Week in Review: Nike Cross Nationals - College Indoor Openers

By / December 4, 2011 12:37 AM

Nike Cross Nationals

On-Site Coverage

Visokay 10th, Midlo girls 18th at NXN

Albemarle senior Adam Visokay had one of the best individual races yet by a Virginian in the history of the Nike Cross Nationals with his 10th place finish in a loaded field of the nation's top runners. Only Midlothian's Jason Witt in 2006 with his sixth place finish has placed higher from Virginia at NXN and Visokay arguably ran in a tougher field since the addition and growing popularity of the individual qualifier component of the meet. The 2011 Group AAA 3200 meter state champion Visokay clocked a time of 15:37 on the muddy Portland Meadows 5K course, which was 35 seconds behind the winner Futsum Zeinasellaissie of Indiana. Matthew Schwartzer of Princess Anne (59th, 16:05) and Carolyn Bethel of Hidden Valley (99th, 19:22) also made the trip across the country to Virginia and faired respectably in their first national championship appearance.    Meanwhile, the Midlothian girls were making their second Nike Cross Nationals appearance as a full squad with a completely new lineup from their 2006 squad which finished 10th in Oregon. An at-large selection from the Southeast Region, the Midlothian girls ended up placing 19th out of 22 teams as only Kara Dickerson (86th, 19:10) was able to break into a very deep top 100 finishers which saw the Group AA state champion Bethel barely squeak into.   More coverage from the MileSplit US National Team

Athletes Live the Life of Running Superstars in the Days Leading up to NXN

Athletes competing in the Nike Cross Nationals Championship were given the royal treatment at Nike headquarters in Portland, Oregon. Most athletes flew in Wednesday night or Thursday morning, and have since been ushered into a life centered around cross country. The athletes were first picked up at the airport by their own private Nike van. They were taken to the Nike Campus, home of numerous professional athletes sponsored by Nike. The lavish campus pays tribute to past Nike running greats such as Michael Johnson and Steve Prefontaine.

NXN: Elliot Clemente talks to Todd Grasley Before the Race

Todd Grasley of flrunners.com/MileSplit interviewed Elliot Clemente, the NXN Southeast champ from Belen Jesuit, on Friday afternoon. He talks about tomorrow's big race. Stay tuned here and on MileSplit for the latest. And the meet will be streamed live tomorrow.

MileSplit NXN Girls Preview: F-M goes for 6

The Nike Cross Nationals (NXN) brings together the best teams in the country and pits them against each other on the most unique course available.  Portland Meadows will once again play host to the championship battle and the manufactured course that traverses the interior of a horse racing track will have all the traditional features of European style cross country racing; including plenty of mud.

Live Updates: Nike Cross Nationals

MileSplitMass will be on-site at the Nike Cross Nationals with video, photos, and a live Twitter feed.  Check back starting on Thursday for updates on all of the action from Portland.  

Belen Jesuit @ NXN, Live Twitter Updates

Belen Jesuit landed this afternoon in Oregon. Take the trip along with them with live Twitter updates courtsey of #2 runner Avery Lopez and other members of the team!

Midlothian girls get at-large berth to NXN

  The Midlothian girls received word this morning that they had been selected as one of the four at-large team selections for next weekend's Nike Cross Nationals. This will be the second trip to Portland, Oregon for the Midlothian girls' program after qualifying last in 2006. The Midlothian boys have qualified twice for NXN in 2006 and 2010. Midlothian was eligible for at-large consideration after finishing third at yesterday's Southeast Regional in Cary, North Carolina and only three points behind the second place automatic qualifier. The Midlothian girls should be suited well to be competitive in the national race with a strong front four of All-State caliber runners in Kara Dickerson, Skylar Evans, Marie Johnston, and Kari Johnston. Dickerson had already qualified individually for Nike Cross Nationals with a fifth place personal best run of 18:08 at the Southeast Regional. Under the guidance of longtime coach Stan Morgan, Midlothian has won six of the last seven Group AAA state cross country team titles.

Videos

Pre Race Interview: Futsum Zeinasellasie Pre Race Interview: Elliot Clemente Pre Race Interview: Dan Galford Interview: Coach Leonard - Southlake Carroll -NXN 2nd Place
Interview: Katie Knight - NXN 3rd Place Pre Race Interview: Julie Macedo Pre Race Interview: Mike Marsella NXN 2011: Course Preview
Pre Race Interview: Elle Purrier Pre Race Interview: Nathan Thomas Interview: Futsum Zeinaselassie - NXN Champion Interview: Daniel Vertiz - NXN 2nd Place
Interview: Craig Nowak Interview: Coach Bennett - CBA - NXN Team Champions Interview: Davis High School (UT) NXN 3rd Place Interview: CBA - NXN Team Champions
Interview: Fayetteville-Manlius Girls - NXN Team Champions Interview: Saratoga Springs (Kinetic)- 2nd Place Interview: Coach Bill Aris - Fayetteville-Manlius Interview: Nick Ryan - Fayetteville-Manilus - 5th Place

Girls Highlights

Boys Highlights