KYtrackXC.com celebrates the start of 2010 with a week long look back at the Top 10 Performances from the 2009 Track and Cross Country Seasons.

Performance #9 and 10

Performance #7 and 8

Performance #5 and 6

Performance #3 and 4

Performance #2

KYtrackXC.com celebrates the start of 2010 with a week long look back at the Top 10 Performances from the 2009 Track and Cross Country Seasons.

Monday – Performance #9 and 10

Tuesday – Performance #7 and 8

Wednesday - Performance #5 and 6

Thursday - Performance #3 and 4

Friday – Performance #1 and 2

Only one runner stands alone among all the contenders in Virginia this fall with a final race to go this weekend in San Diego for the Foot Locker Nationals. Fairfax senior Kevin Dowd rose to the "Cream of the Crop" at the Foot Locker South Regional in the Charlotte as the only Virginian to qualify and finish in the top 10 in the seeded boys race. He will be joined in San Diego by another Northern Region runner in Paige Kvartunas of West Springfield, who finished ninth in the seeded girls race at the South Regional. After being bothered by an achilles injury mid-season and failing to win regional or state crowns, Dowd is hitting his peak in the post-season as shown with his sub 15 5K run at McAlpine and feeling confident about racing at his best this weekend as well in a field of the nation's 40 best from four regions.

Jake Hurysz is a new face on the national scene after his third place finish at the Foot Locker South Regional. His time of 14:46 ties him the fastest ever by a North Carolina runner on the 5K course at McAlpine Greenway Park with 2006 South Region champion and Foot Locker All-American Ryan Hill. The 3A state champion from Eastern Alamance High Schoolin Mebane, North Carolina has improved great strides from last year when he ran 15:57 on the Foot Locker South regional course. Huryz also turned in a 9:08 3200 meter time trial in between winning his North Carolina state cross country title and qualifying for Foot Locker Nationals. The UNC recruit looks to continue his stellar string of races this fall with an All-American showing on Saturday at Balboa Park in San Diego.

After struggling with handling higher mileage weeks and not racing as well as he expected to, Kirubel Erassa of Grayson County High School in Georgia and his coach decided to alter their training approach this fall with less mileage and more speed work. The changes in training have produced positive results as shown with Kirubel's stellar fall of races in Georgia and most recently capped off with a Foot Locker Nationals berth. In the South regional race, Erassa garnered a runner-up finish to eventual Nike Cross Nationals champion and Foot Locker Nationals favorite Craig Lutz of Texas with one of the top 10 all-time performances ever at McAlpine and fastest ever by a runner from the state of Georgia in meet history. Erassa will attempt to be one of the highest finishers ever from Georgia at Balboa Park and follow in the footsteps of recent stars Girma Mecheso and Ben Hubers, who finished 9th and 11th respectively in the 2006 national race. His 14:43 performance at McAlpine actually ties him with two past Foot Locker National runners-up in Alan Webb (2000) and Bobby Lockhart (2001) on the course all-time list.

Megan Ferowich enters this weekend's Foot Locker Nationals as one of the top rising stars in the South region as shown by her undefeated season in her homestate of Tennessee prior to a fourth place and 17:12 5K PR finish in the regional qualifier race in Charlotte. Ferowich, a sophomore at Knoxville Catholic, has earned the trip to San Diego despite this fall being her first season of cross country. However, this is not her first national meet experience as she won the freshmen mile last June at Nike Outdoor Nationals. With a 10:26 3200 time trial under her belt from last month, Ferowich is certainly fit and ready to run with the some of best runners in the country on Saturday.

The first of the two national high school cross country championship races were held this past weekend in Portland, Oregon with the Nike Cross Nationals. The boys' race certainly featured many of the nation's best battling it out to the wire, while the girls' race was missing the unofficial "Big 3" in Megan Goethals (MI), Chelsey Sveinsson (TX), and Aisling Cuffe (NY) but stellar depth was found in both races as Foot Locker finalists, All-Americans, and state champions were found deep into the field.

Craig Lutz is one of few brave top ranked runners in the nation willing to attempt the Nike Cross Nationals/Foot Locker Nationals double this season. The Marcus High School junior from Dallas, Texas posted the nation's fastest time for 5K this cross country last week in his near course record breaking 14:34 win at Foot Locker South. Lutz will travel to the West Coast in two consecutive weekends as he'll hook horns with Joe Rosa of New Jersey and Zach Wills of Ohio this weekend at NXN and will follow up next week against Lukas Verzbicas of Illinois at Foot Locker Nationals in San Diego. Brandon Miles of MileSplit US interviewed Lutz as he makes the trip to Portland, Oregon for round one of two against the nation's best.

Race video from MileStat.com contributor Andy Paisley of the sophomore boys race from the 2009 Foot Locker South in Charlotte, North Carolina held on Saturday, November 28th. James Brown of Kentucky won in a time of 15:52, while Tennessee (48 pts) won the state team scoring by 1 point over Virginia (49 pts).

