Edward Cheserek Defends Title, As Anna Roher Earns First at Foot Locker XC National Championships
By Chris Lotsbom
December 8, 2012
(c) 2012 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
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(08-Dec) — The American high school cross country season came to an end earlier today at the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships in San Diego, Calif., where Edward Cheserek successfully defended his national title and Anna Rohrer won her first championship after breaking from the field late in their respective races.
The Boy’s Championship race began as a pack affair with nearly all of the 40 qualified athletes together through 800 meters. With many pre-race favorites playing it safe through the early going, Cheserek was content tucking in behind the leaders as they approached the first mile.
Battling up the largest hill of the 5-kilometer course for the first time, Virginia’s Sean McGorty picked the pace up, creating a lead group of four. Responding to McGorty’s move was Cheserek, who trailed by less than a meter — just what the leader wanted.
“Knowing Edward has a great kick, I sort of wanted to do the best I could to take it out of him,” McGorty told Deena Kastorin an interview following the race’s webcast.
Joining McGorty and Cheserek were last week’s Nike Cross Nationals champion Sam Wharton and New Balance Nationals Outdoor 5000m champion Jake Leingang, both of whom wore gold vests as representatives of the Midwest Region.
Nearing halfway, McGorty, whose mother ran at the Foot Locker National Championships, still maintained a one-meter edge on Cheserek, with Leingang and Wharton holding onto the Kenyan’s coat tails.
Still intact at two miles –hit in 9:45– the pack was well ahead of the rest of the field. Ascending the large hill for the second and final time, McGorty led the group of four.
But going downhill was another story, as Cheserek took the lead for the first time. Trying to break McGorty and Leingang, Cheserek injected a burst of speed, causing Wharton to fade from the pack. Barely holding on was Leingang.
“I tried to stay with them and work up the hill, but the downhill is what killed my legs,” said Leingang, who is from North Dakota.
Passing three miles in 14:30, Cheserek again used his 1:48 800-meter speed, ultimately separating from the chasing McGorty.
“I wanted to stay back with these guys and at the last minute kick because that was my strategy,” said Cheserek.
Hands above his head, Cheserek broke the tape in 14:58.3, becoming only the fourth repeat champion in Foot Locker Cross Country National Championships history. He broke 15 minutes both times on the storied Balboa Park course.
“Right now I feel good,” said the quiet champion, who joins Abdirizak Mohamud, Dathan Ritzenhein, and Lukas Verzbicas in the two-time winners club.
In second came McGorty, who was still pleased with his effort.
“I gave it my all trying to beat him, but he’s a great athlete and he deserves this national championship,” said the Stanford-bound McGorty.
Leingang rounded out the top three, a significant improvement from his 59th place showing at last week’s muddy Nike Cross Nationals meet.
Event 2 Boys 5k Run CC ======================================================================= Name Year School Finals Points ======================================================================= Results - Men 1 Edward Cheserek 12 NE, Newark, NJ 14:58.3 1 2 Sean McGorty 12 SO, Fairfax, VA 15:04.7 2 3 Jake Leingang 12 MW, Bismark, ND 15:06.9 3 4 Benjamin Saarel 12 WE, Salt Lake City, 15:12.9 4 5 Jacob Thomson 12 SO, Louisville, KY 15:13.5 5 6 Sam Wharton 12 MW, Tipp City, OH 15:18.7 6 7 Aaron Templeton 11 SO, Knoxville, TN 15:28.1 7 8 Ryan Kromer 12 MW, Hudson, WI 15:29.7 8 9 John Lawson 12 WE, Forest Knolls, 15:30.3 9 10 Zach Perrin 12 WE, Lakeside, MT 15:31.4 10 11 Conner Mantz 10 WE, Smithfield, UT 15:33.3 11 12 Andrew Gardner 12 WE, Spokane, WA 15:33.6 12 13 Quintin McKinnish 11 SO, Talbott, TN 15:35.2 13 14 