Nick Raymond (MI) runs away from the veterans and earns his spot with a 3rd place showing. (Photo by Kane Baker)
Nearly two miles in, the Foot Locker Midwest boys’ championship race Saturday in Kenosha was looking an awful lot like the girls’ affair that had preceded it.
No, Michigan’s Nick Raymond isn’t a sophomore, like girls’ champion Anna Rohrer, and this wasn’t his first FL MW (he was 33rd last year). But like Rohrer, the Erie Mason senior was nowhere near anyone’s preseason Foot Locker favorites list, yet here he was splitting 9:34 for the deuce and leading experienced national talents like Jake Leingang, Sam Wharton and a host of others.
Experience won out in the end, however. Leingang, Wharton and a few others chased down Raymond in the third mile and, in the end, the North Dakota Class A champ outkicked the Ohio D1 champ in the final meters with both clocking 14:56. Leingang’s finish was one place better than his 2011 runner-up to now-graduated Futsum Zeinasellassie and means the Bismarck senior will be contesting the NXN-Foot Locker Finals double for the second straight year.
Some of the other top storylines from the meet:
- Wharton was one of three qualifiers from Ohio, joined by the other state champion “Sam” (Prakel, from D3). Wharton and Prakel finished in the same spots they occupied at NXN Midwest, second (14:56) and sixth (15:04), and will be joined by Nicholas Elswick (10th, 15:12).
- Illinois also qualified three, with state 1A champ Grant Nykaza (fifth, 15:04) earning his second berth, and Patrick Perrier (fourth, 15:02) and Scott Milling (ninth, 15:10) also going to NXN Finals with his team) going to San Diego for the first time. Illinois took the team title.
- While Michigan was shut out on the girls’ side, D3 state champ Raymond (third, 15:02) and D2 champ Connor Mora (eighth, 15:09) will represent the Wolverine State for the boys.
- Other notable finishes (good and not-so-good): Wisconsin D2 champ Ryan Kromer seventh (15:08), Nebraska Class A runner-up Danny Aldaba 11th (15:13), Kansas 6A champ Colton Donahue 14th (15:21), Grand Blanc MI soph Grant Fisher 20th (top 10th-grader, 15:24), 2011 FL MW 9th-place finisher Addison DeHaven 23rd (15:25), Indiana state champ Connor Sorrells 31st (15:33), NXN Midwest winner Alex Riba 43rd (15:44), Wisconsin 4:08 1,600 runner Carl Hirsch (nearly beat Leingang at Griak) 54th (15:51), Illinois 3A state champ Jack Keelan 84th (16:05).
Experienced Leingang poised, on a roll
Leingang started slow but rocketed to the win to earn the NXN Foot Locker double. (Photo by Kane Baker)
Jake Leingang could have said “enough” two weeks ago. After all, he had just led his Bismarck team to its first NXN Finals berth since 2008 with his Heartland Region triumph. He would be at least a co-favorite to win it all in Portland.
But why stop there?
The North Dakota ace loves a challenge and it seems like over the past year, whenever or wherever there’s a big track or XC showdown, he’s there, mixing it up. San Diego obviously holds a special place in his heart after his fourth-place finish last year and, as he said Saturday, “Parkside is one of my favorite courses, so I was really excited.”
But Leingang wasn’t TOO excited and he has continued to learn patience as a senior under coaches Dave Zittleman and Darrell Anderson. So when Raymond hammered the pace early, he was patient. “The whole plan was to make my move after two miles, so I let him go,” he said. “I saw the preview, so I knew a little bit about him.”
When Leingang finally started pushing it and took the lead, Wharton went with him. “We kind of went back and forth the last mile, but I was able to take the lead with about 800 to go.” Neither Leingang or Wharton are really known for their kicks, but a quicker turnover won for the shorter North Dakotan.
So what does Leingang hope to do in San Diego? “Win it,” he said with a smile, “That’s the goal.” Yes, he knows he’ll be up against defending champ Edward Cheserek and be coming off a tough race against nearly as formidable competition at the NXN Finals.
But why not?
Ohio’s Players
Wharton scored a 2nd place finish to earn his first Foot Locker berth. (Photo by Kane Baker)
Sam Wharton’s finish Saturday duplicated his NXN Midwest result from two weeks earlier, but suffice it to say he had a wider smile on his face than he did in Terre Haute.
“I’ll take second to Jake any day,” he said with a big smile.
That isn’t to say the Tippecanoe senior isn’t competitive and doesn’t want to win. But let’s look at the numbers: Last year, Wharton was 5th at NXN Midwest (21st in the Finals) and didn’t contest FL MW. This year: Second in both ... and with a PR 14:56 Saturday to boot. And consider this: In that NBNO 5,000 that Leingang won last spring, Wharton was 19 seconds back. This time two strides separated the harriers.
Is it any wonder Wharton was pretty happy?
