Foot Locker West
The West Region had by far the most underclassmen girls qualify for San Diego with a total of four sophomores in the top 10, led by individual champion Annie Hill of Glacier, Mont. Hill is the No. 4 ranked runner in the nation and the No. 3 returner to San Diego. She was the only freshman to earn to All-American honors last year by sneaking into the top 10 with a 17:52 eighth-place finish. The sophomore won the NXN Northwest Region meet, but bypassed NXN to compete in Foot Locker West.
Kristen Garcia of Sedro-Woolley High School in Washington was the next underclassmen finisher in fifth overall (18:21.8). Like Hill, the sophomore used the NXN Northwest Regional as a warm-up two weeks ago; she placed fifth in the field to qualify as an individual to Portland, but she chose to roll the dice for an individual bid to San Diego.
Other underclassmen individual qualifiers include Emily Virtue of Burroughs Burbank, Calif. and McKenna Lee of Weber, Utah. Virtue placed sixth in the Division I California State Championship, while Lee finished runner-up at the Utah Class 5A State Championship behind only course record setter and NXN All-American Courtney Wayment of Davis High School.
Underclassmen all-region performers also included Katharine Scoville (14th, 18:49.3), Mari Friedman (18th, 19:01) and Jesselyn Bries (22nd, 19:03.6).
Full results and coverage from Foot Locker West here