posted Dec-06-2003 06:06 PM               

NORTHEAST

1) "bad@ss" Ben True
2) Victor "the frenchman" Gras
3) Gavin "Gavinator" Coombs
4) Josh "mackdaddy" McDougal
5) Corey "code-red" Thorne
6) "lopin" Lopez Lomong
7) "jivin" Jonathon Anderson
8) Ahmed "the hammer" Haji

1) Nicole "the bloody" Blood
2) Brittany "bone-crushing" Sedberry
3) "amazin" Aislinn Ryan
4) "leapin" Linsdey Ferguson
5) Frances "killer" Koons
6) "Luscious" Lindsay Donaldson
7)"jammin" Jennifer Clausen
8) "all-out" Alison Kieffer

SOUTH

1) Brian "speedy" Sullivan
2) Erik "the eradicator" Stanley
3) James "strangler" Strang
4) Scott "mighty" MacPherson
5) Andrew "bumbler" Bumbalough
6) Eric "mackadocious" Mack
7) Nicholas *hutchinator" Hutchins
8) "kickin" Kyle Miller

1) Jennifer "the ringer" Barringer
2) "angellic" Angelina Blackmon
3) Erin "rebel" Bedell
4) Kate "notorious "Niehaus
5) "mad" Madonna Schuele
6) "ragin" Rachael Forish
7) Laura "bow-wow" Bowerman
8) Beth "fartlek" Fahey

MIDWEST

1) "mileage man" Matt Withrow
2) "cryin" Ryan Deak
3) "garralous" Garrett Heath
4) Bradley "heartbreaker" Harkrader
5) Neal "naughty" Naughton
6) "crazy" Christian Wagner
7) Ryan "gaspin" Gasper
8) Justin "blitzer" Switzer

1) Katelyn "k-squared" Kaltenbach
2) "ravaging" Ramsey Kavan
3) "sizzlin" Sunni Olding
4) Racheal "marchin" Marchand
5) "monstrous" Morgan Schulz
6) Katie "hillclimber" Harrington
7) Alissa "milesplit" McKaig
8) Amber "floorin" Warren

WEST

1) Shadrack "I'm a kenyan citizen trying to hijack a U.S national chamionship" Kiptoo
2) Mohamed "trackrat" Trafeh
3) "gallopin" Galen Rupp
4) "stupendous" Stuart Eagon
5) "revin" Evan Garber
6) Mark "M&M" Matusak
7) Alex "the destroyer" Dunn
8) "tommygun" Tom Wyatt

1) Zoey "the Zephyr" Nelson
2) Linsday "fast-twitch" Flacks
3) Collie "lightspeed" Lawrence
4) Marie "mini-lightspeed" Lawrence
5) "magnificent" Melissa Grelli
6) "lightning" Liza Pasciuto
7) Clair "the flare" Rethmeier
8) "rapid" Rachel Bryan

There you have it, 64 competitors, 2 champions in this epic annual contest, pitting everyone head-to-head, the objective being to outrun-outkick-outpuke. who shall emerge victorious? discuss!

(i'm really bored in case y'all cant tell)

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posted Dec-06-2003 06:34 PM               

Luscious Lindsay? haha

I wish she was still up racing at Blood's level. Her race at brown surprised many but she hasnt come close to that kind of performance since, it seems.

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JJ

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posted Dec-06-2003 07:20 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by RunInCircles:

Luscious Lindsay? haha

I wish she was still up racing at Blood's level. Her race at brown surprised many but she hasnt come close to that kind of performance since, it seems.

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lol, dont ask!

She did have a strong race at Mass. States a couple weeks ago, but definately nothing like her miracle race at brown. perhaps a victim of peaking too early? Nonetheless, she's a pretty tremendous athlete given the fact that this is her first season of CC.

