All photos by Don Rich
SAN DIEGO -- Aisling Cuffe capped her cross country career at Foot Locker Nationals with the kind of result she’s become accustomed to this season: dominating victory.
Cuffe broke a dwindling chase pack just after the mile mark on Saturday and built a lead so vast that by the time she broke the tape, just two winners in meet history exceeded her margin of victory.
Cuffe crossed in 16:53, the fifth fastest time ever at Foot Lockers, and won by 34 seconds. With the win, Cuffe, of Cornwall Central in New York, finished undefeated this season and enters the conversation of greatest high school runners of all time.
“You got to put her with the very best,” said her coach, Dave Fuerer. “Top 2 or 3 in American history.”
It was Cuffe’s third trip to San Diego, and anything short of victory would not have sufficed. Cuffe was a co-favorite in 2009, where she finished fourth, but entered this year’s race as the top returnee and unanimous favorite. In days leading up to the race, it was not a discussion about if Cuffe would win, but by how much she would win by.
“I don’t just run for the win,” Cuffe said after the race. “I run to show people what I can run as a time on this course.”
It’s an attitude Cuffe demonstrated without mercy all season long. Cuffe beat national-caliber fields at the Great American Cross Country Festival, shattering the course record by 30 seconds; at the Manhattan Invitational at Van Cortlandt Park, narrowly missing another course record; and set another record three weeks ago at Bowdoin Park in the New York State Federation Championship, beating Nicole Blood’s record by 11 seconds.
Cuffe said she didn’t expect to beat Melody Fairchild’s record at Balboa Park, 16:39, a time that has stood since 1990. Her main goal was breaking 17 minutes - which only six girls have done here in 31 years - no matter how far ahead she was.
“There comes a point where if you run fast enough you’re going to win the race no matter what your strategy was,” Cuffe said. “A certain time has to win the race every year.”
Rachel Johnson, a senior from Plano, Texas, surged from near last place early in the race and knocked off all of them until there was no one left to catch than Cuffe.
“I saw Aisling pick it up and kind of shoot off from the pack, but I didn’t let that get me down,” said Johnson, who finished second in 17:27. “I just tried to stay strong and pick off as many people as I could.”
Cuffe was challenged early by Allison Woodward, a newcomer to cross country who was considered a wild card. But as soon as they crested Balboa Park’s main hill just after the first mile, which they ran in 5:23, Cuffe attacked the downhill. Downhill running, she said was her main weakness coming into the season.
“It definitely was one of the focus points this year,” Cuffe said. “And on this course, sometimes, this race is made on that downhill.”
In an unfortunate mixup, Kelsey Lakowske, (left, maroon uni) a senior from Boulder, Colorado, forfeited her place on the podium after race officials made an error in the preliminary results. A delayed review of the photo finish revealed that Julie Nacouzi, (left, red uni) of the West region, edged her. By then, however, Lakowske had already received her medal and had to give it back.
“I can’t change it,” Lakowske said in a post-race interview, her voice cracking. “I can wish all I want. It was a phenomenal finish.”
On the official results Nacouzi and Lakowske each finished in 17:29. New Jersey’s Megan Venables rounded out the top-5, finishing in 17:35.
Midwest won comfortably over Northeast in team scoring, 36-55. Third place went down to the sixth runner between the West and South Regions, with Seattle’s Maddie Meyers winning it for the West.
