After what was possibly the greatest race in girl’s XC
history Alexa Efraimson reigned supreme at NXN with an unreal closing kick to
take down Sarah Baxter and Elise Cranny… Baxter was the 2x defending champion
going in… Efraimson will be back next year, but all 3 girls, ranked 1-3 in the
nation, were at NXN, so who does that leave for Footlocker?
Well at the top of that list on both Footlocker and
TullyRunner ratings, is none other than PA’s own Tessa Barrett. Barrett has
torched course records this season left and right. US #23 Courtney Smith was
also a regional champion for PA and went on to place 10th at
nationals despite a hard fall 1k in. I have got to imagine she would have been
in the top 5-7 otherwise. Clearly PA girls are bringing it this season at a
national level.
Barrett does have some competition though, especially from
Makena Morley the junior from Big Fork. She won her regional by 20 seconds and
3rd place was 50 seconds back! Morley is from the west so she also
has the time zone advantage along with a solid 10:30 3200 to her name.
The Mid-West girls are bringing it this year with 4 of the
top 5 having broken 4:50 for 1600! 4th place finisher Taylor Werner
(US#5) just finished 5th at NXN and is the top girl running both.
Kelcy Welch (US#11), the regional champion, finished 14th, helping
her team take 4th overall. Stephanie Jenks (US#13) ran 4:44, 2:12,
and 10:22 as just a freshman last season and will be a major threat as well out
of the region. (Also of note: Hannah Long (US#14) and Rebekah Topham).
Out of the south region, the champion Caroline Alcorta
(US#6) has that national championship on her mind after winning by 9 seconds.
She holds a strong PR of 10:19 for two miles. Behind her was US#25, Amelia
Paladino, who will look to grab an All-American spot.
She will also be challenged again by the Northeast girls,
topped off by 3rd place finisher Hannah DeBalsi. DeBalsi ran
4:48/10:10 as just a freshman last year and could pose a major threat sitting
at US #8. Second place finisher Anoush Shehadeh (US#10) also looks to take down
Barrett with a second chance.
Werner, Alcorta, and DeBalsi seem to be the strongest
challengers to Barrett’s title run, but it seems as though All-American is a
shoe in for this young lady. That along with a top 5 finish would be fantastic.
No Northeast regional champion has ever won FL nationals, could Barrett be the
first? Her time is the fastest in recent history out of the Northeast
Qualifier.
Other PA girls behind her are US# 15 Brianna Schwartz and
bubble runner Regan Rome from Dallas. Schwartz is another stud girl in the
field who is 10th going into the race based on Saucony’s top 50 Individual
rankings. If Schwartz can find a nice rhythm in a pack behind the lead group,
she should be able to push home for All-America. A lot of girls at the meet are
sub 4:50 milers, so the finish should be fast; a benefit to Schwartz.
Regan Rome finished 19th at nationals last season
and has run slightly faster this season than last, it seems as though some of
the competition has gotten even better. Rome will be shooting for a top 25
finish, but I wouldn’t be shocked seeing her mix it up for an All-American spot
after coming so close last season. She has the FL experience already, which
should make it easier for her to stay focused and know what it takes to be on
her game.
This may not be as a front heavy race as NXN was, but the number of girls who could possibly compete for this title is going to make it a very special race 1-5. Behind that front pack is another pack of 5 to 10 girls all looking to break into the top 5-10 and grab first team All-American.
--ForrestCRN
Thank you for doing a post about girls! I think the reason there doesn't seem to be much interest in the posts about girls on here is because they are so rarely mentioned, that the only audience on this site is guys and few of them are interested in the girls' side of running. The more you start posting about girls, the more the audience will expand and the more interest will grow.
ReplyDeleteGood breakdown of the top contenders. Having a PA winner would be huge and Barrett certainly has been running well this season and has to be the favorite. That said, I like Schwartz to be AA.
ReplyDeleteHenderson basically had the same season in 2013 as they had in 2012, except Knapp improved and replaced Rimkiss, Waltz replaced Haugh (remember him?) and Moy replaced last years Knapp. Great team both years, but weirdly similar in accomplishments - JEB
ReplyDeleteForrest, great post about the top girls. Some posts about the top girls will certainly bring new female readers. Not sure how we made it back to the Henderson boys team....again.
ReplyDeleteDidn't realize that she was the highest ranked runner at FL. She should do extremely well, and you can tell she isn't cocky so she'll run smart. Look for amazing things out of this girl for years to come.
ReplyDeleteBarrett will be in the top 5, unless something happens during the race. She is unreal and knows how to race smart. She learned from States about taking it out too fast, so she definitely will not be leading this race.
ReplyDeleteSchwartz is a speed demon and her last 400 meters I bet she jumps 5-10 places and earns herself an AA spot.
Rome was just off of AA last year and has raced better this year, except for the all league meet, but I'm pretty sure she didn't kill that race because she tried to pace her sister to a PR. They went 1-2 in the race and no reason to kill it when you're going to win and already have the CR.
-RTJ