XC 2009
The season is underway in full force. Top teams from throughout the country are headlining National Super Invitationals. We would like to begin the weekend by featuring some very good reads on two top US individual athletes Jessica Tonn and Brian Shrader; an awesome story out of Washington titled "A Kenyan Style" and Illinois Lukas Verzbikas. Jessica Tonn Story Brian Shrader Story A Kenyan Style Story Throwback to the 70's Story
NATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
(Click the above map for in-depth highlights and links)
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| US#2 Cedar Park Dominates |
Feast Flight Score Meet (TX): US#2 Cedar Park, TX boys and Woodlands, TX run impressively over 3200m flights. In the boys Flight 1 Jay McIllece wins with a 9:47; Flight 2 Austin Geerts wins in 9:51; Flight 3 Bobby McIllece wins in 10:04; Flight 4 Cameron Shoppach wins in 10:03; Flight 4 Weston Odonnel wins in 10:10. In the pre-race preview we had thought Cedar Park may have all five under 10 minutes, they were close. In team scoring Cedar Park wins the 7 flight meet with 10 points to claim victory...without US#10 Parker Stinson. The Woodlands wins with 8 points over 7 flights! US#7 Sarah Andrews runs 10:51 for the victory. Meet Story by Neal Baumgartner Meet Page
TAMU-CC Islander Splash (TX): US#5 Boerne Champion competed over the 3-mile West Guth Park in dominating fashion. Placing all five scorers in the top 15 with a 15:37 average Boerne Champion is quickly establishing themselves as a national powerhouse. SL Carrol-Green standout Neal Smith won in 14:50.5. He was followed closely by the two top scorers for Boerne, Travis Barkley (15:01) and Nathan Christiansan (15:22). Meet Results
Stanford Invitational (CA):
ELITE BOYS: US#7 Arcadia rebounds from a narrow loss a week ago to US#3 Royal and US#6 St. John Bosco, and tops US#4 Ferris, WA. Ferris finished a disappointing 5th place. Averaging 15:55 over the course Arcadia was followed by Trubaco Hills, CA in second. Other casualties included US#13 Mountain View who finished 11th. ELITE GIRLS: US#6 Torrey Pines (Photo below by Margot Kelly) dominates the field with an impressive 93:41 total team time. For the 2nd week in a row Torrey Pines wins a huge invitational in dominating fashion. Molly Grabill (Photo right by Margot Kelly) makes her presence known with an amazing 17:22 5K victory. Torrey Pines own Megan Morgan finished second in an equally impressive 17:39. In a surprising turn of events, NO SURPRISE IN WASHINGTON, DIV IV girls winner US#14 Glacier Peak finishes 2nd overall in total team scoring finishing less than 10 points behind Torrey Pines! DIVISION IV GIRLS: At the US Supermeet, US#14 Glacier Peak utterly destroys the girls DIV IV race with 22 team points over the 5000 meter course, defeating 27 team in the process. Glacier Peak officially earned their national ranking, too bad we could not have seen them head-to-head with US#6 Torrey Pines in the championship race. Placing all five scorers in the top 10! GIRLS COMBINED TEAM SCORING Meet Page
Mountain West Classic (MT): US#7 Shadle Park dominates in historic fashion over 43 teams
and 320 runners in the varsity championship. Placing 3 in the top 10 and 5 in the top 30, led by winner Andrea Nelson in 17:53 over the difficult 3- mile course Shadle scores 56 points. Nelson pushed the pace so hard that at a mile and a half Meads own Baylee Miles was broke. Coach Isitt, "I don't know how to phrase it, I just uh...it was a huge race and I just thought we would be pushed more. I don't want this to sound bad, but we want better competition." The call to the nation has been declared! 2nd place was MT#1 Bozeman in 101 points. 3. Kendra Weitz 18:07; 7. Katie Morris 18:35; 16. Shayle Dezellem 19:09; 29. Chelsey Chandler 19:34. At altitude of 4950 ft over the 3-mile course they hit a 93:18 total team time. In the boys race, Shadle Park's super sophomore Nathan Weitz (pictured) runs an amazing 14:58.44 to claim victory, only the second competitor ever under 15 minutes. Course record is held by Flatheads Kurt Michels who ran 14:47.21 in 2001. Running a 16:10 average, defending Washington State Champion Mead answered the call and claimed victory in the 363 athlete, 52 team meet with a score of 130 points. Meet Page Meet Preview by David Taylor Shadle Park Story by David Taylor (with results)
