As a boy, I thought of a creek as a stream of running water. More geographic experience taught me that a creek is a low area that may or may not be wet at the moment, but during a rainy spell it will be overflowing. Some towns ditch their creeks, hoping to be protect the land along the banks from flooding. Other towns just use creeks as a convenient place to put stormwater runoff and sanitary sewer lines. Still others develop recreational land or build parks along the creek. Several towns north of Atlanta, Georgia, have built paved trails along Big Creek. But Charlotte, North Carolina, built a cross-country course along McAlpine Creek, turning the Creek and its Greenway into a legend.
The McAlpine Creek course owes much of its legendary status to the Foot Locker South cross-country meet. For many years the best high school distance runners in this region of the United States have made a pilgrimage to McAlpine each autumn for Foot Locker South. Winning the race is always a goal, but most athletes would be happy with a spot in the top ten, because breaking into the top ten earns you a berth at Foot Locker Nationals in San Diego.
Foot Locker South returns to McAlpine Creek on Saturday morning, 29 November 2014. Let’s take a look at who stands the best chance at advancing from McAlpine to the starting line of Foot Locker Nationals in Balboa Park on 13 December 2014.
Norman North senior Ben Barrett (North Carolina State signee) is the only 2013 Foot Locker South qualifier returning this year. Barrett would also be the only runner in the field who has run under 15:00 at McAlpine. Last year Barrett finished 6th at Foot Locker South after winning the Oklahoma State Meet and also qualifying for Nike Cross Nationals with a fourth-place finish in NXN south. He’s running as well as ever this year.
Daniel Boone senior Adam Barnard was twelfth at Foot Locker South in 2013. This year, the athlete from Gray, Tennessee, is running about 15 seconds faster than last year. At McAlpine, that kind of improvement would put him well under 15:00, making Barnard a definite threat to qualify.
But if you include Barnard on your list of hopefuls, you’ll also have to include Loudon Valley junior Andrew Hunter. Earlier this season, Hunter traveled from his home in Purcellville, Virginia, to the Great American meet in North Carolina, where he beat Barnard by a ton, 14:46.01 to 15:12.07. Hunter is running about half a minute faster than last year, but that’s the kind of big move that an athlete can make going from sophomore year to junior year. Hunter also brings some of the best track credentials to the table--8:53.81 for two miles and 4:10.94 for the mile.
Tanis Baldwin, a senior at East Henderson in Hendersonville, North Carolina, already has a McAlpine win to his credit this year. Baldwin ran 15:02 at McAlpine, winning the Wendy’s Invitational. 15:02 may not be fast enough to qualify, but last year Baldwin ran 15:25 at Wendy’s then returned to run 15:09 at Foot Locker South. Based on year-to-year improvement at Wendy’s and his tendency to run faster at Foot Locker South, Baldwin looks poised to run 14:40 to 14:45 at McAlpine on November 29.
The athletes have to actually run the times, of course. Last year I would have picked Leon’s Sukhi Khosla to run in the 14:50 to 14:55 range at McAlpine. However, the Tallahassee, Florida, runner posted a 15:11 at Foot Locker South in 2013. Since then, Khosla posted track times of 8:59.50 for 3200 and 4:05.96 for 1600. His cross country performances this season are no faster than last year, but they don’t need to be--he keeps winning. Khosla looks capable of going under 14:50 at McAlpine this year.
Erik Wingfield, a senior at Keller Timber Creek in Fort Worth, Texas, ran 15:23 at Foot Locker South last year. On the one hand, that was the week after racing NXN South. On the other hand, he’ll probably race NXN South before Foot Locker South again this year. Wingfield looks improved from 2013, but until November 29, I’ll be wondering if he has improved enough to break into the top ten at McAlpine.
A Texan who appears to have a better chance at qualifying is Frisco Independence junior Carter Blunt. Last year, Blunt was Texas state champ in cross-country, the 1600, and the 3200. Undefeated through the district meet, he’s running 15 to 30 seconds faster than last year. Blunt didn’t run Foot Locker South in 2013, but he has indicated that Footlocker and NXN are among his goals in 2014. Blunt’s track times were 9:03.10 in the 3200 and 4:14.91 in the 1600, and as a junior he could get a lot faster.
Reilly Friedman, a senior at Galloway in Atlanta, Georgia, finished behind Hunter and Barnard at Great American, but he has won everything else he has raced this season. Friedman seems to have the best chance of any Georgia athlete of qualifying. However, the Peach State name that most often comes up when discussing Foot Locker is Kaleb McLeod. A senior at Trinity Christian in Dublin, Georgia, McLeod was 15th at Foot Locker South in 2013, and has already won the 2014 GISA state championship. But at the FSU Invitational, McLeod was 13th in 15:42.66. If there are a dozen Florida runners faster than you, you probably aren’t going to make the top ten in the entire South.
