Noah Affolder, Katie Rainsberger run CRs

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

One state meet is down (Alaska) and in 49 more states the steady drum beat of the season is marching up to a lot more state championships. For the record, the next ones up are Utah (Oct. 21) and Nebraska (Oct. 23). There are six more on the 24th. 

Here is the Alaska State Meet Recap

Elsewhere, the weather took a huge toll in the Southeast. The NSAF had to cancel the Great American XC Festival because of predicted torrential rains. And in South Carolina, the weekend was scrubbed of almost everything by catastrophic rains and flooding. 

That shifted even more of the spotlight to the McQuaid Invitational in upstate New York, where 25 races served a wide swath of teams. 

Noah Affolder of Carthage NY, continued his emergence as a major player nationally with his second big course record of the season. Ben Petrella (14:32.9) and Kenny Vasbinder (14:49) went 1-2 in a different race. 

East Aurora was the top boys team, wih 130 points to Liverpool's 133. 

In the top girl race, Shona McCulloch, a junior from Longfields-Davidson Heights (Ontario, Canada) won in 16:35.7, which beat the previous record of 16:43.3. Second place finisher, Abbey Wheeler, a senior from Elmira was also under the record, running 16:36.1.

Shenedehowa NY won with 137 points, while Centerville OH, which made last-minute travel adjustments when Great American was canceled, was second (143).

This coming weekend's huge Manhattan Invitational is the next big date on the calendar.

For a complete rundown on all the major developments in Illinois, check out Mike Newman's coverage at DyeStatIL.

In New Jersey, the Shore Coaches Invitational was held at Holmdel Park in raw, wet conditions. Our John Nepolitan was there to take photos and uploaded galleries for boys and girls. Tim Bason from West Windsor-Plainsboro South was the only guy under 16 minutes and Alyssa Aldridge from Mainland Regional was the fastest girl.

In Pennsylvania, at the Paul Short Invitational, a couple of runners from Delaware stole the show. Kevin Murray from Charter of Wilmington won the boys race in 15:29. And sophomore Lydia Olivere from Padua beat Pennsbury's Olivia Sargent 17:49 to 17:51 in the top girls race.

In Washington, there were two big invitationals. Sunfair, at Yakima, saw Tahoma dominate the varsity flighted races and collect the overall team championship. Meanwhile, in Marysville at the Twilight Invitational, Mt. Si (girls) and Issaquah (boys) won two very competitive team titles. Nathan Pixler of Eastlake ran 15:11 to edge out Arlington's Nathan Beamer (15:14). Freshman Taylor Roe of Kamiak ran 17:46 for the girls victory. 

The big race in the state this weekend is Hole In The Wall. 

In Alabama, at the Jesse Owens XC Classic, there was a breakout performance by Christian Academy TN sophomore Rebecca Story, who dominated the gold division race with 16:57.5. She beat Taylor Cuneo of Central Magnet TN and Amaris Tyynisma of Montgomery Catholic AL by more than 30 seconds. Look for Story to crash this week's individual rankings. 

Javan Winders of Henry County TN was the fastest of the day on the boys side, with 15:15 for a winning time. 

In Florida, most of the state's top athletes got to test the state meet course in Tallahassee. Check out DyeStatFL's coverage of the FSU Pre-State Invitational.

In Arkansas, the US#4 Lafayette MO boys held up to their lofty ranking and beat US#8 Southlake Carroll TX 48 to 78 at the Chile Pepper Festival. Individually, Reed Brown from SLC won a very tight boys race with 15:06.34. Four guys were within 1.5 seconds. Meanwhile, Chelsea Drum of Jackson MO beat Oklahoma state champion Cheyenne Walden as the both of them dipped under 18 minutes. 

In Texas, at Nike South, David Strome of Colleyville Heritage (15:31.5) and Julia Heymach of Lamar (17:35.1) were the top overall finishers at The Woodlands. Katy Seven Lakes edged The Woodlands for the girls team title; The Woodlands dominated the boys action. 

Meanwhile, at the McNeil Invitational in Round Rock, Ashton Endsley of Abilene continued to show that she's joined the state's elite with her 3-mile victory in 17:00.4. She edged out Abby Gray of Alamo Heights by less than a second. Sam Worley of New Braunfels Canyon was the top boy in the meet with 14:45.3.

In Arizona, Katie Rainsberger from Air Academy CO came down from altitude and put down a 16:23.4 time on a fast, flat 5K course at Casa Grande for the Desert Twilight. That smashed her own course record by 18 seconds and it's one of the best performances in the country so far this season. Rio Rico's Allie Schadler stayed in it as long as she could and finished second in 16:54.1 . In the boys race, Daniel Bernal of Eastwood El Paso TX edged out Tyler Beauchamp 15:00 to 15:01.

Check out Margot Kelly's photo galerie from the meet HERE.

And check out Erik Boal's exclusive interview with Katie Rainsberger HERE.