National Scholastic Athletics Foundation

The following are some of the top national and regional highlights for the past week of the 2013 prep cross-country season, through meets of Nov. 30.  Highlights are alphabetical, by state.  Some NSAF meet credentials of notable athletes are in italics.  Team and individual national ranking references are from the DyeStat.com (DS) and/or Milesplit.com (MS) latest national and regional rankings (before last week's meets).  Multiple rankings shows DS first, then MS. Notation is "both" if DS and MS ranking is same.  Regional ranking references are from DyeStat.com (11/21).

CALIFORNIA

CIF State Championships, Nov. 30, Woodward Park, Fresno, 5k

• Simi Valley sr Sarah Baxter and Great Oak confirmed their state (and nation-leading) status on the girls’ side, but the boys’ races had a few surprising twists.
• US#1/#2 Baxter just missed her own CR, winning D2 in 16:42.7, almost 35 seconds ahead of Dos Pueblos sr Addy Zerrenner 17:17.4.  D1 had the closest race and the only other sub-17, as US#21(DS) Davis sr Fiona O’Keeffe clocked 16:58.8 to finish ahead of US#22(MS) Palisades Charter jr Marissa Williams 17:04.0, Great Oak soph Destiny Collins 17:09.0 and Gunn sr Sarah Robinson 17:15.5.  D3 and D4 also had outstanding performers, both winning by more than 40 seconds.  In D3, it was US#28/#19 Northwood sr Bethan Knights rolling with 17:07.3 and in D4 it was US#8/#7 San Lorenzo Valley sr Anna Maxwell dominating in 17:07.8.
• Team-wise, CA#1/US#1/#5 Great Oak was even more dominant than Baxter, crushing the D1 field with 76 pts, 73 ahead of US#35 Davis – which in turn with its 149 nipped US#19 Trabuco Hills 154 and US#20 Capistrano Valley 157.  D2, on the other hand, was much closer as US#8(both) Simi Valley edged unranked Saugus, 97-102.  In the merge, it was Great Oak 152, Simi Valley 311, Trabuco Hills 314, Davis 316 – but for NXN, Davis got the at-large bid to join auto-qualifiers Great Oak and Simi Valley.
• The boys’ individual battles, particularly in D1 and D3, were tight, torrid affairs.  D3, in fact, was the best with unranked Campolindo sr Aidan Goltra 15:01.9 nipping red-hot US#20(MS) Indio sr David Luna 15:02.2 and US#9(MS) Brea Olinda soph Austin Tamagno 15:03.0.  Goltra was the defending D3 champ, but largely overlooked in the North Coast Section.  Add in Redwood sr Fred Huxham 15:07.6 in 4th, and the D3 race had the 1-3-5-6 finishers overall.  D1 was just as close, with Mt. SAC surprise winner US#18/#7 Torrey Pines sr Tai Braude backing it up with a 15:02.0 win over previously ranked Arcadia sr Estevan de la Rosa 15:02.9.  US#2/#4 (former #1) Stockdale sr Blake Haney was 3rd with 15:08.5.  The other three division winners, with more decisive margins, were US#19/#8 Villa Park sr Garrett Corcoran 15:08.9 (D2), Flintridge Prep sr Alan Yoho 15:10.5 (D5) and Big Bear jr Caleb Webb 15:14.1 (D4).
• US#4(both) Arcadia had lost to US#3/#10 Warren in the Southern Section Finals last week, but the defending national champs turned the tables this week in the D1 race, scoring 59 to prevail solidly over US#11/#9 Madera South 88 and US#10(DS) Dana Hills 132, with Warren just 4th with 145.  In D2, US#24(DS) Saugus got the win with 110 to runner-up Westlake’s 139, and D3 saw US#32 Jurupa Hills prevail with 68 ahead of US#9/#6 Brea Olinda 83.  The top 4 D1 teams were also top 4 in the merge, so Arcadia and Madera South got NXN auto-bids and Dana Hills got an at-large.

