A foggy but warm day met the athletes at the Oak Trail Golf Course, the site of the 1999 Foot Locker Cross Country Championships.
The Midwest girls went over team stategy while Laurel Burdick from the Northeast
prepared for the race.
Alejandra Barrientos from the West took the early lead, but it was Katie
Hartmann who pushed the pace early on. The girls crossed the mile mark at
5:19 with Hartmann in the lead. Teammates Michelle de la Vina, Beth Hoge and
Amanda Pape joined Hartmann in the fast first mile along with the West's
Victoria Chang and Felicia Guliford.
Hartmann
remained in the lead for the next half mile, but Midwest teammate Victoria
Jackson (#31) took over and lead for the next mile with Chang and Guliford in
tow. The Midwest pack of Hartmann, Hoge and Pape kept contact along with
Alicia Craig from the West.
Felicia Guliford took the lead with a half mile to go, but fell
with 100m to go to allow Victoria Chang
to win the race with a course record 17:06. Victoria Jackson
was
second (17:15). Alicia Craig (17:19), Anita Siraki (17:24) and Guliford (17:30)
rounded out First Team All American.
The West Girls Team won the team competition edging out the Midwest Team.
In the boys race, Ian Dobson of the West took an early lead and held the lead
until deep into the race. The highly competitive lead pack which included
Dobson, Don Sage (Midwest), Tim Keller (Midwest), Dathan Ritzenhein (Midwest)
and Alan Webb (South) went through the mile mark at 4:37.
Dobson opened a lead. by the 1.5 mile mark and was followed closely by Webb and
a pack from the eventual team champion Midwest.
The pack tightened by the two mile mark with Dobson still in the lead.
With 600m to go, Ritzenhein made a move and took the lead.
The junior from Rockford, MI won in a course record 14:30. Sage (14:34)
took second by a lean over Dobson (14:34). Josh Rohatinsky (14:36) and Matthew
Tegenkamp (14:47) rounded out First Team All-American. The top 16 racers
all beat the old course record. The Midwest Team set a record for the
lowest team score.
Sage was hot and tired after the race.
Ritzenhein was flat out exhausted.