At NXN MW, Wharton tried to take down control of a race nobody wanted and went too early, by his own admission. This time, there was no need. An aggressive Nick Raymond was doing the work and Wharton could formulate his plan more clearly. “I went out conservatively ... I really keyed off Leingang the entire race,” he said, adding with a laugh, “I feel kind of bad about that.”
Of course, Leingang was following someone himself and, when the time came in the third mile, they duked it out before Wharton lost on the kick.
Still, the Ohioan is in great position for two high All-American finishes and was excited about his namesake, Sam Prakel, and Nicholas Elswick joining him from the Buckeye State. “It was awesome,” he said, “We got three Ohio guys in there.”
As noted, Prakel occupied the same sixth-place spot he had two weeks ago. But this time the Versailles senior qualified with room to spare as opposed to being the first man out. “What happened at Nike really motivated me,” he said. “I was down for a few days, but it motivated me in my training. I wanted to end my season on a high note.
“This (Parkside) is a completely different course and it suits me better,” he added. “I went out in 4:50 and I was in the 20s. But at two miles I was 9:40 and I made sure I didn’t lose any more ground. I knew I’d saved something for the finish ... And it’s great that we have three Ohio guys!”
Elswick, a Chardon junior, was one of the surprises Saturday. He was second last year in the freshman-sophomore race, then made big strides in track to improve to 9:16.13 for 3,200 at state (fifth). This fall, he was unbeaten through regionals, then fourth at D1 state, 15 seconds behind Wharton. He’s improved his PR 27 seconds in those last two races.
Illini Power
It’s not surprising that Illinois got three harriers to San Diego, not to mention winning the team title. But it might not have been the three many expected. 3A state champ Jack Keelan of Chicago St. Ignatius? Way back in 84th after squeaking into NXN Finals two weeks before. NXN MW champ and 3A fourth-place finisher Alex Riba? Used the race as a tempo and finished 43rd.
But Riba’s star teammate at O’Fallon, Patrick Perrier who was third in 3A and 10th at NXN MW? Ran the race of his life to get fourth, creating the always intriguing scenario of HS teammates split up for their nationals experiences. And York senior Scott Milling, 6th in 3A and ninth at NXN MW? He just keeps getting better every week, it seems, as he ran home ninth in the tougher field to become another nationals doubler.
About the only top Illinois runner who ran about “as predicted” was Grant Nykaza, the outstanding 1A state champ who earned his second FL Finals ticket with his fifth-place finish. But even that came close to not happening. Let the Beecher senior tell the story:
“At two and a quarter miles, I suddenly realized I was in 11th place,” he said. “I had been running like I was in the top 10, but I started counting and realized I was in 11th. There was a pack of six ahead of me and I knew I had to start going.
“Now, the plan HAD been to go with 1k left,” he continued, “But now I was like, oh man, I REALLY need to start going.”
He did and that pack of six wound up behind Nykaza instead of ahead of him. But the returnee’s task is only half over. He hasn’t forgotten that he was 33rd in the Finals last year. “I want to compete on the national level,” he said.
Michigan: Holding up their end
While the Michigan girls didn’t enjoy the success of recent years, the boys from the Wolverine State qualified more than one for the first time since 2004. It started with Nick Raymond, whose third-place finish is the best by a Michigan runner since Landon Peacock in 2005.
Raymond is just starting to learn how good he can be. Last year, he was fourth in his state meet, PR’ing there at 15:59, then ran 15:45 for 33rd at FL MW. In track, he ran 9:44 for 3,200. This fall, said Coach Alison Meisner, when Raymond ran 15:59 in his first race of the season, she knew he could do big things by season’s end.
Raymond had a 15:16 in late September, but then he cracked 15:20 three times in a row leading up to state – then dominated the D3 final with his eye-popping 15:05.1. That led him to the Mid-East Championship, where he won by 12 seconds in 15:25. Suddenly, he was a real contender for San Diego.
“Winning state and then the Mid-East meet definitely gave me confidence,” he said. “Today, we were about 4:42 at the mile, and that felt too slow, so I decided to try and take the lead.”
When he was finally passed up after two miles, the Erie Mason senior admitted he “fell back a bit and my arms got really tired. But I had to finish strong so I could make it.” As for San Diego? “I want to try and get in the 14s. That’s been my goal all year.”
As for Connor Mora, one of the best milers in the field at 4:10.72, his 8th-place finish felt like it was a long time coming. He’s shown national class chops for awhile in the powerful Cedar Springs program (39th here in 2011); it was a matter of putting it together on the day. His 15:04.2 in D2 was the fastest overall at the Michigan finals, but then he wasn’t quite as sharp in finishing fourth in the Mid-East meet.
Saturday, he said, “I knew I wanted to go out strong and get in the top pack. Then I wanted to hold my position. At 1-1/2, a few passed me, but I was in the top 10 the whole race. The last 800 I was able to kick it in for eighth.”
Mora held up the Foot Locker photographer a bit after finishing, obviously spent and in need of some recovery first before he could be photogenic. But by the awards ceremony, he was recovering and showing the thrill of earning his San Diego ticket. “It was a good day for the Michigan guys,” he said with a smile.