John Dressel 10 WE, Colbert, WA 15:37.0 14 15 Robert Domanic 12 SO, Lewisville, TX 15:39.5 15 16 Kramer Morton 11 WE, Sandy, UT 15:40.6 16 17 Max Norris 12 NE, Narberth, PA 15:40.9 17 18 Troy Fraley 12 WE, Kalispell, MT 15:42.0 19 Patrick Perrier 11 MW, O'Fallon, IL 15:42.9 18 20 Nicholas Raymond 12 MW, Erie, MI 15:43.7 19 21 Brendan Shearn 12 NE, Frackville, PA 15:44.0 20 22 Shawn Wilson 12 NE, Marlton, NJ 15:44.2 21 23 Jonathan Green 12 NE, Berlin, MA 15:44.2 22 24 Patrick Gibson 12 WE, Bellingham, WA 15:45.2 25 Brent Demarest 11 SO, Charleston, SC 15:47.1 23 26 Grant Nykaza 12 MW, Beecher, IL 15:50.2 24 27 Scott Milling 12 MW, Elmhurst, IL 15:52.6 25 28 Kyle Kroon 11 NE, Tomes River, NJ 15:55.6 26 29 Connor Mora 12 MW, Cedar Spr., MI 15:57.2 30 Nicholas Elswick 11 MW, Chardon, OH 15:58.7 31 Austin Pondel 12 NE, Columbus, PA 15:59.3 27 32 Apolinar Baltazar 12 WE, Aberdeen, WA 15:59.4 33 Samuel Prakel 12 MW, Versailles, OH 16:02.5 34 Brent Kennedy 11 NE, New Kensington, 16:06.2 35 Brad Hort 12 SO, Peachtree City, 16:08.8 28 36 Noah Gade 12 SO, Stillwater, OK 16:10.7 37 Simon Holden 12 SO, Lookout Mt., GA 16:15.3 38 Trevor Crawley 12 NE, Cumberland, RI 16:18.5 39 Chris Alvarado 11 NE, Fairfield, CT 16:27.4 -- Joshua Brickell 12 SO, Lawrenceville, DNF Team Scores ================================================================================= Rank Team Total 1 2 3 4 5 *6 *7 *8 *9 ================================================================================= Results - Men 1 South 42 2 5 7 13 15 23 28 Total Time: 1:17:01.00 Average: 15:24.20 2 West 46 4 9 10 11 12 14 16 Total Time: 1:17:22.50 Average: 15:28.50 3 Mid West 54 3 6 8 18 19 24 25 Total Time: 1:17:21.90 Average: 15:28.38 4 North East 81 1 17 20 21 22 26 27 Total Time: 1:17:51.60 Average: 15:34.32
Anna Rohrer Overcomes Fall to Win 2012 Foot Locker Title
To begin the Girl’s Championship race, California’s Marissa Williams took the pace out ferociously, just as she did a week ago at the Foot Locker West Regional. Hitting the 400 meter mark in an unofficial 66 seconds according to the web stream announcers, Williams was nearly ten meters up on the field.
The quick pace soon caught up to the sophomore, who would end up finishing eighth. Caught by a slew of Midwest athletes clad in their gold vests, Williams and the lead pack passed the mile in 5:18. In gold were Maria Hauger, Jordyn Colter, and Taylor Werner.
Missing briefly from the lead pack was Midwest Regional champion Anna Rohrer, a sophomore from Mishawaka, Ind., Rohrer had been tripped within the first 400 meters of the race, falling to the ground and scuffing her knee. Despite the spill, she remained calm.
“I got right back up and I knew the race wasn’t over,” Rohrer said minutes after the race. “I just got up and made sure to keep a level head.”
Rejoining her Midwest teammates at the front, Rohrer looked poised through two miles, passed in 11:10. That’s when she knew it was time to go, pulling ahead of the field.
Despite Hauger and Colter’s efforts to gain ground in the final 400 meters, it was all Rohrer. Sprinting around the final bend, Rohrer was all alone in front. Breaking the tape in 17:24.8, Rohrer became the first sophomore since Kathy Kroeger in 2006 to win the Foot Locker National Championship.
Rohrer said running alongside her Midwest teammates helped her immensely during the race.
“It was fantastic, really comforting,” she said. “It was great to be racing with people that I am really good friends with.”
An added edge for Rohrer was her toughness, brought out in a temporary tattoo resembling barbed wire on her left upper arm.
“It’s just something fun that my team did a couple times [during the season],” Rohrer said with a laugh. “It makes you feel a little tougher I guess.”
Behind Rohrer, Massachusetts’s Catarina Rocha finished with a hard charge to catch both Hauger and Cloter in the final meters before the line. Rocha, who is from Peabody, Mass., is coached by her father Joe, also a Foot Locker Cross Country Championship alum.
