2016 Foot Locker XC ChampionshipsDec 9, 2016 by FloTrack Staff
Previewing Foot Locker With Speed Ratings
Previewing Foot Locker With Speed Ratings
2016 Foot Locker Cross Country National Championships speed ratings preview
How can you compare high schoolers from across the country who haven't raced each other? Speed ratings! We're reposting TullyRunners.com's Foot Locker preview, with Bill Meylan's permission. One point in speed ratings equals roughly three seconds.
Boys General Comment
I suspect the speed ratings for the top finishers at Foot Locker Nationals may be higher than those shown in table above (that's typically the case) ... To finish in top places at Foot Locker Nationals typically requires exceptional performances, usually season-best performances ... Foot Locker is unique because it has a small field of select runners coming to the race expecting to run fast (knowing they have to run fast to place well) ... Top competition on a fast course under good weather conditions yields top performances (season-best performances).
Nine of eleven underclassmen from last year's Foot Locker return this year ... The returning runners include (with their finishes last year): Seth Hirsch (9th), Finn Gessner (11th), Noah Affolder (15th), Reed Brown (16th), Matthew Perriera (24th), Tibebu Proctor (28th), Waleed Suliman (29th), Matt Grossman (35th) and Talon Hull (37th)
Seven runners competed at NXN Nationals 2016 ... Sam Worley (2nd), Seth Hirsch (4th), Alex Maier (5th), Reed Brown (6th), Jack Aho (17th), Dylan Jacobs (19th) and Gabe Fendel (28th) ... So 4 of the top 6 finishers at NXN are at Foot Locker.
Based on the speed ratings, as many as 10 guys have a legitimate shot at winning this race depending on who's feeling good ... and that makes the race competitive and interesting.
Selected Individual Runners
Finn Gessner ... Qualified for NXN Nationals by winning the NXN Heartland Regional with a 199 speed rating ... Decided to skip NXN and concentrate on a top performance at Foot Locker ... an extra week of rest over the guys who did run NXN may be an advantage.
Sam Worley ... Has run exceptionally well during the entire 2016 XC season ... Won both the Foot Locker South and NXN South Regionals ... Has good closing speed ... Finished 2nd at NXN Nationals.
Seth Hirsch ... The top returning runner from Foot Locker 2015 ... Finished 4th at NXN Nationals ... Along with Finn Gessner, Seth Hirsch has a best individual speed rating of 199 which is tops in the field.
Noah Affolder ... The Foot Locker Northeast winner ... Finished 15th at Foot Locker 2015 ... A real threat to win this race.
Luis Grijalva ... The California State champion ... Possibly ran Foot Locker West only fast enough to qualify ... A real threat to win this race.
Talon Hull ... The Foot Locker West winner ... Finished 37th at Foot Locker 2015
Alexander Maier ... An exceptionally talented sophomore who has been competitive with top runners all season ... Finished 5th at NXN Nationals
Dylan Jacobs ... The Foot Locker Midwest winner ... Finished 19th at NXN Nationals
Reed Brown ... Finished 6th at NXN Nationals ... Finished 16th at Foot Locker 2015
Girls General Comment
A good field of competitors ... Claudia Lane is the favorite based on excellent seasonal performances ... Nevada Mareno finished 3rd at Foot Locker last year and is expected to be a serious contender for the win.
Seven underclassmen return this year from last year's Foot Locker ... The returning runners are Nevada Mareno (3rd last year), Jordan Oakes (20th last year), Alyssa Aldrich (23rd last year), Maria Coffin (27th last year), Kate Hunter (31st last year), Kayla Young (33rd last year) and Julia Heymach (36th last year)
Four runners competed at NXN Nationals 2016 ... India Johnson (9th), Anne Forsyth (14th), Lauren Peterson (30th) and Christina Geisler (40th).
Claudia Lane ... The Foot Locker West winner and top runner in California ... Has been improving throughout the season ... Popped 158 speed ratings at both Foot Locker West and the California State Meet (3rd fastest time ever at Woodward Park behind only Sarah Baxter and Julia Stamps).
Claudia Lane did race NXN Champion Brie Oakley at the Woodbridge Classic (Sept 17th) with Oakley winning by 23 seconds (153 and 145 speed ratings respectively) ... Both girls have shown improvement since that race nearly two-and-a-half months ago ... It would obviously be interesting to see them race now, but that's not going to happen.
Nevada Mareno ... The top returning runner from last year's Foot Locker where Nevada Mareno finished 3rd with a 160 speed rating ... Entering Foot Locker last year, she had a best speed rating of 157 when she broke the course record at WakeMed (the course used for NXN Southeast and the Great American Festival) ... Nevada Mareno ran a somewhat limited XC schedule this year and has not really been tested competitively ... she won Foot Locker South handily ... I'm guessing she can run significantly faster than this year's speed ratings ... I will not be surprised if she wins.
