2010 FloAwards, Release #2

Oct 8, 2010 by FloTrack Staff

Our second release of the season is out after the first two major weekends of the season are in the books!

The 2010 FloAwards are here and taking a look at the top teams, individuals and freshman in the country. We will be following the results around the country each week in an effort to award those who are tops in each category come November 22nd.

Stay tuned for our next release after PreNats on October 21st.

MEN Individual	WOMEN Individual
1 Sam Chelanga	1 Lucy Van Dalen
Liberty Unsurprisingly Sam Chelanga’s opener, the Brooks Paul Short 8km, ended in victory. The defending champ looks like he’s set for another successful XC season. He doesn't need to be at his best to win most races, so the question of how hard he really ran will be asked after a lot of races.	Stony Brook Lucy Van Dalen (Stony Brook) - Certainly looks a force to be reckoned with after opening her season with an impressive victory at the Notre Dame Invitational in 16:22. She finished 4 seconds ahead of Sheila Reid. Her twin, Holly, finished in 6th. Lucy has 4:13 1,500 speed, which makes her dangerous in a homestretch battle and helped her top what will likely be the best field that will be assembled this year until NCAAs in a single race.
2 David McNeill	2 Sheila Reid
NAU One of the most likely guys to orchestrate a victory over Chelanga if everything is going right. He is coming off an 8th place finish in the Commonwealth Games 5k. Will the trip to India and racing all out on the track during the xc season effect him in November? We will see.	Villanova Finished 2nd in a very competitive field at Notre Dame and we hear her shoe was half off for more than the last mile. Defending the team title will likely be as important as the individual accolades come November, but she never backs down from a challenge in a race.
3 Chris Derrick	3 Emily Infeld
Stanford Knows what it feels like to snatch a victory from a front running Chelanga. A maturing Derrick spent a lot of last year's season up until NCAAs, running with his team's pack. With Luke Puskedra running at top form, he may have a little more non-teammate competition during the conference and regional meets.	Georgetown No longer a sleeper, last years 8th placer is now an obvious contender after winning the Paul Short XC in 20:04. She sat back with her team pack and made the move later in the race to win comfortably and, like Van Dalen, she has 4:13 speed.
Sleeper Luke Puskedra	Sleeper Charlotte Browning
Oregon Luke has always performed well at XC wearing is big O emblazoned Oregon Duck top. This year it seems to be business as usual. At the Note Dame Invitational, Puskedra was always looking to push the pace and took a convincing victory in 23:39. Coming up in two weeks he will have his home meet, so he woln't be at Pre-Nats to defend his title. He and Chris Derrick won the two respective Pre-Nats races last fall.	Florida The Florida Senior from England beat last week’s #1, Kendra Schaaf (4th),and took the overall victory at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational. It looks like Browning is continuing her great form after a sterling 2010 track campaign where she captured the indoor mile and outdoor 1500m titles, and also the Florida 1500m record 4:12.40. So far this is looking like the year of the 1500 runners. We will see is the 5k/10k girls make some noise Pre-Nats weekend.
Others Receiving Votes: German Fernandez (OK State), Stephen Sambu (Arizona), Dorian Ulrey (Arkansas), Girma Mecheso (Ok State), Jordan Chipangama (NAU), Ben Cheruiyot (Auburn), Don Cabral (Princeton), Andy Bayer (Indiana), Matt Centrowitz (Oregon)	Others Receiving Votes: Amanda Marino (Villanova), Jordan Hasay (Oregon), Kendra Schaaf (UNC), Alex Kosinski (Oregon), Catherine White (Virginia), Risper Kimayo (UTEP), Laura Tremblay (Colorado)
MEN TEAM	WOMEN TEAM
1 Stanford	1 Villanova
Cardinal No races this week by any of the top ranked teams means not much movement up top. The more they race, we will see if they can tighten up the pack and if guys like Brendan Gregg, who didn't run at the opener, will be running this season and help round out the back end of the scorers.	Wildcats The Wildcats passed their first test of the season with flying colors. Led home by 2nd placer Sheila Reid they trounced Oregon and FSU, who are the second and third ranked teams respectively. They had 3 in the top 7 in a super competitive race. Frosh Emily Lipari looked good in her opener to round out the scoring.
2 Oklahoma State	2 Oregon
