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 Dec. 7.  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 rankings (before last week's meets).  Multiple rankings shows DS first, then MS. Notation is "both" if DS and MS ranking is same.

CALIFORNIA

Foot Locker West, Dec. 7, Mt. SAC, Walnut CA, 5k

• US#2/#5 Summit OR jr Matthew Maton led a qualifying pack of 10 that finally broke away from a crowded boys’ field, while US#5/#7 Bigfork MT jr Makena Morley overtook early leader Anna Maxwell for a runaway girls’ win.
• Morley’s 18:05.7 finish won by 20 seconds and earned a San Diego ticket for the 3rd straight year, improving from 3rd each of the past two years.  The Montana Class B champ’s only loss came when she ran NXN NW, as a competitive opportunity between state and FLW, and was beaten by eventual NXN champ Alexa Efraimson.  Morley was followed by Utah’s finest, US#18(DS) Ogden sr Sarah Feeny in 18:25.5 (also qualified in 2012) and US#23/#12 Herriman jr Lucy Biles in 18:55.5.  They were two out of four from Utah that made the finals, the most of any state, as Bingham jr Marlee Mitchell 19:13.3 and Park City sr Maddie Criscione 19:13.4 were 8th and 9th.  Saugus jr Samantha Ortega paced three Californians in 4th with 19:02.4, with the US#10/#9 San Lorenzo Valley sr Maxwell in 7th at 19:13.2 and Mira Costa sr Abby Hong taking the final qualifier with 19:13.4.  Also, South Eugene OR jr Sara Tsai was 5th with 19:06.9 and Vallivue ID jr Mikayla Malaspina 6th with 19:11.6.
• The unbeaten Maton, the Oregon 5A and Borderclash champ, overtook US#18/#23 Mt. Spokane WA jr John Dressel in the final mile and went on to win in 15:38.9.  Dressel with his 15:41.2 led a group of seven runners who finished in a 4-second span.  He was followed immediately by US#15/#14 Pocatello ID jr Elijah Armstrong 15:41.6 and US#9/#12 Sky View UT jr Conner Mantz 15:42.6.  Then in 5th surprising Marin Academy CA jr Trevor Reinhart was the first of three Californians in the top 10, including Tracy jr Blair Hurlock in 8th at 15:45.3 and US#21/#9 Villa Park sr Garrett Corcoran in 9th at 15:53.1.  US#28(DS) Kodiak jr Levi Thomet, the Alaskan champ, was 6th in 15:44.1, Alta UT sr Kramer Morton was 7th in 15:44.8 and US#5/#6 Seattle Prep sr Joe Hardy – seemingly just running to qualify – cruised home 10th in 15:53.3.  Amazingly, there were no seniors in the top six.  Dressell, Mantz and Morton will all be making their second trip to San Diego.

GEORGIA

AAU Junior Olympics, Dec. 7, Fort Gordon, GA, 5k (4k for 13-14)

• Lansing Catholic MI jr Keenan Rebera, the state D3 champ and a somewhat off-form 28th at FL Midwest, won the boys’ 15-18 HS division here in 15:29.13.  He was followed by Trinity Christian GA jr Kaleb McLeod – the GISA champ who was 14th at FL South – in 15:44.61.  Georgia Elite, behind the 2-3 finish (scoring 1-2) of McLeod and Galloway School GA jr Reilly Friedman, won the team title with 23 pts over the Howard County Striders’ 42.
• The girls 15-18 race was dominated by Kentucky runners, as Danville KY sr Meagan Smith, the state 1A champ, triumphed in 18:57.85.  She was followed by the leaders of the winning Derby City squad (20 pts), Presentation Academy KY jr Caroline Gosser 19:09.33 and Sacred Heart KY soph Megan Buechler 19:28.45.  Smith’s Kentucky Elite were the runner-ups. 
• Derby City also took the 13-14 girls’ race over the Rockford Wildcats.  California 8th-grader Mariah Castillo (California Comets) won individually in 14:20.59 (4k), beating Lexington Catholic KY frosh Michaela Reinhart 14:27.40.  Intensity nipped Buckeye’s Best in the 13-14 boys’ team race, 66-69, and Joseph Fitzpatrick 13:05.69 (Central Florida) won a barnburner over Jacob McLeod 13:06.95 (New-Roc Rockets GA) and Coleman Mitchell 13:07.04 (Triangle Champions NC).

