Hilton's Caroline Schultz and Allison Sawyer driving home at the 2005 Footlocker NE Regional at Van Cortlandt Park.

Credit: Hilton 2005 XC album

The Footlocker Northeast race again turned into a 'Toga party, though the 1st and 3rd finishers were the ex-Blue Streaks Blood and Lane, sandwiched around reigning Footlocker champ Aislinn Ryan of Warwick. Ferguson in 4th and Davidson in 9th grabbed two of the ten Nationals berths. Hilton's Sawyer and Schultz had breakout races, moving up well beyond their placement in the earlier Manhattan Invitational  at VCP, earning 13th and 14th places that were just a little outside the qualifying berths. Herman and Jones had some issues on the tightly packed course with almost 200 runners jostling for position in the sharply plunging Back Hills, and Herman finished 83rd while Jones took 102nd. For Griggs the race turned disastrous as she rolled her foot while likely trying to compensate for the aching shin. She finished way back in 72nd and was immediately whisked into the medical tent. A prognosis of stress fractures was the onsite opinion, but further examination after the meet determined that she had badly pulled ligaments wrapping around and under the outside of the foot.

The quest for a national crown now seemed gone or at least hanging by the too-slender thread of inflamed ligaments. Szczepanik was crushed, and he told his team that he was proud of their achievements but that they were just coming up a little short. But the Cadets were determined to stand and fight. "Don't worry, Coach," said Shelby Herman. "We'll just have to step it up." Somehow, the team and Szczepanik felt restored. "We're staying optimistic about this," said Schultz about Nationals. "We promise we'll have Amanda ready for that one." Griggs was not going away without giving whatever she had left in that left leg. Physical therapy, ultrasound and electro-stimulation treatments became her training ground during the following days, and crutches were her mode of transportation as she strove to keep all pressure off the foot and take things one slightly less painful step at a time.

Meanwhile the rest of the Cadets were attacking a Portland Meadows style mud and hay bale course monstrosity that Szczepanik had set up in an area of the school that was usually an Earth Science experimental zone. The tempo runs through the practice course and around the Hilton track seemed a little odd to the runners, but by then they believed that coach knew best. Excitement was high over the upcoming trip to the Nike facility in Oregon. Along with a chance to compete with the top teams from around the nation, the runners were looking forward to the entertainment spectacles there that sounded like a lot of fun. The DyeStat running news site was beginning another incredible extravaganza of NTN coverage, and the girls knew they would be in the limelight.
 

Cadets show that hay bales can be used both for training on and as props for team pictures.

Credit: DyeStat

The high school was also in celebration mode with a big "Congratulations girls cross country" banner draped out front. The runners were like superheroes roaming the hallways among well-wishers, their combined feats lifting the school up into national prominence in local news and national XC forums. Szczepanik advised the runners to avoid the online furor and focus on their prep work. But whipping up the fervor were a band of team followers including Hilton's athletic director Denny Wilcox, boys XC coach Jeff Merkel, a big contingent of the girls' parents, and two XC alumni and the self-styled Cadets' biggest fans, Seth Blodgett and Lacey Bond, who had all booked flights to Portland. A Nike Team Nationals promotional van visited the school to heighten the hype, and on Wednesday afternoon on the day before the team was set to leave, the school held a pep rally at which Wilcox proclaimed, "We're here to celebrate the accomplishments of a special group of student athletes, who have not only captured the attention of a nation but have captured the hearts of the Hilton community."

On the eve of Hilton's departure west, everything still revolved around a foot, and the site of Griggs propelling her way through the school on crutches was not a comforting sign though it was absolutely necessary. All race previews focused on Griggs' foot as being the key factor in the race. Except for a confused placement of both NY teams as part of the Big Apple's NYC locale and naturally a heavy plug for the number 1 ranked Corona del Mar team from CA, the DyeStat preview had Hilton as maybe a word-of-mouth favorite over Saratoga in their head-to-head matchup. The health of Hilton's frontrunner and the depth at the 4th and 5th spots were key factors. Crunching the speed-rating numbers, Tully Runners boiled its projection down to one simple bold-faced statement, that if Hilton and its frontrunner ran to normal form, it would win.

