Photos: Courtesy of Milesplit.US photags
Ravenscroft's Wesley Frazier had a sensational year. She broke course records at UNCW, Hagan Stone Park (3 times), her home course at Ravenscroft, and at the Wake Med Soccer Complex. Wesley also 
These accomplishments gave Wesley the status of the nation's top freshman. She burst on the scene early in the year with a remarkable 17:49 on the home course in which she won by about 2 minutes . . . over the 1st place boy! Checking to see if this was a misprint, I began to ask a lot of questions and soon found out that this girl is for real. Wesley was ranked among the countries best by Milesplit.US for much of the year. She had a tough race at the Foot Locker South race, not running to the potential that some thought she could. However, the experience of the huge field and tight start will benefit her next year when she attempts to qualify once again. Wesley got off to a fast start at the Foot Locker Championships race and held on extremely well for a 10th place finish.
Wesley, congrats on an incredible race in San Diego. You said you were boxed in at the South race, did that play a role in your start on Saturday because it looked as if you got out much better?
Yes, a little. With a wide start area and only 40 runners I wasn’t as concerned about a bottleneck, but I did want to get positioned to be in contact with the lead group from the beginning.
How does it feel to be the top freshman in the US? A 10th place finish in your first season of XC is simply amazing.
I’m very happy and proud of the way I held on in the race. Sometimes it can be tough to fight on when you see several runners ahead of you, especially in the last mile, as they start to pull away. Those top girls were very powerful, experienced runners and I was glad to finish 10th.
You mentioned to me before that you were excited about getting to meet other runners and getting to know the other girls on the South team. Was there anyone you really hit it off with? Who was your roommate while you were in San Diego?
I hung around with Grace Tinkey, from GA, a lot. She was the other freshman from the south but I also spent much of my time with the Fluehr twins from FL, Kathryn and Erika, at least enough that I could eventually tell them apart. They are a lot of fun. Jessica Tonn from AZ was my roommate. She was great. A four time finalist. I learned so much just being around her and watching how she handled the whole situation.
Am I correct to say that you didn't run over 18:00 at all this year? If so, what a feat!
Yes. It just kind of got going and then I didn’t want to break the string.
What does this race do for your future goals? I know you've always said, "I run my hardest every race." I completely understand that and can see why a 9th grader would just want to compete. However, with a 10th place finish in your first year . . . you've got to think about the future a bit.
After being around and running with those other 39 girls, some of my weaknesses really show. It was an eye-opening experience for me. My goal will be to improve on these weaknesses and then next season will take care of itself.
Besides the race itself, what was the best part of your Foot Locker experience?
I think it was the attitude that Mrs. Zocks, Mr. Mayo and all the other people from Footlocker had toward us. All 80 of us were treated with the greatest respect from the Foot Locker staff and everything they did made us all feel like champions from the time we finished our regional race until we returned home from the nationals.