Cowboys Still unsure on whom their 5th scorers will be, the Cowboys will have to wait for Chile Pepper on the 16th to get a clearer idea. Will it be some new blood or some veterans who cement themselves in that 5th spot?	Ducks Placed second behind the top ranked Villanova at Notre Dame. Led home by Jordan Hasay (8th) and Alex Kosinski(9th). who knows if Hasay would have placed higher without the loss of her show in the last half mile. Red-shirt freshman Lanie Thompson of New Jersey.
3 Northern Arizona	3 Florida State
Lumberjacks Better than they showed at the opener at Stanford, the Lumberjacks usually show their cards for the first time at Pre-Nats and we can see what kind of shape the 2-5 guys are in, as we know McNeill is solid after his Stanford win.	Seminoles Took 3rd at the super competitive Note Dame Invite. Pilar Mcshine was their top finisher in 15th and the team packed pretty well behind her. There is room for improvement at Pasca Cheriyot, a top 15 finisher at NCAAs last year, did not have her best day at Notre Dame.
Sleeper Oregon	Sleeper Georgetown
Ducks One of the only top teams on the men's side to race this weekend, they looked solid winning at Notre Dame. Puskedra looks to be on the right track, and Centro looked great over the last mile to finish 3rd. Look for 3:53 mile AJ Acosta to be better than he was in the opener. He raced further into the summer than he has in the past.	Hoyas 1st last year, the team returns with more experience as well as a couple of good freshmen, most notably Maddie Chambers who finished 6th at the Paul Short XC helping Georgetown to the win. Junior Emily Infield took the overall victory and the pack looked strong through 4k. The closer that pack can stay to Infeld, the more dangerous this team becomes.
Others Receiving Votes: Indiana, Colorado, Arkansas, Iona, Wisconsin, New Mexico	Others Receiving Votes: Texas Tech, Arizona, Stanford, Colorado
Under Armour FLOFrosh (M)*	Under Armour FLOFrosh (W)*
1 Parker Stinson (55)	1 Emily Sisson (89)
Oregon Parker was the first true freshman across the line at the Notre Dame Invite this past weekend, finishing in 24:38 for 36th in his first big college race. He is an asset to the ducks, who won as a team. Even though he was the 7th duck, he beat every other team's 5th man and was only 59 seconds back from Oregon's #1, giving them an excellent 1-7 spread.	Wisconsin Expectations were high for the High School Record Holder's college debut. Emily ran well, placing 14th at her home meet, but he track times suggest she has better in her. She raced long into the summer, so maybe it will take some time before Emily is really back looking sharp.
2 Jake Hurysz (32)	2 Laura Hoer (76)
UNC Jake was the top frosh at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational and the third Tar Heel. He finished 46th in a deep meet with a time of 24:24 and has shown improvement over the past few races.	NC State Laura did not race this week, but voters didn't forget her. She is still the only frosh with a big meet win from Griak two weeks ago. She'll be in action at Pre-Nats next weekend in Terre Haute.
3 Chris Foley (27)	3 Emily Lipari (65)
Virginia Chris puts his name out there as a freshman to watch this past weekend with a nice 25th place finish at Paul Short with a time of 24:35. Not only was he the top freshman in the meet, but he also helped Cavaliers take home the team title as their 3rd man.	Villanova Emily was the top freshman at the stacked Notre Dame Invite in placing 31st in 17:20. Not only that, she helped round out a front heavy Villanova team as their final scorer. Watch for her to close that gap as the season progresses. Next up: Penn State.
Sleeper Alex Hatz (14)	Sleeper Katie Flood (27)
Wisconsin The star miler did not race at the team's home meet, but fan voting has kept his on the radar. We will see in the next few weeks if he will be racing, or red-shirting his fall.	Washington She ran unattatched at her home meet, but looked really good. So good that it looks like she may not be red-shirting this season, despite setbacks over the summer. Keep an eye out for her in the Husky uniform at Pre-Nats.
Others Receiving Votes: Matt McElroy (Ok State), Jakub Zivec (FSU), Erik Olson (Stanford), Kirubel Erassa (Ok State), Tyler Anyan (Georgetown), Matt Mizerack (Florida), Brian Cantero (Arkansas), Ty McCormack (Clemson), Martin Grady (Notre Dame), Olivier Collin (Fresno State)	Others Receiving Votes: Erin Menefee (Arizona), Joanna Stevens (Georgetown), Megan Goethals (Washington), Maddie Chambers (Georgetown)
* Fan Votes in ()****	* Fan Votes in ()****