was the West Texas Relays in Odessa, TX. We all got to go as a team and stay in a nice hotel and run in a huge stadium (Ratliffe). It was quite exciting. I remember losing a close 3200 to Mike Garza in 86. Mike had run a 9:14 at the Texas Relays and I gave him all he could handle as he edged me at the line. Being there was really a great experience for us. These days, Eastwood takes it kids to the Willie Williams Classic in Tuscon, AZ. It is a great College/HS meet with top notch competition. Eastwood's Melanie Stires won the 800 with a 2:20.7 and EW's Aimee Apodaca took 2nd in the 3200 with a time of 11:44.4.

On the boys side, Juan Blanco set a new Eastwood school record in the 1600 with a 4:26.5 hanging close to Footlocker All-American Steve Magnuson. Clinton Blacksmith continued his season long improvement in the 3200 with a 10:08.1. Coronado's Zach Bassett turned in a nice 4:38/10:04 double. Nice job by all. Seems like a great time, even my good friend and Eastwood coach Mike McLain met Bernard Lagat.

I am really, really looking forward to the full outdoor season. The top prep marks are yet to come, I LOVE NCAA track and field and the pros may keep things interesting in a year with no Olympics or World Champs. This may let us see some athletes outside of the comfort zone. Here's hoping we see Allyson Felix in more open 400's. A lot of top distance guys will concentrate on the roads as the big marathon paydays await.

I'll be looking forward to the Midwest Distance Gala again this year. I'm sure this will be the earliest any of us see Lukas Verzbicas, locally or otherwise. He will surely be concentrating on his triathlon season in the spring. You know, it must work. The new harrier magazine has an article in which they talked to the vast majority of the FootLocker finalist. They asked each about one's favorite workouts as well as weekly mileage. Guess who ran fewer miles than anybody. Yep, the winner himself. Very low mileage, by the current standards, but mixed with swimming and cycling. I found this very interesting as I have been amazed at some of the weekly totals I see some of the young stars post. Just some food for thought for those who see running as the only way to get better at running, myself included. Be back soon.

Here goes 2010

A lot has happened since I last wrote here. Lukas Verzbicas dominated Footlocker on his way to becoming the first ever sophomore champion. Megen Goethals edged Chelsey Sveinsson in a great race to the finish. The week before, at NXN, Craig Lutz out sprinted Joe Rosa and Elias Geydon for the boys title. Texas showed up big as Boerne and The Woodlands were 1st and 3rd on the boys side. Catherine Flood took the girls title while Fayetville Manlius ran away with the team title. The final honors of the season, Gatorade XC runner of the year, went to Verzbicas and Goethals. Nice start for Illinois as they have 2 of the first 3 boys winners in Chris Derrick and Lukas.
The college indoor season is in full speed with no lack of excitement here. German Fernandez has returned and appears to be getting healthier after a sub-par XC season. He finished 3rd (only with him would people be disappointed with that ) in the 3000 at the UW Husky invite with a 7:51.02. Earlier, his coach Dave Smith said German had been suffering from an iron deficiency.
The University of Oregon has retooled fast. Olympian Andrew Wheating has returned after a long layoff and teamed with prized frosh Elijah Greer to post marks of 1:46.36 and 1:47.33 in the 800. The other prized frosh in the U of O stable have made their mark quickly with Mac Fleet blazing a 3:57.70 mile and Jordan Hasay posting marks of 4:38.48 (mile) and 9:12.25 (3000).
It's worth noting that former Eastwood and current Baylor star Jessica Ubanyionwu is currently ranked 9th in the country with 43"1.75 triple jump at the Tyson Invite. That is good for a NCAA provisional standard, hopefully it will hold or she will add a couple more inches. Also with a NCAA provisional standard is former Montwood and current Texas A & M runner Christina Munoz. 16:37.37 is the provisional mark she posted for the 5000 meter run. If anyone knows of any other ex-El Pasoan's with NCAA qualifying marks, please let me know.
On the prep level, a current mark that is very worth noting is the early season state leading 800 time of 1:56.00 by Danny Tarango of El Paso Burges. A great time for mid-February from this young sophomore. Wow. I can't wait to see what he (along with El Paso Austin's Ramon Garcia) gets down to by May, much less by May 2012.
Now to some disappointing news. The IHSA (the Illinois equivalent of the UIL) will deny waivers to athletes wanting to compete at Nike Indoor Nationals. Apparently since the meet is not conducted by the USATF (the governing body of USA Track and Field) it does not meet the criteria for IHSA to grant waivers. Illinois athletes will still be able to compete in Nike Outdoor Nationals as it is conducted after the IHSA Track season is over. Still, this is a huge blow to the national caliber athletes here in Illinois. Remember, it was Nike Indoor last year that served as the coming out party for Lukas Verzbicas. Now, this may not affect Lukas , as he has stated he will bypass the regular track season to get back to his triathlon season, but others such as Manfrin, Farleigh, etc. will have to choose between running here or competing for a state title later. This is a very bad policy that will hopefully be reevaluated later. Fortunately Footlocker/NXN and Nike Outdoor/Midwest Distance Gala fall after the respective seasons.
Now, for more sad news out of Illinois. Budget cuts have made it so that all lower level (assistants, etc) Track coaches in the Chicago Public Schools will no longer be paid. This will leave one coach per gender. Chicago city schools were starting to make strides back as evidenced by Morgan Park and Whitney Young. Lavinia Jurkiewicz (Whitney Young) just became the first CPS student to win the state championship in cross country.
Much more on these issues can be found here.