NEW YORK

Foot Locker Northeast, Nov. 30, Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx NY, 5k

• Pennsylvania 3A state champ Tessa Barrett won a highly anticipated girls’ showdown with CT and NJ champs Hannah Debalsi and Briana Gess, while New York standout Mickey Burke captured the boys’ race.
• US#7/#9 Barrett, the Abington Heights sr, stayed unbeaten with her 17:32.3 triumph, while the US#5/#6 Staples jr Debalsi was 3rd in 17:39.4 and the US#22/#10 Haddonfield frosh Gess 5th with 17:43.2.  It was the first losses of the year for Debalsi and Gess.  Splitting them was Phillips Andover Academy junior and NEPSTA record-setter Anoush Shehadeh, who surprised many with her runnerup finish at 17:37.3, and Shaler Area PA jr Brianna Schwartz (5th PA AAA state) 17:42.8 in 4th. 
• Also qualifying for San Diego were US#27/#11 Warwick Valley NY soph Megan Reilly (NY Class A champ, 3rd Feds) 17:49.7, US#24(DS) Corning NY frosh Jessica Lawson (NY Class B and Feds champ) 18:03.0, Dallas PA sr Regan Rome (PA AA runnerup) 18:03.4, Penfield NY sr Katie Lembo (NY Class A 2nd, Feds 4th) 18:03.8 and Greely ME sr Kirstin Sandreuter (Class B champ, 4th New Englands) 18:06.0.  Shehadeh, Reilly, Rome and Lembo are all repeat qualifiers. 
• For the boys, it was US#12/#24 Rush-Henrietta NY sr Mickey Burke, 3rd in NY Class AA and 4th in the NBNO 2M last spring, winning with 15:18.8.  CT runners Christian Alvarado (Fairfield Prep sr) 15:21.5 and Alex Ostberg (Darien jr) 15:22.5 took the next two spots.  They were each CT Class champs and Alvarado 1st and Ostberg 3rd in the State Open.  Then Pingry sr Liam Mullett 15:29.1 in 4th led three Garden State qualifiers, including Pope John XXIII sr Scott Meehan in 7th at 15:39.0 and Hammonton sr Louis Corgliano 9th in 15:40.7.  Corglinano was a strong 3rd at the NJ MOC, but the others were bouncing back from finishes outside the top 10 there. 
• Maine had two qualifiers in 5th and 6th with Telstar sr Josef Holt-Andrews 15:36.8 and Ellsworth sr Scott Meehan 15:39.0.  They were the Maine Class B and C champs.  Finally, the District of Columbia got a rare qualifier in St. Albans sr Tai Dinger in 8th at 15:40.4 and Council Rock North sr Ross Wilson 10th in 15.41.0 got the final spot.  A heartbreaking 11th, just 0.3 seconds back, was Poolesville MD sr Chase Weaverling.  Alvarado is the only repeat qualifier.

NXN New York, Nov. 30, Bowdoin Park, Wappinger Falls, 5k

• Fayetteville-Manlius produced strong, victorious team performances in both genders, establishing themselves as contenders for NXN Finals titles – the girls’ 8th and the boys’ 1st.
• While the F-M girls have lost twice and haven’t looked as dominant as some years, they certainly were far ahead of this traditionally strong region.  Led by junior individual champ Annika Avery (18:05.3), they kept their perfect record going in this region with 32 pts.  Saratoga Springs took 2nd for the 6th time in 7 years, scoring 88 and finishing far ahead of the trio that battled for 3rd: East Aurora 142, Elmira 143, and NY Feds champ John Jay-Cross River 146.  Saratoga had lost by a point to John Jay at Feds, but beat them at every spot this time.
• Individually, F-M had the winner Avery and 3rd-place sr Alana Pearl at 18:33.1.  So the qualifiers went 7-deep: Elmira soph Abby Wheeler in 2nd at 18:25.4, Starpoint soph Sophia Tasselmyer 4th at 18:34.8, Tappan Zee sr Erin Jaskot 5th at 18:38.2, Rush-Henrietta jr Alex Cooper 6th at 18:38.7, and Garden City soph Stephanie Garland 7th at 18:39.2.
• The boys’ team race was a little closer than the girls, but F-M pulled away from Northport with the fifth man and scored 48 to Northport’s 76.  NY Feds champ Liverpool, which missed state and then won Feds with F-M and Northport absent, took 3rd with 94.  St. Anthony’s with 107 and Saratoga with 121 rounded out the top five.  Northport’s NXN bid was their first.
• Junior Michael Brannigan, incidentally, led Northport with an impressive triumph in 15:29.9, more than 10 seconds up on the field.  Lake Shore sr TJ Hornberger was 2nd in 15:40.8, followed by Irondequoit sr Josh Dryland at 15:42.6.  The next two finishers were the F-M duo of Bryce Millar 15:45.2 and Andrew Berge’ 15:45.7, so the final individual qualifiers came in 6th and 7th: Carmel jr Benito Muniz at 15:45.8 and Saratoga soph Aidan Tooker at 15:46.2.