Rim Rock Farms XC Classic (KS): US#3 The Woodlands College Park, TX dominate the meet with five runners in the top 20. Winning with 54 points over Iowa City West, IA who finishd second with 83 points. Iowa City West, IA had been the team that defeated previously ranked US#11 Dowling Catholic, IA at last weekends Heartland Inv. Not today, Iowa City was no match for the strength as College Park. Meet Page
Bowdoin Park Classic (NY): US#9 Haddonfield dominates with 54 points to win the New York supermeet. Led by the individual victory of Haddonfield's US#7 Jonathan Vitez in 15:41, the team placed 4 in the top 10. US#14 Aisling Cuffe won by almost two minutes in a mind boggling 17:38.2 over the 5K course. US#15 Arlington won the team competition with 75 points. Meet Page
Mark II Invitational (TX): Natlie Coday, Lewisville Hebron, had the fastest girls 2-mile of the day with a time of 11:31. Craig Lutz, Marcus, was the fastest out of the boys 5k races with a time of 15:04, winning by 46 seconds. Meet Page
Rock Canyon Invitational (CO): US#12 Classical Academy breezes to victory with a 38 point team score. Placing all 7 varsity runners in the top 15 did not hurt either. Led by individual standout US#15 Kaitlin Hanenburg's individual victory in 20:55, Classical Academy was just too much to handle. Meet Page
Albuquerque Academy (NM): US#12 Albuquerque Academy wins the home invitational with 30 team points. The team average over the 5000 meter course was 16:44, a team average over 10 seconds faster than last years 11th ranked team. Alb placed all five scorers in the top 10. Meet Page
Warwick Wave Mania Invitational (NY): Don Bosco travelled from New Jersey to take on the Warwick men in purple, coming out on top 32-39 thanks to superb front-running by Rafael Vargas, 15:38, and Andrew Rosas, 15:52, who went 1-2 in the race. Warwick Valley won the girls Varsity 1 race with 42 points and a 49 second spread. Henrietta Miers, Bronxville, won individually with a time of 1845. Boys Race Story by Chris Hunt | Girls Race Story by Chris Hunt | Meet Page
Bob Firman Invitational (ID): In a surprise turn of events, Mountain View, UT boys and girls win the Northwest Supermeet team titles. In a shocker, Mountain View defeats US#14 North Central 75-100. Running a 10 second 1-5 spread Mountain View overwhelmed the defending national champions with a team effort. Boys individual crown would go to Gig Harbor's Conner Peloquin who won with 15:39.80. In the girls race, Mountain View, UT likewise had an impressive 1-5 spread of 43 seconds to defeat Davis for the team championship. Girls individual crown would go to Eagle's Liz Brandon who won with 18:38.20. Meet Page
John Martin Invitational (CO): US#14 Fort Collins is downed by two teams. Losing to Legacy and Loveland in a closely scored event. Kirsten Follett wins the individual title with a 18:49.60 5K performance. Meet Page
Culver Academies Invitational (IN): US #1 Zach Wills, Mason, rocked the Heartland with a 14:54.80 5k performance to top Footlocker Finalist Futsum Zeinasellassie, North Central, by 20 seconds! This time is the fastest 5000 meter run so far this year. Lots of speculation came our way when we ranked Wills #1 in the nation, in particular from Futsum country. Confirming our decision, Wills continues his path of destruction against national competition. Meet Page
E.J. Herrmann Invitational (NY): US#4 Saratoga Springs dominates with 16 team points and a 52 second spread 1-5. Placing all varsity runners in the top 8, this was a cakewalk for Saratoga. Led by individual champion Keelin Hollowood in 19:06 a statement has been sent to in-state rivals. Saratoga is legit! Meet Results