Boarding the flight on Thursday morning for the trip out, Szczepanik felt very good about the team's chances with the Cadets now ranked #3 in the US. "We're ready. We have a great shot. It's our chance to leave our stamp on the sport at the highest level." The reason for his optimism was naturally the evolving condition of Amanda Griggs after a lot of therapy. "She's making the trip and she assures me she'll be ready to run. We'll have her foot wrapped very securely," noted Szczepanik, saying that everyone's goal was to help Griggs focus on the one final race she was desperate to run. "We've talked about how the greatest stories in sports are not about those who breeze through their competition, but those who fall down, get back up and make a tremendous comeback." For Griggs it all came back to the Cadets: "One thing that helps us is that we're a team. We've become really close. I consider them my family and this is who I want to win with. I'm so proud of these girls. We've worked so hard." The team got a preview of Griggs' condition during a race across an airline terminal for a changeover on the flight out. With only a few minutes to make a connecting flight, the Cadet captain proved she could motor very fast on her crutches during crunch time.

 

Never too many Hilton team pics before heading to Nationals.

Credit: DyeStat

One of the Hilton runners on the flight who had not been able to get up was the team's number 7 runner, senior Nicole Griffiths, whose season had been curtailed by stress fractures. She was going out now as a vocal sideline supporter to cheer on the top five along with number 6 Cadet Calleen Childs and Griffiths' freshman replacement Erin Pratt. With a band of boisterous parents and team chroniclers Blodgett and Bond to record everything, the path was set to the national title run. Officially the Hilton Cadets HS team had morphed into the Hilton Track Club and Saratoga was now the Kinetic Track Club due to national scholastic regulations for non-sanctioned meets. But other than a ridiculous confusion over the real identities of a few teams and new black uniforms for Hilton as was required for all NTN participants, everything else was the same but much bigger.

The NTN experience began shortly after the team's arrival in Portland on Thursday, and it was good that there was a built-in recovery day on Friday after the promotional and entertainment blitz. After meetings and greetings in the hotel entertainment suite and tours of the nearby Nike headquarters, the teams gathered for dinner and then in an auditorium for a welcoming ceremony headed by an all-star cast of running prowess that included Shalane Flanagan, Paul Tergat, Dathan Ritzenheim, Adam Goucher, Alan Webb, and Lauren Fleshman. The show featured team "talent show" skits up on a stage that allowed each squad to introduce themselves and present a bit of their inner runner. A lot of teams like reigning boys champ York (or Kroy at NTN) of IL had a no-nonsense take-a-bow "We are here to win approach," which was pretty much where Hilton hued to. Other teams were trying to prove that they could or couldn't dance with kip-up floor contortions, deliberately lame (I hope) shimmies, a parka parade by the team from Fairbanks, Alaska, a contortionist skit by the girls number 1 ranked Corona del Mar (Newport) squad, and an absolutely cheeky display by the Roxbury (Succasunna) NJ girls. And fun was had by all.
 

Portland Meadows got to be a bit muddy at 2005 Nationals.

Credit: Hilton 2005 XC album

Friday was devoted to getting wet. The morning course walk around the Portland Meadows track was done in the midst of a pelting rain that would not be letting up for days, or this being Oregon, maybe weeks. Having left one of the Great Lakes back home at Hilton, the Cadets were seeing a few more rising up on the track, and everyone knew this was going to be an extreme mud run. Some low-elevation roller coaster moguls known as the Camelbacks were set up to provide a minimal amount of "hill" work and some hay bails imitated trail hazards, but plainly the next day's race was going to be won by the team that could slog the best. This suited Hilton just fine. "We're used to mud and muck and everything," said Nicole Griffiths, noting how Szczepanik's course concoctions at Hilton made this all look pretty familiar. Other teams were not so happy. But as the saying goes for the Nike championship, "There shall be mud."

After an afternoon of hobnobbing with college recruiters and lining up autographs from Flanagan and company, the runners headed off for the usual long and fun Hilton style dinner and then a great night's sleep. Everything would be happening very quickly the next day.
 

The Saratoga guys got the New York teams off to a good clean winning start.

