Cross Country is a competitive sport. Athletes pushing themselves to their absolute limits in order to shave decimal points off their final time. Invariably, this strive for greatness breeds competition and, in turn, rivalries.
In the almost 50 years of the National High School Cross Country Championships, be it in its Kinney, Foot Locker or Brooks iterations of the event, several rivalries stand out as indicative of cross country’s power to connect through competition.
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Edward Cheserek vs. Futsum Zeinasellassie
Despite being one of the most decorated National High School Cross Country Champions that’s ever laced them up, Edward Cheserek was on the ropes when he met Futsum Zeinasellassie at the 2011 Foot Locker Cross Country Championship.
Cheserek emerged from the Northeast Regional as the champ, while Futsem Zeinasellassie, a three-time veteran of the national competition, only won his first Midwest Regional title that year. From the jump, the pair became intertwined at the National Meet, pushing each other and playing a game of cat and mouse from the jump.
Cheserek began to pull ahead slightly with a few hundred meters to go, but Zeinasellassie started to hawk him down. However, the Northeast champ did enough to hold off the surging Hoosier, as Cheserek finished less than a second ahead of Zeinasellassie in 14:52.
2011 became a sort of launching point for Cheserek, who won again in 2012 before becoming a dominant collegiate runner.
Dathan Ritzenhein vs. Alan Webb vs. Ryan Hall
The 2000 Foot Locker Cross Country Championships served as the battleground for a legendary collection of distance-running talent. Dathan Ritzenhein, Alan Webb and Ryan Hall arrived at the Disney World Oak Trail Golf Course in Orlando, Florida as three of the nation’s top runners.
Ritzenhein came in as the defending champ and ultimately proved to be untouchable once more, as the Grand Rapids, Michigan native captured consecutive titles — only the second boy to accomplish the feat — with a 14:35. Webb and Hall battled to the end, coming in at 14:55 and 14:59 for second and third, respectively.
While the battle in high school was a moment in time, their legacies have been etched in stone. All three competed in the Olympics, with Ritzehein and Hall competing in multiple Games, and Webb at one point held the American mile record with a 3:46.91 personal best.
Marc Davis vs. Bob Kennedy vs. Todd Williams
Marc Davis, Bob Kennedy and Todd Williams meeting at the 1986 Kinney Cross Country Championships was less the start of a rivalry, but more a fascinating snapshot at a triad of future professionals clashing competitively before they had even had their proms.
In the 1986 Kinney Cross Country Championships, Davis came in first, pushing his lead to 11 seconds as he crossed the finish line. Davis, an 11th grader, finished as the runner-up, and Kennedy was in third. Kennedy returned the year after to win a title of his own, but the three competitors’ stories were far from over.
The '86 competition’s talent was maybe the highest ever, as all three went on to successful professional careers. Davis eventually won U.S. titles in the 3000m and 5000m and competed in the Olympics in 1996. Kennedy became a legend in his own right, becoming a two-time olympian and American 15K road record holder. Williams, the winner of the high school race, went on to appear in two Olympics and won four U.S. 5000m titles.
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