By Michael Newman

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The formula is quite simple actually. If you place in the top ten in the Girls and Boys Championship race at Saturday’s Foot Locker Midwest Regional Championships at Kenosha, Wisconsin, you earn a trip to San Diego and a spot on the starting line at the Foot Locker National Championship Race in two weeks. Runners from 13 states will converge on the Wayne E. Dannehl National Cross Country Course to race against the best for that chance.

Team scores will be kept by state. In the past, you will see runners from different states with equal talent work together so that they can finish in one of those first ten qualifying positions. The temperature should be in the 30’s. With no precipitation in the last couple of days in the area, conditions look good for some fast times.

Who will be in the front challenging for those spots? Here is a look at some of the individuals to watch for in each of the championship races.

Girls – 10:40 AM CST

The field in this race is not as strong as it should be. Defending Regional Champion Anna Rohrer (Mishawaka, IN) has missed most of the season due to injury and will not compete on Saturday. Also missing the race is 4^th place finisher from the 2012 national race Jordyn Colter (Centennial, CO) who had to withdraw because of mononucleosis. The race could come down to two Missouri rivals.

Taylor Werner (Ste. Genevieve, MO) defeated Hannah Long (Eureka, MO) at the Forest Park Festival in September by close to 50 seconds. Both runners won state championships at the beginning of the month with Long winning the Class 4 title and Werner the Class 3 Title. Long has looked strong as of late. The advantage of the two runners goes to the sophomore Werner. Two weeks ago at the NXN Midwest Regional, she battled a tough field and adverse conditions to win the championship race.

The one runner that could take the top spot is Stephanie Jenks (Marion, IA). She chose not to compete for her school in cross country this season. She competed for the US National team in the World Junior Triathlon Championships in London finishing 47th. She competed for the school's swimming team this past fall. She did run in a few open cross country races this fall. The most promenent of those was her seventh place finish at the Bill Dellinger Invitational in Eugene on October 5. If Werner does not win this race, Jenks will.

Michigan could have a landslide of qualifiers to San Diego. It could start with Audrey Belf (Birmingham, MI). The junior has gone defeated this season culminating with a D1 state championship at the beginning of the month. She could be the first runner across the finish line on Saturday morning. Lauren Brasure (Rockford, MI) finished nine seconds behind Belf at the state meet and could be a good bet to punch a ticket. D4 State Champion Kirsten Olling (Breckenridge, MI), and D2 State Champion Kenzie Weiler (Cedar Springs, MI) should also challenge for a top ten spot.

The surprise in this field to most national observers could be Mailin Struck (Riverside, IL). The foreign exchange student from Germany took Illinois by storm this fall leading to her dominating the 2A state race and winning the championship by 29 seconds. She ran 17:13 last spring on the track last spring in Germany. She has the talent to win this race on Saturday.

Do not forget about 2012 Illinois 3A Champion Madeline Perez (Glen Ellyn, IL). She missed most of the season due to a leg injury. Perez did come back strong. Her third place finish at the state meet was one of the reasons why Glenbard West won the team championship. I would not discount her in this race.

There are eight other state champions that will toe the line in this race and will be in contention for top 10 finishes. Elizabeth Flatley (Brookfield, WI) the D1 champion leads a strong contingent from Wisconsin. D2 Champion Morgan Florsheim (Shorewood, WI) and Delaney Sinnen (Random Lake, WI) will also compete in this race. Jordan Jacoby (Bismarck, ND) won her Class AA state meet by fifteen seconds and could be a surprise in this race. 1A Champion Rebekah Topham (Griswold, IA) has plenty of high level race competition and could be a factor in this race as well. 2A Champion Grace Bibbons (Gilbert, IA) could be in the front pack in this race also.

Kelcy Welch (Carmel, IN), the Indiana state champion, will lead her team next weekend to Oregon for the NXN Champions. She finished fourth at the NXN Regionals two weeks ago. She could be in the top ten mix in this race. Annie Heffernan (Cincinnati, OH) is the D1 champion in Ohio. Jacquelyn Crow (Lebanon OH), the D2 champion from the state, gives Ohio two possible runners that could be in San Diego in two weeks.

