FOOT LOCEKER CROSS COUNTRY NATIONALS

Defending Champion Elizabeth Leachman And Four-Timers Zariel Macchia and Abby Faith Cheeseman Among Headliners In San Diego

By Keenan Gray of DyeStat

John Nepolitan photo

The 45th edition of the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships is primed to be a historic one.

From athletes going for back-to-back national titles, to those who have qualified for the meet a fourth time, this year’s championships features plenty of storylines and noteworthy names to pay attention to at Balboa Park in San Diego on Saturday.

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Here are 10 girls to watch for at this year’s national championship meet.

Elizabeth Leachman, South

After dealing with on-and-off injuries throughout her entire junior season, Elizabeth Leachman has made her way back to San Diego, setting herself up to become the fifth girl in Foot Locker Cross Country Championships history to win two national titles.

The San Antonio native bounced back in a big way a week after a 15th-place finish at the 2023 Nike Cross Nationals with a 16 minute, 50.7 second performance at Balboa Park to claim her first national title of her prep career.

Leachman heads to this year’s Foot Locker with even more momentum after a hard-fought third-place run at this year’s Nike Cross Nationals, clocking 17:13.7 in rainy conditions in Portland.

If Leachman were to win on Saturday, she’ll join Erin Keough (1985-86), Melody Fairchild (1989-90), Erin Sullivan (1997-98) and Claudia Lane (2016-17) as repeat champions at Foot Locker.

Victoria Garces, Midwest

Nearly everything and anything has gone Victoria Garces’ way in her senior season, and the trend can continue in San Diego.

Coming off a runner-up finish at Nike Cross Nationals, Garces’ eyes are now dialed in on a national championship opportunity in her second trip to Foot Locker.

As a junior, the Midland, Mich., native squeezed her way to nationals last fall, finishing eighth in the Midwest Regional to eventually finish 20th overall in San Diego.

Garces, a future Duke Blue Devil, has won eight of nine races this season, with her lone loss coming to Jane Hedengren at Nike Cross Nationals. All eight of her victories have been won by an average of 24 seconds.

Jessie Jazwinski, Midwest

Jessie Jazwinski’s return to San Diego will be the third of her career and will also be a third opportunity to claim All-American status.

The N.C. State commit from Hart, Mich., finished 11th at the CHAMPS Sports National Cross Country Championships in 2022 and was ninth at last year’s Foot Locker Championships, making her the top returning All-American from the field a year ago.

Jazwinski has raced six times this fall, all unattached, and lowered her lifetime best for 5k down to 16:52 back on August 24 at the Benzie Pete Moss Invite. She finished second at the Midwest Regional to fellow Michigander Garces by 11 seconds.

Chiara Dailey, West

Another two-time All-American returning for her third appearance at nationals this weekend is Chiara Dailey.

The San Diego native will look to improve upon her 11th-place finish from last year’s championship race, with the intention of going for a national title after the success she found early on in the season that’s highlighted by a 15:28.2 3-mile effort at the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic.

Dailey produced the fastest time at the California State Cross Country Championships, running 16:44.4 to break 17 minutes for a 5k race for the first time in her career.

Dailey finished second to Cassidy Armstrong at the West Regional qualifier but a bounce back into winning contention at nationals would not be a surprise.

Zariel Macchia, Northeast

Zariel Macchia will be one of two competitors in the girls championship race that’ll make her fourth trip to Foot Locker Cross Country Championships, bringing the meet history total to 25 girls who have made it to the national final four times during their prep careers.

The three-time New York state champion has found plenty of success in San Diego in the three appearances she has raced at nationals, coming away with All-American status all three times, including a 10th-place finish at last year’s meet.

This will be Macchia’s first time heading to San Diego with another national race under her belt, having raced at Nike Cross Nationals last weekend where she ran to a 19th-place finish.

Macchia, who will be heading to BYU next fall to run for coach Diljeet Taylor, will be seeking her first top-five finish at Foot Locker, with her best finish being a sixth-place run back in 2022.

Sophia Bendet, South

First-time Foot Locker participant Sophia Bendet has seen vast improvement in her abilities as a racer over the last six months and she’ll have a chance to finish her senior season not only as two-time All-American.

Bendet took 15th at Nike Cross Nationals and now finds herself with another chance to finish in the top 15 at Foot Locker just two weeks after running a 5,000-meter best time of 17:08.1 to punch her ticket to San Diego.

Bendet completed an undefeated regular season record this fall in the state of Texas, highlighted by wins at the Texas A&M Invitational and the Texas state championships where she won her second consecutive Class 3A title (3,200 meters).

Bendet will be attending Texas A&M University next school year to run for the Aggies.

Lilly Beshears, South

Lilly Beshears, another rising star out of the south, is hoping to put another exclamation mark on her much-improved junior season before heading into the indoor season.

The Arkansas native has improved her 5k time by over 71 seconds this season, running 16:40.4 at the Chile Pepper XC Festival for one of the best moments of her junior year.

During this postseason, Beshears won the Nike Cross Regional South and finished 17th at the national meet.

Beshears finished third at Foot Locker South Regional, earning her way to her first Foot Locker Cross Country Championships.

Rosie Mucharsky, Midwest

Rosie Mucharsky rounds out the order of All-American competitors from Nike Cross Nationals going for another All-American spot at Foot Locker.

The future Notre Dame runner went from snagging the final individual spot at Nike Cross Regional Southwest to snagging the final All-American spot at Nike Cross Nationals as she finished 21st in the field in Portland.

Mucharsky, by way of Denver, did just enough at Foot Locker Midwest Regional to secure one of the 10 individual spots on the Midwest team, finishing eighth overall to punch her ticket to her first Foot Locker Cross Country Championships.

Virginia Kraus, Northeast

Three-time Pennsylvania state champion Virginia Kraus is probably the most anxious competitor to get back to San Diego on Saturday after qualifying for last year’s national meet and not being able to go on race day.

A year after finishing fifth at the Northeast Regional, Kraus made her way back to Boston at Franklin Park this year and picked up the individual regional title to qualify for what we can assume will be her first Foot Locker Cross Country Championships.

Kraus, a junior who attends Saucon Valley, won her third Pennsylvania state cross country title by 19 seconds on Nov. 2.

Abby Faith Cheeseman, South

Abby Faith Cheeseman joins Macchia as the second four-time qualifier in the girls championship field for Saturday’s Foot Locker Cross Country Championships.

Cheeseman heads to San Diego a week after competing in her first, and only, Nike Cross Nationals, where she finished 22nd overall. Cheeseman qualified for another Foot Locker after finishing third in the Southeast Regional, earning a second consecutive top-three finish in Charlotte, N.C.

Cheeseman, a native of Bell Buckle, Tenn., and a future Virginia Cavalier, will be racing for her third All-American honor at Foot Locker, finishing fourth in 2022 and 13th in 2023.