http://www.dyestatil.com//?pg=dyestatil-2010-Indoor-This-Week-in-Illinois-Track-and-Field-Week-one

One last remark about cross country. I have been trying to help my good friend Mike McLain compile a list of early results from District (El Paso related), Regional and State meets going back to the very early 1970's. It is still a work in progress but we are getting the blanks filled in. Hopefully this will be the place that people looking for old results from El Paso will go straight to.
Go to the site and look through the District, Regional or State results, and keep checking back.

http://ehstrack.bravehost.com/elpasomeets.htm

I'll be back soon.

Titles on the line for Illinois and Texas.

This weekend start the Post-Season for high school cross country. This Saturday will be the Nike Cross Nationals in Portland and the 12th will see the long standing Footlocker Nationals. Illinois and Texas will be well represented at both events and should challenge for several titles.
Starting with Nike Cross, the Rosa twins (Joe and Jim) who have been destroying course records all year but will be challenged by the Texas trio of Craig Lutz, Ryan Dohner and Parker Stinson. Illinois and Texas both have 3 teams in the finals. Illinois looks to be stronger overall in the team race led by York, Naperville Neuqua Valley and Loyola. Texas brings Boerne Champion, The Woodlands and Cedar Park. The girls race may be Sarah Andrews to lose at this point as favorite Chelsey Sveinsson has opted to go only to Footlocker. Favetetville-Manlius (New York) will run away with the title on the girls side.
Footlocker, still the most prestigious event on the individual side, looks to be shaping up nicely. I got a chance to go to the Midwest Championships in Kenosha Wisconsin last weekend . Now, before anybody mentions how much slower the times were in the Midwest as compared to the other regions, it was an absolute mud fest. Mud everywhere, large puddles of standing water everywhere, just awful, awful, conditions.
As expected , Megan Goethels (Mo) won the title defeating 4 time Footlocker qualifier Emily Sisson (MO) (pictured below). Megan is returning to FL where she was 3rd place last year and should challenge Chelsey Sveinsoon for the win.


On the boys side the match up between favorite Lukas Verzbicas and Futsum Zeinasellassie never materialized. Futsum was not in the pack as they took off. It was known that Lukas had been nursing a nagging achilles injury. It was never an issue however, as he jumped to a quick lead (pictured below right before mile marker 1) and was never challenged.



He checked his lead towards the end and literally strolled across the line. He looked like he was out for a daily jog and hopefully will be all healed and ready to make his bid to become the first 3 time Footlocker winner (and the first to win as a Sophomore) next weekend. Lukas looked pretty comfortable being interviewed below and should get used to it.



The biggest challenge to Lukas should come from Texas as Craig Lutz looked great at the South regional. If Lukas is hampered by his Achilles look for Lutz, Brian Shrader AZ or Shane Moskowitz (WA) to sneak by.
On the girls side I'll stick with Chelsey. After her injury she rebounded and ran away from a quality field in the South to win.
I'm going to pick Lukas over Lutz and Chelsey over Goethels for Footlocker. At NXN, the Rosa's over Lutz and Sarah Andrews.

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.

Fall is here...XC Time!

