When does the page turn from the past to the present? The quest to crown the greatest boys team in US history compromises a group spanning four decades. Each with a story and an argument as to their place among the cross immortals.
JIM AND JOE ROSA HEAD TO STANFORD
Mason High Schools cross country and track standout, senior Zach Wills, announced on Wednesday that he has made a verbal commitment to attend Oklahoma State University in the fall of 2011. Wills, considered by many as one of the most prolific runners in OHSAA history, had four other high profile collegiate running programs on his radar screen. They included Stanford, Oregon, Colorado and Georgetown. "The people, coaching staff and team at Oklahoma State really impressed me," said Wills. "They've had great succes and will continue to be a rising program in the coming years. They are loaded with talent." The Wills family also has relatives living in the vicinity of the school; another factor in Zach's final choice of OSU. Oklahoma State is the defending 2009 NCAA Division I Cross Country National Champion. The Cowboys have the potential to repeat this fall with only one senior on the team. The campus is located in Stillwater, Oklahoma and is a member of the prestigious Big 12 Conference. (via www.masoncomets.org)
Our first Skype interview is with Colleen Quiqley of Nernix Hall.
Trinity Prep is one of Florida's top two teams and is currently ranked 18th in the nation by the Harrier Magazine. We joined them for a Tuesday workout session on the track, one of their toughest of the year. Runners start in lane one and work their way out to lap eight on successive repeats. With each of those first eight lap they get and more tired, all while each successive one gets longer. The athletes struggle to to keep their splits constant--about 72 seconds for the top guys. After the eighth repeat, they work their way back via lanes 7, 5, 3, and finally back to 1. What a great workout!
New harriers make rank, while the top of the guys rankings is as tight as ever! Here comes the post-season!
Molly Seidel (in green) is burning up Wisconsin, and hopes to take that talent to San Diego in 2 months.
Los Alamos: New Mexico's green wall of girls. Photo by Blake Wood.
Robert Allen rolls in RI | Sarah Baxter smashes girls Mt. SAC record; Ammar Moussa ties Mt. SAC boys record. US#1 Arcadia breaks course team record! (Photo by Margot Kelly)
Three years after hiring its first editor to provide weekly coverage from a national perspective, MileSplit.US–-the national portal of the 50-state MileSplit Network-–has received a long-overdue makeover.
Milesplit caught up with Molly Grabill (Rancho Bernardo) to chat about her high school career and what's next for the San Diego runner.
Rachel Johnson, Senior at Plano Senior HS, has made a verbal commitment to Baylor University. Rachel is currently ranked #9 in the nation by Milesplit. She won the 1600 and 3200 at the UIL State meet last year on the track. In cross country she placed 6th at Nike Nationals and 11th at Footlocker Nationals.
A few changes and a few editions, but look for the action to heat up in the coming weeks!
Few changes as most are idle, but there are a handful of new editions to the national roster.
Aisling Cuffe (Far left in red), hangs out with her team in North Carolina.
In his 3rd journal Ammar Moussa shares about a typical week of training.
Brittany Tretbar leads a Desert Vista team with a steadily rising profile on the regional scene. Photo by Margot Kelly.
NICK VENA TO VIRGINIA!
US#19 Megan Lacy runs an impressive CR of 17:53 to win the Burlington County Open in NJ.
Meet junior Maddie Meyers from The Northwest School, WA.
US#1 Futsum Zeinasellassie is undefeated this season, and looks to remain that way.
It was a Who's Who of Colorado female high school cross country runners at the start of the Pat Patten Invite on Friday. Kelsey Lakowske, second from lett, sneaked away for the win. Photo by Jeff McCoy.
Shea Martinez, Avery Calton, and Jamie Stokes have helped keep Davis and Ogden at the top of the Utah girls rankings. Photo contributed by Corbin Talley.
Aisling Cuffe shares about college visits and life on the road in the 2nd edition of her 2010 XC Journal.
Rio Rancho's Caleb Rubalcaba had the weekend off, but has been running the competition ragged in New Mexico this fall. Photo contributed by Sal Gonzales.