NXN Northeast, Nov. 30, Bowdoin Park, Wappinger Falls, 5k

• The favored Christian Brothers Academy NJ boys won their X straight here, but otherwise it was all Pennsylvania schools for the auto-qualifiers as Unionville and Pennsbury got their anticipated 1-2 finish for the girls and West Chester Henderson nailed down the runner-up spot for the boys.
• The CBA boys weren’t hugely dominant, but won more comfortably than in 2012.  They won with state MOC sr winner Mike McClemens in 3rd, Tom Rooney and Blaise Ferro together scoring 11-12, and their 3rd-7th men together as well, between 29th-32nd.  WCH was fueled by individual champ and sr Tony Russell and outscored 3rd-place Connecticut and New Englands champ Ridgefield CT (151 pts) at each spot.  Cardinal O’Hara PA with 161 pts and Malvern Prep PA with 203 rounded out the top 5.  Don Bosco Prep NJ, after a tremendous runnerup finish in the NJ MOC, struggled in 14th – with their #1 man Mike getting spiked badly, losing his shoe and suffering a DNF.
• Individually, WCH’s Russell – the Eastern States and PA 3A state champ – stayed unbeaten with his 15:46.4 win in a tight race.  Both he and CBA’s McClemens (3rd) qualified with their teams, so it was Middletown North NJ sr Tom O’Neill – bouncing back from a lesser outing at the NJ MOC – leading advancing individuals with his 15:47.8 in 2nd.  Pembroke MA sr Christian Stafford was 4th in 15:50.9, followed by Ridgefield CT sr Trevor Hopper (New Englands champ) in 5th at 15:53.5, South Williamsport PA jr Griffin Molino 15:55.2 in 6th, and Cardinal O’Hara PA jr Kevin James 15:58.5 in 7th.
• For the girls, Unionville and Pennsbury have battled in PA all year and they ruled here with room to spare, scoring 85 and 101 pts.  Unionville was especially strong at the top, with three under 19, led by individual champ sr Courtney Smith 17:58.9.  Sophs Hannah Molloy and Olivia Sargent scored 6-7 to pace Pennsbury.  Coe-Brown NH was a solitary 3rd with 129 pts and the New England champs earned one of the 4 at-large berths.  Bishop Feehan MA with 184 and Barrington RI with 204 completed the first five.
• Smith and Feehan sr Abbie McNulty had a good battle for the victory, with McNulty rebounding from a DNF at state with her 18:03.5 in 2nd.  Individual qualifying went all the way down to 10th, since 5 of the top 9 finishers were on qualifying teams.  Champlain Valley VT sr Autumn Eastman was 3rd in 18:27.6, Barrington RI soph Emma McMillan 4th in 18:31.1, Hamilton North-Nottingham soph Grace Dwyer 6th in 18:41.0 and Randolph NJ jr Elizabeth Lansing 10th in 18:53.8.

