Verzbicas and Cuffe Take 2010 FootLocker Cross Country Championships, release, note by Larry Eder

Lukas Verzbicas showed that he is the best prep cross country runner in the land on Saturday, as he defended his title at the 2010 FootLocker Cross Country Championships. Held in the venerable Balboa Park in San Diego, the race, for over thirty years now, continues to have impressive fields.

Verzbicas hit the half mile in 2:17, the mile in 4;45 and the two mile in 9:32, as he and Futsum Zeinasellassie broke up the field. However, Lukas Verzbicas made his move on the second hill loop, putting 11 seconds on the field, as he won in 14;59, with Zeinasellassie finished in second in 15:10. Halfway had been hit in 7:10, but Verzbicas showed that, when he is fit, he in unstoppable. This is one week after Verzbicas also won the Nike Cross Nationals (December 4). Verzbicas is only the third boy to ever defend his title. Oh, and Midwest team beat the South for the title, with 22 points. The Midwest team went 1-3.

On the women’s side, Aisling Cuffe did the favorite role well, winning over Rachel Johnson, last weekend’s Nike Cross Nationals winner. Aisling won the race in 16:53, Rachel Johnson was second in 17:27. Cuffe who had been 11th and 4th in previous FootLocker races, took an early lead and built a commanding lead by the finish of 34 seconds. The Midwest team also won the girls’ race, this time over the Northeast.

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Cuffe and Verzbicas
Claim National Titles at the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships National
Finals

San Diego, Calif.,
December 11, 2010 –
Aisling Cuffe of Cornwall-on-Hudson, N.Y., and Lukas Verzbicas of Orland Hills,
Ill., won the 2010 Foot Locker Cross Country Championships National Finals
(FLCCC) at Morley Field, Balboa Park in San Diego, Calif., today. The runners
competed in perfect racing conditions, under beautiful sunny skies with a
temperature of 60 degrees.

In the girls’ race, Cuffe, a
three-time FLCCC National Finalist and senior at Cornwall Central High School,
dominated from the start and powered through the field. Cuffe took an early
lead, pushed the pace and opened the gap even further to capture the title in
16:53. Rachel Johnson of Plano, Texas, placed second in 17:27, and Julie
Nacouzi of Santa Rosa, Calif., finished third in 17:29. Johnson, a senior at Plano High School and
Nacouzi, a senior at Montgomery High School, are two-time FLCCC National
Finalists.

In the boys’ race, a large
chase group of runners led by defending FLCCC National Champion Lukas Verzbicas
and Futsum Zeinasellassie of Indianapolis, Ind., set a hard, fast pace hitting
the mile-mark in 4:45. The two runners started pulling away from the field
coming off the hill and ran neck-and-neck heading toward the two-mile mark, at
which point Verzbicas began to push the pace. Zeinasellassie tried to answer
the surge, but Verzbicas continued to open the gap to become the FLCCC National
Champion for the second consecutive year in 14:59. Verzbicas is the third male runner to capture two consecutive
FLCCC National titles in the history of the race (Abdirizak Mohamud ’96 &
’97; Dathan Ritzenhein ’99 & 2000). Zeinasellassie placed second in 15:10, with Tony Smoragiewicz
of Rapid City, S.D., finishing third in 15:16.

The Foot Locker Cross
Country Championships is comprised of four regional 5K races, which took place
across the country in the Midwest (Kenosha, Wis.), Northeast (Kings Park, N.Y.),
and South (Charlotte, N.C.) on Nov. 27, and the West (Walnut, Calif.) on Dec. 4,
culminating in the National Finals here today. The pre-race and race footage
can be viewed online at footlockercc.com

