The final cross country meet of the season, Footlocker, was competed Saturday at Morley Field in San Diego. Here is a recap of the races.
Girls 5K
Forty girls from four regions lined up for the first race of the day. Zariel Macchia of William Floyd High School of New York was one of two athletes in the race competing at Footlocker for the fourth time. Macchia took nearly a three second lead at mile one. At the halfway point of the race, Macchia's lead was cut down to a second with five runners closing the gap. At the two mile mark, Elizabeth Leachman of Boerne Champion of Texas had taken the lead with Victoria Garces of Midland Dow of Michigan moving into second place. Leachman won Footlocke last year and was poised to repeat as champion. At the finish, Leachman won in a time of 17:31.1 with Garces second at 17:39.9 and Macchia third at 17:49.6. Ruby Ihmels of Century High School of North Dakota finished fourth in a time of 17:50.5 and Libby Dowty of Indian Creek High School of Indiana finished fifth in a time of 17:55.9.
Leachman and Garces also made the podium last week at NXN with Garces finishing second at both NXN and Footlocker and Leachman finishing third at NXN. Leachman also led the South team to a one point victory over the Midwest team with the Northeast finishing third and the West coming in fourth. Jaelyn Williams of Eastlake of California was the top West finisher at ninth in a time 18:04.9. Williams earned second team All-American honors.
Click HERE for the photo gallery of the girl's race.
Boys 5K
There were seven boys within one second of each other at the first mile of the boy's 5K. At mile two, Tamrat Gavenas of Phillips Academy Andover of Massachusetts and Sam Quagliaroli of Fishers High School of Indiiana came by the two mile mark just under the ten minute mark. Gavenas eventually pulled away from the field to win in a time of 15:23.9. Gavenas was the top returner from last year's race with his third place finish. Juan Gonzalez of Fremont High School of Nebraska finished second in 15:27.4, Jack Graffeo of Westford Academy of Massachusetts was third in 15:34.5, Quagliaroli was fourth in 15:35.0 and Keegan Smith of Knoxville Catholic of Tennessee finished fifth in a time of 15:41.6.
The Midwest placed their five runners in the top ten to win the team competition. The Northeast came in second, West in third and South in fourth. Two west coast athletes earned All American status. Vincent Recupero of Bishop Blanchet of Washington earned second team honors with his eighth place and Trey Caldwell of De La Salle of California earned third team honors with his twelfth place finish.
Click HERE for the photo gallery of the boy's race.
Also, click HERE for pictures from Friday's Footlocker course run.
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