Alyssa Aldridge ... The Foot Locker Northeast winner ... Ran 153 speed ratings at both Foot Locker Northeast and the New Jersey Meet of Champions ... Finished 23rd at last year's Foot Locker.
Anne Forsyth ... The Foot Locker Midwest winner ... Finished 14th at NXN Nationals after taking 3rd at NXN Midwest.
India Johnson ... Finished 2nd at both Foot Locker Midwest and NXN Midwest ... Finished 9th at NXN Nationals.
Boys General Comment
I suspect the speed ratings for the top finishers at Foot Locker Nationals may be higher than those shown in table above (that's typically the case) ... To finish in top places at Foot Locker Nationals typically requires exceptional performances, usually season-best performances ... Foot Locker is unique because it has a small field of select runners coming to the race expecting to run fast (knowing they have to run fast to place well) ... Top competition on a fast course under good weather conditions yields top performances (season-best performances).
Boys | Gr | School | St | Region | Overall Rating | Foot Locker Region Rating | FL Region Place | State Meet Rating |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Finn Gessner | 12 | Madison La Follette | WI | Midwest | 197 | 192 | 9 | 193 |
Sam Worley | 12 | New Braunfels Canyon | TX | South | 197 | 193 | 1 | 194 |
Seth Hirsch | 12 | Millard West | NE | Midwest | 197 | 193 | 5 | 196 |
Noah Affolder | 12 | Carlisle | PA | Northeast | 196 | 196 | 1 | 194 |
Luis Grijalva | 12 | Armijo High | CA | West | 195 | 191 | 4 | 196 |
Talon Hull | 12 | Weber | UT | West | 195 | 196 | 1 | 194 |
Alexander Maier | 10 | Flower Mound | TX | South | 195 | 191 | 3 | 194 |
Dylan Jacobs | 11 | Sandburg | IL | Midwest | 194 | 196 | 1 | 191 |
Jack Aho | 12 | Grayslake Central | IL | Midwest | 194 | 196 | 2 | 190 |
Reed Brown | 12 | Southlake Carroll | TX | South | 193 | 190 | 6 | 189 |
Patrick O'Brien | 12 | Oyster River | NH | Northeast | 193 | 193 | 3 | 192 |
Elliot Gindi | 12 | Ocean Township | NJ | Northeast | 193 | 192 | 4 | 194 |
Tibebu Proctor | 11 | The Northwest School | WA | West | 193 | 194 | 2 | 189 |
Callum Bolger | 12 | San Luis Obispo | CA | West | 192 | 190 | 6 | 194 |
Matt Grossman | 12 | Millburn | NJ | Northeast | 192 | 190 | 7 | 191 |
Gabe Fendel | 11 | Hamilton Southeastern | IN | Midwest | 192 | 194 | 3 | 188 |
Noah Jacobs | 12 | Corunna | MI | Midwest | 192 | 193 | 4 | 190 |
Connor Lane | 12 | Bishop Gibbons | NC | South | 192 | 192 | 2 | 193 |
Waleed Suliman | 12 | Douglas Freeman | VA | South | 191 | 190 | 5 | 190 |
Sam Affolder | 10 | Carlisle | PA | Northeast | 191 | 193 | 2 | 188 |
Matt Aho | 12 | Grayslake Central | IL | Midwest | 191 | 192 | 6 | 185 |
Matthew Pereira | 12 | Lake Zurich | IL | Midwest | 191 | 192 | 7 | 186 |
Mitchell Day | 12 | Alpena | MI | Midwest | 191 | 192 | 8 | 185 |
Brian Griffith | 12 | Grayslake Central | IL | Midwest | 191 | 192 | 10 | 189 |
Travis Feeny | 12 | Ogden | UT | West | 191 | 190 | 7 | 184 |
Dalton Hengst | 11 | McDonogh School | MD | Northeast | 190 | 190 | 5 | ~187 |
Daniel Viegra | 12 | Pflugerville Hendericks | TX | South | 190 | 190 | 4 | --- |
Jacob McLeod | 11 | Trinity Christian | GA | South | 190 | 190 | 8 | --- |
Matthew Watkins | 12 | Henry M Jackson | WA | West | 190 | 190 | 5 | 190 |
Charles Hicks | 10 | Bolles | FL | South | 190 | 190 | 9 | 191 |
Amir Ado | 12 | Ferris | WA | West | 190 | 191 | 3 | 186 |
Will Merritt | 12 | Smithburg | MD | Northeast | 189 | 190 | 6 | 186 |
Nathan Henderson | 12 | JP McCaskey | PA | Northeast | 189 | 189 | 9 | 189 |
Graydon Morris | 9 | Aledo | TX | South | 189 | 190 | 7 | 183 |
Matthew Young | 12 | Jenks | OK | South | 189 | 189 | 10 | 186 |
Meika Beaudoin-Rousseau | 11 | Bellarmine | CA | West | 189 | 189 | 9 | 190 |
Zach Skolnekovich | 12 | Quaker Valley | PA | Northeast | 188 | 189 | 8 | 181 |
Drew Thompson | 11 | Fairfield Prep | CT | Northeast | 188 | 189 | 10 | 185 |
Joshua Schumacher | 11 | Jesuit | OR | West | 188 | 189 | 8 | 186 |
Jiraa Riding | 12 | Orem | UT | West | 187 | 187 | 10 | 183 |
Seven runners competed at NXN Nationals 2016 ... Sam Worley (2nd), Seth Hirsch (4th), Alex Maier (5th), Reed Brown (6th), Jack Aho (17th), Dylan Jacobs (19th) and Gabe Fendel (28th) ... So 4 of the top 6 finishers at NXN are at Foot Locker.
