Minnesota's Mead, Nebraska 's Sisson win Foot Locker regionals
Kenosha , Wis. , Nov. 25---A Minnesota senior and a Nebraska freshman claimed Foot Locker Midwest Regional cross country titles here Saturday over the 5,000-meter course at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.
Running under partly cloudy skies with the temperature in the high 50s and with little wind, Hassan Mead, the Minnesota Class AA champion from Minneapolis South High School , closed well to take the win in 15:05 , five seconds ahead of the 2-3-4 placers who crossed the finish line in 15:10 and whose places were separated by the camera.
Sisson, a ninth-grader at Omaha Marion High School who is only in her third year of running but won a state title, overtook Kaitlyn Vanatta of Arvada, Colo., late in her 5K race and then held on to win in 17:13, three seconds ahead of the runner-up.
Mead and Sisson lead the 10-runner boys' and girls' teams from the Midwest region that will vie in the 28 th annual Foot Locker National Championships Dec. 9 in San Diego . Teams will also represent the Northeast, the South and the West.
The blanket finish by the nine national qualifiers after Mead was one of the closest in the history of the meet, with the fifth, sixth and seventh placers at 15:12 and 15:13 and the eighth through tenth placers within six seconds of sixth. In contrast, the girls' race was a bit more spread out after the tight battle for first, with the tenth and final national qualifier 51 seconds behind Sisson.
“I tried taking over and did for maybe a minute but she (Vanatta) came back and took the lead and got ahead a bit, but then at the end I then just tried to for it,” Sisson said. “She was leading pretty much the whole race but I was right on her shoulder. I tried to get a good start and I wanted to hang with them as much as I could to see if I could.”
Mead, by contrast, started out somewhere back in the pack in the boys' race. “I was almost in the middle in the first 800 meters so I thought there were too many guys ahead of me,” said Mead, who's bound for the University of Minnesota next fall. “I kind of made my move through the race and after the first mile I started passing some people, but it got tough to pass going through the wet part, like kind of slipping backward. I just wanted to qualify. But I felt good at the last hill and turn, went up it and they didn't catch up to me.”
The remaining nine qualifiers out of the boys' race were Anguel Tolev, a senior from Northglenn, Colo., (Thornton H.S.), second in 15:10; Elliott Heath, a senior from Winona, Minn., third in 15:10; Emil Heineking, a senior from Chardon, Ohio, fourth in 15:10; Evan Appel, a sophomore from Littleton, Colo., (Dakota Ridge H.S.), fifth in 15:12.
Also, Joseph Manilafasha, a sophomore from Denver (North H.S.), sixth in 15:13; Robert Moldovan, a senior from Fort Wayne , Ind. (Northrop H.S.), seventh in 15:13; Richard Medina, a senior from Grand Junction, Colo., eighth in 15:18; De'Sean Turner, a senior from Indianapolis (Warren Central H.S.), ninth in 15:18; and Dan Chenoweth, a senior from Geneseo, Ill., tenth in 15:19.
The eight other qualifiers behind Sisson and Vanatta were Emily Infield, a junior from University Heights , Ohio (Beaumont H.S.), third in 17:43; Alex Gits, a senior from Edina , Minn. , fourth in 17:44; Kristen McGlynn, a senior from Bailey, Colo., fifth in 17:50.
Also, Allison Eckert, a senior from Sioux Falls, S.D. (Roosevelt), sixth in 17:56; Katelyn Bastert, a senior from Carthage, Ill., seventh in 17:59; Betsy Bies, a senior from Yankton, S.D., eighth in 18:01; Marissa Treece, a senior from Maple City, Mich. (Glenlake), ninth in 18:03; and Alexandra Banfich, a junior from Plymouth, Ind. (Culver Academies), tenth in 18:04.
High school runners from Colorado , Illinois , Indiana , Iowa , Kansas , Michigan , Minnesota , Missouri , Nebraska , North Dakota , Ohio , South Dakota and Wisconsin are eligible for the competition.