U.S. Fayetteville-Manlius earns their trip to NTN
The last Nike Team National Regionals took place Saturday morning and afternoon, as the New York, Northeast and Southeast Regions were each run. Some teams surprisingly qualified for NTN, while a few top teams did not live up to expectations. Check in for summaries, articles, photos and videos of each region. New information will be posted throughout the next few days.
MileSplit Coverage: Nike Team National Regionals (Nov. 24)
NTN New York Regional
Girls Qualifiers: Fayetteville-Manlius & Burnt-Hills
Boys Qualifiers: Shenendehowa & Warwick Valley
Results: Boys Ind. / Boys Team / Girls Ind. / Girls Team
The girls of New York have dominated Nike Team Nationals since its inception in 2004. It seems like each year if New York could enter five teams they would most certainly place all of them in the top ten. This year the depth of the region proves once again that New York is the state to beat next Saturday in Portland.
Fayetteville-Manlius dominated the seven team race, scoring a mere 40 points to oust runner-up Burnt-Hills by 32 points. The Stotans of F-M ran strong up top, placing three in the top six, while bringing their 4-5 runners back in the top 15. Behind F-M the battle for second raged. Burnt-Hills eaked out a small victory over rival Saratoga Springs, as the two ranked squads finished 11 points apart, 72-83. Burnt-Hills followed the lead of race winner Sam Roecker. Roecker bested second place finisher Hannah Davidson by eleven seconds, winning in 18:18.
Saratoga Springs' loss means they need to wait now to see if they get one of the at-large bids. Behind Saratoga was fourth place finisher Warwick Valley, finishing with 98 points, while East Aurora (99 points) and Greenwich (106 points) rounded out the top six.
Shenendehowa beat Warwick Valley for the team title in the boys race, pulling away early with a solid 37-57 win. Shen. used their potent pack to once again win a race. Their 43 second split crushed what Warwick Valley tried to throw at them. The squad placed four in the top ten, depth that very few teams in the nation can show.
Warwick Valley placed second by the rest of the field by at least forty points. The team placed two runners in the top eight, while their 3-5 scored between 11-22 places. New York's representation is strong heading to Portland next weekend, so once again beware.
NTN Northeast Regional
Girls Qualifiers: Lincoln-Sudbury (MA) & Voorhees (NJ)
Boys Qualifiers: Brookline (MA) & Danbury (CT)
Results: Boys Ind. / Boys Team / Girls Ind. / Girls Team
Race Videos: Boys Race
Up top, Brookline's Robert Gibson won the individual title over Germantown Friends' (PA) Max Kaulbach. Both seniors ran stride with each other over the final sprint the finish, with Gibson outleaning Kaulbach 16:00-16:01. Fifteen seconds back from Kaulbach came Brookline's number two runner David Wilson. This gave Brookline four points and early lead.
That lead would not last long as Danbury's senior leaders Willie Ahearn and Matt Terry finished 4-5 respectively. Brookline pushed back with a dominant 3-4 that basically won them the meet, as their fifth runner was 26 points behind Danbury's five. Brookline inched out the win 86-87, both squads earning berths to Nike Team Nationals. Don Bosco (NJ) finished a strong third with 96 points, while U.S. ranked North Penn (PA) finished fourth with 106 points.
The girls side sparked an upset of sorts. Hanover (NH) entered the meet as co-favorites with Voorhees (NJ). Both squads clearly distinguished themselves from the rest of the field during the season. However, anything can happen on race day, and the strength of race winner Lincoln-Sudbury and Voorhees' third runner clearly out-matched Hanover's, thus earning them the two NTN qualifying spots.
Lincoln-Sudbury beat Voorhees 69-73, as both squads placed numerous runners in the top ten. L-S's leaders, Andrea Keklak and Dana Jamieson, both finished in the top eight, while Voorhees placed three runners in the top ten, led by second place finisher Melanie Thompson. The 45 second 1-5 split for Lincoln-Sudbury won them the race, while Voorhees beat third place Hanover 73-83.
Hanover senior Georgia Griffin won the race by 13 seconds over Thompson in 18:53. Many thought this battle of titans would be a sprint to the finish, but Griffin proved tops on the day, showing why she may be one of the top ten girls in the country. Hanover now awaits the word on whether or not they will receive an at-large bid.
NTN Southeast Regional
Girls Qualifiers: Collins Hill (GA) & Tatnall (DE)
Boys Qualifiers: Oak Ridge (TN) & Thomas Jefferson (VA)
NTN Southeast Regional Photo Album
Race Videos: Girls Seeded Race
State Summaries: Alabama / North Carolina
Few expected the outcome of the girls race Saturday at the NTN Southeast Regional to come out the way it did. U.S. #3 Mountain Brook (AL) entered the meet as a huge pre-race favorite. The squad went out to the Bob Firman Invitational and beat many of the top teams in the Northwest, then came back and smoked the competition at the Great American XC Festival. Those two wins led many to believe that Mountain Brook could be at least top five at NTN, if not much higher.
As the race played out, Mountain Brook showed a very strong top two in race winner Madeline Morgan and seventh place Marie Demedicis. Their minute split from 2-5 created too much of a gap however, where other teams snuck in and scored lower points. Mountain Brook finished a strong third with 88 points, but missed out on an automatic NTN berth by nine points.
The winner of the girls race came from Suwanee XC Club. Suwanee, aka Collins Hill H.S. (GA), ran a near perfect race for them. The squad placed three in the top ten and their fourth right at fifteenth place. Their total of 68 points beat runner-up Tatnall (DE) by eleven points. Tatnall polished off their NTN berth with a strong 17 second split from 2-5. While the team only had one runner in the top ten, like many races, the pack often times wins the race.
Individually, Madeline Morgan won the race in 18:26, nine seconds ahead of Suwanee's Amanda Winslow. Placing third was Juliet Bottorff of Tatnall. The front runner finished with a time of 18:40. The top three definitely distinguished themselves from the rest of the field, placing a gap between third and fourth of over twenty seconds.
The boys race was equally as exciting, but in a different way. While the girls race didn't produce two clear cut teams, with Mountain Brook finishing so close to second place Tatnall, Oak Ridge (TN) and Thomas Jefferson (VA) both knew by the finish of the race that they wrapped up their trips to Portland. It was just all a matter of who won.
Both Oak Ridge and Thomas Jefferson ran strong pack races. Through three runners the two teams were tied with 26 points a piece. The team from Tennessee pulled out the win with a strong 4-5 back end combination to beat TJ 90-98. Maclean O'Donnell led the way for Oak Ridge winning the race in 15:54, 17 seconds up on second place finisher Patrick McGregor (Birmingham XC, AL). Brian Landry placed third to lead Thomas Jefferson.
Chattanooga XC (Baylor H.S., TN) finished in a dogfight with Oakton (VA) for third. Chattanooga used a powerful tandem up front to beat the quick finishing Oakton squad. Waldo du Plessis and Bill Matthews finished fourth and fifth respectively for the squad. Oakton's top two came in at ninth at tenth. The two squads finished one point apart as Chattanooga won 125-126.