Dudek Finds Speed Late To Reach Foot Locker Finish Line First

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

SAN DIEGO – Zofia Dudek’s globe-trotting travel itinery over the past 10 days created a challenge, but it wasn’t too much for the senior from Ann Arbor Pioneer MI to overcome.

Dudek injected a burst of speed twice in the last half mile to overtake Marlee Starliper and hold her off in one of the fastest girls championship races in Balboa Park history at Saturday’s Foot Locker Cross Country National Finals.

RESULTS | GIRLS RACE REPLAY | PHOTOS | VIDEO INTERVIEWS

Dudek returned home from competing at the European Cross Country Championships in Portugal last week and completed her mission of competing well for her native Poland and then turning around representing her adopted home in Michigan.

“I’m really glad I got both opportunities,” Dudek said after winning the race in 16:45.0 for the fastest time on the Morley Field course since 1994. “I guess the travel did not matter as much to me. It was super-exciting.”

A week after placing fifth in the European U-20 women’s race, the Stanford commit ran near the front the entire way through the race but did not take the lead until she reached the bottom of the hill with about 500 meters left to go.

Starliper, who was a frustrated 13th the past two years, had victory in her sights after pushing up to the front in the second half of the race. After Dudek passed her, Starliper dug deep to try and regain the lead but the champion had another gear saved for the finish.

“I was super-scared honestly,” Dudek said. “I wasn’t really thinking about anything. I just wanted to get to the finish line.”

Starliper finished less than two seconds behind Dudek, in 16:46.8 – the sixth-fastest time at the national race in San Diego and the fastest non-winning time

Katelynne Hart, the 2018 runner-up, charged out to the lead and pressed the issue for as long as she could. The Illinois champion, already regarded as the best female distance runner in state history, made a valiant effort to bounce back from a 50th-place finish at Nike Cross Nationals a week earlier.

Abby VanderKooi, a sophomore from Muskegon Western Christian High in Michigan, the Midwest regional champion, gave the race an unprecedented third sub-17 minute finish and placed third in 16:55.2.

Hart ran out of gas just a bit, but still held on for fourth as girls from the Midwest went 1-3-4-6.

Taylor Ewert of Beavercreek OH, last week’s Nike Cross Nationals runner-up, claimed this sixth-place spot, helping her join Starliper as the only two female athletes in the country to place in the top 10 in both national meets this season.

Junior Sydney Masciarelli, the defending champion from Marianapolis Prep CT, was seventh.