At 10:00am this Saturday arguably the greatest assemblage of Virginia XC runners will toe the line at the Foot Locker South regional in Charlotte, North Carolina. Headlining this group will be Foot Locker finalists Weini Kelati and Libby Davidson. Davidson most notably finished 6th a year ago at Foot Locker Nationals.
Davidson may be one of the top returning athletes in the entire nation who can't be counted out, but she is not the favorite coming into this weekend's race. US #2 by time (but ranked #1) Weini Kelati comes into this weekend as a huge favorite to join an elite group of Virginia girls as South regional champions.
Kelati has already run 16:29 this season and is training for much faster than that. With 9:12 3K speed she is a deadly combination of speed and endurance when it comes to 5K. 9:12 for 3K equates to roughly 15:20 5K if you do not adjust for the added distance and even when you do adjust, she is scary fast.
If the conditions are right and she wants it, do not be surprised to see Weini cross the line near the 16 minute mark. The regional record and Virginia State record is 16:26 set by Aurora Scott. This number and her coach's (male) pr at FLS are the times she is chasing this weekend.
Aside from numbers she could finally be joined by a girl at her side past the mile mark with Nevada Mareno (NC) who has gone 16:36 already this season. She is also joined by the three girls who finished in front of her and returned from last year's race. Those ladies are Libby Davidson, Paige Hofstad (TX), and Gabriella Karas (KY).
Libby may have had her streak broken this year as she finished runner-up to Weini in the 4A state championship but also had another streak broken. She finally broke through for the season and has a race that she felt "comfortable and that she was actually in". Knowing that she is feeling better and closer to where she wants to be is a very reassuring thing as she makes the trip down to NC. Libby has gone sub 17 at multiple locations and across XC and Outdoor Track, you simply cannot count out that pedigree.
Virginia has a lot of talented runners and outside of those two is the potential for a lot more athletes to advance to San Diego. Without the release of the entries though this list is partially based on speculation and traditions of where programs and individuals have gone in the past.
Though she didn't run here last year, Emma Wolcott (Tuscarora) could be one of the biggest stars for Virginia if she does. She ran a blistering 17:55 at States which was only slower than the previously mentioned combo of Davidon and Kelati. That time and her performance at conferences shows she is ready for a very low 17s or lower performance this weekend. Last year 17:23 was the cutoff and she could go much faster than that.
Freshman Rachel Northcutt (Cosby) could also be a huge new name at this meet after her runner-up finish at 6A States. She has run 17:57 already this season and finished just behind Kate Murphy in the 6A competition. She is very young and raw, if she puts together a race just a little better than states watch out. 17:57 run at the MileStat.com Invitational equates to a 17:40 at FLS. That is how close she is to making the cutoff.
Also joining these girls under 18 this season is Heather Holt (George C. Marshall) who was the runner-up in the 5A state race to Wolcott. She ran side-by-side with her until the final 200m where Wolcott separated. Down in NC on a much faster and warmer course this could be the same case and also see Holt advancing to San Diego.
These above mentioned girls rank: #1, #25, #34, #41, and #46 in the Foot Locker South Region. Though those numbers look daunting, if all five of these girls run at their best they will all have a serious shot at making the national squad.
Check out the top 500 girls' rankings for the FLS Region here!
On the fence but likely running at NXR on the same day will be Patriot's Rachel McArthur and Lake Braddock's Kate Murphy. They will be joined by the Blacksburg girls and likely the James Madison girls in Cary, NC.
Some other Virginia girls who have run well here in the past are Lindsey Blanks, Emma Call, Khloe Pointer, and Julia Wood.