Nebo Invitational (UT): US#10 American Fork runs wild over competition in Utah. Over the first flat 3.01 mile course that the team has been able to compete on, the Timo Mostert Coached program did not disappoint. Sending a message across the Southwest and perhaps the country the Cavemen averaged 15:24 for 3.01 miles at 4700 feet altitude. Course was measured before and after race with both a wheel and GPS, is confirmed to be 3.01 miles. Placing all five scorers in the top 9, this was by far the best team performance in Utah team cross country history within the State of Utah. Led by individual standout Austin West's impressive 14:56.27, the team filed in very close, 3. Clayton Young 15:16.43; 5. Mack Morrison 15:23.83; 7. Robbie Lee 15:39.81; 9. Jeff Nelson 15:47.64. American Fork wins with 25 points over the 17 team field. Hows that for an impact? Meet Page
Dana Hills Invitational (CA): Dana Hills dominates the class flights. In overall combined team scoring consisting of over 600 athletes, Dana Hills prevails with 44 team points! In combined scoring, places all five scorers in the top 20. Averaging 17:50 over the 3-mile course Dana Hills was sinply dominant. Danica Wyson, Aliso Niguel, had the fastest time of the day, with a quick 17:03.6. Jacob Wood, Mt. Carmel, had the fastest boys time with a 14:42.8. Meet Page
Queensbury Invitational (NY): Top ranked teams fall!!! US#8 Shenendehowa and US#10 Burnt-Hills are stopped by unranked Monroe-Woodbury. Queensbury, who was previously ranked in the top 15 topped Shen but lost in a battle 38-50 on a 5th runner to Monroe. Look for a shake-up in the national rankings! Woodbury was led by individual standout Megan Patrignelli who won in 18:02. Meet Page
Manchester Invitational (NH): 
Former nationally ranked Bishop Guerton is upset by Bishop Hendricken 57-60 in team scoring. Individual Francis Hernandez (Photo, right, by Derek Veilleux) of Bishop Guerton wins the boys title in 15:24 over 5000 meters. Meet Results
Nike Pre-National (OR): Jesuit, OR girls run impressively to win, led by Annamarie Maag's impressive 17:45 over the 5K course, Jesuit scores 55 points. Looking like a nationally ranked program Jesuit, OR is making a statement. On the boys side, Palos Verdes, CA wins with 49 points. Ben Demaree of Portland Jesuit was the individual winner in 15:05, 5 seconds ahead of A/R’s Kenny Krotzer. Meet Page Meet Story by Lev Rourke
17th Carlisle High School Invitational (PA): LaSalle College HS dominates the boys Challenge race while Notre Dame girls win over defending state champ Emmaus with a tie-breaker. Brad Miles, North Penn, takes the boys individual title with a time of 15:20. Leigha Anderson, Cumberland Valley, won the girls race in 18:20. Meet Results
3rd Annual PIAA Foundation XC Invite (PA): Defending AAA state champ Jess Cygan, Liberty, used a last mile surge to come up with the Gold Race victory in 19:14. Liberty took the team crown by a narrow 4 points over Pennsbury. Leah Anne Wirfel, Forest Hills, had the fastest time of the day, winning the Blue Race with a time of 19:06. Meet Results
Greensboro Invitational (NC): Over a legit 5K, Jake Hursyz wins in 15:25, Reidy Jones in 15:26, 12 boys under 16:00, wet day. Hidden Valley girls easily win the champ race with 4 in the top 7? US#7 Wesley Frazier continues an undefeated season taking the top honor with no one around in 17:50. Meet Results
Palatine Invitational (IL): US#1 York UPSET!!! Loyola Academy, a pre-season hyped program out of Illinois shattered the national rankings with a 47-56 victory over the boys from Elmhurst. Coming down to the 5th runner, the two teams were neck and neck, but it was not to be as Loyola Academy as found a #5 runner and should have a spot in this coming national rankings. In a 31 team meet, could be called a super-meet, Loyola ran a 14:35 average over 3-miles to York's 14:37. It is clear York is good, better than recent years teams...but Loyola Academy is positioning well for a late season run. To put the 14:35 into perspective, former Illinois great Sean McNamara holds the coruse record with 14:00.6. Meet Results