Race videos from MileStat.com contributor Andy Paisley of the freshmen-sophomore girls race from the 2009 Foot Locker South Regional in Charlotte, North Carolina held on Saturday, November 28th. Hannah Lowery of Stafford (VA) won in a time of 18:30, while Florida won the state team scoring with 32 points.

Race video by MileStat.com contributor Andy Paisley of the seeded boys race from the 2009 Foot Locker South Regional in Charlotte, North Carolina held on Saturday, November 28th. Craig Lutz of Texas won in the 2nd fastest time in course history at 14:34 to leaded one of the fastest races all-time in meet history with 10 runners under 15 minutes and nearly 40 runners under 15:30 on the McAlpine Greenway Park 5K course. Texas won the state team scoring with 47 points.

Race video of the seeded girls race from the 2009 Foot Locker South Regional in Charlotte, North Carolina held on Saturday, November 28th.

Large numbers of North Carolina athletes competed today at one of two meets. The Footlocker South meet was held at McAlpine Park while the NXN Southeast Regional was held at WakeMed Park.

Neither Paige Kvartunas of West Springfield nor Kevin Dowd of Fairfax would have been satisified with the finish to their seasons if they decided to shut it down following the state meet. After winning the Northern Region title over some of the state's top runners, Paige Kvartunas (pictured by John Olson of scrunners.com) failed to make even the top 15 and earn All-State in Group AAA girls state race. Meanwhile, Dowd had been the #1 ranked runner in the state during the middle of the season but had to settle for third place finishes at both the regional and state meet to runners who simply had stronger finishes. Those disappointing showings are distance memories for both Northern Region runners after qualifying for the Foot Locker Nationals on Saturday with ninth place finishes each in the seeded race at the South regional.

2009 KYtrackXC.com XC Runner of the Year Emma Brink (Sacred Heart) finished 13th in the Seeded Race at Foot Locker South this morning. 

Jacob Thomson, a freshman at Holy Cross in Louisville won the Foot Locker South Freshman Race in North Carolina this morning.  His winning time of 16:11 was a new personal best.  Jacob was the 2009 Kentucky Freshman Runner of the Year. 

James Brown, sophomore at Bell County won the Sophomore Boys Race at Foot Locker South in North Carolina this morning.  Unofficially he ran a best time of 15:50 to win over some of the best sophomore talent in the South as far west as Texas.  Brown was the 2009 Kentucky Sophomore Runner of the Year and 1st Team Class AA All-State.

While the Nike Cross Southeast Regionals has pulled away many of the state's top girls either competing on contending teams or trying to secure one of the 5 individual quaifier spots, tradition and dreams of sunny San Diego still keeps the best Virginia boys coming back to Foot Locker South as the top ranked half dozen runners in the state will be racing on Saturday at McAlpine Greenway Park in Charlotte with top 10 aspirations. While the best Virginia girls who will be racing in Charlotte will be considered long shots of making it to nationals, one upside for both Brooke Point senior Katherine Walker and Lake Braddock freshmen Sophie Chase is neither has any problem pushing the pace and running up front, which is necessary in order to put yourself in position for a top 10 national qualifier position on the fast and flat McAlpine 5K course. MileSplit US will have on-site coverage for MileStat.com led by scrunners.com webmaster John Olson as a total of 422 runners are entered in Foot Lockter South from the state of Virginia.

Entries courtesy of Foot Locker South meet management, as of Nov. 25.

Photo courtesy John Olson, SCRUNNERS

This has been a great year for Florida cross country!  Kathryn Fluehr is currently ranked second in the nation and a few other girls may have a shot.  It seems to be one of the deepest years we've seen on the boys side and many expect a number to make it through.  But what is the reality?  And who from other states stand in the way?

Photo by PFFlyer

An updated November 18th list of all athletes currently registered for Foot Locker South including a good representation of Virginians. From the recent 11/11 Cream of the Crop Rankings, the top 7 ranked Virginia boys are all set to compete in Charlotte and 13 of the top 25. Meanwhile, 8 of the top 25 ranked girls will be racing at McAlpine Greenway Park as more top ranked girls are on NXN berth vying squads than boys. More information on registering for Foot Locker South can be found at http://footlockercc.com/south/

Foot Locker South Entries by State (PDF file)

West Virginia Runners are signing up for the Foot Locker South Regional to be held at McAlpine Park in Charlotte, North Carolina on Saturday November 28. The first race of the day which is the Open race begins at 8:00. Meet Director Max Mayo sent an e-mail stating AAA State Champions Alex Dent, senior from Hurricane, and junior Brandon Doughty of Jefferson along with AAA State runner-ups senior Chelsea Clark of Fairmont Senior and Cody Pelliccioni a junior from Morgantown have signed up for the Foot Locker South Regional.

Mr. Mayo said we would get an up to date list of all runners as soon as possible.

Foot Locker South Entries as of Nov. 25

 I hope as many West Virginia runners can make this great event, and I know you will represent West Virginia well. 

Foot Locker Cross Country South Regional Official Web Site

 Foot Locker announced today, that Saucony, Inc., has become the official sponsor for the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships (FLCCC), the nation’s premier high school championships for cross country runners.

Final entries received late Friday night