Fall is here and that means one thing. Cross Country season is upon us. It was a great summer of Track and Field. All of the Gala League meets were televised as well as others, great World Championships in Berlin. Good times, literally. Two Americans, Dathan Ritzenhein (12:56.27 New AR) and Matt Tegenkamp (12:58.56) , broke 13 minutes in the 5000 in the span of one week. 3 Americans (Evan Jager, German Fernandez and Chris Derrick) all no more than 2 years removed from the American High School system ran sub 13:30, all before they are old enough to drink a beer in a bar.
The United States women have seen a huge resurgence in the middle distances with fantastic 800/1500 meter performances from the likes of Anna Willard, Shannon Rowbury, Jenny Barringer, Christin Wurth-Thomas and Maggie Vessey. Hopefully the trend will continue for years to come as it was quite inspiring to see these ladies hold their own against the world's best.
Now we head in to the time of the year reserved for running on uneven surfaces and terrains. Cross Country. I can't touch much on the College ranks yet as most of the top teams and individuals have yet to race. Texas and Illinois are once again looking very strong in the High School ranks with some of the top individuals and teams.
The Lone Star state brings Chelsey Sveinsson (top female in the US), Sarah Andrews, Parker Stinson, Craig Lutz and Connor Adams. The Woodlands girls and boys teams look very strong and the Cedar Park boys look to challenge for State and National honors.
Illinois fields the top male in the nation (probably for a few years to come!) in Sophomore Lukas Verzbicas as well as some of the top boys teams in the nation in York and Naperville Neuqua Valley. York lost 2 stars in Steve Sulkin (9:01) and Jordan Herbert (9:04) and Neuqua lost Foot Locker All-American Danny Pawola but as most perennial powerhouses they have rebuilt and both should have strong showings at the IL state meet and Nike Cross nationals.
Moving on to some things you couldn't already find out on Dyestat, it looks like there are some good things going on at my alma mater Eastwood (El Paso, TX). The girls team is undefeated 2 meets in and is looking solid from 1-7 with several capable front runners. As long as they start getting the 1-5 time gap down they can make some noise after the District meet. On the boys side Junior Juan Blanco won the Clint/Horizon Invitational with a solid win over 200 plus runners. I think he has the ability to become the best XC runner from the school in many, many years if not THE best. He certainly impressed me with his 4:30 in the 1600 as a Sophomore. Hopefully these kids will stay healthy and go into the Region 1 meet with the knowledge that they can absolutely compete with the best in the Region and State. Coach Mike McLain has certainly been there, earning individual and team Region Championships as a runner for Hanks High School back in the glory days (the 80's) of El Paso High School Cross Country. If anyone can help them realize this goal it is him.
I will certainly touch on the progress and performances of the team this year as I cheer for them from afar.
In an unrelated "How did I miss this from last year?" the defending Arkansas big schools Girls Cross Country champion (who ran away with last years title as a Frosh) is Valerie Reina. Yep, Reubens daughter. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Midwest Distance Gala

I took a short drive out to Lisle, IL this past weekend to check out the annual Midwest Distance Gala at Benedictine University. It is at an amazing facility for this type of event. Great track, green surroundings, great seating, etc. The announcer was excellent, on top of his game keeping everyone updated on who was who. After listening to Carol Lewis announce Track and Field all season it was a pleasure.
The main reason I wanted to go (other than being a distance buff) was to see Lukas Verzbicas (see previous entry) run in person. Lukas was going head to head in the 2 Mile against Footlocker National XC Champ Solomon Haile of Maryland.
I took a seat close to the finish line and waited for the 2 fastest indoor 5000 meter runners (Prep) in history line up. When the gun went off I had to run to the lower level above the track to take in the action. Lukas went to the front right away (behind the pacesetter who took them though the mile in just over 4:20). He looked very smooth, he is one of the most fluid distance runners I have ever seen run in person. Solomon was running behind him the whole time as the 2 had gapped the field. After the 5th lap Haile went to the front, while Graham Bazzell (also MD) starting cutting the gap.




At the bell (which was reached in 7:52) Lukas stepped around and proceeded to run around Haile like he was standing still. It is an exaggeration but it looked that effortless. Lukas tore away down the backstretch hitting 3000 Meters in 8:20.15 (a Freshman National Record) and cruised home in 8:53.98 (3200 in 8:50, both US #1's and National Freshman Records) for the win. Haile fought off a hard charging Bazzell for second (8:56.08 to 8:56.65).


