From: nerunner@ix.netcom.com
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 1997 10:18:36 +0000
Subject: t-and-f: N.E. Footlocker Sweep

Greetings netters, 

Now that the XC ledger has been substantially cleared, and both 
Jonathon Riley, Gabe Jennings and Julia Stamps have shown that 
yesterday's high schooler may very well be tomorrow's elite, here is a 
post that's been gathering dust and in need of a new locale.

I have not consulted Pat Hoffman on this, so there's some trepidation 
involved - but not a lot. Unable to make Footlocker, I will be at 
Disney for the marathon a month later and have been betting my weight 
(fairly substantial) in monorail ale that this is how things will 
eventuate:

On Dec. 13th at the Walt Disney World Sports Complex in Buena Vista, 
Florida, there will be-barring unforeseen injury or illness-a New 
England sweep of the 1997 Footlocker National High School Cross 
Country Championships.

The boys and girls champions will be challenged for their respective 
titles but will remain unbeaten on the year. The boys champion will be 
no surprise. The girls champion will be a huge surprise (outside of 
New England), so let's start there.

In June of this year, a rather momentous event occurred at the 
Spaulding High School track in Rochester, New Hampshire. The Meet of 
Champions, the NH state track & field championships, was underway and 
Erica Palmer, a junior from Monadnock Regional, had just run 10:27.06 
for 3200 meters to lower Olympian Cathy O'Brien's long standing state 
record by 3 seconds.

The former Cathy Shiro was in attendance as an asst. coach at Oyster 
River High and offered her sincere congratulations. Palmer is a 1996 
Footlocker finalist. The 1997 girls Footlocker champion will not come 
from the Granite State, however.

The Ocean State will be well represented in Orlando by 1996 Footlocker 
finalist Laura Turner of Portsmouth, but alas, Rhode Island will also 
play second fiddle.

Which brings us to Vermont and another 1996 Footlocker finalist, Tara 
Chaplin of Union-32. All three runners mentioned so far are seniors 
and bonafide contenders...and while the Footlocker champ will hail 
from Vermont, it will be in the person of Mount Mansfield junior Erin 
Sullivan.

Sullivan was unproven until this year and for good reason: she's never 
run cross country before. The previous two seasons, her autumn was 
spent playing soccer. This year a special arrangement was made 
allowing her to compete in both sports. The result has been 
astonishing.

First off, Sullivan is no stranger to running. Both her parents run 
and Sullivan is both the 1997 Vermont state outdoor champion in the 
1500 and New England mile champion (4:58). Still, it's been an 
extraordinary transition from the track to the trails.

In one of her first xc meets ever, Sullivan chopped 10 seconds off 
4-time Connecticut state champ and 1991 Footlocker champion Liz 
Mueller's 3.15-mile course record at the Thetford Invitational, 
running 17:29.

Three weeks later at the Vermont state championships in her 5th meet 
ever, Sullivan took another 5 seconds off her own record to win the 
Div. I title by almost 2 minutes. Chaplin captured the Div. II title 
in the 2nd fastest time of the day, 17:45.

Next up came the New Englands in Smithfield, RI, on Nov. 8. Palmer, 
1996 NE champion Chaplin, and Turner all ran under Emily Grossman's 
(now at Brown U.) course record of 18:18 with NH's Palmer the fastest 
of the three in 17:41. Despite the record setting pace, all three were 
chasing Sullivan who blazed to a runaway clocking of 17:25.

The Footlocker Northeast Regional Qualifier was once again a 
wire-to-wire affair for Sullivan. Chaplin and Palmer placed 2-3 with 
Rhode Island's Turner finishing 6th. While Sullivan ran from the front 
to a 17:31 clocking, Chaplin was but 15 seconds in arrears, the 
closest anyone has come this year.

The case for Boston English senior and defending Footlocker champion 
Abdirizak Mohamud has only been strengthened since last year.

After chasing Jonathon Riley throughout the 1996 season, Mohamud came 
within three seconds at the Northeast Regionals and only then confided 
that he thought he could do well at nationals.

This year, he fully expects to win and with good reason. The national 
indoor 800 champion, Mohamud also ran the fastest prep 600 (1:20.79) 
in the country last year. In actual races, he has run 11 seconds for 
the 100, 22-flat for 200 and a 400 meter relay leg of 48.5.

So much for shorter distance speed. At the B.A.A. Boston Mayor's Cup, 
Mohamud broke Riley's Franklin Park high school 5K record by a 
whopping 30 seconds in 14:42. The conditions were dry and fast. In 
snow and mud at the Mass. All-State Meet, Mohamud again won easily and 
later said, "The weather doesn't matter to me, I run with heart."

After a Northeast Regional win that Mohamud said felt "easy," the 
scene shifts to Orlando, a warmer climate that provides even more of 
an edge that, in truth, isn't needed.
-Bob Fitzgerald