Other than the obvious talent and work ethic of this year\'s class of Foot Locker Finalists from Pennsylvania, each of these runners share something else
The year of 2005 was a very significent year in the state of Virginia\'s high school and college running community with many big stories filling out the 12 months. From the terrible losses with an unusually high number of deaths by young student-athletes in the sport to the stories of championship glory, MileStat.com counts down the 10 biggest news stories of the year. While there were many important events throughout the year, these 10 come to mind as some of ones that really stood out among the rest as attention grabbers.
The 2005 Foot Locker X-Country Championships will be shown on Fox SportsNet on Wednesday, Dec.21, from 3-4pm (EST). Check your local listings for the time in your area... TV GUIDEAlso, check COMCAST.NET for possible broadcast on your cable system. For example, it is on Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia in the Eastern Delaware County area on Channel 36 on 12/21 at 2pm, and a Midnight on 12/22.
Jeff Buys, 2005 Shrine Bowl Run Coach released the assignments for each athlete earlier today.
Photo Gallery from the races by Keith Capecci, Josh Hibbs and Liz Costello at the 12/10/05 Foot Locker Championships
Justin talks with MileSplit reporter Don Rich on what caused him to drop out of the race and what it takes to get to nationals.
Virginia sent its largest delegation to Foot Locker Nationals Saturday since 2001 when three Virginian boys qualified in Bobby Lockhart, Fleet Hower, and Matt Keally. This year\'s Virginia delegation of three included Oaktree Academy sophomore Aurora Scott, Northside junior Catherine White, and Chantilly senior Brad Siragusa. Just like in Virginia\'s group of three in 2001, two Virginians earned All-American honors as Scott (9th, 17:49) and White (11th, 17:53) finished in the top 14 places, while Siragusa struggled with a 38th place performance of 16:43. Scott and White were also the top two finishers for the South region after finishing third and sixth respectively at the regional meet in Charlotte two weeks ago. While a disappointing finish for Siragusa after running two of the best races of his high school career at the state meet and Foot Locker South, the Northern Arizona University bound senior can not hang his head low on what has been a great final season of high school cross country. Fellow MileSplit Network webmaster Don Rich of penntrackxc.com was on-site with coverage at Foot Locker Nationals and has provided photos of the Virginians in action and also will be providing interviews conducted with White and Scott hopefully in the next day or two.
Photos from Florida\'s Footlocker Nationals representatives: Bona Jones, Kelly Parrish, and Justin Harbor.
Photos from the race in San Diego courtesy of Don Rich of the Mile Split Network! Both Ben and Emily posted top 20 finishes.
NOTE:COMING THIS WEEK: The season training plans for the three from their coaches, Dave Marrington (Keith Capecci), Bob Ayton (Josh Hibbs), and Mark Tirone and Ryan Comstock (Liz Costello) -- all of whom were enjoying the festivities and races in San Diego. Pennsylvania\'s three qualifiers in this year\'s version of cross-country\'s race of stars had envisioned better finishes -- but each came away with much more than they had ever hoped. Council Rock North\'s Keith Capecci has a growing confidence he hopes will take him to an individual state title. Hatboro-Horsham\'s Josh Hibbs never thought he was this good. Those days are over. And Conestoga\'s Liz Costello is no longer intimidated by the aura surrounding other quality runners.
Freshman Kathy Kroeger of Independence H.S. in Franklin placed 16th out of the top 40 Cross-Country runners in the nation with a time of 17:57. Rob Sorrell of Bolton H.S. ran a 15:53 finishing 30 overall. Rob was followed closely by fellow tennessean Clay Hannah of Lebanon H.S. Lebanon. Clay placed 32 with a time of 16:04.
Bona Jones was the top Florida finisher at Footlocker Nationals in San Diego. Jones finished in 30th place with a time of 18:24, while Kelly Parrish was close behind in 34th and 18:35. In the boys\' race Justin Harbor was Florida\'s lone representative; however, he was forced to DNF with a medical issue.
Photos taken by Don Rich of MileSplit Network sister site penntrackxc.com of Virginians competing at Foot Locker Nationals held at Balboa Park in San Diego, California on Saturday, December 10th.
Four-time Footlocker National qualifier Kate Niehaus DNF at this year\'s meet in San Diego, Calif.
Find out which cross country girls from the state of Virginia were selected to this year\'s All-MileStat.com team. Runner of the Year, Coach of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, and Most Improved Runner of the Year awards were given out as well as the first, second, and third teams consisting of seven runners each.
The selection was very tough as always for the All-MileStat.com Team. As this cross country season like any other, anything can happen. What you expect to happens never seem to does and what happens you never would have expected. One week someone is hot, the next week that person is out of the picture. A star runner goes down, a newcomer comes out of nowhere. There were many deserving athletes to be on this list. Looking at this year\'s group, there are probably a dozen or so runners who are probably in a group of their own and then 3 dozen or more runners who could beat each other on any given day. Some of the runners missing from this list definitely deserve recognition for their fine seasons. Let these All-MileStat.com selections serve as a way to recognize the great accomplishments of the state\'s top athletes this fall, while serving as motivation and providing drive for those left off or returning next fall to strive for greater excellence in the future.
Stanford bound Kate Niehaus will compete in her fourth consecutive Footlocker National meet this upcoming Saturday, as a senior at Spring Valley High School.
Test your distance knowledge by entering our prediction contest for the 27th annual Footlocker Nationals being held on Saturday, December 10th, at Balboa Park in San Diego, California. The Winner will receive a $100 gift certificate to the Running Zone and a 1 year subscription to flrunners.com. Sponsored by The Running Zone
Saturday, Nov. 27, was a great day of racing at McAlpine Park, in Charlotte, N.C., for the 2005 Footlocker South Regional.
Kate Niehaus qualified for her fourth straight Footlocker National meet with a second place finish. Niehaus crossed the line in 17:15.