Westfield tops Kingston (JAM) in the COA 4x800 with a time of 7:39.73.  Potomac (MD) 4th in the COA 4x100m, first US team! (Photo by Don Rich)

To some, winning a Penn Relays Gold Watch is a goal just as, and even sometimes moreso important than winning a national championship.  Watches are awarded only to the overall American winners in Championship of America events at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, kicking off for the 118th time next Thursday at Franklin Field.  In some cases, most notably the sprints, it is harder to win a spot on the top of the medal stand than it is to win a national championship.  This fact is because of the international draw the relays bring to Philly; currently, there are 62 schools registered that are not from the United States, with Jamaica the most represented foreign country with 32 individual schools.  For some, winning a watch means beating the world. While the main events remain the short relays, specifically the 4x100m and 4x400m, the distance relays and open events are available on an invite basis.  And with the the high quality meet comes a high caliber field in each of the 4 invitational distance events.  We broke down the competition to help you see where the action may take place.

An amazing final Sunday with many great performances across multiple events! Complete saturation coverage inside! (Photo by Don Rich)

Brooklyn's Boys & Girls High School was right at home in New York City tonight at the Washington Heights Armory. The Kangaroos, long known for their success in the sprint relays (they are defending champs in the 1600 meter relay), notched a new title on their belt with an exhilarating come-from-behind win in the 3200 meter relay. 

  XC Nation interviews the legendary Fayetteville-Manlius team of upstate New York, currently ranked #1 in the US

Fanning, Fayetteville-Manlius tops in the Bronx

Edward Cheserek sets the CR at Vanny with a 11:55.39 clocking.  US#1 CBA boys win.  Jillian Fanning and US#1 Fayetteville-Manlius win for the girls.  (Photo by Charles Stone)

Perry King of Section 1/NYS Running submits his opinions on what appears to be one of the most competitve races all season thus far.

US Girls No. 1 Fayetteville Manlius shows their dominance while a powerful Arlington squad overtakes US Boys No. 4 Shaker in light of recent injuries.

US#2 Futsum Zeinasellassie blasted a CR 14:36 for 5000 meters! Angel Piccirillo #2 AT @ Spiked Shoe. Fay-Man girls perfect in opener!  US#1 Frazier opens season quietly in NC. (Photo by Bob Piccirillo)

Fayetteville-Manlius won the Distance Medley Relay Championship of America at Penn Relays Thursday in a meet record 11:34.46. F-M led a New York-contingent that owned the DMR. North Shore, carried by Brianna Nerud’s 3:31.7.

Fayetteville-Manlius won the Distance Medley Relay Championship of America at The Penn Relays Thursday in a meet record 11:34.46. F-M led a New York-contingent that owned the DMR. North Shore, carried by Brianna Nerud’s 3:31.7 leadoff and Samantha Nadel’s 4:45.84 anchor, finished second in 11:36.10. Cardozo, which had the day’s fastest 4x400 relay, finished fourth in 11:51.16.

PORTLAND, Ore. – One by one they crossed the finish line, each one crying. Fayetteville-Manlius knew what was happening.

PORTLAND, Ore. – When Ammar Moussa finally made it back to his team’s tent someone had already pulled out their cell phone to announce exactly how much his Arcadia team had won by.

WAPPINGERS FALLS – Before the race, Fayetteville-Manlius coach Bill Aris reminded his team that the race would be the last chance they had this season to prove who they really were.

WAPPINGERS FALLS – Fayetteville-Manilus took another step toward is fifth straight national championship Saturday, claiming the team title at the Nike Cross New York Regional for the third straight time.

The more you look at the what could happen at New York State Championships Saturday in girls Class AA, the more you look at the rankings and the predictions, the more you look at how the race could play out on paper, it begs the question: Can Fayetteville-Manlius score a perfect 15 again?

Defending girls national champs, Fayetteville-Manlius was recognized last night by the Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame at the organization’s induction dinner at Drumlins Country Club in Syracuse.

The Eastern States Championship race at the Manhattan Invitational is meant to bring together some of the best teams in the country on a course considered a benchmark for evaluating distance runners. With that said, New York proved again to be one of the most competitive states in the US in cross country.

NEW YORK – Shaker’s Mike Libruk remarked after the race how the similarities between his teammates are uncanny. They are around the same height and build. He said they have similar personalities.

NEW YORK – Bill Aris said something was different. The times across the board didn’t match with the super-fast performances that many expected. But one thing remained constant at the Manhattan Invitational: Fayetteville-Manilus looked as close as it gets to indestructible.

It took a plane trip out to Illinois for Warwick Valley to see where they are as a team. What they discovered is that in a season were they are expecting a state championship, there is still work to be done.

