Foot Locker Northeast Regional
PA is sending three athletes to Foot Locker Nationals in San Diego. It was nearly five. Incredibly, but not surprisingly, it was nearly three from one team.
Angel Piccirillo, the Homer Center junior who has put her mark on Pennsylvania's track history book with two state titles and a Penn Relays title, has now put an exclamation stamp on her cross country credentials. Three weeks ago, she won a state title and was named PTFCA XC Athlete of the Year. On Saturday on the wicked, but perfectly designed layout, she punched her ticket to her first Foot Locker Nationals with a 6th place 18:27 in the girls' seeded race.
Video Interview with Angel Piccirillo
Cuffe actually arrived on Wednesday with her coach and family for a tourist view of New York, and an unnoticed preview of the course on Thanksgiving Day. She used the extra time to relax and to simultaneously focus on the plan and task at hand.
"It's a very fair course," opined her coach Michael Gentile the night before the race. "The start is fair, and each of the hills offers a fast downhill to regain momentum. It's almost a perfect course."
With a miler's speed and strength, the course is made for her. Piccirillo planned to get out aggressively, but found herself at 200 meters with eventual champ Aisling Cuffe pulling up along side. "I saw her and said 'uh-oh', and backed off a bit."
Her plan was to be in the top chase pack in 5th. That was exactly where she found herself at a mile and a quarter, and at the base of Cardiac Hill approaching the two mile point.
"I did exactly what my coach told me to do, and just survived the hill, keeping my form and keeping contact with the girls I was with."
On the ensuing downhill, it was time to open her stride and push.
"The rest of the way I could her people counting '5-6-7-8-9' so I knew they were right there. But coming down the finish, when I realized I was in the top ten, it was the best feeling ever."
The rest of a very strong contingent of PA girls did not fare as well. The top finisher behind Piccirillo was PIAA AAA runner-up and rising star frosh Paige Stoner of Pottsville (On left with her fan club). She was off the back of a large lead pack at .75, but by a mile and a quarter, she was back in the mix of the top chase pack. Her 15th place 18:41.4 was the top by a freshman. Last year, that mark would have earned her a trip to San Diego.
Returning finalist Sara Sargent - who led her Pennsbury team to the AAA state title three weeks ago - was in the mix early, but appeared to struggle a bit before the halfway point. She fought through it, and would finish in 18th in 18:47.3, just five seconds off her qualifying time of 2009.
Post-race, her coach Don Little, disclosed that Sargent has spent much of the season battling more than the competition and expectations. She was diagnosed shortly after the October 9th Manhattan Invitational with mono. Little says they cut her training and some dual meets, but that there was not a lot they could do to keep her competitive drive from demanding to race, and especially from leading her team. In context, 18th seems pretty remarkable.
Four other top PA girls would finish in the top 31 - District 1 champ Tori Gerlach, Pennridge, on 3rd Team All-Northeast in 23rd in 19:01.4; AAA state champ Lindsay Rheiner, Council Rock North, in 26th in 19:08.6; Emma Mahoney, Villa Joseph Marie, 29th in 19:20.5; and District 1 runner-up Katie KInkead, Central Bucks East, 31st in 19:23.0.
Chris Campbell (15) and North Hills' Juris Silenieks (485) at .75 miles)
Council Rock North's Chris Campbell tore up District 1, but did not achieve a season goal of winning a state title after finishing 4th in the state meet. He more than made up for it with a four-day, three-night trip San Diego for the Foot Locker Nationals. Near the front approaching and following the mile, he maintained his position throughout the race before finishing 8th in 15:46.7. Interestingly, the top 11 boys' times today were faster than the 2009 winning time. Also cracking that mark was the first of the incredible North Hills' trio. All three nearly qualified for Nationals. Story by Tom Moore in the Bucks County Intelligencer Journal
Video Interview with Zach Hebda (9th), Juris Silenieks (11th) and Joe Kush (13th)
Leading the charge in 9th was Zach Hebda (Below left: Campbell and Zach Hebda 13) at 1.5 miles) in 15:47.9. "The race started slow for m, and heading up Cardiac Hill, (teammate) Juris (Silenieks) was about 20-25 yards ahead. Over the top he was still ahead, so I sprinted and caught up with him." Hebda described the ensuing battle over the final 400 meters when he thought he had missed out by one spot. He hadn't.
But Silenieks had a battle of his own, and with a mere 10 meters left, thought he had secured the final ticket, when he was passed. He missed out by just 3/10th of a second in 15:50.6. "I was 11th in the state,
Just 11 seconds back in 13th was teammate Joe Kush, rounding out one of the more remarkable finishes by one team in the history of the meet.
Earning 2nd team All-Northeast was Tunkhannock's Reece Ayers, 16th in 16:05.6. Earning 3rd team were Chestnut Hill's Dustin Wilson, 17th in 16:089.0; Whitehall's Matt Kacyon, 19th in 16:18.5; and 2009 Foot Locker finalist and 2010 AAA state champ Ryan Gil of North Allegheny, 23rd in 16:21.8. PCL Champ Tom Trainer of LaSalle, captured 28th in 16:26.2.
Nike Cross Nationals Northeast Regional
Wade Endress - Margo Malone
If some athletes missed a spot at a national meet by tenths of a second, one PA athlete flipped the scenario, and qualified by a single TENTH of a second.
At the NXN Northeast Regional at Wappingers Falls, NY, Altoona's #1 and AAA State runner-up Wade Endress, captured the fifth and final individual berth in next Saturday's NXN Nationals in Portland, Oregon.
The meet accepts five individuals from each region. Endress was 5th in 16:03.9. Endress described the race as a back-and-forth battle that only intensified toward the final 400 meters. He passed the 6th place finisher on an uphill to the finish that then headed down to the line. (You can read about his race in his next PennTrackXC.com journal entry this coming week.)
Endress' Altoona team was a PA-best 7th overall with 283 points. State champ's West Chester Henderson was 14th, with Germantown Friends in 24th. The West Chester Henderson girls were 7th with 234 points.
Also making the trip to Portland will be junior Margo Malone of North Hills, who finished a strong 4th place in 18:47.7.
Photo by Tim Fulton, ArmoryTrack.com
