Victoria Garces and Juan Gonzalez Capture First Place Titles in the 45th Annual Foot Locker XC Championships Midwest Regional !

The cold, sunny day did not stop the fine performances nor the fans from cheering on their favorite runners. The girls’ championship race was incredibly competitive, and the top ten will do well in San Diego, CA in two weeks!

The boy’s championship race had one of the best fields in Midwest history. 30 boys at the mile in a conservative 5:00 for the mile, there were 20 at the 2 mile mark, and 15 with 200 meters to go!

NIKE presents #TheJourneytoCompete, A NIKE Cross Country newsletter, celebrating cross-country, and Indoor Track & Field, Issues, 1-17, Back Issues, Winter 2026

NIKE presents #TheJourneytoCompete, A NIKE Cross Country newsletter, celebrating cross-country, and Indoor Track & Field, Issues, 1-16, Back Issues, Winter 2026

NIKE presents #TheJourneytoCompete, A NIKE Cross Country newsletter, celebrating cross-country, Issues, 1-15, Back Issues, Winter 2026

The Midwest is taking two of its best teams in years to the FootLocker Nationals.

Victoria Garces and Juan Gonzalez Capture First Place Titles in the
45th Annual Foot Locker Cross Country Championships Midwest
Regional; Top 10 Boys and Girls Qualify for National Finals

RACE HIGHLIGHTS:
Victoria Garces of Midland, MI, and Juan Gonzalez of Fremont, NE, won the Foot Locker
Cross Country Championships Midwest Regional today. Garces, a senior at Midland Dow
High School, claimed the title in the girls’ championship race in 17:14.6. Jessie Jazwinski,
a senior from Shelby, MI, finished second in 17:25.1, and Norah Hushagen, a senior from
Forest Lake, MN, placed third in 17:27.0. The top two finishers, along with today’s fourth–
place finisher Emily Cohen of Englewood, CO, and fifth-place finisher Libby Dowty of
Morgantown, IN, participated in last year’s San Diego, CA, national championship event.
Gonzalez, a senior from Fremont High School, took the title in the boys’ championship
race in 14:58.8. Sean Fries, a junior from Minnetonka, MN, finished second in 15:00.0 and
Ben Crane, a senior from Wilmette, IL, finished third in 15:03.3. Gonzales and Crane, along
with today’s sixth-place finisher Benjamin Anderson of Highlands Ranch, CO, competed at
the national championships last year in San Diego, CA.
WHEN/WHERE:
Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024
University of Wisconsin Parkside in Kenosha, WI.
COURSE/WEATHER:
5,000-meter course; good course conditions; 23 degrees; windy; sunny skies
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS:
The top 10 boys and the top 10 girls in the championship races qualify to compete against
runners from the South, Northeast, and West Regional meets in the Foot Locker Cross
Country Championships National Finals, on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024, at Morley Field,
Balboa Park in San Diego, CA.

2024 Foot Locker Cross Country Championships – Midwest Regional Results
University of Wisconsin Parkside – Kenosha, WI

Victoria Garces takes 2024 FootLocker Midwest Regional, presented by HOKA, photos by FootLocker

Girls
Place Name Hometown High School (Year) Time
1) Victoria Garces Midland, MI Midland Dow HighSchool (12) 17:14.6

2) Jessie Jazwinski Shelby, MI Shelby High School (12) 17:25.1

3) Norah Hushagen Forest Lake, MN Forest Lake Area High School (12) 17:27.0
4) Emily Cohen Englewood, CO Cherry Creek High School (11) 17:33.3
5) Libby Dowty Morgantown, IN Indian Creek High School (11) 17:34.8
6) Ruby Ihmels Bismarck, ND Century High School (10) 17:39.2
7) Mallory Weller Fort Wayne, IN Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran High School (11) 17:40.4
8) Rosie Mucharsky Denver, CO Denver East High School (12) 17:41.2
9) Kate Foltz Tuscola, IL Tuscola High School (11) 17:42.7

10) Brooke Chapman Westerville, OH Olentangy Orange High School (11) 17:48.4

Juan Gonzalez takes the 2024 FootLocker XC Midwest Regional, presented by HOKA, photos courtesy of FootLocker

Boys
Place Name Hometown High School Time
1) Juan Gonzalez Fremont, NE Fremont High School (12) 14:58.8
2) Sean Fries Minnetonka, MN Minnetonka High School(11) 15:00.0
3) Ben Crane Wilmette, IL New Trier High School (12) 15:03.3
4) Philip Cupial Woodridge, IL Downers Grove North High School (11) 15:03.4
5) Salvador Wirth Annandale, MN Annandale High School (12) 15:04.3
6) Benjamin Anderson Highlands Ranch, CO Mountain Vista High School (12) 15:05.0
7) Noah Bontrager Shipshewana, IN Westview High School (11) 15:05.8
8) Robert Mechura Roseville, MN Roseville Area High School (12) 15:05.9
9) Sam Quagliaroli Fishers, IN Fishers High School (12) 15:06.2
10) Liam Bauschke Mishawaka, IN Mishaw, (12), 15:06.8

Midwest FootLocker Regional is November 30, 2024, at UW Parkside.

Author

Larry Eder

Larry Eder has had a 52-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." Also does some updates for BBC Sports at key events, which he truly enjoys.

Theme song: Greg Allman, " I'm no Angel."

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