Fayetteville-Manlius dominated in its debut meet at the Chittenango Invitational, scoring a perfect 15 points in Division 1 with its top runner Courtney Chapman Saturday at Jamesville Beach County Park. Chapman called FM coach Bill Aris with 101-degree fever and Aris decided to keep her out.

Every year, no matter what happens, Fayetteville-Manilus coach Bill Aris will never compare his current team to a past team. Every year is a brand new team, he’ll say. Even if all runners are the same.

For a year the Fayetteville-Manilus boys team had to answer repeated questions about what they didn’t have, or who.  They had a season to run and everyone else could worry that they housed the best runner in the state who wasn’t healthy enough to race.

No matter what rankings are released or predictions are made, Warwick Valley coach Mike Potter is going to drill an underdog’s mentality into his team.

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Her teammates gathered around with a large piece of paper and a sly grin. She sat surrounded by reporters, dazed and still a bit confused at what just happened until she turned to recognize them.

People may have witnessed the greatest girls 4x800 relay race in our nation

  Track and field records, like those of every sport,  were made to be broken. We all know that, it’s the ancient truth of all human athletic activity. But some records were made to stay in the books a whole lot longer than a bunch of others.

From the opening stages of the NXN Girls Championship race, Fayetteville-Manlius was in undisputed control. Photo by Alan Versaw.

PORTLAND, Ore. -- They said they wanted to make a statement. Fayetteville-Manilus were already three-time national champions. There wasn’t a person that followed the race that didn’t expect that they would win. They are, and have been, by far the best team in the country.  So really, what was there left to say? Boerne XC wins boys national title.

WAPPINGERS FALLS – Fayetteville-Manilus keeps finding ways to show off how good they are. First, the girls squad became the first team to ever score at perfect 15 at the New York State championship two weeks ago. Then they coasted to a win Saturday at the NXN New York Regional Championships at Bowdoin Park, despite an ailing Courtney Chapman.

One week from now, 44 teams will be in Portland, and each with the dream of contending for the national championship of high school cross country. Photo by Alan Versaw.

  Photo courtesy John Olson, SCRUNNERS                                                    

  Photo courtesy: John Olson, South Carolina Runner's  

Photo by Don Rich

NEW YORK – They were going to have to wait for a little while. It wasn’t the kind of race that anyone was going to eyeball from the finish and proclaim the winner.  So everyone waited, knowing that they had fought the good fight until Christian Brothers Academy was crowned winners of the first real cross country battle royal of the season.

NEW YORK – Outside of the construction and some changes to the course, not much changed at the Manhattan Invitational. At least not much in the girls Eastern States championships.

New York State has it's own NXN Region, so the top two teams at the NXN Regional both qualify for the NXN Championships in Portland, Oregon. Here's a look at some of the top teams from last year and where they stack up right now in paper.

The best of NY State come together at Cornell University this weekend for the NY State Federation Championships. The best athletes from the CHSAA, PSAL, AIS, and NYSPHSAA will battle for the state championships.

As the year draws to a close, we will be counting down what we felt were the 10 best performances of 2008. Today we revisit the moment voted as #6 by our staff and webmasters.

Milesplit chronicles a few of the signature moments for the 2008 cross country season in the first annual XCNATION Year in Review.

PORTLAND, Ore. – It’s not uncommon for it to get rough at the start of an elite cross country race. Shoving happens. Elbows. Some tripping. But rarely does an entire team bite it the opening meters of a national race. Let alone, get up and finish fourth.

PORTLAND, Ore. – Normally we see a stoic Fayetteville-Manilus squad unfazed by success, already on to the next challenge. Not this time. This time they made room for tears and hugs. And more tears. It’s not that none of the other races mattered. It’s that each race was another step climbed; another step toward its third-straight national championship. It was another step toward an ever-evolving stage of excellence.

Fayetteville-Manlius girls win 3rd straight national title with 66 points. Chelsey Sveinsson (Texas) wins individual title. Reed Connor (The Woodlands, TX) wins individual title. North Spokane, WA boys win national title.

  WAPPINGERS FALLS—There aren’t many times you’ll see anything like this. It wasn’t some local county meet or some small schools where one team breaks away and wipes the floor with everyone. This was the national qualifier, the Nike Cross Nationals New York Regional and Fayetteville-Manilus had clogged the front of the field like they were leading some ridiculously fast training run.

Who's going to Portland for NXN. Will FM boys and girls make the trip? How about Saratoga and Burnt Hills. ArmoryTrack.com will be on site this weekend at Bowdoin Park with race videos, pictures, interviews, and stories. So enjoy your Thanksgiving meal and break and we'll see you Saturday.

