Wk#9: US#1 Wills Wins Again | Grabill tops Tonn at Mt SAC

Oct 20, 2009

XC 2009

New East and West formats. All States Covered!!

National Individual Rankings *third edition

Despite the low-key nature of the past weekend some impressive performances were etched onto the slate of the 2009 XC season. Off the radar for most of the prep XC season so far, US#3 Lukas Verzbicas (IL),marked his return with flair. Lukas won his conference meet with a completely solo 15:17 performance. US#2 Chelsey Sveinsson(TX) competed in her first 5k of the season, winning the Chile Pepper Invite(AR) for the 3rd consecutive year with a time of 17:32.7. In the same meet Missouri's Caleb Hoover wins again, this time with an impressive 15:01.9 clocking, and will surely move up into the Sweet-16. US#1 Henry Jackson(WA) travelled out of state to win a big invitational, the Concordia/Puma XC Classic(OR), in dominating fashion to reaffirm their position at the top of the pile. US#2 Saugus(CA) and US#3 Shadle Park(WA) dominated their league meets in a ramp up to the post-season.

But there was also some disappointment among the successes. US#1 Zach Wills(OH) earned a bittersweet victory in his league meet as his Mason team fell heartbreakingly short of the win, 58-59 behing Lakota West. Just more fuel for the fire boys...

For the coming weekend, the Mt. Sac Invitational will take place for the 62nd time. Additionally, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota hold their state meets on Saturday. Utah will hold their state meet tomorrow.

Check out the Kelly Chronicles as Milesplit Editor Margot Kelly covers the US Super Meet Mt SAC Invitational.

Keep checking back for more updates and coverage for the week ahead!

NATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

Utah State Championships (UT): US#8 American Fork claims the 5A Championship as well as the overall boys title with a 79:32 total team time. The team time was almost a minute faster than '08 champion Alta's 80:24 meet record. Led by individual champion Austin West (15:23), the cavemen placed four in the top 15 places. American Fork scores 36 points in 5A team scoring; in combined all-division scoring American Fork still places 4 in the top 15 and wins by over 100 points with 62 points to 4A Champion Mountain Views 151.5! In girls action American Fork finally prevails as the state #1 program winning the 5A team championship and then in combined scoring defeats 4A Champion Mountain View 85-92.5. Meet Preview | Meet Page