OREGON

NXN Finals, Dec. 7, Portland Meadows, Portland, 5k

• Two significant streaks came to an end and athletes from the neighboring state of Washington claimed three of the four team/individual titles on a cold, windy (but not muddy) layout.
• Most highly anticipated was the girls’ individual showdown between two-time defending champ US#1/#2 Simi Valley CA sr Sarah Baxter and challengers US#2/#1 Camas WA jr Alexa Efraimson and US#3(both) Niwot CO jr Elise Cranny.  While Baxter had never lost a HS race, the other two also were unbeaten this year and have those 4:15 1,500-meter creds.  It lived up to the hype as the trio engaged in a terrific battle, but no one could match Efraimson’s kick from about 400 out.  She finished in 16:50.1, Cranny in 16:53.8 and Baxter in 16:57.8 – all three smashing the CR.  More than 30 seconds later, US#7/#16 Davis jr and CA D1 champ Fiona O’Keefe came in 4th at 17:31.1, and was followed by MW champ and US#8/#5 Ste. Genevieve MO soph Taylor Werner 17:34.0, US#18(MS) Air Academy CO jr Katie Rainsberger 17:38.8 and Ft. Collins CO frosh Lauren Gregory 17:40.7 – rounding out the top 7.
• In 8th was Anna French (17:44), a junior who led US#3/#7 Wayzata MN to its stunning victory, ending the 7-year streak of Fayetteville-Manlius NY and winning the first title for a team outside of New York.  Wayzata’s next six all finished between 18:31 and 18:49, decisively the best top-to-bottom effort, and they scored 108 pts for the win.  US#2/#1 F-M had been perceived as more vulnerable than in the past, with a few in-season defeats, but still had overwhelming state and NXN NE wins.  They scored 120 with 20th-place Annika Avery pacing the effort in 17:59.  NXN Southwest champ US#5/#6 Davis UT had their best-ever showing with 3rd with 157 pts, followed by MW champ US#7/#4 Carmel in 4th with 182 (3rd in 2012).  A logjam in 5-6-7 saw US#6/#8 Monarch CO (NXN SW at-large) with 211, US#4/#5 Fort Collins CO with 212 and US#9/#3 Unionville PA with 214.  The SW region, thus, scored 3-5-6.
• The boys’ individual race was a stunner: US#20(DS) North Central WA sr Kai Wilmot – in his 4th NXN Final, but with only one invitational win to his credit this year – blew the field away in the last kilo for a course record 15:00 victory.  Wilmot has battled injuries for more than a year, but his immense talent was evident when he ran 8:57 for 3,200 as a soph.  Wilmot’s junior teammate, NXN NW and 3A state champ US#6/#3 Tanner Anderson, came in two spots later giving North Central a 1-3 finish.  Just ahead of Anderson was Stockdale CA sr Blake Haney, running arguably his best race since he was an early-season US#1.  NXN SW champ, US#1 and odds-on favorite Denver East sr Cerake Geberkidane settled for 4th in 15:10, the same time clocked by 2012 runner-up and US#12/#7 Arcadia sr Estevan de la Rosa in 5th.
• In 6th place was Gig Harbor sr Wolfgang Beck, leading his US#2/#4 team to the victory with 111 pts.  Gig’s first two were 2nd only to North Central’s and their 5th – Michael Hammer, who survived a fall – was topped only the 5th of runner-up Christian Brothers Academy NJ.  And not surprisingly, Arcadia transfer Mahmoud Moussa – 4th man scoring 26th – was a huge difference maker.  US#1(both) CBA, with 139 pts, had their best effort aside from their 2011 victory, paced by Michael McClemens.  Two of US#13/#7 Brentwood TN’s big four were somewhat off form, but they finished a strong 3rd with 174 pts, the first podium finish for an NXN Southeast squad.  They were followed by US#5/#3 Fayetteville-Manlius NY 216, the NXN MW 1-2 of US#14/#10 Carmel IN 225 and US#15/#8 St. Xavier OH 228, US#6/#2 American Fork UT 230 and US#8/#6 North Central WA 231.