The boy's mile was billed as a sub 4 attempt after Rhode Island's Star Andrew Springer signed up to race the US leader at 1600 Jeff Thode (who had just run 4:05 at the Illinois State Meet) and Michigan's Michael Atchoo.
The pace was quick from the start. The pacesetter took them out in 2 flat at the 800. There was a few still grouped together. At the bell Springer was alone at 3:01 with Thode still close. The possibility of Sub 4 still existed and wasn't out of the question until about 100 Meters left. Springer crossed the line in 4:02.70 (4:01 1600) with Illinois small school champ Peter Callahan second in 4:05.20 (4:03 1600). Springer collapsed to the ground, Callahan had to be helped to stand.



Thode, who had been known to be gunning for the 4 minute mile all season looked completely wiped out after losing a lot of ground in the last lap and coming home in 4:17.62. I was still very impressed with the Iowa recruits season. He gave it all he had but it wasn't to be for him that day.



The girls mile was fantastic also as the 2 Illinois stars Stephanie Brown and Lizzy Hynes ran away from the field. Brown powered to a 4:50.12 (4:48.2 at 1600) to 4:51.91 win. The boys 800 was another great one as well as Ohio's Danny Neff ran the 4th fastest time in the US this year at 1:50.02.

As I stated in my previous blog, I think Lukas's potential is unlimited. After NON (where he will run the 2 mile) he will go back to preparations for the Triathalon while many great runners he soundly defeated this year will go run and do well for major universities. He is not sure yet if he will run the Cross Country season for his upcoming Sophomore year. His Tri-season won't end until September. I will just try and see this great talent run locally when I can. I'm still amazed when a 16 year old (for the record T & F News says he is 15) can run his 1st outdoor race of the year and run the fastest time in the country and make it look easy. Time will tell.




Next up for Lukas, Nike Outdoor Nationals in the 2 mile. This may be his toughest test yet. Fellow Chicago area runner (and US #2 at 3200, 8:51) Jeff Thode will look to rebound after his performance in the Mile at the MDG. US #3 (8:51 3200 and Footlocker runnerup) Trevor Dunbar of Alaska as well as US #1 Miler Andrew Springer (4:02) should all be pushing the race into sub 8:50 territory.
In another Tx/IL story look for both The Woodlands (TX) and York (IL) to challenge (along with North Spokane, WA) the long standing 4 X Mile relay record (17:06.6, S. Eugene, 1976) this weekend. On the Girls side look for Chelsey Sveinsson (TX) to be the favorite in both the Mile and 2 Mile in the absence of Jordan Hasay. It's gonna be another great Prep Track weekend.

Another year, another Illinois star.

A lot has happened since I last blogged here. Footlocker and NTN came and went. Reed Connor (The Woodlands) and Chelsey Sveinsson (Greenhill Academy) both made Texans proud at Nike Team Nationals. Jordan Hasay won her 2nd Footlocker National Championship over a loaded field while the controversial Soloman Haile (MD) took the boys title.
NCAA action indoors has been exciting to say the least. Oregon's Galen Rupp has silenced his critics as he has dominated his races. The big 3 (Fernandez, Derrick and Puskedra) Freshman have more than lived up to the hype. German has a 3:55 mile to his name already and Chris Derrick was a 2-time All-American at NCAA Indoor. Months into his Freshman year and Chris has 3 (including XC) All-American certificates to his name. It will be very interesting to see how these 3 perform for the US Junior team at the world XC meet in Jordan.
Here in Illinois the future (and present) High School distance running looks great as usual. Lukas Verzbicas (who I mentioned back in an XC blog) just made the nation take notice after his double (2 mile/5K ) win at Nike Indoor Nationals. The Lincoln Way (New Lenox, IL) freshman set a new US High School record in the 5000 meters of 14:18.42 beating the short lived 14:22 US Record that Soloman Haile had just set at NSIC hours before. He smashed the 14:29 Brad Hudson mark (that prior to Haile's 14:22) had stood for 25 years. He also won the 2-mile in 8:57.44 a couple days later. Not bad for a kid who had his XC season end prematurely with an injury.
There is a big debate raging on as people talk about his age. He is a 16 year old Freshman. Fine, I say. It doesn't matter as he set the All-Time HS record in the 5k regardless of grade or age. It doesn't change that fact. His 8:57 2-mile is currently the fastest 2 mile in the nation, indoors or out, by ANY high schooler. Period. Grades 9-12. End of story as far as I'm concerned.
What is really going to be interesting over the next couple years is to see where he puts his focus. Lukas has previously stated his future to be in the Triathlon. In May he will compete for the US at the Pan American Junior Championships. He has stated his goal is to win an olympic gold in the Triathlon. He does seem to be a little more open to just running after his great indoor wins this year however.
It's going to be a disappointment not to see him at the Illinois State Meet this year. He has stated he will concentrate on the Triathlon for the next two years but will run outdoors in 2011 and 2012. If he keeps improving he will join the ranks of many of the all-time great out of Illinois (ie. Virgin, Sitko, Merrick, Graves, Spivey, etc) or some of the greats from the last 10-12 years (i.e. Torres brothers, Sage, Withrow, Jager, Havel. Derrick). At this point he can't even claim to be the fastest 2-miler out of Lincoln Way (the great Dave Merrick went 4:05 and 8:43.2 almost 40 years ago). It will be quite an accomplishment just to break the Lincoln Way records.
I will be watching his progress closely. I think his potential is unlimited. He is running the Shamrock Shuffle this Sunday in Chicago. It will be interesting to see how he mixes it up with some of the big boys in the 8k. He ran 25:31 to finish 11Th overall last year as an 8Th grader. Pretty impressive stuff. I hope after his May Triathlon he "dabbles" in Track at the Nike Outdoor Nationals.