Pretty cool interview with her here: http://www.fast-women.com/athletes/interviews/lindsaydonaldson.html

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posted Dec-06-2003 08:00 PM            

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"i hate this game"

http://www.photoreflect.com/scripts/prsm.dll?eventorder?photo=04BN001A020154&start=0&album=0&adjust=-1

Cullen</A>

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posted Dec-09-2003 05:20 PM               

This year's predictions are especially difficult due to all the contenders being in extremely close proximity with each other. I think we all know from history that just about anything can happen in this sport anyway. Thus, i'm hesitant to dish out any detailed predictions of what will happen.

I think the main question to consider is who's got the most experience with high intensity competition and is used to pulling it out when necessary, and who is merely a one hit wonder that lucked their way in? You can go into a much more detailed description of strength vs. speed and hills vs. flats, but it all boils down to who can step it up.

I'll give my predictions here, forming a caste system of sorts, placing the 'top dawg' at the head of the class. This is the runner who, based on all credentials, has the best shot at a victory. As much as I hate to do it, i hafta give the edge to Kiptoo here. sub 14 5k endurance and 3:41 1500 speed is going to make it a lot difficult for anyone else to launch an effective offense, but more power to anyone else that can!

Below Kiptoo is a tier of runners who i'll call the "cowboy up" club-- guys who have been to the big game before and arent intimidated. You can throw True, Haji, Deak, Heath, Wagner, Trafeh, and Rupp in here. These gentlemen, in Dr. K's eyes, are those who have the best shot at displacing our 'top dawg.'

Below these guys are the "hot streakers", guys who maybe havent performed as well as those higher than them and/or dont have national level experience, but are on fire right now. These include Withrow, Sullivan, Gras, Coombs, McDougal, Strang, and Matusak to name a few. Any one of these guys could easily step it up and contend for a top spot if those above them dont watch their backs.

At the bottom we have the "whats HE doing up here?" group. These are the guys who no one expected to qualify, who managed to sneak their way in and displace some big names in doing so. There are some damn good runners here, but most likely none you will see up in the lead pack. Thorne, Anderson, Lomong, and Switzer to name a few. Just getting here was a huge accomplishment in itself for them, seeing as how intense these competitions get. Just dont forget that ANYTHING can happen in cross country.

As far as times go, i predict the winner will run anywhere from 14-15:10, thats the best i can give ya. It's anybody's guess as to how these fools will decide to mess around out there.

(no i'm not sexist, girls predictions will follow soon after i get some homework done )

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posted Dec-09-2003 05:35 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by the kenyan:

WEST

1) Shadrack "I'm a kenyan citizen trying to hijack a U.S national chamionship" Kiptoo

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Would you quit pissing and moaning kevin?

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I can tolerate more pain than any other human.

Fartlek: Swedish for asswhoopin...
See Me Run

No Reserves, No Retreats, No Regrets.

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posted Dec-09-2003 06:45 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Dancinghomer:

Would you quit pissing and moaning kevin?

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ah excellent! i was waiting for someone to challenge that issue, dimwitted though the challenge was.

Shadrack Kiptoo is an extremely talented athlete and a dedicated competitor (he f-----g traing with Khalid Khannouchi after all) He's undoubtedly going to go places in the sport and win many chamionships.....but none of this takes away from the fact that he is a kenyan citizen competing in a U.S national championship, and displacing runners who have been in this system a hell of a lot longer, all ultimately working towards the Footlocker National Chamionships. After reading the interview with him over on mensracing, it's pretty apparent that he came here for the main purpose of running, unlike some of the other foreigners who we've seen who escaped their countries to friggin save their lives.

I'm not really interested in getting into whether or not he 'looks' older than everyone else, but even if his birth date is what he claims it to be, (february 85) that would put him at about a year older than everyone else. The eligibility rules specifically state that all competitors must be of high school age. I'm not going to attept to interpret this, but i think there needs to be a better definition of what constitutes high school age.

Obviously, there isnt anything that anyone can do about this....it just comes off to me as bad ethics. I know there are an abundance of other foreign-born runners in our system, some i approve of and some i dont, but just about all of them have vastly different circumstances as i alluded to before. So maybe i'm right and maybe i'm wrong, but thats just how i see it. I'm open to (intelligent) opinions that anyone else out there might have.

