A total of 6 Virginians qualified for the 2013 Foot Locker Nationals via top 10 finishes in the seeded race at the South Regional on Saturday in Charlotte, North Carolina.
West Springfield senior Caroline Alcorta led the performances of the half dozen national qualifiers as she led from wire-to-wire in the girls' race to become only the third sub 17 minute 5K runner in the state history with a 16:55 victory at the South Regional. Only the likes of a former Foot Locker National champion in Erin Keogh and a past Foot Locker National runner-up in Aurora Scott have ran faster than Alcorta from Virginia at McAlpine Greenway Park, which points towards Alcorta racing up with the leaders in the national race as well.
The Lake Braddock girls have sent more national qualifiers to Foot Locker Nationals than any program in the nation with the two more added today in a fifth place finish from Hannah Christen (17:15) and sixth place finish from teammate Katy Kunc (17:16) as the two runners came in right together through the chute. A slight surprise qualifier from Virginia as she looked more like a top 15-20 finisher coming into the meet was Trinity Episcopal School senior Molly Breidenbaugh grabbing 9th place and a ticket to nationals with a personal best time of 17:19.
One of Virginia's returning Foot Locker finalists from 2012 in Oakton junior Allie Klimkiewicz just fell short of making a second trip to San Diego in 12th place with a time of 17:34. Team VA easily won the state team scoring with another 6 runners among the top 30 All-South Region places including Glen Allen's Katie Sperry (15th, 17:39), James Madison's Amanda Swaak (19th, 17:47), Mills Godwin's Katharine Benfer (20th, 17:47), Oakton's Hailey Dougherty (25th, 17:55), and Jefferson Forest's Erin Saunders (30th, 18:00).
2013 Foot Locker South Seeded Race Girls Video
The state of Virginia's leading runner all flag was once again our flagbearer at McAlpine with Thomas Edison senior Louis Colson securing his national meet berth and first time under 15 minutes with fourth place PR effort of 14:50. Finishing right off his hip as the biggest shocker among all the Virginia qualifiers with a 5th place finish of 14:51 was a familiar conference and local rival for Colson in George C. Marshall senior Mackenzie Haight. It should not have been a surprise considering the fast 5K time that Haight posted on the track to end his outdoor season last spring, but based on his finishes in cross country races this fall, Haight was ranked well back coming in Foot Locker South and not expected to qualify.
Loudoun Valley sophomore Andrew Hunter is well positioned to compete for spot in the Foot Locker Nationals as a junior and senior following a 16th place clocking of 15:09 as Hunter time ranks among the fastest ever by a 10th grader from Virginia in the meet and he was the fastest underclassmen of the day for the entire region. Team Virginia (67 pts) finished second in the state team scoring behind North Carolina (48 pts) as there were 6 Virginians among the top 30 All-South places including Colson, Haight, Hunter, Oakton's Jack Stoney (22nd, 15:15), Atlee's Nathaniel Hall (23rd, 15:15), and Maggie Walker's Alex Fleckenstein (27th, 15:17).
2013 Foot Locker South Seeded Boys Race Video
More to come from Foot Locker South coverage as we highlight performances from the non-seeded races and add more photos on Sunday as well as follow up stories on Virginians in the coming week.
Race Results:
- Seeded Boys
- Seeded Girls
- Freshman Boys
- Freshman Girls
- Junior Boys
- Junior Girls
- Senior Boys
- Senior Girls
- Sophomore Boys
- Sophomore Girls
- 11-12 Boys
- 11-12 Girls
- 13-14 Boys
- 13-14 Girls
Photo Galleries:
- Photo Gallery by Mary Ann Magnant - More photos being added
- Photo Gallery by John Olson - 1,462 photos total of seeded races.