Talking a little Cross Country...........

As we head towards the State Meets in XC we see some more of the norm. York (IL) and The Woodlands (TX) are both aiming for yet another State Title.
The Woodlands (once known as Conroe McCullough) has been crushing teams dreams in TX for 28 years or so. They have quite a large enrollment (3800+) and a great Jr. High Program but the coaching of Dan Green speaks volumes. People enter the program there (as well as York with Joe Newton) expecting to contend for the State Title.
Since 1980 The Woodlands/McCullough has won 14 State Titles, 6 2nd place finishes and 2 3rd place finishes. That is 22 trips to the podium in 27 years. In 1984 they scored a record low 28 points in a race that my team (El Paso Eastwood) actually thought we had a chance at winning. We wound up 3rd but hey, there is no doubt we lost (badly!) to the best XC team in the country that year. The list of stars from the school over the years is endless. Kyle Wright, Jeff Moss, Stacy Sutter, Eric Henry, Shaun Barnes, Scott Cramer, Danny Green, Chris Emme, Brian Sullivan, Alex Neff and this year Reed Connor and Drew Butler should challenge Craig Lutz for the Texas Title.
Each year the week prior to the XC District meet,The Woodlands has it Red and Green Time Trial, under the lights at night. They run the 3200. If this years results are accurate then look out. Connor ran 8:54 and Butler 9:01. Wow! This school, by the way, has more sub 9:20 3200 runners than any other school in State History by a long shot. Henry and Sullivan both went 8:52.
I mentioned Craig Lutz earlier as the Lewisville Marcus Sophomore has established himself as the favorite for the TX 5-A Title. After a very impressive Frosh season, he has gone undefeated turning back many of the state's best in the process. Don't count out CJ Brown (Southlake Carroll) quite yet but he has not had the season many expected.
In IL, York is looking tough as usual, as well as Naperville North, Geneva and defending National Champs, Neuqua Valley. Look for Kyle Gibson (NN), Danny Pawola (NV) and the York Duo of Steve Sulkin and Jordan Herbert to contend in Peoria for the State Title. Another early season fave, Freshman Record Setter Lukas Verzbicas (yes Freshman!) is out for the season with a pinched sciatic nerve.
The future is looking bright right now on the National level with Lutz (Soph) and Verzbicas (Frosh) and Futsum Zeinasellassie (Frosh, In) all with potential to finish high at the National Level this year. Another challenger may be Jakub Zivec. Jakub has been running amazing times in the JV races in MN. In these cases he is running faster than the varsity times and coming close to course records. He has track PRs of 3:57.07 for the 1500 meters and an 8:19.35 for 3000m so he is for real. Jakub is a Czech exchange student who attends his MN high school without being part of a recognized international exchange program. Because of this he is not allowed to compete at the varsity level.
The future is also looking bright on the NCAA level with the prized Frosh Chris Derrick (Stanford), German Fernandez and Colby Lowe (Oklahoma State), Luke Puskedra (Oregon) all looking like potential All-Americans this year. We shall see. Terre Haute, IN is the place to be Nov 24Th.