Credit: DyeStat

Saturday, December 3, trekked in with still more rain as the Cadets prepared for the 11:30 girls race that followed the boys event run an hour earlier. Though the boys could hardly do further damage to course conditions at a Portland Meadows that was looking much like a flood zone disaster area, their passage would at least add a few divots and make some areas more slippery. The race went off with reigning champ York, IL being the favorite along with the Royal Simi team from CA. But these were very much like the unreal conditions on many a typical NY Saturday, and the course was ripe for NY crews. As a runner from Montana would say, ""This is real cross country. It's so good to be muddy and cold here than to be warm and comfortable someplace else." For the guys, a Saratoga team matched their girls' 2004 feat by driving to the championship, while fellow NYers Fayetteville-Manlius lost a tie-breaker for 2nd place to the 2004 champ York team.

As the Cadet girls approached the starting line, they knew about two auspicious pieces of news from the boys race -- NY teams were doing very well, and the favored reigning champ had been upset. All of the previews for the girls race had Hilton high up among the favorites, with Saratoga still being given the edge followed by a quintet that included Hilton, Corona del Mar of CA, Southlake Carroll of TX, Fremont of UT and Yankton of SD. The Cadets were well set for the deep muck, as Szczepanik had picked up a tip from a Nike official that the best way to safeguard the runners' footwear was to tape them on tight with stirrup loops that wrapped around both the ankles and the soles. Many shoes would be lost in the mud, but not from any Hilton runner. Griggs' left foot was also very securely wrapped, though there would be a lot of pain and it still all came down to the question of whether she could gut it out.

Besides the Cadet frontrunner's left foot, the championship also hinged on choosing the best race strategy. With mud running there are two opposite smart strategies that both have the same aims: winning by staying out of trouble. The first tactic is to go out hard from the start to avoid the jostling packs of runners and to just try to hang on until the finish. The other strategy is to go out conservatively, let the other teams run themselves ragged in the mud, and then steadily push by them with a pack of strong finishers. Hilton's preference all season had been to attack, and knowing his team had the right mindset for the mud, Szczepanik said to just go for it.

Sawyer and Schultz knew they had to get out front and stay as close as they could to Saratoga's top two for Hilton to have a chance. Griggs intended to make the same charge to the front at the beginning, but she had no way of knowing how long or how far the foot would take her. Oddly, the soft squishy NTN course that had no sole-pounding big downhill sections was perhaps as well suited as possible for Griggs' condition, though many other runners would have preferred something a little more civil. Herman and Jones were in extremely key spots, and they knew that running 20 seconds faster or slower than projected could make the difference of 15 points in the scoring, and effectively this was where the race would be won or lost if the top three Cadets ran fairly close to the expected.
 

Allison Sawyer, Caroline Schultz, and Amanda Griggs get out front early for Hilton in 2005 NTN race.

Credit: DyeStat

The Cadets started from lane 16, well down the line from Saratoga in lane 5. The duel between the two teams would be witnessed in real-time by spectators not only because the course was a series of loops in a race track with a PA system announcing the blow-by-blow and splat-by-splat, but also because the runners were wearing electronic chips that allowed team scores to be shown for each 1K interval on a giant view screen, or if you were online spectating back home in Hilton, on your computer. The Hilton fan club at the track were gathered near a screen that would leave no doubts about how the race was turning out.

At the gun through to the first 1K, Saratoga's Lindsey Ferguson went to the front along with the two favorites for the individual title, Anne St. Geme of Corona del Mar and Betsy Bies of Yankton. A step behind the top three were Schultz and Sawyer, with Griggs in test mode a few meters back, and Herman and Jones in a huge chase pack a few seconds behind the leaders. Mud was flying in a spray in all directions during the mucky trek around the track into the chippy comfort of the Camelbacks, and Griggs especially looked like a canvas for a Jackson Pollock painting. One thing that was immediately clear though was that Hilton had gotten off to a crushing start. At the 1K mark the scoreboard showed the Cadets leading Saratoga by 61-141, with Yankton tucked in at 2nd with 138. But the question was, could they really hold on?
 

Hilton's 5th runner Ashley Jones at center splashes through a muddy lake midway through the 2005 NTN race with Saratoga's 5th runner Ashley Campbell at right.

Credit: DyeStat

In the Camelbacks and through the grassier areas of the course, Hilton began to lose its edge. Saratoga's 3-4 on the day of Kipling Hill and Cassie Goutos had started far back but now they were making a big surge forward as the Blue Streaks closed the initial deficit from 80 to 36 at the 2K mark, and the "'Toga" cheers were pouring in from the sidelines. The 3rd K saw the Hilton margin shrink to 27 as a second loop through the mud took it out of the Cadets and made each step through the muck a supreme effort. The last 2K of a mud race are always the nastiest, especially when you've gone out very hard. For Hilton, even with a lead, this was the time when every bit of courage and resolve had to be cashed in.