- Photo Gallery by Jeff Sides - 2,159 photos currrently with more being added
Seeded Girls VA Highlights
- 5,000 Meter Run - Caroline Alcorta () 16:55.00; Hannah Christen () 17:15.00; Katy Kunc () 17:16.00; Molly Breidenbaugh () 17:19.00; Allie Klimkiewicz () 17:34.00; Katie Sperry () 17:39.00; Amanda Swaak () 17:47.00; Katharine Benfer* () 17:47.00; Hailey Dougherty () 17:55.00; Erin Saunders () 18:00.00; Annie Taylor () 18:08.00; Anna Wasko () 18:16.00; Madison Hunter () 18:22.00; Kayla Fisher () 18:22.00; Katt Grasberger * () 18:27.00; Sara Freix () 18:27.00; Morgan Wittrock () 18:33.00;Katie Bowe () 18:45.00; Emma Gillies () 18:47.00; Katie Fortner () 19:01.00; Kara Kendall () 19:02.00; Scarlett Bavin * () 19:07.00; Annie Sadler* () 19:13.00; Martine Hunnicutt () 19:19.00; Hannah Bullen* () 19:37.00; Haley Stumvoll () 19:44.00;
Seeded Boys VA Highlights
- 5,000 Meter Run - Louis Colson () 14:50.00; Mackenzie Haight () 14:51.00; Andrew Hunter () 15:09.00; John Stoney () 15:15.00; Nathaniel Hall * () 15:15.00; Alex Fleckenstein * () 15:17.00; Andrew Eason () 15:32.00; Micah Ellington () 15:36.00; Ryan McGorty () 15:36.00; Dakota Lange () 15:37.00; Paul Adam* () 15:38.00; Matthew Novak* () 15:40.00; Grayson Reid* () 15:42.00; James Broom () 15:47.00; Giavanni Wiley-Miller () 15:48.00; Hale Ross () 15:51.00; Dawson Connell () 15:52.00; Grayson Morgan* () 15:52.00; Alexander Varon* () 15:53.00; Alex Turner () 15:56.00; Alec Jones () 15:57.00; Michael Lamons * () 16:01.00; Stanley Davis * () 16:14.00; Stephen Vernon () 16:15.00; Kyle Sabourin () 16:16.00; Andrew Mccool () 16:18.00; Alexander Lomong () 16:24.00; Danny Collins () 16:25.00; Neil Schubel () 16:26.00; Tyler Cox-Philyaw () 16:27.00;
VA Freshmen Girls Race Highlights
- 5,000 Meter Run - Khloe Pointer () 18:47.00; Annsley Eckert () 19:25.00; Kate Murphy () 19:38.00; Rebecca Fagan () 19:42.00;
VA Freshmen Boys Race Highlights
- 5,000 Meter Run - Alec Schrank () 16:12.00; Micah Pratt () 16:19.00;
VA Sophomore Girls Race Highlights
- 5,000 Meter Run - Julia Wood () 18:23.00; Georgie Mackenzie () 18:34.00; Harper Henson* () 18:42.00; Emma Call () 18:52.00; Sonya Butseva () 18:52.00; Maggie Ulrich () 19:19.00; Rachel Granovsky () 19:45.00;
VA Sophomore Boys Race Highlights
- 5,000 Meter Run - Gannon Willcutts () 15:43.00; Owen Buck () 15:53.00; Trevor Stutzman () 16:26.00;
VA Junior Girls Race Highlights
- 5,000 Meter Run - Xaveria Hawvermale () 18:15.00; Elizabeth Hutton* () 18:19.00; Abby Bellows* () 18:40.00; Jordan Angers () 18:44.00; Ana Suarez () 18:46.00; Chance Masloff () 18:47.00; Gillian Saul * () 18:59.00; Samantha Schreiber () 19:04.00; Hannah Field () 19:24.00; Adrienne Hutchens () 19:40.00; Devon Burger () 19:42.00; Allison Taylor () 19:44.00;
VA Junior Boys Race Highlights
- 5,000 Meter Run - Ethan Newland () 16:05.00; Christian Colwell* () 16:06.00; Jeffrey Gibson () 16:08.00; David Falcone () 16:12.00; Zachary Batt () 16:19.00; Justin Wilck * () 16:26.00; Joseph Boyle * () 16:27.00; Cole Talton () 16:30.00;
VA Senior Girls Race Highlights
- 5,000 Meter Run - Daisy Banta * () 18:39.00; Darby McPhail () 18:39.00; Frances Morales () 18:49.00; Laurel Sheffield () 19:01.00; Amy Dunham* () 19:11.00; Miranda Green () 19:12.00; Mariah Quintero () 19:36.00; Anne Johnson () 19:41.00;
VA Senior Boys Race Highlights
- 5,000 Meter Run - Biruk Amare () 15:38.00; Chris Ferguson () 16:04.00; Austin Wozniak () 16:10.00; Luke Farinholt () 16:13.00; Austin Koch * () 16:19.00; Andrew de Jong () 16:20.00; Nathaniel Hashisaki () 16:27.00;
Video Interview with Caroline Alcorta
Video Interview with Hannah Christen
Video Interview with Katy Kunc
Video Interview with Molly Breidenbaugh
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Video Interview with Louis Colson
Video Interview with Mackenzie Haight