Footlocker South Regional Preview
Footlocker South Regional Preview
Now that the NCAA season has come to an end, all eyes move towards one of the most prestigious running events is cross country history. The Foot Locker Cross Country Championships will be held in San Diego, CA on Saturday, December 11th. The regional championships kick off this weekend with the South, Northeast and Midwest Regionals. The West Regional will take place next weekend at Mt. SAC. Flotrack will bring you video interview coverage of from each of the three regionals this weekend.
West Regional
Below Flotrack's North Carolina State Lead, Chris Catton, previews the boys race at South Regional that will take place in NC tomorrow.
Footlocker South Preview:
The emergence of the Nike Cross Country National Championships has certainly put a dent in the prestige of the Footlocker series. While 2009 was probably the best year in Footlocker South history with Craig Lutz, Kirubel Erassa, Jake Hurysz, Brandon Lord, and Matt Mizereck, this season appears to be wide open. The damages for the south starts this year at the top as last year's winner, Lutz, will skip his gauntlet of the Texas Championship Series, Nike South, Footlocker South, Nike Nationals, and Footlocker Nationals. Instead, Lutz will gear up for Portland Meadows with his Flower Mound Marcus teammates. Also giving Nike commitments are sophomore sensation Jacob Burcham of West Virginia, and Great American champion Armando Del Valle who finished a puzzling 8th at the Florida State Meet.
While this year's field seems to be as unpredictable as ever, there is no doubt that the times will be fast on this course than many believe is 85-100 meters short. Blake Williams of Northern Durham High School (NC), Ryan Pickering Leonard High School (FL), and Jimmy Clark Creekside High School (FL) look to be the 3 favorites for Saturday's race. Williams, a qualifier in 2010, 6th at the regional 14:52, and 20th in San Diego, has come on strong as of late, winning the North Carolina 4A championships, and running 9:10 at the Reagan 3200 meter tune up. Clark ran the fastest time of the day at the Florida State Meet, running 14:58 to to win the 3A race, but Ryan Pickering won the 4A race, clocking 15:03 and also posses a great weapon for this course, 4:11 speed.
Will Antokwiak, the Texas 4A state champion of Brenham, Texas and Cody Pelliccionni, 3rd at Great American and 2nd at the West Virginia 3A championships, look as if they have excellent chances at qualifying along, while sophomore Thomas Madden of Skyline, Ahmed Bile of Annandale, and Silas Frantz of Douglas S. Freeman while try to continue Virginia's historical representation at the national meet. Cody Barger of North Hall, Georgia had the fastest time of the day at the state meet and will give the Peach State a shot at San Diego.
A lot changes after a state meet. Jack Felix of Hilton Head, South Carolina did not have his best race at the state meet despite being a major favorite, but ran 9:22 in the Reagan 3200 tune up and might be the best chance for the state of South Carolina.
North Carolina looks to the state that is giving Footlocker its best shot as Graham Crawford (Walter Williams), Thomas Graham (Cary Academy), Scott Morgan (Calvary Baptist), and Bobby Mintz (Cary Christian) all have visions of Balboa Park. All should be confident on this course as each ran under 9:14 on November 13th for 3200 meters.