Footlocker 2013

Will Blake Haney run NXN or footlocker? I think he runs NXN...

Top 5:

Connor Mantz

Elijah Armstrong

Aaron Templeton

Obsa Ali

Nick Elswick

If Mantz wins this year I will be very impressed. I think Templeton will probably plateau and run similar to last year... Nick Elswick for the win.

If Nick Elswick actually committed to Ohio State to run already (without even taking an official visit there, much less anywhere else too), there is no way he is going to win Footlocker.

Glad to see all the MN love but anyone who doesn't think Eli Krahn will do something special this fall is out of their mind. 4:10 1600 and 8:59 as a freshman. Amazing talent plus the Stillwater coaching staff will have Eli firing on all cylinders for the next 3 years.

Haney has been pretty inconsistent with Cross Country so far in his career.

go blue yes wrote:

If Nick Elswick actually committed to Ohio State to run already (without even taking an official visit there, much less anywhere else too), there is no way he is going to win Footlocker.

Why

NXN is the place to run for the champhionship for guys this year. Look for most of the top 25 running there. I know most, if not all, the top washington guys will be running at NXN. This means Joe Hardy, Kai Wilmott, Tanner Anderson, and John Dressel. These guys should easily be top 10 in the nation as long as they are healthy. If Haney chooses NXN, then your looking at half of the likely top 10 running NXN.

Both Footlocker and NXN put on great races, but I see this year NXN bringing in the higher quality individual guys.

How did some of the top guys do at NXN's crap show last year?

Bernie, Leingang, Burcham, all those guys choked because of the awful racing conditions. Leingang and Burcham all but turned it off after a mile. Leingang realized he might as well save it for Footlocker. Burcham probably decided he would rather be racing his car or throwing touchdowns. I can't see why the best guys would really want to run NXN over Footlocker, but I believe you are right when you say that the individuals will be there instead.

My athlete ran at NXN last year as an individual, but wants nothing to do with it this time around. From talking to others, NXN's conditions last year really turned people off from the event. Now, if you have a good team, you may not have a choice in some parts of the country where the regionals are on the same day.

It will be interesting tp see how last year affects NXN.

Ryan McGorty of Chantilly is looking good having just run 9:49 at Burke Lake. He should be able to hold that pace for three miles by October and wouldn't be surprised if he is top ten at Footlocker South along with his new teammate transfer from Utah.

Second the Ryan Mcgorty. The Chantilly runners always improve immensely year to year, and Mcgorty certainly has the genes. However, as of last track season he is slightly worse than Sean, and I don't think he'll be winning material until next year, though certainly All-American quality. Who's the Utah recruit?

Dakota Lange is the transfer and he was six seconds behind Ryan in their two mile on Friday. His PR's may not be impressive, but someone to watch down the road.

Both have been featured on VA milesplit this past week showing Chantilly's 4 x mile tempo at Burke Lake.

Ryan's track times are behind Sean's, but for comparison, Sean ran 9:30 at this time last year and not many top VA runners have broken 10 on the course this early in the season.

A good number of the top finishers at Footlocker South last year graduated, so this opens up the race a lot.

Another runner to watch in Virginia is Mackenzie Height of Marshall who ran well in the 5000 at Outdoor Nationals.

Got it. I did check the results, and Sean ran 9:37 his junior year, but this is ridiculous, what matters is that Chantilly is amazing again this year and Ryan is national caliber. And I thought my school would have a chance against them this year with their top 3 gone...Nope.

I would watch out for Matthew Calem, Madison Class of 2014. He ran a 4:16 at VHSL State AAA Championships, placing second. His PR for the 5000m is significantly less impressive, but if he has put in the miles over the summer you can probably expect it to get better.

On the female side (in Virginia. I don't know much about the girls from other states), some good returning girls are:

Caroline Alcorta (16th at FL last year, and a fantastic junior track season to boot)

Allie Klimkiwiscz (29th at FL, not so strong in track and hasn't shown real increase in time over her time running)

Personally, I would expect Alcorta to be the only contender from VA girls to place well at FL. While maybe (barring a spectacular season with large course PRs) not expecting to win, she should make at least second-team all americain. If she is lucky, she could even duplicate Chase's sixth place finish.

Looking at the Foot Locker girl's results and their track seasons and past records, I don't expect Rohrer to double. She seems fragile and likely to break down. On the otherhand, I would expect to see Marissa Williams, the eighth place finisher to move up into the top five, even possibly taking first if she can refine her race strategy. Besides these two girls, I'm not sure how the rest of the field is shaping up, although I do know that there was a VERY fast freshmen girl who ran an absurdly fast 3200m - Hannah DeBalsi - who could be a major threat for a first place finish.

Will Anna Rohrer repeat at Footlocker 2013??

No. I feel like girls rarely have year to year repeated success at the high school level. Jordan Hasay won as a freshman and then couldn't get back into first position until senior year. Girls are more difficult to predict.

No way can Aaron Templeton win this year he is not a strong runner. Way to inconsistent.

Cosimo Medici wrote:

No. I feel like girls rarely have year to year repeated success at the high school level. Jordan Hasay won as a freshman and then couldn't get back into first position until senior year. Girls are more difficult to predict.

There's more competition with the girls.

J.R. wrote:

There's more competition with the girls.

I don't think that I agree with this so much. I think the main reason that girls are less consistent between years is the fact that many freshmen talents are undeveloped and still built like an eleven year old girl with no hips/fat and only lungs. Then by sophmore year their body starts to develop and they start to attempt to stop it by decreasing the amount they eat and increasing the amount they train. They might have success for sophmore year and the beginning of junior year, but then their body just breaks down and they become injured and never again reach the levels of the underclassmen years.

I'm not saying that all freshmen talents are like this, or even a majority, but it is definitely a trend that one sees in girls.