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Hart finishes 2nd in epic Foot Locker Girls Championship race finish

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ILXCTF - Mike Newman   Dec 9th 2018, 7:00am
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Morris and Methner also earn All-American honors along with Hart

 

By Michael Newman

[email protected]

 

One of the toughest things to do in a championship race is to hold the lead from the firing of the gun until the runner crosses the finish line first.

Despite the fact that Katelynne Hart of Glenbard West High School finished second in Saturday’s Foot Locker National Girls Championship race at San Diego’s Balboa Park, the junior left the park with the respect of everyone who watched her run on this day. The race was decided in the final 100-meters when Sydney Masciarelli of Marianapolis Prep CT finally was able to get past Hart after several unsuccessful tries. Masciarelli’s winning time of 17:00.3 was just sevenths of a second ahead of the Illinois 3A State Champion.

“I did not know what my plan was going to be coming into this race. I just wanted to be in front of the pack with so many amazing runners,” Hart said after the race. “When I was going down that hill (in the first lap), I just thought of going for it. I wasn’t sure how it was going to work out. I just knew I had to trust my gut and stay strong for the rest of the race.”

The strategy was quite simple for Hart as it had been during her regular season racing in Illinois. I’m going to go out fast. Come and try to get me.

It was a sweep of Midwest runners in the first mile of the race. Hart went through the first 880 yards in 2:30 while Alex Morris of Naperville North IL, Taylor Ewert of Beavercreek OH, and Erica Vanderlende of Rockford MI were a few of the runners that were trying to stay with the Glenbard West runner.

The pace was fast at 1-mile where Hart passed that mark in 5:13 opening up a two second lead ahead of Ewert, Vanderlende, Emily Covert of Washburn MN, and Abby Vanderkooi of Muskegon Western Christian MI. Masciarelli was another second behind in sixth.

The pack started to break apart in the next half mile. Hart was continuing to push the pace opening up a four second lead. Masciarelli knew that she had to move if she wanted to stay in contention. The sophomore moved up to second even with Ewert. Covert and Vanderkooi were another two seconds back.

This was a different Hart than what we saw in her race the week before at the Nike Cross Nationals where she finished 16th overall in that race. Instead of hanging in the chase pack, Hart was defining the race pushing the pace. She passed two-miles in 10:55 with her lead extending to five seconds ahead of Masciarelli.

Masciarelli had to move if she wanted the national title. Hart would have nothing of that as the lead stayed at four seconds with a little more than a half mile left in the race.

Coming down the final hill, Masciarelli closed the gap as Hart dug deep to hold the lead.

The two runners passed three-miles in 16:27 each having an eye on the championship. It was one of the most fantastic finishes that we have seen in this meet or any championship Girls race. Masciarelli tried to pass on the left with 300-meters left. Hart refused to give up the lead. Again, and again, Hart would not let Masciarelli pass. In the final 50 meters, Masciarelli found a gear was just slightly faster than what Hart had left.

The two were moving at a fast clip at the end. Vanderkooi, who was only two seconds behind Masciarelli at 2.5 miles, finished 13 seconds behind the front two.

“There were kind of a lot of mixed emotions during the race. There were times where I was questioning why I was leading. The last bit was challenging. I do love the battle in cross-country,” Hart added. “Going neck to neck down the home stretch, I went for broke and gave it all that I had. I ran a personal best. I was so excited to get second. I was proud in the way I raced. It was kind of a repeat of last year when I battled Olivia Theis at the end.”

HART INTERVIEW

Hart finished second last year running 17:22. Her time on Saturday was 21 seconds faster.

Alex Morris had a great finish to her cross-country season finishing 15th overall with her second week in a row in All-American territory. Morris was in the top ten for most of the race only to slide back in the final 800-meters.

“It was quite different not having my teammates from Naperville North with me today, but I knew they were cheering for me,” Morris said. “We (the Midwest runners) grew so close to each other this weekend. I knew it was going to be close for the last (All-American) spot.  I was just thinking of my teammates back home and fighting for every last spot for them.”

MORRIS INTERVIEW

The Midwest runners had the best of the four regions with seven runners finishing in the top 15. DyeStat MIDWEST ARTICLE

RESULTS

At the beginning of the 2018 Cross Country Season. Not too many people nationally knew who Josh Methner of Hersey High School was. After a second week in a row as an All-American in a national race, Methner will be a household name especially finishing sixth on Saturday.

The junior described his race strategy at NXN was to stay near the front for as long as he could and then hold on. He finished 15th in Portland using that strategy.

The Boys race was tactical to say the least. Methner had the lead at the first mile going through that point in 4:48. Six seconds separated the field of 40 runners in the first mile.  Methner passed 1.5 miles in 7:16 with the top 20 runners all within four seconds of each other.

Cole Hocker of Indianapolis Cathedral IN was enjoying that pace. The second-place finisher at NXN has earned the reputation this fall of having a devastating kick to end his races. The pace was “pedestrian” with 15 runners going through two-miles at 9:55 led by Hocker, Methner, and Jake Renfree of Knoxville, Tenn.

Hocker pushed the pace the next half mile as Renfree stayed within a second of the Indiana State Champion. In the final 400-meters of the race, Hocker took off leaving the rest of the competition behind. He crossed the line in 15:13 six seconds ahead of Renfree.

Graydon Morris of Aledo TX, who finished second in this race last year, moved from fifth in the final stretch to finish third edging Carter Solomon of Plymouth MI and Drew Bosley of Homestead WI who all were timed at 15:25.

Methner was next in 15:27 ending what was a spectacular finish to his 2018 cross-country season.

“This is awesome. I could not have done it with my coaches and teammates back home,” Methner said. “I felt a little bit banged up coming into the race. That went away 10 minutes before the start. I’ve never run this late in the season. It was just finishing at the end with all my heart.”

METHNER INTERVIEW

If you looked at the form charts at the beginning of the season, Ethan Kern of York High School was not supposed to be on the starting line in San Diego. After finishing 87th in the Illinois 3A State Meet as a sophomore, Kern had a breakout junior season finishing ninth in the 3A State Meet and 28th last week at the Nike Cross Nationals.

The York junior was in the hunt for most of the race trailing the leaders by only seven seconds when he was in 26th half way through the race. Kern ended up finishing 35th overall running 16:23.8.

Methner and Kern are both juniors. It will be exciting to see the two racing against each other over the next three seasons. The future again looks bright for Illinois distance running.

Just like in the Girls Race, the Midwest region reigned supreme in the Boys race placing five runners in the top nine finishers.

DyeStat Hocker Article

Photo Credit: John Nepolitan, DyeStat.com

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