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| Wednesday, July 16 |
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| Foot Locker National Previews By Jeff Goodman SchoolSports.com | ||||||
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Rockford High (Mich.) senior Dathan Ritzenhein will look to defend his boys' title at Saturday's Foot Locker National Cross Country Championships in Orlando, Fla. The Colorado-bound runner joins Campbell County High (Wyo.) senior Alicia Craig as the favorites entering this year's boys' and girls' races. This marks the fourth year that the national championships will be held at the Oak Trail Golf Course at Shades of Green in Orlando. The top eight boys and girls from the four regional races earned a spot in the 32-runner field for nationals.
Ritzenhein defeated Donald Sage by more than four seconds last year, and his primary competition this time around should come from South Lakes High (Va.) senior Alan Webb, who finished eighth at last year's nationals and has improved dramatically in the past 12 months. But the scary thing is that Ritzenhein has also stepped it up from his junior campaign. "I feel like my endurance and strength are much better than last year," Ritzenhein told SchoolSports.com earlier this week. "But anything can happen on a given day. I guess I don't put a lot of stock in what people say is going to happen." Ritzenhein finished with a three-mile time of 14:29.8 last year, 36 seconds ahead of Webb. Ritzenhein also clocked the best time in all four regionals (14:35) last month, with Webb finishing with the only other sub-15:00 time at 14:43. The biggest surprise among the boys' regionals came when Seth Watkins of Flathead High (Mont.) won the West Regional last Saturday, upsetting Big Bear High's (Calif.) Ryan Hall. The win even shocked Watkins, who was simply hoping to finish in the top eight and earn a trip to Florida. "My goal was just to make it to the nationals," says Watkins, who finished 59th in the same race last year. "I wasn't even expected to finish in the top 24. "This weekend seems like a dream, I guess. It's really surprised me as much as everyone else. I'd like to finish in the top 10 at the nationals because there's a lot of awesome runners in the race, like Ritzenhein and Webb." Other top boys' runners expected to compete for the top five spots at nationals are Handley High's (Va.) Bobby Lockhart, who finished second to Webb in the South regional, The Colony High's (Texas) Steve Maddox and Novi High's (Mich.) Tim Moore. Craig has the upper hand entering the girls' race, but not by much. She finished third at nationals a year ago, just four seconds and one spot in front of Glendale Hoover High (Calif.) standout Anita Siraki. The duo went at it again at last weekend's West Regional, and it was Craig who came out on top with a time of 17:36, 15 seconds in front of second-place finisher Siraki. "The two-mile is going to be interesting," says Siraki, who hopes to improve upon last year's time of 17:23.99 and win the national title. "We don't get to race against each other often. I was told not to push it too hard in regionals, but I'm going to give it everything I have this weekend." "I just think it's going to come down to Alicia and me." But both Craig and Siraki may have to worry about Dickinson High's (Mont.) Penny Splichal, who boasts the top regional time of 17:23, 13 seconds faster than Craig's time. York Elm High's (Ill.) Maria Cicero and Adams Roch High's (Mich.) Katie Boyles could also compete for a top finish on Saturday.
Material from SchoolSports.com.Visit their web site at www.schoolsports.com | |
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