FM makes it 4 in a row at NXN; NY shows dominance

 

By Christopher Hunt

PORTLAND, Ore. -- They said they wanted to make a statement. Fayetteville-Manilus were already three-time national champions. There wasn’t a person that followed the race that didn’t expect that they would win. They are, and have been, by far the best team in the country.  So really, what was there left to say?

“We just wanted to show everyone that we can to this again,” said junior Courtney Chapman. “We don’t want to be the typical championship team. We don’t want to get complacent.”’

F-M proved long ago that the word “typical” doesn’t pertain to the girls team, which completely dominated the Nike Cross Nationals at the Portland Meadows Raceway with a jaw-dropping 74 points. Molly Malone assured that there is no secret formula that unleashes superhuman powers.

“There’s nothing really special about us,” she said. “We just normal kids. We just work really hard. We’re just your average national champions”

Malone, who finished in 24th place overall, laughed at the last part but her tone was meant to dispel the thought that there is some curtain that hides that magical act that is Fayetteville-Manilus. Often dominant cross country programs and followed by rumors of over-bearing coaches that demolish their runners in practice. Head coach Bill Aris and his son, assistant coach John Aris, have not been immune.

“They’re such great people,” Chapman said. “They’re so many rumors about them being to intense or crazy but they’re great coaches. They’re like my family. They’re probably the best coaches that I will ever have.”

Chapman looked strong in the race after bonking at the NXN New York Regional last weekend at Bowdoin Park, where she felt light-headed halfway through the race and had trouble recovering afterward.

“I don’t know what happened,” she said. “It was weird. I think maybe I didn’t hydrate enough. I definitely didn’t want that to happen here.”

Chapman said she felt better later that day and ran with the team the following day. Saturday though, Chapman and Malone set the pace early while F-M led by more than 200 points through the first two kilometers. Katie Sischo led the team in 21st followed by Malone and then Chapman in 26th overall. Jillian Fanning finished 28th and MacKenzie Carter 36th.  They managed a 16-second 5-man compression.

“Interchangeability is key,” Bill Aris said. “We don’t even like to use the terminology ‘first man’, ‘second man’, ‘third man.’ Someone asked me the other day who our No. 1 girl was and I said, “Pick one. We have seven of them.’”

F-M’s win marked the sixth time in the six years of the NTN/NXN series that a New York team won the national title. Saratoga Springs (Kinetic XC) and Hilton won the first two. Kinetic finished second Saturday with 147 points. New York’s Adirondack XC (Queensbury) finished seventh and Clifton Park XC (Shenendehowa) eighth.

“If that says one thing it’s that New York rocks,” said Kinetic XC coach Linda Kranick.

 It’s no surprise that Saratoga placed second. Even after a fourth place finish last year that was a result of 6 of their 7 runners falling in the first kilometer of the race.

“We learned a lot of that,” senior Brianne Bellon said. And what exactly did they learn? “How not to fall,” she said.

More seriously, Saratoga made sure to storm off the start line to avoid being pinched by the massive group, dense with quality runners.

“Some people might have underestimated us because of what happened last year,” senior Brianna Bellon said. “But this is what we wanted. This is what we’ve been working for.”

The individual title, much like the boys, was decided in the last 100 meters when Catherine Flood of Des Moines XC outkicked Kathleen Stevens of Blacksburg XC and California’s Rebecca Mehra. Stevens had taken the lead after the 3K mark but it looked like Mehra, the sophomore from Palos Verdes, might have pulled off the upset, Flood blasted passed them both.

“I just tried to stay with them as long as I could and in the last 1K, I figured I’d give it all I could,” she said. “Why not?”

Flood finished second as a sophomore at NXN and qualified last year but skipped the meet. She had a 4 ½ inch growth spurt that caused havoc with her running form and pain in her knees.

“It was disappointing,” she said. “But everyone goes through it. I just had to go through it and my family and my teammates where there for me. This is just really exciting.”

 

Reach Christopher Hunt at chunt@armorytrack.com