Two of the biggest meets of the weekend took place on opposite sides of the country. The Stanford Invitational (CA) and the McQuaid Invitational (NY) hosted many of the top teams in the country, and dozens of top individuals. At Stanford, German Fernandez and Crater (OR) highlighted the results, while McQuaid showcased a girls US #1 v. US #4 match-up between Fayetteville-Manlius (NY) and Burnt Hills (NY). What a weekend!
MileSplit's Coast to Coast - Stanford Inv. & McQuaid Inv.
Stanford Invitational (CA)
MileSplit's Stanford Invitational Meet Page
Last weekend, while fans of high school cross country eyed the results of US #2 Luke Puskerda (Sr., Judge Memorial, UT) at the Bob Firman Invitational, US #1 German Fernandez (Sr., Riverbank, CA) saw the Stanford Invitational Saturday as his chance to shine. With some doubters to prove, Fernandez took to the course at Stanford and desimated the competition from the gun.
Fernandez put on a big lead from the half way point and never looked back. Finishing in 14:42 wasn't the most impressive part of his run, what stood out most was beating a solid frontrunner in Mohamed Abdalla (Sr., Willow Glen, CA) by 40 seconds. Fernandez continues to showcase his running skills each week, dropping the competition from the start. Abdalla, opening up his big invitational season, ran a standard 15:22 race, beating third place by only a second, and proving there is much work left to be done.
While Fernandez' win was inspirational, the battle of the meet happened in the team race. US #4 Crater (OR) entered the race with a big win from the weekend before, from beating a bunch of U.S. ranked squads at the Bob Firman Invitational (ID). With that weighing on them, Crater nearly folded in the final half mile, as Rancho BV (CA) nearly upended them, as Crater won 167-168. That type of finish cannot be had again by Crater if they hope to continue their winning ways.
On the girl's side, the Bishton sisters from (Mountain Ridge, AZ) finished 1-2 in the top race. Nadya beat Nastia in the final straight, with both runners finishing well under 18 minutes in 17:29 and 17:31. The Bishton 1-2 finish did not factor into the top team race however, as Jesuit (OR) beat Rancho BV and Torrey Pines, with a score of 108. Rancho BV barely beat Torrey Pines for second, scoring 128 points to Torrey Pines' 135. The race, like most top team competitions, finished with the fourth and fifth runners making the most difference.
McQuaid Invitational (NY)
MileSplit's McQuaid Invitational Meet Page
With big match-ups all around the country Friday and Saturday, none were bigger on the girl's side than the US #1 Fayetteville-Manlius (NY) v. US #4 Burnt Hills (NY) cliffhanger. U.S. ranked East Aurora (NY) partook in the race as well, but FM and BH bested the rest of the field by far.
From the gun, F-M and BH were stride for stride up top. However, one noticeable absence came from F-M's top runner, Kathryn Buchan, who did not appear in the final results, although one F-M girl scored without a name. Each team packed in their top runners, goseling for room, proving who the best team in the land is. As the runners approached the half way point, it was clear the results of the meet would be determined in the final sprint.
Into the final sprint, Sam Roecker (Burnt Hills) surged past the field and won the race in 17:02, while F-M's Hannah Luber finished a very strong second in 17:07 for three miles. And so it went, Burnt Hills and F-M matched each other position for position. Burnt Hill went 1, 3, 8, 14, 19, while F-M went 2, 4, 7, 10, 15. The strength of F-M at the 4-5 position sealed the win, as F-M won 38-45, in a battle far from over.
On the boy's side, the best race of the day came in the AA Boys race. Matt Hughes (Sr., Msgr. Paul Dwyer, Ontario) and Zach Rivers (Sr., Victor Central, NY) battled it out until the very end of the race, where Hughes surged ahead for the best time of the day, winning in 14:45 to Rivers' 14:48. Joe Whelan (Sr., Hamburg Fairport, NY) won the AAA Boys Race in 14:56, marked as the other top performance of the day.