NORTH CAROLINA

Foot Locker South, Nov. 30, McAlpine Park, Charlotte NC, 5k

• Strong favorites US#9/#8 West Springfield VA sr Caroline Alcorta and US#6(both) Hardin Valley Academy TN sr Aaron Templeton lived up to the hype with fast, decisive victories.
• Alcorta, the unbeaten 6A state champ who was 16th at FL Finals last year, ran 16:55 and won by 9 seconds over University WV sr Amelia Paladino, the state 3A champ, with 17:04.  Those two are the only repeaters.  Virginia, incidentally, had three other qualifiers: The Lake Braddock sr duo of Hannah Christen (5th, 17:15) and Katy Kunc (6th, 17:16) and Trinity Episcopal sr Molly Breidenbaugh (9th, 17:19).  Lake Braddock’s qualifiers followed now-graduated Sophie Chase, last year’s FL South champ and a 3-time qualifier.
• Texas also had multiple qualifiers with Highland Park sr Natalie Rathjen (3rd, 17:06) and Smithson Valley jr Devin Clark (7th, 17:18).  One freshman girl made it to San Diego as Collins KY’s Gabriella Karas was 4th in 17:07.  Landmark Christian GA soph Kathryn Foreman was 8th in 17:19 and Nease FL sr Karen Xiang placed 10th with 17:20.  US#30(DS) Mt. Tabor NC sr Kayla Montgomery just missed in 11th with 17:22, the fastest non-qualifier ever.  Foreman, Rathjen and Breidenbaugh were all contenders last year who moved up.  Oakton jr Allie Klimkiewicz was 12th this year after taking 9th in 2012.
• For the boys, Templeton ran 14:36 and won by 8 seconds over US#29(DS) Providence Day NC sr Ben Huffman 14:44.  Templeton is the unbeaten state 3A champ and was 7th in San Diego last year, and was also 3rd in the NBNI 2M last March.  Huffman, the Great American ROC winner, was one of three from the home state to make it, joined by Mt. Tabor sr Ian Milder (3rd, 14:49) and Lake Norman sr Patrick Sheehan (10th, 14:54).  They were 2nd and 5th at 4A state.  From South Carolina, Porter-Gaud sr Brent Demarest joined Templeton as the only repeaters as he was 8th in 14:53.
• Virginia was the other state with multiple qualifiers as US#14/#18 Edison sr Louis Colson was 4th with 14:50 and George Marshall sr Mackenzie Haight 5th with 14:51.  Colson was the state 5A champ and 4th at Great American ROC, while the surprising Haight was 6th and 11th in those same races.  Three other states had single qualifiers as Norman North OK jr Ben Barrett (6A state champ) took 6th with (also) 14:51, Fort Myers FL sr Tyler Bennett (2nd 3A state) 7th in 14:52 and Strake Jesuit TX sr Frank Lara (5A state champ) 9th with 14:53.  Lara and Bennett also made NXN Finals out of the South, where they were 2nd and 4th.

NXN Southeast, Nov. 30, WakeMed Soccer Park, Cary NC, 5k

• Success in the Great American ROC proved to be a good predictor qualifiers from NXN Southeast, the Assumption KY and Blacksburg VA girls, and Brentwood TN boys duplicated their October results.  The latter were joined by Severna Park MD as auto-qualifiers.
• Assumption KY overcame their early-season injury problems and, paced by 6th-place Bailey Davis, repeated as champs, scoring 83.  Blacksburg showed their strong pack-running again to easily claim 2nd with 97.  There was a logjam for the next five spots, as 3rd through 8th were separated by just 8 points: Green Hope NC 173, Ocean Lakes VA (also) 173, Estero FL 174, Padua DE 175 and Bethesda-Chevy Chase MD 181.
• Maryland had an impressive 3 of the 5 individual qualifiers.  Bethesda-Chevy Chase MD jr Nora McUmber, just 43rd here last year and the state 4A runner-up, triumphed with a great second half of her race in 17:34.3.  The gal who topped her at 4A state, Dulany sr Isabel Griffith, also qualified with her 17:49.8 in 5th.  Meanwhile, The Catholic HS sr Ellie Gonzalez – who has dominated at the private school MIAA/IAAM level in Maryland, was 2nd in 17:47.0.  Then Green Hope NC soph Elly Henes captured 3rd with 17:48.1 and Great American ROC runner-up Madisyn Peeples, a Bowling Green KY frosh, was 4th with 17:48.6.
• In the boys’ race, it was all about whether Brentwood’s big four would be enough – it was, by a single point.  They went 1-5-6-10 in the team scoring, with Great American ROC runnerup Taylor Caldwell winning with 15:05.7 and twins Aaron and Alec Thomas taking the 5-6 spots.  But that was followed by 87th for their 5th, and so they scored 109 to 110 for Severna Park – the Maryland 4A champs.  As in the girls’ race, the top two were well away from the field, but the next spots weren’t as tightly bunched.  Third, fourth and fifth went to Broughton NC 156 pts, Midlothian VA 195, and St. Pius X GA 221.
• Midlothian VA sr Tommy Mulroy (15:07.2), Loyola-Blakefield MD sr Tyler Spear (15:07.9). and St. Pius X GA sr Austin Sprague 15:09.4 took the first three individual qualifying spots behind Brentwood’s Caldwell.  Then came the Brentwood twins in 5-6 and Severna Park leader Ryan Forsyth in 7th at 15:12.6.  So the final two individual qualifiers were Tatnall DE jr Stephen Garrett in 8th with 15:15.5 and Sunset FL jr Nick Diaz in 9th at 15:22.2.