Based on the speed ratings, as many as 10 guys have a legitimate shot at winning this race depending on who's feeling good ... and that makes the race competitive and interesting.
Selected Individual Runners
Finn Gessner ... Qualified for NXN Nationals by winning the NXN Heartland Regional with a 199 speed rating ... Decided to skip NXN and concentrate on a top performance at Foot Locker ... an extra week of rest over the guys who did run NXN may be an advantage.
Sam Worley ... Has run exceptionally well during the entire 2016 XC season ... Won both the Foot Locker South and NXN South Regionals ... Has good closing speed ... Finished 2nd at NXN Nationals.
Seth Hirsch ... The top returning runner from Foot Locker 2015 ... Finished 4th at NXN Nationals ... Along with Finn Gessner, Seth Hirsch has a best individual speed rating of 199 which is tops in the field.
Noah Affolder ... The Foot Locker Northeast winner ... Finished 15th at Foot Locker 2015 ... A real threat to win this race.
Luis Grijalva ... The California State champion ... Possibly ran Foot Locker West only fast enough to qualify ... A real threat to win this race.
Talon Hull ... The Foot Locker West winner ... Finished 37th at Foot Locker 2015
Alexander Maier ... An exceptionally talented sophomore who has been competitive with top runners all season ... Finished 5th at NXN Nationals
Dylan Jacobs ... The Foot Locker Midwest winner ... Finished 19th at NXN Nationals
Reed Brown ... Finished 6th at NXN Nationals ... Finished 16th at Foot Locker 2015
Girls General Comment
A good field of competitors ... Claudia Lane is the favorite based on excellent seasonal performances ... Nevada Mareno finished 3rd at Foot Locker last year and is expected to be a serious contender for the win.
Seven underclassmen return this year from last year's Foot Locker ... The returning runners are Nevada Mareno (3rd last year), Jordan Oakes (20th last year), Alyssa Aldrich (23rd last year), Maria Coffin (27th last year), Kate Hunter (31st last year), Kayla Young (33rd last year) and Julia Heymach (36th last year)
Four runners competed at NXN Nationals 2016 ... India Johnson (9th), Anne Forsyth (14th), Lauren Peterson (30th) and Christina Geisler (40th).
