Foot Locker Cross Country Championships Tribute Thread: Share your favorite memories!

Here is Jonathan Gault's excellent Throwback Thursday recap of the classic 2000 edition featuring the clash between Ritz, Webb, and Hall:

https://www.letsrun.com/news/2020/04/i-was-bored-so-i-went-back-and-watched-ritz-webb-hall-battle-at-the-2000-foot-locker-cross-country-championships/

The 2011 classic between Ches and Futsum

nj.milesplit.com

King Edward ! Foot Locker Champion @14:52

Open link

Reed Brown making a huge move down the hill in 2016

Fishers battle with a host of fellow juniors in 2013, also the return of Anna Rohrer (who won in 2011)

I remember being in awe of Amber Trotter in 2001. She absolutely destroyed a field that included Molly Huddle, winning the race by 40 seconds.

My family was in San Diego and my father took me to the inaugural Kinney Champs. That was what got me to do running actually.

Ritz breaking away in '99 and '00

LV crushing a good field easily in back to back years

The epic battle in '03

Goucher winning in '93. Kingwood having 3 guys qualify the same year

Reuben Raina with his absurd course record in '85

Trotter winning by 40 seconds

There are some more but these are my favorites. It's sad to see the longest running HS national championship end after so long.

When you say "inaugural" Kinney Champs, are you talking about the 1979 race? Or the first race on the current course which was 1983?

Hasay running down brasovan in 2008 to bookend her career with footlocker titles in a race that featured the previous 3 champs

old guy here ... I remember back in the day when hot shots
Reuben Reina ('85) and Marc Davis ('86) won - each with smokin times that would rival today's top dawgs:

Watching AJ Acosta win his senior year. I think all of dyestat was probably rooting for him that year since he was a poster.

1999-2000: Ritz wins back-to-back, 1999 was very high powered and 2000 with the big three

Early 90s: Bob Kennedy, Adam Goucher (before he went crazy), Matt Downin vs John Mortimer

1980 Kinney: Future University Wisconsin contingent finishes three in the top ten (Hacker, Jenkins, Easker)

2001-2002: Solinsky finishes third as a junior appearing as a contender late in the race and first as a senior tying historical margin of victory

Let's get one thing straight: AJ had more than posters, he had an entire subcomponent of California known as his AJ nation.

There were predecessors to Kinney/Footlocker in the 60s and 70s.

Not sure if through mail-in, USTFF or other All-American midwestern trust fund or a group of attempts in different years.

Yes, as an Oceanside, San Diego county runner he was essentially a hometown favorite. He had a lot of fans at the race. I grew up on the other coast so I was just a fan from interacting with him on the 'stat. Still it was cool to see.

Melody Fairchild just gliding through the course.

Gault wrote about the 2003 race too. Here's his overview of the running résumés of the top five:

1. Matthew Withrow: 13:35/28:26 pbs. 9th at ’05 NCAA XC, made US senior World XC team as a 19-year-old.
2. Galen Rupp: 3:50/7:30/12:58/26:44/2:06:07 pbs. Two-time Olympic medalist. ’17 Chicago Marathon champ. One of America’s best ever.
3. Shadrack Kiptoo (Biwott): 13:36/28:28/2:12:01 pbs. Twice top-10 at NCAA XC. Three top-five World Marathon Major finishes.
4. Joshua McDougal: 13:20/28:27 pbs. ’07 NCAA XC champ.
5. Benjamin True: 3:36/7:35/13:02/27:41 pbs. 6th at ’13 World XC. 6th at ’15 Worlds in 5k.

#Ballerness

https://www.letsrun.com/news/2020/04/i-was-bored-so-i-watched-galen-rupp-matt-withrow-jenny-simpson-at-the-2003-foot-locker-championships/

2016: Reed Brown using the downhill to stay in contact and then ripping the last 150m for the win. Plus, three Texans in the top 10 that year (Maier 5th, Worley 9th)

Yes, Trotter's run was amazing. Does she still hold the highest tully women's speed rating ever from that race? I know she did for many years, at least until Tuohy.

Also on the women's side, the Bei/Siraki stretch battle from 2000 was great drama, especially since Bei was in last place at the mile and worked her way up the entire race. If I recall correctly, that was the only XC race she won that entire season.

Great example. So exciting to see three former champions face each other, especially after they were the top 3 the year before!

Jordan Hasay and Kathy Kroeger are part of a select group of runners who qualified all four years of high school. After winning as a freshman, Hasay finished 10th, then 3rd, and then won a second time. Kroeger finished 16th as a freshman, then 1st, 2nd, and 6th.

Other four-year qualifiers I can think of:

• Marie (Mel) Lawrence - 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 5th
• Jorge Torres - 13th, 5th, 2nd, 1st

Any others?

I was fortunate to run in the 1979 Midwest Regional. That year it was in Lansing Illinois. Nowhere close to advancing as a sophomore. Then Regionals moved to Kansas and we couldn’t make the sacrifice on Thanksgiving weekend to go there.
Fast forward 30 years to 2008. Ran one of the Regionals and I was fortunate enough to be a top ten master. It was a real full circle moment for me.

Saw Nationals in 2017 in SD - what a crazy tricked up course but that hill is no joke. That course belongs to great downhill runners.

All things change - NXR has taken over with more sites, more end of season team focus for competition and fun - and that’s fine. World keeps spinning. But I will personally miss Kinney/FootLocker.