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Where Your Dreams Become
Reality
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2008 Foot Locker Boys Cross-Country Recap: Solomon Haile Cruises Coming in to the Foot Locker Boys Cross Country Championships, Solomon Haile had never lost a cross country race. His streak continues. Haile was the heavy pre-race favorite. I had the same preparations for this race, he began, Well, maybe a little more. Whatever he added, it worked. He was coy about discussing his pre-race game plan out of concern it could leak, but confessed, Most of the time you have a plan, but you have to see how the race goes and change your plan. The best plan for a favorite in a deep field is typically to go out fast enough to be clear of any shoving, but to allow the early leaders to do the lions share of the initial work. Haile didnt have to study the plan too hard, because that was exactly the tactic he used. Passing through the first kilometer, Haile was among a large pack, including seniors Chris Schwartz (CA) and Evan Appel (CO). The fat pack hit the mile in 4:45 and even 39th place (out of 40) was in theoretical contention at 4:55. Coming off the first hill and just shy of 1.5 miles, the boys began to string out. Haile took himself a stride ahead of Trevor Dunbar, a sentimental favorite out of Alaska, and Thomas Porter from Virginia, as well as three other challengers. As is sometimes the case in distance running, the drama was fairly subdued. At 2.2 miles, Solomon had opened up a 10 meter lead on Dunbar, who had himself gained 10 meters on Porter, who had 10 more on Czech Republic exchange student Jakub Zivec.
Interestingly, Zivec nearly scratched from the event. He had injured himself at a prior meet. My goal was just to finish, he remarked, smiling broadly, It [my foot] was very painful. I wanted to give up, but the crowd. His comment hung in the air, requiring no further explanation. Charging along toward the final hill, four boys were drawing most of the crowds attention. Solomon had casually extended his lead to 30 meters on Dunbar, and appeared to have the race well under control, while Zivec tried gamely to chase down Porter for third. Ascending the hill, Zivec caught Porter, but struggled on the downside. Explained Porter, He [Zivec] passed me on the hill, but he seemed to repose at the top. I caught him back on the downhill. Repose? Yep, most of these kids arent just national-caliber athletes; they also have absurdly high GPAs and manage to have plenty of time for charitable or other extracurricular activities. Its an impressive group of young men and women. Haile, who cites accomplished athletes such as Bernard Lagat and Meb Keflezighi as his inspiration, seemingly cruised across the winners tape in 15:15. Dunbar, who was widely praised for his 9:02 3,200m time trial in the snow of Kodiak, Alaska, was 7 seconds back. At the break, he [Haile] was so smooth. He was running much more comfortably than I was. I wasnt sure I should risk going after him. Doubts came, but I tried to block them out. Asked about the esteemed field, Dunbar offered his thoughts, I knew about the competitors, but its not like track, you cant compare cross-country races. Five seconds behind Dunbar, Porter and Zivec were still cracking elbows. The duo was side by side at the final turn with 100m left, but Zivic was edged ahead in the penultimate 50m. Porter recalled, My dad was there at the road. Our teams slogan is leave no doubt so I tried to focus on that, and if I die, I die, but I had to give it my all. The inspiration paid off, as Porter found the source for a surge and not only passed Zivec back, but also held off a surprise charge from Drew Shields (IN). But this day clearly belonged to Solomon Haile, who didnt seem quite ready to relinquish the microphone during the winners circle interview. But it wasnt pride which kept him speaking, it was a genuine desire to show the crowd how much he enjoyed and appreciated the entire Foot Locker experience. Im so happy. Im so excited. He continued. And with good reason. 1 Solomon Haile (12) Northeast Sherwood H.S. Silver Spring MD 15:15 2 Trevor Dunbar (12) West Kodiak H.S. Kodiak AK 15:22 3 Thomas Porter (12) South Mountain View H.S. Fredericksburg VA 15:26 4 Drew Shields (12) Midwest Fishers H.S. Fishers IN 15:27 5 Jakub Zivec (12) Midwest Grand Rapids H.S. Grand Rapids MN 15:29 6 Evan Appel (12) Midwest Dakota Ridge H.S. Littleton CO 15:36 7 Futsum Zeinasellassie (9) Midwest North Central H.S. Indianapolis IN 15:40 8 Chris Schwartz (12) West Foothill H.S. Bakersfield CA 15:41 9 Joe Whelan (12) Northeast Hamburg H.S. Hamburg NY 15:44 10 Joseph DeMoor (12) Midwest Buena Vista H.S. Buena Vista CO 15:44 11 Brian Shrader (11) West Sinagua H.S. Flagstaff AZ 15:45 12 Leoule Degfae (12) South Thomas Edison H.S. Alexandria VA 15:46 13 Danny Pawola (12) Midwest Neuqua Valley H.S. Naperville IL 15:46 14 Shane Moskowitz (11) West Central Kitsap H.S. Bremerton WA 15:47 15 Dylan Sorensen (12) Midwest Zionsville H.S. Zionsville IN 15:48 16 Zachary Torres (12) West Crescenta Valley H.S. La Crescenta CA 15:48 17 Andrew Berberick (12) Midwest J.K. Mullen H.S. Littleton CO 15:54 18 CJ Brown (12) South Carroll Senior H.S. Southlake TX 15:54 19 Michael Moverman (12) Northeast Oliver Ames H.S. North Easton MA 15:54 20 Kyle Satterwhite (12) South Western Albemarle H.S. Charlottesville VA 15:55 21 Matt Sonnenfeldt (12) South Knoxville West H.S. Knoxville TN 15:56 22 Bill Matthews (12) South Baylor School Birmingham AL 15:56 23 Steve Sulkin (12) Midwest York H.S. Elmhurst IL 15:58 24 Steve Magnuson (11) West Ironwood Ridge H.S. Oro Valley AZ 15:59 25 Cody Helbling (11) West Lake City H.S. Coeur d'Alene ID 16:00 26 James Cameron (12) West Mission Viejo H.S. Rancho Santa Margarita CA 16:00 27 George Galasso (12) Northeast Holmdel H.S. Holmdel NJ 16:01 28 Andrew Springer (12) Northeast Westerly H.S. Westerly RI 16:01 29 Clint McKelvey (11) South Maryville H.S. Maryville TN 16:04 30 Philip Wood (12) Northeast The Pennington School Yardley PA 16:04 31 Ben Furcht (12) Northeast Lower Merion H.S. Haverford PA 16:07 32 Phil Galebach (12) Northeast Medford H.S. Medford MA 16:11 33 Chase Rathke (12) South Seven Lakes H.S. Katy TX 16:17 34 Tyler Udland (11) Northeast Millburn H.S. Short Hills NJ 16:18 35 Joseph Manilafasha (12) Midwest Denver North H.S. Denver CO 16:19 36 Evan Hibbs (12) South Georgetown H.S. Georgetown TX 16:25 37 Wyatt Landrum (12) West Liberty Union H.S. Oakley CA 16:27 38 Karreem Tyre Johnson (12) West Palma H.S. Gonzales CA 16:44 39 Alex Ott (12) South Turner Ashby H.S. Weyers Cave VA 17:30 40 Brett Johnson (12) Northeast Ocean City H.S. Ocean City NJ 18:41
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Runner's World &
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