The one Nevada runner who ran well today was Nick Hartle. He was 11th overall in the Championship race and rewarded by being selected to run as an individual at NXN Nationals.
Nick lucked out. The winner, Billy Orman, passed to run Footlocker. American Fork and Fort Collins, the two automatic qualifiers, each has two in the top 10. And Davis, who finished third but is almost guaranteed a spot at Nationals (by virtue of wins earlier in the season over teams already qualified for NXN) had one runner ahead of Nick. That left Nick as the 5th individual qualifier. I talked to Nick after the race. He knew he was "on the bubble" to go to Portland, so he made the decision to take the spot if it was offered.
The same thing happened last year for Bryan Jordan when he finished 10th overall.
The other Nevada boys didn't do so well, as evidenced by the results. Bryan Jordan was sick the night before, and still "under the weather" today. John Robinson, our 2A champ from Whittell, stayed up until the wee hours on Thurday to watch the Midnight premier of the Harry Potter movie, so he wasn't exactly "bright eyed" on Saturday. Our other boys seemed a bit overwhelmed with the competition. Centennial was also running sans Bryce Fessler, their #4.
One more comment about the boys race. The course was lightening fast and the conditions for running were perfect. High 60's, maybe low 70's by the time the girls ran, with little wind. Orman led from the start and took it out the first mile in the 4:30's. A pack of five or six tried to go with him (including John Robinson), but no one was going to maintain that pace, even Orman. He had run sub 15 on this same course earlier in the season at an invitational, but he, too, faded. He won going away today, but in 15:03, not the hoped for 14 and change.
All this makes Wade Meddles' win last year look all the more impressive. When "fly or die" Meddles ran his first mile in the 4:30's last year no one tried to go with him. He just cruised from there and won with a smile on his face in 15:06. The course last year was much tougher, as everyone here seems to acknowledge.
As for the girls, today, not much to say. Katie Gorczyca ran well for the first two miles. I had her 27th overall at that point (5:45 for the first mile, right on target). She faded badly in the last mile. I talked to her after the race. No excuses. She just had, for her, "a bad race."
One can only speculate. But I wonder if running the Max Muscle 10K last Saturday was such a good idea. It was supposed to be only a "training run" for Katie, but it turned out to be a hard effort over a hilly course in winder conditions. She finished second overall among the women (behind Amanda Gramly, who was tuning up for the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon). She, Katie, ran 41:59 for 10K. So much for a training run.
Katie still plans to run Footlocker. I guess the opportunity to run the Mt. SAC course is too good to pass up. And win or lose Katie Gorczyca has had a magical season.
Palo, like Centennial, was also missing a key runner. They only ran six. Sara Leiserowitz didn't run. She decided to shut it down after state. Sara was still suffering nagging injuries but gutted it out enough to run so well at Regionals and State. She should be ready for track in the spring.
Win or lose, I was proud of the Nevada kids who ran today. They were humbled, for the most part, but will only profit from the experience. You don't get better unless you run against the best. And today we saw that the Southwest, especially Colorado and Utah, has some outstanding teams this year.
Phil Lawton