Mark Feigen won a showdown with Rhode Island rival Andrew Springer at the New England XC Championships. In all, 16 teams ranked in the latest MileSplit National Poll were in action, with 10 of those squads securing titles. Results posted.

Running at Sunken Meadow State Park, Alex Hatz of Fayetteville-Manlius held off Alex Leuchanka of Shenendehowa for the individual title as both runners dip under 16:00 on the wet and sloppy day, but Shen is too tough for FM, beats them 30-47. FM girls win big as expected, beating Saratoga 22-48 as Courtney Chapman led her FM team with a win over a very deep field.

On the strength of its record-setting performance in winning the Sweepstakes race at the Mt. SAC Invitational, Saugus (CA) moves past Fayetteville-Manlius into the top spot in the team rankings.

No one is saying that the Eastern States races at the Manhattan Invitational Saturday are the be-all, end-all of cross country races. But when you line up some of the best teams in the country, people expect sparks to fly.

Each week from now until the end of the season, we'll provide a Top 15 Weekend Round-Up.  This MileSplit feature will include main highlights of each of the MileSplit nationally ranked squads and their results on the weekend.  See who performed well and who didn't live up to their ranking this week.

Highlights and Results from: NB Ocean State Inv. (RI), McDonald's XC Festival (VA), McQuaid Inv. (NY), Roy Griak Inv. (MN), Stanford Inv. (CA), Carlisle Inv. (PA), Jim Danner Inv. (OR), Culver Inv. (IN), Palatine Inv. (IL), LoboCat Inv. (CO), Albuquerque Academy Inv. (NM) & Midwest Meet of Champs. (OH) The best weekend yet.  That's an easy way to describe this weekend's national cross country action.  Most of the top teams in the land took part in an invitational, with some teams coming up very big.  US#5 York (IL) kicked off their season by winning the Palatine Invitational, one of the big highlights of the weekend thus far.

The 44th McQuaid Jesuit Invitational in Rochester, NY will take place this weekend and bring together team from New York, Pennslyvania, Ohio, and Virginia. Additionally, over 30 teams from Canada will make the trip south over the border.  

A lot of competitive invitationals took place last weekend, meaning that a few of the top teams in the country lost to unranked squads. With those loses comes new teams jumping into the week #4 MileSplit National Cross Country Rankings. See who's in and who's out in this week's edition.

College freshman Caitlin Lane and Pat DuPont race well at Penn State, teams pics from Red Raider, highlights from some other meets we overlooked last weekend.

Since Nike Team Nationals started in 2004, no school has had the success Fayetteville-Manlius (NY) has shown. Four seperate NTN meets, four seperate top three finishes (2 boys, 2 girls). This year, F-M's girls team is ranked U.S. #1 in the MileSplit National CC Rankings and looks to make a run at their third straight national championship. Why is this squad so successful? What's their magic? MileSplit national editor Scott Bush traveled out to New York to see for himself, and the results were surprising.

With many of the top teams in the country running in their first or second competition of the year, the MileSplit National CC Rankings are starting to take better shape. Boys U.S.#1 North Central (WA) opened their season in victorious fashion, while Girls U.S.#1 Fayetteville-Manlius (NY) has yet to compete, but is looking strong in practices.

Every week this fall leading to Nike Cross Nationals, we'll publish the MileSplit National Cross Country Rankings. In our first installment North Central (WA) boys and Fayetteville-Manlius (NY) girls lead the rankings. Check back every Monday evening for the newest MileSplit National Cross Country Rankings. (picture by Tyrone Hoskins)

Fayetteville-Manlius WinsNational TitleBy Christopher Hunt      He said the answer was both simple and complex — the reason Manilus has become a historic team, unquestionably among the best ever. They bought it, coach Bill Aris said.     They made a choice. They made conscious effort to make  excellence a lifestyle.     “Normal has nothing to do with excellence,” Aris said. “Excellence is another approach all together. If you choose to approach your life in a fashion geared to achieve excellence then the question becomes, how high is up?”     Manilus continues to reach new limits. They dominated Nike Team Nationals today, winning their fourth straight national title with 83 points, placing three in the top 10 at 5-kilometer course in Portland, Ore. FULL STORY HERE(Photo by Tyrone Hoskins) Results:  Complete Results from all races NTN Videos: NTN Video Page (All Videos)NTN Photos: Friday Course Preview

Fayetteville-Manlius girls ranked US#1Burnt Hills girls US#4Armory regulars Danbury, CT tops boys list at US#3.

Milesplit's National Portal examines 50 states of XC teams and individuals.