WISCONSIN

Foot Locker Midwest, Nov. 30, UW-Parkside Nat’l Course, Kenosha WI, 5k

• Upsets were the order of the day in this region as unranked Carmel IN sr Kelcy Welch and US#16(DS) Grand Blanc MI sr Grant Fisher scored unexpected victories.
• Welch, the Indiana state champ who led her team to the NXN Final with a 4th in that Midwest regional, ran 17:34 and pulled away from US#14#13 Stephanie Jenks, the Linn-Mar IA soph who led early.  Jenks, who ran unattached in XC but passed up a shot at her 3rd NXN Final due to a school swim meet, was one of two Iowans to qualify.  Griswold jr Rebekah Topham, the state 1A champ who’s just missed making NXN Finals twice, nailed down 3rd here in 17:45.  Welch, by the way, was one of three from Indiana who got in, with Hamilton SE jr Rachel Nichwitz taking 9th in 17:55 and Pendleton Heights soph Alex Buck in 10th at 18:04.
• US#6/#4 Ste. Genevieve MO soph Taylor Werner was actually the favorite coming in, being the top returnee from 2012 and the unbeaten state 3A and NXN Midwest champ.  But she had to settle for 4th in 17:46, a lean ahead of fellow 2012 qualifier and MO 4A state champ and US#11/#14 Eureka jr Hannah Long (also 17:46).  Werner was 13th and Long 10th in San Diego last year.  Michigan also had two qualifiers, though unbeaten US#13/#17 D1 champ Audrey Belf missed it in 22nd.  D1 runnerup and Rockford sr Lauren Brasure was 6th with 17:47, while D4 4-time champ Kirsten Olling made it in 8th with 17:52.  Between them, from Illinois, there was Riverside-Brookfield jr Mailin Struck, the 2A champ, taking 7th in 17:52.
• US#7/#13 Ohio D1 champ Mark Hadley was considered the boys’ favorite by many, but he slipped to 17th.  That helped open the door for the aforementioned Fisher, unbeaten in Michigan this fall and a World Youth 1500 finalist this past summer.  He won by 7 seconds in 15:02.  The next two spots were taken by a pair who’d already punched NXN Finals tickets: US#8/#11 Heartland champ and Brookings SD sr Addison DeHaven (AA state champ) was 2nd in 15:09, earning his 2nd FL Finals; and US#30(DS) McHenry IL jr Jesse Reiser, the 3A state and NXN Midwest runnerup, notched 3rd with 15:11.  Newark OH sr Toby Hardwick, 2nd in D1 state behind Hadley, gave Ohio its lone qualifier in 4th at 15:13.
• The 1-2 finishers in the Indiana state meet, South Vigo sr Jackson Bertoli and Greenwood sr David Dalton, gave the Hoosier State a pair in 5th (15:14) and 9th (15:22).  Two more state champs bounced back from rough NXN Midwest outings.  US#9(DS) O’Fallon IL sr Patrick Perrier, a DNF in Terre Haute due to injury, made it to San Diego for the 2nd time with his 15:15 in 6th; and US#21/#22 Marquette MO sr Noah Kauppila, a 4A state record-setter but just 14th two weeks ago, nabbed 8th with 15:20.  Waterford Mott MI jr Ryan Robinson, 8th at NXN MW, advanced her in 10th at 15:22.  Finally, Gilbert IA jr Thomas Pollard, 2nd at 2A state, took 7th in 15:17.