“I just tried to stay with them,” said Rocha. “The last 200 [meters] I just kinda felt good and started kicking to hopefully catch them and I did.”
Rocha’s time of 17:29.0 was just two-tenths of a second ahead of Hauger (17:29.2) and a half second up on Colter (17:29.5). Rounding out the top five was Karis Jochen of College Station, Texas.
Flash Results, Inc. - (Don Chadez) 2012 Foot Locker Cross Country Nationals Morley Field, San Diego, CA Event 1 Girls 5k Run CC ======================================================================= Name Year School Finals Points ======================================================================= Results - Women 1 Anna Rohrer 10 MW, Mishawaka, IN 17:24.8 1 2 Catarina Rocha 12 NE, Peabody, MA 17:29.0 2 3 Maria Hauger 12 MW, Shakopee, MN 17:29.2 3 4 Jordyn Colter 10 MW, Centennial, CO 17:29.5 4 5 Karis Jochen 12 SO, College Station 17:35.9 5 6 Sophie Chase 12 SO, Burke, VA 17:41.5 6 7 Anna Holdiman 12 MW, Waverly, IA 17:42.4 7 8 Marissa Williams 10 WE, Los Angeles, CA 17:42.8 8 9 Bobbie Burgess 12 MW, W. Lafayette, I 17:45.2 9 10 Hannah Long 10 MW, Pacific, MO 17:46.3 10 11 Sandie Raines 12 SO, Houston, TX 17:52.3 11 12 Carmen Carlos 12 SO, Mobile, AL 17:52.4 12 13 Taylor Werner 9 MW, Bloomsdale, MO 17:52.4 13 14 Megan Curham 12 NE, Warren, NJ 17:55.2 14 15 Bridget Blake 12 SO, Orlando, FL 17:56.0 15 16 Caroline Alcorta 10 SO, Springfield, VA 17:56.3 16 17 Courtney Ackerman 12 MW, Wilmette, IL 18:01.5 18 Marisa Ruskan 12 NE, Bound Brook, NJ 18:03.4 17 19 Regan Rome 11 NE, Dallas, PA 18:03.8 18 20 Julia Maxwell 11 WE, Ross, CA 18:03.9 19 21 Katie Lembo 11 NE, Penfield, NY 18:04.7 20 22 Maggie Drazba 12 SO, Saint Marys, WV 18:05.4 21 23 Madeleine Ankhelyi 12 WE, Folsom, CA 18:06.1 22 24 Makena Morley 10 WE, Bigfork, MT 18:11.7 23 25 Marissa Saenger 11 NE, Clarence, NY 18:17.9 24 26 Alex Davis 12 SO, Ardmore, OK 18:19.7 27 MacKenzie Barry 11 NE, Mendham, NJ 18:20.8 25 28 Summer Harper 12 WE, Orem, UT 18:21.1 26 29 Paige Gilchrist 12 WE, Missoula, MT 18:22.6 27 30 Amelia Paladino 11 SO, Morgantown, WV 18:25.2 31 Megan Reilly 9 NE, Warwick, NY 18:25.4 32 Sarah Feeny 11 WE, Ogden, UT 18:30.4 28 33 Allie Klimiewicz 10 SO, Oakton, VA 18:33.0 34 Kaylee Flanagan 12 MW, Roselle, IL 18:34.8 35 Melanie Nun 12 MW, Thornton, CO 18:36.1 36 Katelyn Bianchini 12 WE, Snohomish, WA 18:41.7 37 Kennedy Weisner 11 NE, Saint Marys, PA 18:59.2 38 Kayla Ferron 12 WE, Torrance, CA 18:59.2 -- Anoush Shehadeh 10 NE, Larchmont, NY DNF -- Fiona O'Keeffe 9 WE, Davis, CA DNF Team Scores ================================================================================= Rank Team Total 1 2 3 4 5 *6 *7 *8 *9 ================================================================================= Results - Women 1 Mid West 24 1 3 4 7 9 10 13 Total Time: 1:27:51.10 Average: 17:34.22 2 South 49 5 6 11 12 15 16 21 Total Time: 1:28:58.10 Average: 17:47.62 3 North East 71 2 14 17 18 20 24 25 Total Time: 1:29:36.11 Average: 17:55.22 4 West 98 8 19 22 23 26 27 28 Total Time: 1:30:25.60 Average: 18:05.12
*Photos of Footlocker Legends at 2012 Pre Race Dinner
*Boys Photo Gallery