Foot Locker Northeast Preview - Individual Stars Head To VCP

Girls Race

She's the defending Regional Champ, as well as the defending Foot Locker Champ. Sydney Masciarelli returns to start her journey to the course that gave her a National Title. However, the path getting here was a little different.  Because Masciarelli is a private school athlete in her home state of CT, we don't get many chances to see her race against top competition.  The one time we did, at the Boston Mayor's Cup, Masciarelli was sick, taking a 4th place finish, behind a strong effort from fellow HSer Margot Appleton (who is in this race!).  The two will have a rematch at Van Cortlandt Park, but it would be hard to count out the defending Champ, who managed to finish only four seconds behind a strong athlete like Appleton, when Masciarelli was not 100%.

However, Appleton should not be the only athlete on Masciarelli's radar.  Marlee Starliper is a much improved runner than she was a year ago, when she took 13th at Nationals last year.  At the Regional, Starliper was only five seconds off Sydney, and that gap has closed.  In fact, Starliper's top Speed Rating of the year is only two points off Masciarelli's winning Rating from the year before.  Expect this to be a closer match.  New York is also adding a new name to the list.  Freshman Karrie Baloga has Foot Locker Champion ties, as her alumni Aisling Cuffe won back in 2010.  Baloga is a strong runner in her own right, and has been improving all year.

New England Champ Sofie Matson is here in the chase pack, as well as Maryland State Champ Jenna Goldberg.  Sofie qualified in 2018, so she knows how this race will play out.  Along those lines, Taryn Parks, Mary Hennelly, Nicole Vanasse, and Kate Wiser are among those athletes who qualified a year ago, and are looking to make the trip again.  Of those four, Kate Wiser has the highest Seasonal Speed Rating when she clocked a 150 at Wickham Park, but hasn't hit that high lately.  But the potential is there.

Note: These races are always hard to predict, as mostly, athletes know that they only need to finish Top 10, not win.  Unless someone is trying to set a fast time, the sit and kick tactics rule the day, and don't give a true indication on how Nationals may play out.  So expect some shifting within these buckets.