Ferguson was hanging with a top 5 up front, and Davidson had moved ahead of Sawyer, who had heard the score and was totally locked onto staying right behind the Saratoga number 2 to the finish. Herman and Jones had settled in around 30th and were plugging along as needed and watching the Saratoga girls around them, but Schultz and Griggs were in deep mucky trouble. Schultz was likely paying for going out a little too fast, and as a relatively big girl she was getting bogged down in the morass and falling back out of the top 10. For Griggs it was simply that her foot had exploded, and the the ligaments had torn further, making every step a struggle of mind over an agonizing lump of matter as she tried to hang on in 11th.
 

Amanda Griggs leads Caroline Schultz toward finish at 2005 NTN.

Credit: DyeStat

Midway through the second loop with a pained looking Schultz having just passed by his spectator's spot, Hilton fanatic Seth Blodgett yelled to Griggs a little ways back, "Caroline....Caroline, needs you." Snapping into form, Griggs blocked out all the bad feelings from below and made a charge after her teammate. The two were soon running together, and Schultz made a recovery to push ahead before settling back with Griggs as they drove past the 4K mark and headed toward the final stretch.

The Hilton fans were watching the scoreboard and getting ever more excited as the race entered its final minutes. The Saratoga charge had started to fade after its initial big recovery, and the Cadets were closing in on a national championship. Runners with legs of lead were now tripping over the rows of hay bails on the third loop and going down, even the leader. But they all got back up. Yankton's Betsy Bies broke free from Corona del Mar's Anne St. Geme to win by 4 seconds. Two runners from South Carroll, TX, Miranda Walker and Brooke Upshaw, took the next two spots to help their team on its way to a 3rd-place finish.

Allison Sawyer fights off Roxbury's Kristen Stevens by a split-second to take 8th place in 2005 NTN.

Credit: DyeStat

Saratoga's Ferguson came in 5th and Davidson 20 seconds later in 7th to provide the Blue Streaks with an early edge. Sawyer dug home in 8th, however, 9 seconds behind Davidson, and the Cadet finishing onslaught had begun. Griggs seemed to elevate as she sped through the closing meters just 14 seconds behind Sawyer in 12th, and she was quickly hustled off to the medical facilities. Schultz had hung on to the Hilton captain, and she fought off two runners at the end to finish a few seconds in back of Griggs in 13th.

With the top group in, Hilton's title quest was now in the hands and feet of Herman and Jones, who were battling Saratoga's 3-4-5 runners and making sure to point to each other where the Blue Streaks runners were located. Both runners knew it was a very close race because of the attention they were getting from the cameras in the Nike gator vehicles that were following them around the course. Herman had stayed a little ahead of Saratoga's Goutos and Hill and 5th runner Ashley Campbell in the second half of the race, but as she eyed the finish line she dug down, stepped it up and took off in a closing sprint that carried her past 10 runners to finish 19th and virtually clinch the Hilton win. When Jones crossed the line 16 seconds later in a crowd for 33rd, the Cadets owned the championship.
 

Hilton's Shelby Herman at left in midst of a finishing charge as she passes the last 4 of 10 runners she caught at end of the 2005 NTN.

Credit: DyeStat

The Hilton scoreboard watchers were still in a state of suspended disbelief as they saw a result being posted, "Hilton 85, Saratoga 112." Looks shot around. "Could this really be right? Is it final?" When the PA system confirmed the outcome, the Cadet fans erupted. "Such a decisive win," said Amanda Griggs' mother Cheryl. "We wiped them out." The 27-point margin would be the second smallest through the first 9 girls national championships, but the Hilton fans could be forgiven for feeling like it was 1000 points after the close losses against the Blue Streaks. Following Saratoga and South Carroll just 11 more points back at 123, a surprising Naperville North, IL, team was 4th at 133, Yankton with 179 took 5th behind champ Betsy Bies, and number 1 ranked Corona del Mar fell back in the mud to 6th at 203 despite Anne St. Geme's great race. Hilton's 6th and 7th runners, Calleen Childs and Erin Pratt, finished in 127th and the final 140th places, so the championship had depended on every runner in the Hilton top 5.

