2019 girls Foot Locker predictions and discussion!

Here are some interesting girls results from this season:

Michigan State Spartan XC Classic (early Sept)

1) Zofia Dudek 17:08.6

2) Taylor Ewert 17:17.2

3) Abby VanderKooi 17:42.7

NXR Midwest (mid Nov)

1) Zofia Dudek 16:49.3

2) Katelynne Hart 16:49.9

3) Taylor Ewert 17:08.6

FL Midwest Regional (late Nov)

1) Abby Vanderkooi 17:17.8

2) Zofia Dudek 17:20.5

3) Taylor Ewert 17:24.9

4) Katelynne Hart 17:34.6

NXN (early Dec)

2) Taylor Ewert 17:19.1

50) Katelynne Hart 18:45.3

Summary:

Dudek 3-0 vs Ewert

Dudek 2-0 vs Hart

Dudek 1-1 vs VanderKooi

Ewert 2-1 vs Hart

Ewert 1-1 vs VanderKooi

Seems like Dudek has Ewert's number so far.

If Ewert has a good day at FLN but gets significantly beat by Dudek, VanderKooi or anyone else, then we have a legitimate controversy regarding who is the best hs girl xc runner this season.

I'm going with Abby Vanderkooi and Zofia Dudek for first and second.

No there isn't. If you wanted to be considered the best this season you needed to show up and run in the cold and the rain and the mud on that chewed up, water-logged course in Portland against Tuohy. Hart who barely lost to Dudek at the regional did and came in 50th. Had to be in it to win it.

wtfbbq wrote:

Definitely think Masciarelli will step it up after her recent defeat. She seemed to have an off day.

I wouldn't call it a defeat. She clearly wasn't going all out in a race which she only needs to be top 10 for qualification purposes. Watch her interview after the race.

Tuohy stan wrote:

Mr. Footlocker wrote:

Footlocker is number 1. Dudek and Masciarelli would both beat Tuohy.

LOL ok, so then why did masciarelli get dropped at her regional?

Because finishing 1st or 10th is the same thing in a regional qualifying meet.

astro wrote:

No there isn't. If you wanted to be considered the best this season you needed to show up and run in the cold and the rain and the mud on that chewed up, water-logged course in Portland against Tuohy. Hart who barely lost to Dudek at the regional did and came in 50th. Had to be in it to win it.

lol...nice post. Got to love all these attempts to try and view Tuohy as less than she is.

I have no issues with Dudek...she's a great runner. But until she beats Tuohy or one of Tuohy's course records, she (nor any other runner) has a chance of being considered better. As has been stated before, using the name assosciation game of trying to claim someone is better than Tuohy will never work in anyones favor.

And seriously, what's the purpose of trying to claim someone is better than Tuohy...it's unfair to runners like Dudek. She is having a great year and there is no shame in saying that she lost a race to Vandercooi. So why try to justify claims because Dudek 'might' beat someone (on a different day, at a differnt race) by more than Tuohy beat her when Tuohy was having an off-day. But you completely disregard that Dudek lost to Vandercooi...maybe it was an off-day for Dudek. In one of the best races of the year, Dudek outkicked Hart by 0.5 sec. Hart is great, but I don't think she has been within 20 sec of Tuohy in multiple races.

Anyway...best of luck to all the girls. I do hope the long travel for Dudek doesn't hurt her during FL. Great group of top contenders...I really don't think their is a clear #1. Any of the top 5-7could win it.

ric flair wooooooooooooo wrote:

wtfbbq wrote:

Definitely think Masciarelli will step it up after her recent defeat. She seemed to have an off day.

I wouldn't call it a defeat. She clearly wasn't going all out in a race which she only needs to be top 10 for qualification purposes. Watch her interview after the race.

During that interview she clearly stated that Starliper took off and she couldn't match the move. No disrespect to Syd...but she was beat. Which, by the way, she handled really well and didn't make excuses. The girl is a class act and I wish her well at FL.

Here is our foot locker preview:

https://www.letsrun.com/news/2019/12/2019-foot-locker-preview-josh-methner-vs-4-time-qualifier-graydon-morris-a-wide-open-girls-race/

We've merged several girls threads into this 1 giant thread. Also the boys thread is here:

https://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=9741680

Why do people have such problems with a runner getting beat...there is no need for excuses. Every runner has up and down days....in distance races, the down days get magnified. Yet posters keep trying to make excuses for them...listen to the girls when they are interviewed after the race, they are not making excuses. They either had a good race and got beat, or they were not feeling it that day and just couldn't compete.