Mt. SAC Invitational (CA): With 62 years of history, the Mt. SAC Cross Country Course is one of the oldest and most famed courses in the world, challenging generations of runn ers against each other. Expect top nationally ranked teams and individuals to challenge for championships. Day II Results: Boys Individual Sweepstakes: US#16 Elias Gedyon(Photo by Margot Kelly) powers through to the individual championship with a 14:35. His time, #2 on the day beTeahind Team Sweepstakes champion Ammar Moussa. US#14 Erik Olsen finished in 5th place, 7 seconds behind Gedyon. Division II team title went to the Gedyon-led Loyola with 149 team points. The Division 1 team title went to Torrey Pines with 145 points. Individual placers: 1. Elias Gedyon, Loyola, 14:35; 2. Matt Mcelroy, Edison, 14:37; 3. Wade Meddles, Sierra Lutheran, 14:39; 4. Pablo Rosales, San Pedro, 14:40; 5. Erik Olsen, Novato, 14:42. Boys Team Sweepstakes: US#10 Ammar Moussa tops US#9 Heydon Wooff. (Photo by Margot Kelly) Moussa clocks 14:34 to Wooff's 14:48. Moussa 14:34 ranks as 8th all-time! US#2 Royal claims the team championship with 88 team points over Dana Hills 97 and a depleted US#4 Arcadia 148. The total team time for Royal 76:53 ranks as #3 all-time. Royal would average 15:22 over the 3-mile course as surprise Dana Hills would average15:27! Division I Team Scores: 1. Royal (76:53), 88; 2. Dana Hills (77:15), 97; 3. Arcadia (77:50), 148; 4. Rancho Cucamongo (77:55), 156; 5. Yucaipa (78:56), 191. Division II Team Scores: 1. Mountain View (78:18), 170; 2. St. John Bosco (80:14), 275; 3. Glendora (80:34), 304; 4. Canyon (80:32), 307; 5. Camarillo (80:27), 327.Girls Team Sweepstakes: Div I: US#16 Great Oak tops US#4 Torrey Pines! Averaging 18:10 over the course Great Oak scores 92 team points to Torrey Pines 145 to claim the Div I title. Great Oaks total team time 90:51 ranks as 10th all-time! Division I Team Scores: 1. Great Oak (90:51), 92; 2. Torrey Pines (91:23), 145; 3. Trabuco Hills (92:16), 153; 4. Dana Hills (92:57), 170; 5. Warren (93:11), 180. Div II: US#2 Saugus would reign supreme with a 18:02 average and 67 points to claim the Div II title over Mira Costa whom averaged 18:07 with 86 team points. Individual championship goes too Megan Morgan of Torrey Pines who covers the course in 16:59. Saugus 90:12 total team time ranks as 5th all-time as Mira Costa total team time of 90:36 ranks #8 all-time. In combined scoring Torrey Pines lead through 4 runners however the Saugus depth was too much as they placed five scorers in the top 30. Division II Team Scores: 1. Saugus (90:12), 67; 2. Mira Costa (90:36), 86; 3. Foothill (94:38), 231; 4. West Rach (95:00), 240; 5. Esperanza (94:45), 249. Girls Individual Sweepstakes: US#10 Molly Grabill (Photo, left, by Margot Kelly) tops US#3 Jessica Tonn (Photo, right, by Margot Kelly). Grabill wins the race in 16:41. Jessica Tonn came in second. Grabill took the lead going up the switchbacks after the mile. She got a bigger lead up reservoir hill. Jessica finished in around 17:01. Grabill was 9 minutes at halfway. Tonn was 9:03. Grabill's 16:41 ranks as #6 all-time. Individual Placers: 1. Molly Grabill, Rancho Bernardo, 16:41; 2. Jessica Tonn, Xavier Pre, 17:03; 3. Liberty Miller, Simi Valley, 17:13; 4. Jaque Taylor, Casa Grande, 17:32; 5. Saylah Barserian, 17:36. Day I Results: Sweepstakes Race #36: Day one of the Mt SAC Invitational is in the books, Corona Del Mar standout Melanie Powers ran the fastest performance of the day. Leading her team to the race #36 Team Sweepstakes victory Powers clocked 18:01 as Corona Del Mar scored 67 points. Sweepstakes Race #37: Daniel Rosales (picture left: courtesy Margot Kelly) of Apple Valley clocked an impressive 15:03 to win the race. His time was the fastest of the day. Golden Valley scores 78 points to claim victory with a 81:13 total team time. Sweepstakes Race #38: Coronado scores 75 points to top Harvard Westlake who scored 87. Sarah Pearson of La Reina wins the individual championship with a 18:27 clocking. Sweepstakes Race #39: McFarland runs an 83:20 total tam time to win the race with 66 points to Salesian, Louisiana 129. Individual championship went to David Abergale of Harvard Westlake who traversed the course in 16:03. Sweepstakes Race #40: Mission Prep junior Annie Mooney runs away from the field to claim the individual championship with an 18:23 winning by 40 seconds. Chadwick wins the girls race with a team score of 67 points. Sweepstakes Race #41: Hopi, Arizona storms to the team championship with 36 team points and an 81:22 total team time. Ronald Laban of Hopi added the individual title with a 15:35 performance. Hopi placed four in the top 10 and five in the top 17 places. Meet Preview | The Kelly Chronicles | MileSplit Onsite Coverage

Indiana Semi-State Championships (IN): US#4 Futsum Zeinasellassie, North Central, won the Franklin Central Semi-States Championships with a time of 15:16.55 over Drew and Alex Shields, Fishers, who were 2-3 in 15:21.28 and 15:22.45. Futsum also won the Brebeuf Sectional Championship with a time of 15:51.6 and then won the Brebeuf Regional Championship with a time of 15:19.3.