Girls | Gr | School | St | Region | Overall Rating | Foot Locker Region Rating | FL Region Place | State Meet Rating |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Claudia Lane | 10 | Malibu | CA | West | 158 | 158 | 1 | 158 |
Nevada Mareno | 12 | Leesville Road | NC | South | 148++ | 147 | 1 | 148 |
Alyssa Aldridge | 11 | Mainland | NJ | Northeast | 153 | 153 | 1 | 153 |
Anne Forsyth | 11 | Ann Arbor Pioneer | MI | Midwest | 150 | 150 | 1 | 147 |
India Johnson | 12 | Hilliard Davidson | OH | Midwest | 150 | 144 | 2 | 145 |
Jacqueline Gaughan | 11 | Exeter | NH | Northeast | 148 | 148 | 2 | 147 |
Heather Holt | 11 | George C. Marshall | VA | South | 148 | 146 | 2 | 149 |
Maria Coffin | 11 | Annapolis Senior | MD | Northeast | 147 | 146 | 3 | 149 |
Niamh Schumacher | 12 | King's Academy | TN | South | 146 | 146 | 3 | 145 |
Grace Connolly | 10 | Natick | MA | Northeast | 145 | 145 | 4 | 142 |
Abigail Green | 11 | Walter Johnson | MD | Northeast | 145 | 143 | 9 | 147 |
Olivia Theis | 11 | Lansing Catholic | MI | Midwest | 144 | 143 | 5 | 145 |
Julia Heymach | 11 | Houston Lamar | TX | South | 144 | 139 | 8 | 145 |
Nicole Fegans | 12 | Landmark Christian | GA | South | 144 | 145 | 4 | 137 |
Jordan Oakes | 12 | Holy Names Academy | WA | West | 144 | 143 | 5 | 143 |
Kearan Nelson | 12 | Central Valley Sr | WA | West | 144 | 146 | 2 | 137 |
Alexandra Beitia | 12 | Granite Bay | CA | West | 143 | 144 | 3 | 143 |
Kayla Young | 12 | Denver North | CO | Midwest | 143 | 144 | 3 | 136 |
Lauren Peterson | 10 | Farmington | MN | Midwest | 143 | 143 | 4 | 135 |
Page Lester | 11 | National Cathedral | DC | Northeast | 143 | 144 | 5 | ~140 |
Hayley Jackson | 12 | Patuxent | MD | Northeast | 143 | 144 | 6 | 138 |
Rebecca Story | 11 | Christian Academy | TN | South | 143 | 141 | 6 | 141 |
Amanda Beach | 12 | Melbourne Central | FL | South | 142 | 144 | 5 | 132 |
Bailey Hertenstein | 11 | Riverview | FL | South | 142 | 140 | 7 | 142 |
Taryn Parks | 9 | Greencastle-Antrim | PA | Northeast | 142 | 144 | 7 | 126 |
Alison Willingmyre | 12 | Wilson | PA | Northeast | 142 | 144 | 8 | 137 |
Mattie Shirley-Fairbairn | 10 | Bismarck | ND | Midwest | 142 | 140 | 7 | 144 |
Lindsay Payne | 11 | Glenbard West | IL | Midwest | 142 | 140 | 8 | 143 |
Kate Hunter | 12 | Provo | UT | West | 142 | 144 | 4 | 132 |
Marea Zlatunich | 11 | Aptos | CA | West | 141 | 142 | 6 | 139 |
Kiera Marshall | 12 | St Joseph Notre Dame | CA | West | 141 | 141 | 7 | 140 |
Julien Webster | 12 | Catoctin | MD | Northeast | 141 | 143 | 10 | 118 |
Sara Platek | 12 | Ragsdale | NC | South | 140 | 139 | 9 | 142 |
Sara Musselman | 10 | American Fork | UT | West | 140 | 141 | 8 | 131 |
Christina Geisler | 12 | Carmel | IN | Midwest | 140 | 141 | 6 | 134 |
Kyla Christopher-Moody | 10 | West Bloomfield | MI | Midwest | 140 | 140 | 10 | 139 |
Ava Strenge | 12 | Battle Creek St Philip | MI | Midwest | 139 | 140 | 9 | 130 |
Jesselyn Bries | 11 | Sandra Day O Connor | AZ | West | 138 | 139 | 9 | 137 |
Katie Thronson | 11 | Lewis And Clark | WA | West | 138 | 138 | 10 | 140 |
Anna Marian Block | 11 | Athens Academy | GA | South | 137 | 136 | 10 | 13 |
Selected Individual Runners
Claudia Lane ... The Foot Locker West winner and top runner in California ... Has been improving throughout the season ... Popped 158 speed ratings at both Foot Locker West and the California State Meet (3rd fastest time ever at Woodward Park behind only Sarah Baxter and Julia Stamps).
Claudia Lane did race NXN Champion Brie Oakley at the Woodbridge Classic (Sept 17th) with Oakley winning by 23 seconds (153 and 145 speed ratings respectively) ... Both girls have shown improvement since that race nearly two-and-a-half months ago ... It would obviously be interesting to see them race now, but that's not going to happen.
Nevada Mareno ... The top returning runner from last year's Foot Locker where Nevada Mareno finished 3rd with a 160 speed rating ... Entering Foot Locker last year, she had a best speed rating of 157 when she broke the course record at WakeMed (the course used for NXN Southeast and the Great American Festival) ... Nevada Mareno ran a somewhat limited XC schedule this year and has not really been tested competitively ... she won Foot Locker South handily ... I'm guessing she can run significantly faster than this year's speed ratings ... I will not be surprised if she wins.
Alyssa Aldridge ... The Foot Locker Northeast winner ... Ran 153 speed ratings at both Foot Locker Northeast and the New Jersey Meet of Champions ... Finished 23rd at last year's Foot Locker.
Anne Forsyth ... The Foot Locker Midwest winner ... Finished 14th at NXN Nationals after taking 3rd at NXN Midwest.
India Johnson ... Finished 2nd at both Foot Locker Midwest and NXN Midwest ... Finished 9th at NXN Nationals.