South Lakes VA sr Alan Webb won the boys Race of Champions in 14:59 and Campbell County WY sr Alicia Craig won the girls Race of Champions in 17:30. Both broke away in mid-race and won with ease on a soggy course that slowed everyone down.

The Race of Champions team winners were two perennial champions who had off years in 1999 -- Mountain View UT boys and Saratoga Springs NY girls.

Flash flooding delayed the start of the meet as a normally placid creek spread over the entire starting and finish line areas . Meet managers debated alternative plans and fought off the McAlpine Park supervisor's desire to close the park. In the end, the creek retreated, the sun came out, and the meet proceeded on a hot, humid afternoon.

Competition in the team scoring was evidenced by high scores that took 50 or more finishers to settle the issue. One race -- the small school girls -- had a 3-way tie at 83 on the first five finishers between Honeoye Falls Lima NY, Marist GA, and Bishop Kenny FL. Proving any coach's constant advice that every runner counts in cross country, the New Yorkers' 6th runner -- 38th overall -- was the tie breaker. The 24-25-26 finishers included one from each school, so a single rearrangement in that group would have given a different winner.

Several elite runners were moved into the ROC by meet director Rick Hill, which caused a lot of displacement among the top finishers. Seven of the top 8 girls and 4 of the top 12 boys were running unattached.