Scoreboard shows the unbelievable results after Ashley Jones crossed the line as Hilton's fifth runner (tally through 65 runners).

Credit: DyeStat

The scene among the Hilton runners at the finish area was a bit on the jubilant side as they recounted their stories of the championship action. Schultz exulted over the mission accomplished, "Three times the charm against Saratoga. I just knew we had the heart to do it." Hilton's guts had won them the glory, but as Sawyer noted, they had a friend up in the clouds. "The weather gave us an advantage," she said. "A lot of teams from California and the South aren't used to it. All the others are here thinking it's cold. My feet were numb but, hey, we knew it was snowing back home and here we are, no snow! It was great!" Some girls just like to play in the mud more than the snow. Yankton's champ Betsy Bies said, "I don't think anyone has ever had to run a race in conditions like that. We had girls picking mud out of their teeth in the finish chute!" Herman expanded on that point, "We're covered with it. When Amanda smiled, she had some on her teeth. That was incredibly funny."
 

The Cadets took the championship all in stride.

Credit: Hilton 2005 XC album

Back on crutches, Griggs reflected on her exploits, both heroic and humorous. "I had big-time doubts whether I could do it, but I poured my heart into this race and now it's the best feeling in the whole wide world." "The first time over the hills I gained some confidence," she said, noting that the pace seemed very fast at the outset but that being able to remain near the front gave her a shot of hope that she could do the full 5K. The captain stated that she had felt the foot tear on the first of the three loops in the fast-paced start and feared it might be the end of her day. "I knew if I stayed with Caroline and Allison, we would definitely win." Speaking of her resolution, she said, "This is all a mental game," touching on a popular XC slogan that delves into something known as insanity. But the reward had been worth it to her, "To join my sister as national champions is just the best." The quiet determined sacrifice Griggs had made to ensure her teammates got their title left many people at Portland in awe. Hilton AD Denny Wilcox stated, "What she did was beyond amazing. I've never seen anyone in sports put on a performance like that."

The network postrace coverage of the meet played heavily on Griggs' performance and how she "took one for the team," and while in big pain herself helped the Cadets to "put the hurt on early." Commentator Shalane Flanagan, herself known for being a pretty steely runner, gave out the popular verdict, "She's an extremely tough girl." Commenting on the team behind Griggs, Flanagan said, "They all just knew they were all going to have to step up for her. They stepped up and brought it home for her." Interviewed shortly after the race, the Cadets appeared to be in a state of stunned euphoric collapse as Schultz joined the group a little tardily in mid-interview saying, "I didn't even know we won!" Herman summed it all up, "It was all worth it. I don't care how muddy and tired I am." The desire to hoist the Nike trophy will do that to you. Sawyer said she heard the team was winning midway through and thought, "Ohmigod, I got to pick it up!" Jones was completely limp as she said, "We were overwhelmed!" By the course, not completely; by the feeling of mission accomplished, that's for sure.

Cadets' podium shot with Nike trophy after 2005 race with runners flanked by Mike Szczepanik on left and boys coach Jeff Merkel on right.

Credit: DyeStat

For Szczepanik with the fourth ace played out and the victory won, the championship was a mixed bag of feelings of pride, relief, vindication, happiness, and total amazement. "I had honestly projected that even if everything goes right, we might score 108 points," he said, a number the Cadets somehow beat by 23. "They were all strong right from the start. When we went out so hard and stayed ahead at every kilometer, it was just a perfect race from everyone."

The muddy Cadets gathered with their coach on the awards podium to receive the winged Nike championship trophy and pose for the glamor shots. The Hilton captain squared up over her crutches had to be alerted by teammates that there were still some mud flecks to be removed from the dental workings, but the smiles were nothing but radiant.

Perhaps the most Herculean task of the day and on par with the cleaning of the Augean stables was finished off that afternoon as a heroic group of Hilton parents gathered up the team's uniforms and shoes and hauled them off to a laundromat for a little tidying-up job that reportedly took hours to complete. A pie-eating celebration of both the championship and the clean-up job followed, while the team spent the evening at the hotel in post-race festivities. At the Saturday night awards ceremony, marathon world-record holder Paul Tergat was just one of the big-name athletes who professed their admiration for the Hilton team's big day.