Girls Results,

2010 FootLocker Cross Country Championships

Place	Time	Bib	Name	Grade	Region	School	City	State
1	16:53	11	Aisling Cuffe	12	Northeast	Cornwall Central H.S.	Cornwall-on-Hudson	NY
2	17:27	23	Rachel Johnson	12	South	Plano H.S.	Plano	TX
3	17:29	41	Julie Nacouzi	12	West	Montgomery H.S.	Santa Rosa	CA
4	17:29	35	Kelsey Lakowske	12	Midwest	Boulder H.S.	Boulder	CO
5	17:35	14	Megan Venables	12	Northeast	Highland Regional H.S.	Lauren Springs	NJ
6	17:37	31	Allison Woodward	12	Midwest	Notre Dame Academy	De Pere	WI
7	17:38	34	Erin Finn	10	Midwest	West Bloomfield H.S.	West Bloomfield	MI
8	17:46	33	Shannon Osika	11	Midwest	Waterford Mott H.S.	Waterford	MI
9	17:46	42	Molly Grabill	12	West	Rancho Bernardo H.S.	Poway	CA
10	17:46	24	Joanna Thompson	12	South	Knoxville Catholic H.S.	Knoxville	TN
11	17:46	32	Gabrielle Anzalone	12	Midwest	Grand Blanc H.S.	Grand Blanc	MI
12	17:48	36	Kayla Beattie	12	Midwest	Woodstock H.S.	Woodstock	IL
13	17:50	37	Eleanor Fulton	12	Midwest	Highlands Ranch H.S.	Lone Tree	CO
14	17:51	40	Waverly Neer	12	Midwest	Culver Academies	Culver	IN
15	17:53	30	Grace Tinkey	10	South	First Presbyterian Day School	Macon	GA
16	17:57	12	Abbey Leonardi	11	Northeast	Kennebunk H.S.	Kennebunkport	ME
17	17:59	20	Ariel Beauregard Breton	12	Northeast	Deerfield Academy	Deerfield	MA
18	18:02	38	Brook Handler	12	Midwest	Rochester H.S.	Rochester Hills	MI
19	18:05	45	Carrie Verdon	11	West	Campolindo H.S.	Moraga	CA
20	18:07	39	Colleen Quigley	12	Midwest	Nerinx Hall H.S.	St. Louis	MO
21	18:13	15	Lauren Mullins	11	Northeast	Johnson City H.S.	Binghamton	NY
22	18:14	50	Susannah Hurst	12	West	East H.S.	Salt Lake City	UT
23	18:16	21	Kathryn Fluehr	12	South	Community School of Naples	Naples	FL
24	18:17	13	Megan Lacy	11	Northeast	Cherokee H.S.	Marlton	NJ
25	18:18	47	Catrina McAlister	12	West	Arcadia H.S.	Arcadia	CA
26	18:19	43	Maddie Meyers	11	West	The Northwest School	Seattle	WA
27	18:26	22	Erika Fluehr	12	South	Community School of Naples	Naples	FL
28	18:27	48	Anna Maxwell	9	West	San Lorenzo Valley H.S.	Felton	CA
29	18:28	27	Mattie Webb	12	South	Western Albemarle H.S.	Crozet	VA
30	18:32	44	Clare Carroll	9	West	Granite Bay H.S.	Granite Bay	CA
31	18:34	18	Catarina Rocha	10	Northeast	Peabody Veterans Memorial H.S.	Peabody	MA
32	18:34	16	Angel Piccirillo	11	Northeast	Homer City H.S.	Homer City	PA
33	18:34	29	Shelby Davidson	11	South	Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr H.S.	Melbourne	FL
34	18:37	49	Julia Foster	12	West	Albuquerque Academy	Albuquerque	NM
35	18:38	19	Jackie Nicholas	12	Northeast	Nonnewaug H.S.	Woodbury	CT
36	18:38	46	Kendra Weitz	10	West	The Oaks	Spokane	WA
37	18:39	17	Caroline Kellner	11	Northeast	West Windsor-Plainsboro H.S.	West Windsor	NJ
38	18:53	28	Sophie Chase	10	South	Lake Braddock Secondary	Burke	VA
39	18:56	26	Wesley Frazier	10	South	Ravenscroft H.S.	Raleigh	NC
40	20:08	25	Emma Brink	12	South	Sacred Heart Academy	Louisville	KY