Roy Griak Invitational (MN): Formerly ranked Dowling Catholic, IA rebounded with a tremendous team performance to defead Iowa City and take home the title! Placing 6 competitiors in the top 10 Dowling was led by individual standouts US#12 Katie Flood and US#13 Ashley Decker whom finished 1-2 in the same time of 18:07 for 5000 meters. Expect Dowling Catholic to climb back into the top 15 following a slew of national upsets and top 15 losses. Meet Page
US Army XC Festival @ Maymony (VA): US#9 Blacksburg, VA girls defeat Tatnall, DE by scoring 76 points to 113. Tatnall is the defending Maymont and NXN Southeast Champions was dethrone by the Virginia powerhouse. On the boys side, Blacksburg, VA also won with 98 points overtaking Baldwin, PA. Individual titles go to Carolyn Baskir, East Chapel Hill, NC, with an impressive 17:42 5K. Northern Durham, NC Blake Williams wins in 15:32. Meet Results MileSplit On-Site Meet Page
Boys Invitational Top-3 (Photos by John Herzog)
Girls Invitational Top-3 (Photos by John Herzog)
Weekend Preview
A quick look around the nation
EJ Herrmann Invitational (NY): US #4 Saratoga Springs will open their season at the 67th running of this huge upstate meet, and might make a serious run at the #1 spot with a great effort. Meet Page
New Balance Jersey Shore Cougar Invitational (NJ): NJ #4 West Windsor Plainsboro North and US #6 Joe and US #13 James Rosa are back in-state for this loaded inviational. On the girls side NJ #3 Red Bank Catholic will highlight the field. Meet Page
Culver Academies Invitational (IN): US #1 Zach Wills, OH, faces off in a battel royale with Futsum Zeinasellassie, IN, who was 7th at last years Footlocker Nationals. Meet Page
Stanford Invitational (CA): A national supermeet, on the boys side we have US#4 Ferris, WA; US#7 Arcadia, CA; US#13 Mountain View, CA, and US#3 Royal, CA colliding in an epic matchup of elite programs. Could we see a new national #1? If Ferris dominates the field they will surely make the case. On the girls side US#6 Torrey Pines continues its march up the national rankings ladder by heading to another major invitational after already dominating the massive Mt. Carmel Invitational. Should Torrey Pines win big, expect a major jump in the national rankings. Meet Page
Bob Firman Invitational (ID): The NXN Northwest Region Championship course gets a warm-up as top programs from seven states compete in a northwest supermeet. Led by US#14 North Central the boys field will be a good match-up of national bubble teams against a true national powerhouse. North Central may not be that dominant national championship team from 2008 however, they are a benchmark for teams such as US#27 Mountain View, ID; US#25 Highland, ID; and Gig Harbor, WA. On the girls side ID#1 Mountain View is knocking on the national rankings door. There will come no greater time to make a national impact than at this meet. Meet Page
Feast "Flight Score" Meet (TX): Headlines by US#2 Cedar Park boys going head to head against US#5 Boerne Champion, TX, this event should be fun and exciting. One more major week to back up the sheer dominance of recent weeks and Cedar Park should be a sure lock for the top slot in the country. Last week, Cedar Park ran a 15:42 average over 5000 meters at the Cedar Park Inv.; while Boerne Champion ran a 15:43 5000 meters average at the UTSA Inv. With massive national implications following this meet and Stanford, we will definitly see new #1 and #2 nationally rankings! Meet Page
Sunny Hills Invitational (CA): US#6 St. John Bosco will be competing after an impressive showing against US#3 Royal and US#7 Arcadia last week at the Woodbridge Invitational. Running a 15:01 3-mile average last week St. John should be dominant in this weeks race.