Speaking of the FSU Invitational, based on performances in that meet Merritt Island junior Steven Cross and Miami Sunset senior Nick Diaz have the best shot of any Floridians at cracking the top ten at Foot Locker South. Outside of Sukhi Khosla, that is. Depending on the speed of the field, their Apalachee Regional Park times indicate that they’re capable of running fast enough at McAlpine to be at the cusp of qualifying. Cross even has some Foot Locker South experience, finishing 92nd in 15:53 last year.
Typically an athlete has to get through the state cross country championships before moving on to consider Foot Locker. For Brandon Marquez, though, Foot Locker South will be everything. The Timber Creek junior is competing unattached this year, and while the rest of Florida is racing in the State Finals at Apalachee Regional Park, Marquez will be continuing to prepare for McAlpine. Marquez's sophomore performance of 15:08.51 at ARPXC is indicative of an athlete who can go sub 15:00 at McAlpine, and he has had a year to improve. During the 2014 cross-country season Marquez has posted a 15:23.00 at the Wickham Park Jamboree, and was reportedly running well at Disney before collapsing on the course. He has shown that he can get out fast at Foot Locker South, but he'll also have to finish.
Nine members of the 2013 Foot Locker South boys’ team have graduated, but only seven of the girls. Gabby Karas, Devin Clark, and Kathryn Foreman could all be back this year.
Karas, a sophomore at in Louisville, Kentucky, was fourth last year in 17:07, the best of the returning runners. You’d ordinarily have to consider her a favorite to qualify again, and possibly to win the Foot Locker South. Karas has been having trouble with an ankle this season, though, so hedge your bets.
Smithson Valley senior Devin Clark of Spring Branch, Texas, was seventh in 17:18 at McAlpine last year; she was also a NXN qualifier. Clark is gunning for both honors again this year, and she seems on target. She looks to be the fastest girl in Texas and can prove that at the State Meet. Can she also prove to be fastest in the South at McAlpine?
Kathyrn Foreman, a junior at Landmark Christian, was eighth at Foot Locker South in 2013, running 17:19. Foreman’s 2014 performances don’t seem to indicate a return to Balboa Park, though. At the Carrollton Orthopedic Invitational, Foreman finished third behind Northview High junior Lindsay Billings. Billings is racing like a Foot Locker qualifier this season, racking up five wins including a 17:36.88 at Disney.
Billings does have one loss on the season, having finished behind Fellowship Christian junior Emma Grace Hurley at the Covered Bridge Run in Roswell, Georgia. Hurley has a perfect record with six wins so far this season, but last year at McAlpine she was 48th in 18:14. She’ll need to improve that nearly a minute to crack the top ten.
Providence High’s Grace Sullivan needed another quarter minute last year at McAlpine in order to make the team for Foot Locker Nationals. The Charlotte, North Carolina, senior may have found those missing seconds. Sullivan is running about that much faster this season, grabbing four wins. Three of those wins were in races at McAlpine. If anyone at Foot Locker South has a home course advantage, it’s Sullivan. After four years of cross country at Providence, she probably sees McAlpine in her dreams.
Libby Davidson, a sophomore at Glass High of Lynchburg, Virginia, has won everything that she has run this season, including a 17:07.27 win at Great American. Davidson looks likely to be another in a long line of Virginia girls to compete at Balboa Park.
North Carolina runner Ryen Frazier finished second behind Davidson at Great American, running 17:22.68. Frazier also ran a bit slower than Davidson at the Adidas XC Challenge in Cary, North Carolina, on 20 September 2014, but while Davidson ran in the high school championship race, Frazier ran in the college and open race. A senior, Frazier runs unattached, but more importantly she runs fast. She may be able to run fast enough to make the trip to Balboa Park.
Kathleen Mansure ran Foot Locker South last year, but she didn't run in the championship race. She ran 22:05, which didn't compare well with the times she had posted in other races. It certainly doesn’t compare well with what the Wautauga High senior has been running this season. Mansure won the Wendy’s Invitational, running 17:33 at McAlpine--very close to what will be needed to make the top ten at Foot Locker South. Mansure is one good race away from Foot Locker Nationals.
Houston Lamar sophomore Julia Heymach was 27th at Foot Locker South as a frosh, running 17:55. This year she is running even faster, but she’ll need to be around half a minute faster to make the South team going to San Diego.
An even faster Texan than Heymach is New Braunfels junior Paige Hofstad. Hofstad defended her title at the Nike South Invitational by outrunning Heymach 17:38.30 to 17:49.60. Shaky in the early season, Hofstad has been a winner in the more recent races, except when the aforementioned Devin Clark shows up.
However, the same was that Winter Park’s Rafaella Gibbons showed up as a frosh and upset everyone’s thinking about Florida’s state cross country championship this season, it’s possible that there’s a new runner out there that’s going to stun as all at McAlpine Creek on November 29. For developmental reasons, this is less likely in the boys’ race than in the girls’ race, and it’s even more improbable that some athlete has stayed under the radar this late into the season. It’s not impossible, though, which is a good reason to follow what happens at Foot Locker South that morning.
