Sunday, December 12, 2010

Local Roundup: SLV freshman Anna Maxwell 28th at cross country nationals

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/sports/ci_16838930

Vikings' Nacouzi third in cross country nationals

Will post more articles as I find them of the Northern California runners who participated at the Footlocker National Meet yesterday in San Diego.

9 comments:

Kevin Liao said...

Pictures from FLN
http://spikeduppsychedup.com/2010/12/12/foot-locker-nationals-photos/

Anonymous said...

How is it that Maxwell placed higher at nationals than at state (overall results), even with a slower time?

Anonymous said...

Not on the same course, only 40 in the race, not everyone runs after State, she didn't feel as good at state or she peeked for nationals. Take your pick, could be any or all. Do you really need that answered for you?

Anonymous said...

Nevertheless, Footlocker does not seem as competitive as one would expect a national race to be.

Rob Collins said...

Interesting How athletes always seem to get picked on, For not running up to someone's expectation, Nobody know's Anna Like I do and I'm still trying to figure her out, How do you not Know if she ran a bad race at State,she never been there before. know she has to run a race that actually ment something, This is the First time she ever ran XC period ( never ran in middle school),she was alot farther back with 800m left in the race and closed the gap quite abit and ends up 3rd. At the SCCAL Championships she was a full 500m behind with mile in the race but only lost by a second to Vanessa Fraiser the only time she has lost to her. At CCS at Toro park she runs the 2nd fastest time in History 17:41, West regionals she listens stays with main group and runs smart and qualifies for FootLocker Finals, while hundreds don't regardless of what race. Nationals only two Freshman there, very scary for both but the other has a lot more experience, But then Anna runs well but not to her expectations though, all this playing soccer on a club team and Her High School team also a very competive horse competor the entire XC season then Maintaining a 4.2 GPA and being recognized as the most outstanding Freshman at SLV academically. Anna comes out for Track after Winter Soccer I would say she Had a Pretty darn Good track Season a 4:56 and a 10:29 for a Freshman pretty darn good especially when she gambled on doing both events at State, At CCS Track Champioships she was pretty sick, one of the reason it took forever for them to pass the awards out because they where waiting for her after the 1600m, 3200m runs a very smart race and lets everybody else do the work and she pulls off a win. I don't actually ever recall any other Freshman in CCS that has made a impact as much as she has already and I'm sure there is some though. All she had on her mind was getting the experience. Know will see what she does with all this experience she has gained and giving up soccer for good and finally getting a run in longer than 6 miles this year! She still acts like a kid because she is one so it's still time to be patient with her! But it's up Anna what she want's to do with her running I'm just there to help quide her if she wants it. The one thing I know about her she learns quickly from mistakes and always listens to what I have to say. I've only told her 3 key factors about running, 1st trust me, 2nd I need to trust her and 3rd She needs to trust herself! Oh By the way Two of the best Runners in the Counrty ran at Footlocker Championships one Breaks High school 3200m record 8:29, and the other she runs 9:54at New Balance outdoor!Well anyway, Goog luck this up coming season and everybody have a Great and enjoyable summer and will see you all this Fall! Excuse the spelling had a very long day at work!

Anonymous said...

what are you ranting about, no one was picking on her.

Rob Collins said...

Your right, just giving a explanation about her running, oh well I should have taken a nap before i wrote this!

Coach Small said...

To Anon 4:45,

My guess is you have never run, or had an athlete run on the Balboa Park course. It is VERY slow. If you notice the San Diego section only runs 2.5 miles there for the girls race and their times are equable to what the run at State.

As for Footlocker, it is the most competitive race I have ever seen at the high school level. To put it all in perspective Jennifer Bergman ran 17:16 at Crystal, won by 45-ish seconds and then at State she ran 17:45 where she was third, just seconds from the winner. At Footlocker she was off the back. Granted she had caught a cold but the pace that first mile was absolutely brutal. This is the same runner who just months later made the NCAA Cross Country Championship and 2 years later finished 3rd in the NCAA 10k.

I enjoy challenging cross country races like Balboa Park. On thick grass, and over deceivingly brutal hills. XC is about racing, not about time. It kills me to see a race like Stanford take out the hills to make a "faster" race to protect their ranking. I enjoyed a tough course that saw all-Americans run over 25 minutes for 8k.

Just my 2-cents.

Anonymous said...

Thank you. Regardless of time, it still doesn't stack up that Maxwell placed so high at nationals. But I suppose if she were sick at state, that would explain it.

Still, it seems that girls who opt out of Footlocker (eg Baxter, Chapus) make the race less competitive.

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