Footlocker Regional Results & Final

If you don't recognize these individuals that's your fault for not following the sport. These guys are great and the overall depth is improving exponentially. Grant Fischer ran 3:52 as a sophomore. Templeton ran an 8:54 TT last week. Huffman and Milder ran sub-9 at a TT as well. Dehaven, Burke, and others are already sub-9 from junior year too.

Cmon man wrote:

If you don't recognize these individuals that's your fault for not following the sport. These guys are great and the overall depth is improving exponentially. Grant Fischer ran 3:52 as a sophomore. Templeton ran an 8:54 TT last week. Huffman and Milder ran sub-9 at a TT as well. Dehaven, Burke, and others are already sub-9 from junior year too.

I think that you are missing the point.

You would have to be a track fan living under a rock not to know about Cain, Baxter and Ephraimson (none of which are at footlocker)...

Same would have applied for Webb, Ritz, Solinsky, Rupp, Hasay, LV, Cheserek... All of which went to footlocker. Every year, you would have 1 to 10 names like that at Footlocker. This year = 0...

That's the type of hype that you want to see...

I guess we have 3 names this year (all girls), but they won't be in SD...

It's how you do on the day that counts, not the hype.

Lester Ballard wrote:

Thanks, J.R.

Virginia is kind of the Washington State of the South Region -- not a small-population state by any means, but certainly no Texas or Florida or Michigan or Ohio or Illinois. Virginia consistently sends a disproportionate number of kids to the national finals in cross-country, unless my memory and perception are off.

Most Texas runners are focusing on NXN.

For instance, this year those two Texas girls who qualified finished 4th and 6th respectively at NXN South:

Although the boys possibly wouldn't have done any better, because it seems the top individual talent for boys is a bit less this year (although there is some depth to it).

J.R. wrote:

It's how you do on the day that counts, not the hype.

???

I suggest that you don't ever contemplate a career in sport marketing (or any type of marketing for that matter)...

26mi235 wrote:

What matters is being big in your region, since each region sends the same number. Given the running backgrounds of the various states, VA has a bit of an advantage over Michigan, which is competing against Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, S.D., N.D., Iowa, MN, (just guessing, but there are some states with pretty good running history there) and three are bigger in population than VA).

Each region sends the same 10 people to the finals, but the regions now vary in population to a much greater extent than they did when the regions were conceived over thirty years ago.

Northeast: ME, NH, VT, MA, CT, RI, NY, PA, NJ, MD, DE, DC

Population as of 2012 = 63.2 million

South: TX, OK, AR, AL, LA, MS, GA, FL, NC, SC, KY, TN, VA, WV and Puerto Rico.

Population as of 2012 = 113.5 million

Midwest: OH, IN, IL, MI, ND, SD, KS, NE, MO, CO, IA, MN, WI

Population as of 2012 = 69.6 million

West: AK, HI, WA, OR, CA, NV, UT, WY, ID, MT, AZ, MT

Population as of 2012 = 71.5 million

So VA only has about 7.2 percent of the South's population, statistically entitling it to only one or two of the 20 FL slots for boys and girls.

If the South has such a larger population, why are they habitually taken to the woodshed by the Midwest and the West?

weaksauce wrote:

If the South has such a larger population, why are they habitually taken to the woodshed by the Midwest and the West?

Probably because the course at FLSouth is flat as a pancake and compares to nothing like the one at Nationals.

As we have seen, some athletes are just horrible when it comes to running hilly/tough courses.

Because states like Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, Louisiana, and Oklahoma absolutely suck. And this is coming from a native Southerner.

You're typically pulling from Texas/Virginia/Florida with Georgia/Tennessee contributing lately as well.

weaksauce wrote:

If the South has such a larger population, why are they habitually taken to the woodshed by the Midwest and the West?

They don't allow 80 year olds to run high school xc?

VA is the northernmost state in the region, i.e. it has the best running climate during the summer months leading into XC and it has the least high school football impact of these states.

Translation: in Virginia, football doesn't suck up the best athletes necessarily and it isn't pure torture to run many miles during the summer.

weaksauce wrote:

If the South has such a larger population, why are they habitually taken to the woodshed by the Midwest and the West?

Seeing as the South boys have won the past two footlocker championships and got second at the previous two championships, I don't think this statement is grounded in many facts.

The girls have had two 4th place finishes and two 2nd place finishes in the past 4 years, so maybe you are only looking at the girls' results and disregarding the boys' results? (though I would not consider the South girls as being stomped on by the West and Midwest)

Or maybe you are merely overemphasizing the fact that there has not been a Footlocker Champ from the South in recent years? I would not consider second place finishes by Sean McGorty, Rachel Johnson, and Chelsey Sveinsson.

Don't sleep on the 2013 South team either. This is the first year where a boy has run sub-15 and not made it to the national championships and Kayla Montgomery's 17:22 is the fastest girl's time to not make the national championships ever out of the South. So needless to say, the South's team is deeper than it ever has been.

Midwest boys champion Grant Fisher interview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbWMGWPnbuw

The FL-S course was obviously much too fast. The FL-N times were--also-- very fast but legit. This isn't a knock on Alcort's sub-17 in any way but there shouldn't be so many pr's on a championship layout.

How bout those Jewish girls huH (in VCP)! They thought they were running to a ....

Zola Budd (Pieterse) at 47 ran a 17:12 as a Masters on the South course which would have made her the 5th place qualifier.