Girls NXN 2016

[Plugging Along]

Nike Cross Nationals was run today in Portland, OR.

Girls:

1 OAKLEY, BRIE          SR  50       Individual     17:10.1
2 STRATTON, EMBER SO  195     Portland       17:38.2
3 GREGORY, LAUREN SR  48       Individual     17:39.8
4 GIBSON, ANNA       SR  29       Individual     17:40.9
5 CHMIEL, KELSEY     SO  1        Individual     17:41.1
6 PING, GRACE            8  200     Unattached  17:48.3

(edit, I previously had all the team names wrong. I matched team scoring up with the individual results, which do not match by a long shot. #2 Ember Stratton scored 1 for her Portland team because the runner ahead of her (oakley) was entered as an individual and not as a member of a team. The number two team scorer actually finished in 20th place but scores 2 for her Manlius team because 18 of the 19 runners ahead of her were entered as individuals. )


That is not a misprint. An 8th grade girl finished in 6th place.
She beat every 9th grader in the field.
She also beat every 11th grader in the field.

Last year she ran in Minnesota which allows 7th graders to compete for high school teams.

She crashed onto the scene when she won the 2015 Griak Gold race,
beating Olympic trials qualifier Kate Murphy (1500) and also
beating Illinois reigning 3200 champion and US #1 at three miles Judy Pendergast.

She went on to win 3 state titles that year (XC, 1600, 3200), was 3rd at NXN region
and 14 at NXN nationals, the first 7th grader ever to qualify, much less make top 15.

Then her family moved to Utah, which does not allow 7th or 8th graders to compete on high school teams.
She did get into the NXN SW region and finished 4th, which is an auto qualifier spot.
A change in the rules seemed to allow her to compete at NXN nationals.
But Nike disqualified her from advancing, citing state rules conflict.
After much commotion Nike checked with Utah and reversed itself and allowed her to compete today.

She had notched a handfull of world records before her 13th birthday and there
is a chance that she could be the best that's ever been. It's likely that the family
moved to Utah so she could live and train at altitude.

She is professionally coached by Tim Schwartz.

Here she is winning Griak Gold 2015
Grace Ping, 7th grader, takes down the ENTIRE 2015 Roy Griak high school field

The Silicon Valley 5k Turkey Trot is one of the biggest 5Ks in the nation.
Last week she lined up in the women's elite field facing off against
several olympians and professional runners from Kenya, Ethiopia, etc.

She took 16th in a new Age 13 world record of 16:36.
2016 Silicon Valley Turkey Trot - Women

[Coyote Mas Loco]

I think we will be seeing more of these precocious young girls at the top, and Ping was the first to really break through.

As far as NXN, here is some elaboration from a Colorado perspective.

Brie Oakley is form Aurora, CO (not Portland) and has only been running for 15 months. She was a soccer player. She'll run for Cal Berkeley next year; some angst about that because it has been a sinkhole for women's talent for quite some time. However, the Bears are on the up and up, so let's hope she has a great career there.

3rd place Lauren Gregory is also from Colorado, Fort Collins High School (not Manilius). She ran with Oakley for 2 miles at the CO state meet in October, collapsed in fatigue and sat on the ground for 30 or 40 seconds, got up and still placed second. She'll run for Arkansas.

There is a 12 year old youngster from Evergreen, CO who is running 17 min 5Ks already. And she placed top 10 against the pros at  the US Mountain Running Championships last summer. Remember the name Alaina Szuch.

For boys, American Forks' (UT) Casey Clinger won easily, first time repeat champion. Bozeman MT won the team event. And it should be noted that Manilius (Syracuse NY) won the girls title for something like the 10th time in a row.

[i am party]

I caught the live stream of the boys race.  Wish I had caught the girls too.

[Coyote Mas Loco]

I caught the live stream of the boys race.  Wish I had caught the girls too.
[/quote

You can still watch it.

What was the first mile for the boys? Girls went about 5:20

[Plugging Along]

The conditions were damp and the course was soft,
so the times weren't super fast.

Girls mile splits:
5:20, 10:53, 15:17 (all Brie Oakley)

Boys mile splits:
4:52 (pack of 20), 10:00 (pack of 3), 15:00 (clinger)

Ping ran 16:36 at the turkey trot last week, but only 17:48 at nxn.
------------------------------------------------------------

It turns out there was another 8th grade girl in the field.
Anna Fenske ran 18:06 to finish 22nd.
She was 3rd at the Heartland regional
and the Minnesota AA state champion.

[Plugging Along]

I screwed up the team names. I was matching team scoring to individual finishing spots, which is completely wrong as I edited in the original post.

For the girls the Southwest Region was where it was at this year.

Individually their top 6 spots were Oakley, Schadler, Gregory, Ping, McConnell, Rich.
At the stronger national race they went 1, 7, 3, 6, 17, 11.

http://www.letsrun.com/news/2016/12/2016-nxn-results-2016-nike-cross-nationals-race-results/

[Coyote Mas Loco]

Here's a summary of the races, featuring relative new comer Brie Oakley:

http://www.runnersworld.com/high-school/from-the-soccer-field-to-national-champion-in-18-months

More on Ping's historic 6th place:

http://www.runnersworld.com/high-school/utah-eighth-grader-finishes-top-10-at-high-school-nationals

[Plugging Along]

Boy's race.
Nike Cross Nationals 2016 Boys Championship Race


Girl's race.
Nike Cross Nationals 2016 Girls Championship Race