Team
Results

Place

Team

Score

Places For Team

Midwest

4 6 7 8 11 12 13

Northeast

1 5 15 16 18 21 27

West

3 9 17 19 22 23 25

South

2 10 14 20 24 26 28

5.00 Kilometers – December 11, 2010 – Morley Field
– Balboa Park – San Diego, CA

Boys Final Results

2010 FootLocker Cross Country Championships

Place	Time	Bib	Name	Grade	Region	School	City	State
1	14:59	71	Lukas Verzbicas	12	Midwest	Carl Sandburg H.S.	Orland Hills	IL
2	15:10	72	Futsum Zeinasellassie	11	Midwest	North Central H.S.	Indianapolis	IN
3	15:16	73	Tony Smoragiewicz	11	Midwest	Rapid City Central H.S.	Rapid City	SD
4	15:18	82	Andrew Gardner	10	West	Mead H.S.	Spokane	WA
5	15:22	76	Chris Walden	12	Midwest	Carmel H.S.	Carmel	IN
6	15:23	81	Billy Orman	12	West	Tuba City H.S.	Tuba City	AZ
7	15:24	61	Jimmy Clark	12	South	Creekside H.S.	Jacksonville	FL
8	15:25	56	Eddie Owens	12	Northeast	Packer Collegiate Institute	Brooklyn	NY
9	15:25	70	Ryan Pickering	12	South	John I Leonard H.S.	West Palm Beach	FL
10	15:25	51	Chad Noelle	12	Northeast	Greene H.S.	Greene	NY
11	15:27	74	William Kincaid	12	Midwest	Columbine H.S.	Littleton	CO
12	15:27	77	James Martin	12	Midwest	Carroll H.S.	Fort Wayne	IN
13	15:29	75	Jack Driggs	12	Midwest	York Community H.S.	Elmhurst	IL
14	15:33	64	Ahmed Bile	11	South	Annandale H.S.	Annandale	VA
15	15:35	62	Blake Williams	12	South	Northern Durham H.S.	Durham	NC
16	15:37	55	John McGowan	12	Northeast	Sidwell Friends School	Washington	DC
17	15:38	84	Matt Carpowich	12	West	Torrey Pines H.S.	San Diego	CA
18	15:38	59	Zach Hebda	12	Northeast	North Hills H.S.	Pittsburgh	PA
19	15:38	63	Scott Morgan	12	South	Calvary Baptist Day School	Clemmons	NC
20	15:39	69	Thomas Graham	11	South	Cary Academy	Cary	NC
21	15:40	54	John Murray	12	Northeast	Shrewsbury H.S.	Shrewsbury	MA
22	15:40	83	Jantzen Oshier	12	West	Trabuco Hills H.S.	Trabuco Canyon	CA
23	15:40	60	Matt McDonald	12	Northeast	North Hunterdon H.S.	Annandale	NJ
24	15:42	57	Patrick Rono	12	Northeast	Lyndhurst H.S.	Lyndhurst	NJ
25	15:43	65	Elliot Clemente	11	South	Belen Jesuit Preparatory	Miami	FL
26	15:45	79	Michael Brajdic	12	Midwest	Bay H.S.	Bay Village	OH
27	15:48	52	Morgan Pearson	12	Northeast	Delbarton H.S.	New Vernon	NJ
28	15:49	90	Sergey Sushchikh	12	West	Dos Pueblos H.S.	Goleta	CA
29	15:51	53	Jeff LaCoste	12	Northeast	Bishop Guertin H.S.	Amherst	NH
30	15:51	86	Darren Fahy	11	West	La Costa Canyon H.S.	Carlsbad	CA
31	15:52	85	Nathan Weitz	11	West	The Oaks	Spokane	WA
32	15:54	88	Dallin Taylor	12	West	Hunter H.S.	West Valley	UT
33	15:54	66	Silas Frantz	12	South	Douglas S. Freeman H.S.	Richmond	VA
34	15:55	78	Zach Wills	12	Midwest	Mason H.S.	Mason	OH
35	15:59	80	Caleb Rhynard	12	Midwest	Shepherd H.S.	Shepherd	MI
36	16:00	67	Cody Pelliccioni	12	South	Morgantown H.S.	Morgantown	WV
37	16:00	87	Daniel Milechman	12	West	Tamalpais H.S.	Mill Valley	CA
38	16:01	89	Christopher Kigar	12	West	El Camino H.S.	Citrus Heights	CA
39	16:01	58	Chris Campbell	12	Northeast	Council Rock H.S. North	Newtown	PA
40	16:02	68	Donovan Torres	12	South	Coronado H.S.	Lubbock	TX

Team
Results

Place

Team

Score

Places For Team

Midwest

1 2 3 5 11 12 13

South

7 9 14 15 19 20 25

Northeast

8 10 16 18 21 23 24

West

4 6 17 22 26 27 28

5.00 Kilometers – December 11, 2010 – Morley Field
– Balboa Park – San Diego, CA

Author

Larry Eder

Larry Eder has had a 50-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself." Theme song: Greg Allman, " I'm no Angel."

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