Nebo Invitational (UT): US#10 American Fork continues its path to the state championships as they travel to Maple Mountain. The spread is getting tighter and the team is head and shoulders ahead of the rest of the state and perhaps region. Meet Page
Nike Pre-Nationals (OR): Featuring teams from seven states and even Canada this meet with allow programs an opportunity to compete at Portland Meadows, the home of the national championships. Mountain View, ID will be in attendance as well as US standout Cody Helbling. A massive amount of teams are registered for this meet but notably this meet will be absent any natinoally ranked programs. Meet Page
Albuquerque Academy invitational (NM): US#12 Albuquerque Academy hosts the top teams in New Mexico at the home invitational. Albuquerque recently won the 78 team Liberty Bell Invitational, will be looking for a dominant team performance to climb back into the top 10 nationally. Meet Page
Bellevue Invitational (WA): US#15 Kamiakin heads into Bellevue to show the state and country their meet against US#4 Ferris and US#14 North Central at Tracy Walters was no fluke. Recently, at their last meet running in flights without 4 of their varsity they still placed second in combined scoring ahead of defending state champion Mead. The team is preparing for Sunfair where we expect them to step up and show the true potential of this mega team from Washington. Expect fireworks in the Puget Sound. Meet Page
Mountain West Classic (MT): US#7 Shadle Park continues their team dominance and quest for a state championship and national recognition travelling to Montana. A team motto "seven is one", Shadle is the darling of the US National Rankings, having burst onto the scene with tremendous early season team performances. The defending WA state champions Mead is looking to improve upon a recent performance where they nearly defeated US#14 North Central and an early season impressive performance against cross town rival Mead...the questino remains, will Mead step up? Meet Page Meet Preview by David Taylor
Rim Rock Classic (KS): US#3 Woodlands College Park travels to Kansas to the great plains supermeet. Looking to legitimize their top national ranking College Park competes against top competition from multiple states. Meet Page
McCallie Invite (TN): Some of Georgia and Tennessee's best converge on Greenway Farms this weekend. Footlocker finalist Clint McKelvy, Maryville High, will highlight the boys field. MileSplit On-Site Meet Preview on Tennessee Runner
Adidas Saturday Night Lights IV (OH): Top Ohio teams will get together for the 4th edition of this race. They will be joined by Cabell Midland (WV #2) and Connor (KY #2). MileSplit On-Site Meet Preview on OHRunner.com
All Ohio Catholic Championships (OH): A number of OH ranked teams will be competing in both the girls and boys races. MileSplit On-Site Meet Preview on OHRunner.com
Oatlands Invitational (VA): The Osbourn Park girls highlight the girls field and Ariel Karabinus, Osbourn Park, will look to follow up her Brentsville Relays perfomance last week. On the boys side Mountain View, Oakton, and Gonzaga College highlight the field. MileSplit On-Site Meet Preview on MileStat.com
US Army XC Festival @ Maymony (VA): US#9 Blacksburg girls and the Stevens twins will be tough to beat in the girls race. They will have to compete with East Chapel Hill (NC) and Carolyn Baskir. Tatnall (DE) will also be in the mix. Teams from VA, DE, CA, NC, MD, GA, and NJ will compete as well. MileSplit On-Site Meet Preview on MileStat.com
Greensboro Invitational (NC): US #6 Wesley Frazier, Ravenscroft, will be at it yet again after already going sub-18 in all 4 of her meets this year, with a US #1 time of 17:05. MileSplit On-Site Meet Page
Reebok Carlisle Inv (PA): PA #1 Emmaus girls will be the team to beat with the Faust triplets running up front. Individually, Leigha Anderson, Cumberland Valley, Chloe Schmidt, State College, and Maria Seykora, Notre Dame, highlight the field. For the boys, PA #2 La Salle and PA #3 Altoona will butt heads for the first time this season. Brad Miles, North Penn, and Ryan Gil, North Allegheny, are the top returners from last year. MileSplit On-Site Meet Page Meet Preview on PennTrackXC.com
PIAA Foundation XC Invitational (PA): Defending AAA state champ Jess Cygan, Liberty, will square off against frosh sensation Sara Sargent, Pennsbury, a two-time runaway champion so far this year. MileSplit On-Site Meet Page Meet Preview on PennTrackXC.com
John Martin Inv (CO): US #13 Fort Collins girls highlight the competition in Colorado this weekend. Cherry Creek boys and Walter Schafer will highlight the boys competition. Meet Page
Rock Canyon Inv (CO): MileSplit On-Site Meet Page
35th Manchester Invitational (ME): MileSplit On-Site Boys Meet Preview Girls Meet Preview
Baldwinsville Invitational (NY): Meet Page
Bowdoin XC Classic (NY): Meet Page
Past weekly headlines
XC 2009