District Championships (MO): With Conference action wrapping up the District meets get under way with Class 4 this Saturday. US#15 Emily Sisson (Photo, right, by Paul Everett) defended her Class 4 District 2 Championship in dominating fashion with a time of 18:04. Sisson beat teammate Diane Robison(19:36) by 92 seconds and looks stronger than ever! More coming... Class 4 District 1 | Class 4 District 2 Milesplit Onsite Coverage | Class 4 District 3 | Class 4 District 4 | Class 4 District 5 | Class 4 District 6 | Class 4 District 7 | Class 4 District 8

Nebraska State Championships (NE): Aubree Worden, Scottsbluff, was the fastest girl on the day, out of the Girls B Race, with a time of 14:45.4. Jarren Heng, Norfolk Catholic, won the Boys C Race with a 16:05.44, the fastest time of the day. Norfolk Catholic won the C Race in dominating fashion, with 27 points for their 4th title in a row. That feat hadn't been accomplished in the C Race since Morrill won 4 in a row from 1979-1982, and despite the history of many dominating teams in the other divisions, it was only the second time ever that a Nebraska boys team has won 4 state championships in a row. Meet Page

Pennsylvania Conference/ League Week (PA): A significant upset occurred at the Lehigh Valley Conference meet where PA#3 Emmaus girls took down PA#1 Liberty with a score of 32-67. For Complete In-Depth Coverage Click Here

GSL Championships (WA): US#3 Shadle Park rocks the girls championship race with 34 team points. The individual championship went to Mead's Baylee Mires for the second year in a row with 18:08. Shadle Park freshman Kendra Weitz was again stellar finishing second in 18:11 over 5000 meters. Defending two-time state champion Andrea Nelson finished 4th in 18:53 and teammate Katie Morris was 5th in 18:58. Team Scores: 1. Shadle park 34; 2. Central Valley 81; 3. Mead 98. In boys action Ferris escapes a narrow defeat over the defending champions with a 56-56 tie-breaker over North Central. North Central standout Ben Johnston was dominant blazing the 5k course in 15:23. Second would go to Alan Schroeder of Mt. Spokane in 15:41, 3. Andrew Gardiner, Mead, 15:46; 4. Nathan Weitz, Shadle Park, 15:48; 5. Adam Thorne, Ferris, 15:52; 6. Tim Colliton, Ferris, 15:54. Team Scores: 1. Ferris 56; 2. North Central 56; 3. Lewis & Clark 106. Meet Preview Meet Page

Washington Conference Championships (WA): US#1 Henry Jackson dominates in Conference Championship with 16:04 5k average and a perfect 15 team points. Complete Championship Coverage

North Dakota State Championships (ND): In what may be a state record Bismarck boys team placed all 7 varsity scorers in the top 9 places! Scoring 21 team points, Bismarck ran a 16:05 average over 5000 meters. Individual championship goes to Christian Brownotter in 15:38.64. Major statement heading into this weeks Fab-15 national rankings. Like the boys, the Bismarck girls dominate with five scorers in the top 13 places to win with 32 team points. Fargo South sophomore Tarin Lachowitzer wins the championship with a 14:53.55 4K. Running a 19 second 1-5 spread it would seem Bismarck is primed for the NXN Heartland Region Championships. Meet Page

Section 1 Coaches Invitational (NY): North Rockland boys took the Varsity 3 race with 47 points. Nick Hughes began the romp for the Red Raiders with a 16:34.93 clocking to win by 30 seconds in very sloppy conditions. Honeoye Falls-Lima won the Varsity 2 race with 52 points. HFL's Alex Dier and Steve Mangan went 1-2 with times of 16:21.72 and 16:22.92. US#12 Monroe Woodbury won the Varisty 3 race with 39 points in absolutely horrible conditions. Boys Meet Story by Chris Hunt | Girls Meet Story by Chris Hunt | Meet Page | Race Assignments

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