Foggy. Frosty. Frigid. Shoe sucking NXN 2009

The sixth running of the Nike Cross Country National at Portland Meadows Raceway in Portland, OR held few surprises for the girls' race, as Fayetteville-Manlius of New York won their fourth consecutive title with 74 points, ahead of Saratoga Springs, New York with 147 points.


The Crusaders from Jesuit High School in Portland were 11th overall. Annamarie Maag, who finished second at the NXN NW regional meet placed 20th individually. The Crusaders won the NW NXN regional meet.  "To give it your all and be (around) 20th place is definitely weird," she told Doug Binder of the Oregonian. Maag is runner #143 at right. Coach Tom Rothenberger was pleased with his team's performance, their best finish ever at NXN.

In the individual race, Katie Flood, (pictured above) from
Dowling Catholic, IA outraced Kathleen Stevens of Blacksburg, VA (above left in orange) over the last few meters to win the girls race (17:42.2 vs. 17:48.6). Both girls are seniors.


Prognosticators said that anything could happen in the boys' race. At one point, Spokane's Ferris High School (with Lauren Fleshman) was leading the team score. At the award ceremony, Ferris and Boerne Champion, Texas runners shared the podium, with neither team knowing the winner until Tony Revis of Running and Racing fame provided the result. A scant 6 points separated the teams and Boerne rejoiced. The score: Boerne Champion 195. Ferris 201. "We trained that extra mile," said Nathan Christianson, who finished 40th overall. Boerne parents and grandparents were crying, pumping fists in the air, and hugging hard, having flown all the way from Texas for the meet. 

The boys' race was dominated by three juniors.
Craig Lutz, from Marcus, TX (15:09.2, left) flew past leader Joe Rosa, from West Windsor Plainsboro, NJ down the homestretch to win. Elias Gedyon from Loyola, CA (15:09.5) passed Rosa (15:09.8) for second place.


Portland fans were crazy for their runners. Among the faces in the crowd: Galen Rupp, Alan Webb, Mike Maag, Trevor Dunbar, athletes from the University of Portland and a Crusader contingent (pictured). Rupp, the NW team captain for the NXN this year offered this advice in the meet program, "Remember that running is a process and you have tons of races in your future. Never get too down or too up based on one performance. And run with courage!"



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