Other runners that I would keep an eye on as well include Sophia Racette (Webster Groves, MO), Lauren Van Vlierbergen (Algonquin, IL), Mary Blankemeier (Oak Park, IL), Kelsey Schrader (DeKalb, IL), Valerie Wierenga (Grandville, MI), Jenna Truedson (Bernidji, MN), Jessica & Jennifer Parker (Neenah, WI), Kate Hietpas (Sun Prairie, WI), Karissa Schwiezer (West Des Moines, IA), Mackenzie Caldwell (Columbus, IN), Elena Lancioni (LaPorte, IN), Rachel Nichwithz (Fishers, IN), and Aundrea Koger (Osage City, KS).

Boys – 11:25 AM

This should be a great race. Seven of the top thirty runners in the DyeStat Individual National Rankings are in this field. This should not be a race like the NXN Midwest Boys Championship where the adverse conditions produced a surprise winner with Evan Stifel (Cincinnati, OH). With near perfect conditions predicted for Kenosha, I am doubting that here will be any real surprises in the front.

Mark Hadley (Youngstown, OH) went undefeated in Ohio in route to winning the D1 State championship. What was impressive is that he ran 15:20 for 5k four times during the year. The question will be if he will be under fifteen minutes in this race. Toby Hardwick (Newark, OH) finished eleven seconds behind Hardley in the state race. He could be a runner that finishes in the top ten in this race.

Addison DeHaven (Brookings, SD) and Obsa Ali (Richfield, MN) ran a tough race against each other three weeks ago at the NXN Heartland Regional. DeHaven came out on top in that race by three seconds. Watch for both runners to challenge for the front Saturday morning.

Patrick Perrier (O’Fallon, IL) was among the race leaders in the NXN Midwest Regional two weeks ago before dropping out with approximately 1k to go due to an ankle injury. He finished fourth in this race last year. The Illinois 3A champion and future Stanford Cardinal will challenge for the win. Jesse Reiser (McHenry, IL) has emerged over the past couple of weeks finishing 2^nd in the Illinois 3A race, then duplicating that finish at the NXN Midwest Regional. I would not be surprised if he punches a ticket to San Diego in this race.

Grant Fisher (Grand Blanc, MI) made an impression on some with his performance at the World Youth Trials last June challenging Blake Haney (Bakersfield, CA) in both the 1500 & 300 Meter Runs. Fisher made the National team finishing ninth in the 1500 at the World Youth Championships in the Ukraine. He has more of a name for himself with an impressive cross country season in Michigan culminating with the D1 state championship. He is one of the top juniors in the nation. It would not surprise me if he won the race on Saturday.

Noah Kauppila (Chesterfield, MO) had one setback earlier in the year to Perrier at the Forest Park Classic in September. He went on to win the Class 4 championship in his state. His race at the NXN Midwest Regional puzzled many as he struggled home to place fourteenth. Expect him to be in the front in this high stakes race. The same could be said about Indiana Stare Champion Jackson Bertoli (Terre Haute, IN) and his NXN Midwest Race where he finished 24^th. Just like Kauppila, expect him to be in the front.

One runner that could surprise is Josh Evans (Marion, IA). He finished fourth in the 4A state meet, then came back to finish eighth at the NXN Heartland Meet. He has run sub 4:10 in the mile. He could be in the top ten in this race. John Wold (Glen Ellyn, IL) is the IL 2A champion and a runner like Evans that could get some national respect after this race. The senior went by two miles in his state race in 9:23 before effects of the fast pace and a strong win slowed him down to 14:38. In conditions like we are expecting Saturday, he could be among the top runners in this race.

There is a possibility of two Wisconsin runners making to California. Olin Hacker (Madison, WI) looked strong in winning his D1 state meet three weeks ago when he was pushed by Ryan Nameth (Verona, WI). It would not shock me if one or both of these runners are in the top ten at the end.

This is a strong field where it would be no shame to place in the top twenty in this race. Other runners that I would keep a close eye on include Zack Smith (Downers Grove, IL), Jack Carpenter (Park Ridge, IL), Graham Brown (Palatine, IL), Nolan McKenna (Wheaton, IL), Tyson Miehe (Darlington, WI), Garrett Crichlow (Twinsburg, OH), Thomas Pollard (Gilbert, IA), Brian Kettle (Highland, MI), Ryan Robinson (Waterford, MI), Ben Hill (Royal Oak, MI), David Dalton (Greenwood, IN), Zack Snider (Indianapolis, IN), and Anthony Didion (LaPorte, IN).