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posted Dec-09-2003 06:48 PM               

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posted Dec-09-2003 07:07 PM               

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posted Dec-09-2003 07:10 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by mlbfan24:
You can say the same about Trafeh then. He's a Moroccan citizen, coming over here as a freshman in HS.

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didnt say i approved of all of them, but something about him being here for just about all of HS makes him a little more legitimate in my eyes.

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posted Dec-09-2003 11:37 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by the kenyan:
didnt say i approved of all of them, but something about him being here for just about all of HS makes him a little more legitimate in my eyes.

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True, but then again, maybe Kiptoo wants a better education, and that is his reasoning for coming to America.

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posted Dec-10-2003 12:01 AM               

Trafeh, as far as I know developed his running talents in the US entirely.

A runner to watch for, out of the west, is Rachel Bryan. She fell at the start of the race and was run over by the 200+ runner field before getting up and passing everybody but the top 7 other runners (Mt SAC is not a really easy course to pass on either). I don't know how much mental and physical reserves she had to dip into to qualify, but this girl is tough.

I think that this could be the west's year for the boys. The times may look slow, but the top 4 basically ran only to qualify. The girls all kind of went to the wall in this race, with Claire Reithmeire collapsing only meters before the finish and Zoe Nelson seeming to labor the whole way.

This will be a really interesting race this year.

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posted Dec-10-2003 02:39 AM               

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posted Dec-12-2003 02:35 PM               

if the guy's race will be tight, then the girls race will be a vertiable gridlock! With competitors like Blood, Rachel Bryan, mini KK, Jenny Barringer, and a vast multitude of other potential sleepers, the race is likely to be intense and fast as hell. Expect a stretch battle of epic proportions all the way down to the wire.

Can't wait for the TV broadcast of this one!

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posted Dec-12-2003 05:38 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by the kenyan:
Can't wait for the TV broadcast of this one!

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Can't wait to watch it in person tomorrow.

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posted Dec-13-2003 11:02 PM               

As predicted, both races were tight all the way down to the wire. Perhaps the biggest suprise of the day was freshman marie lawrence, who took the lead in the final mile of the girls race, only to lose it on the homestretch and finish second. This one had me screaming at my computer screen as i followed along in the dyestat chatroom. (scaring the hell out of my roomate in the process) Both girls ran a virtually perfect race, letting the others do the work, then moving up in the last mile to take control of things. Honorable mentions to my gals from the northeast, Nicole Blood and Linsday Donaldson, who pushed the pace for much of the race before fading to 7th and 16th respectively.

Hats off to galen rupp for running one of the most gutsiest races in footlocker history, taking control right from the beginning and blazing to a 4:39 mile split. From there it was just a question of who could withstand the pace and still have some gas in the tank left for the final kick. At the end it was Matt Withrow, who silenced his many doubters (including yours truly) and proved that his dominance in the regional race was no fluke. After reading his interview on mensracing.com, i definitely wanted this kid to be the one to take it. He's a classic case of someone who hadn't quite reached superstar status, but was willing to do whatever it took to get there.....and it worked!

Despite all the controversey surrounding Kiptoo, he deserves credit for hanging in there to take third on a sore knee and supposedly minimal training. Major props also to McDougal and True from the northeast, who were overlooked by most, but went on to finish 4th and 5th respectively.

Biggest flop of the day is a tossup between Brian Sullivan, the south regional champion who finished 30th, and Ahmed Haji, who went from 8th last year to 21st this year.......the south can sure rip it up on the track, but seems to get all Civil Warish when cross country rolls around, something that i doubut will be fixed unless God goes into a remodeling frenzy and installs some better hills down there.

But anyway, congrats to all the qualifiers and good luck in the future. And once again i am grossly mistaken in all of my predictions

[This message has been edited by the kenyan (edited Dec-13-2003).]

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