Does someone seriously think Syd or Dudek didn't enter their races with the intention of winning?? Give these girls the credit they deserve.

A lot of the individual qualifiers at FL Reg's and NXR's are smart enough to run "just to qualify" for nationals. Given they often have 6-8 consecutive weeks of hard racing , it's important to know when to give a max effort, and when to leave something in the tank. Sometimes they will talk about this in post race interviews and sometimes not. A great example of this is Graydon Morris, who pretty consistently just qualifies at FL South, but perfectly peaks for a strong finish at FLN. I also believe at FLMW girls race, the front 4 had a big gap on the field, so Hart cruised into the finish knowing she had qualified, "survive and advance".

There is some risk in this, as if you cruise a race and finish 11th, that's a bummer. Also the second tier kids are all giving max efforts to try to get those last spots.

This isn't really making an excuse for someone, it's just their race plan.

Tuohy stan wrote:

Tuohy ran slower at nxn because of the stress, not because of a physical reason

She would really have been stressed in San Diego, which is why she chose to not run there.

Some people don't understand what a qualifying meet is. Ever watch a qualifying heat of a 1500 and everybody jogs the first 1100? We don't then say that a 4 minute 1500 finisher got dropped by finishing 2nd while he looked back and forth while maintaining his spot. He runs 4 flat in the qualifier then runs 3:38 in the final. How did that happen?

D3 is slow wrote:

Some people don't understand what a qualifying meet is. Ever watch a qualifying heat of a 1500 and everybody jogs the first 1100? We don't then say that a 4 minute 1500 finisher got dropped by finishing 2nd while he looked back and forth while maintaining his spot. He runs 4 flat in the qualifier then runs 3:38 in the final. How did that happen?

Comparing a Regional XC meet to to a track and field heat is silly. Running 100m heats to get to the finals is a completely differnt story than running a cross country race. THese kids are not showing up at a regional meet (where they often are traveling for hours, paying hotels, etc etc) and not giving a real effort to win. If that's the case, why are they trying to win any race except for states and nationals?? None of the rest really matter do they?

I'm not saying that they are going to kill themselves at the end of the race to finish 5th rather than 6th...but these kids actually have some pride and are there to compete. I raced...and I always tried to win...every time. The kids I've coached have tried to win every race, every time.

Listen to Masciarelli's interview...her and Starliper had broken away, they were surging, Marlee took a hill and Syd couldn't match her....doesn't sound like someone who wasn't hoping to win.

and are you seriously going to try to say that the Dudek / Hart race for NXR Midwest wasn't completely flat out? That's a qualifier race isn't it?

hmmm....seemed like both girls were trying to win...guess I just didn't notice that they were only going 80%

The well coached runners don't worry about winning. I have coached many and watched many good runners cruise through the regionals. Olin Hacker finished 10th in the Footlocker Regional looking around. He finished 2nd at NXN the following week and finished 2nd at Footlocker Nationals the week after that.

Clearly the well-coached trolls save their best trolling for end of season. Region championship trolling is beneath them. All the other trolls have inferior coaches, and are doomed to trolling failure at national troll-offs.

Indeed. wrote:

Tuohy stan wrote:

Tuohy ran slower at nxn because of the stress, not because of a physical reason

She would really have been stressed in San Diego, which is why she chose to not run there.

Are you the same un-registered troll that's been bashing Tuohy through this whole thread? It's interesting that all the girls who "could've" beaten Tuohy haven't run against her. Why? Because Tuohy has never lost. What other girl has never lost? Now brush your teeth and go to bed.

1) Marlee Starliper

2) Taylor Ewert

3) Zofia Dudek

4) Katelynne Hart

5) Jenna Hutchins

6) Abby Vanderkooi

7) Sydney Masciarelli

8) Karrie Baloga

9) Annalyssa Crain

10) Tatum David

1) Zofia Dudek

2) Sydney Masciarelli

3) Marlee Starliper

4) Taylor Ewert

5) Jenna Hutchins

6) Abby Vanderkooi

7) Tatum David

8)Katelyn Tuohy (if she ran)