Allie McLaughlin pushed the pace and retained the lead until Ashley Brasovan went by with about 500 meters remaining. Photo by Don Rich (PennTrackXC).
Colorado's contingent was very well represented at Foot Locker Nationals, highlighted by three top-ten finishes.
In the girls' race, Air Academy's Allie McLaughlin returned to her accustomed strategy of going out hard and seeing who, if anyone, could hang on to the pace--and it nearly worked. Leading until the final stages of the race, McLaughlin had to settle for fifth as she was passed in the final 500 meters by Ashley Brasovan (FL), eventual winner Jordan Hasay (CA), Megan Goethals (MI), and Chelsey Sveinnson (TX). Still, the 17:34 finish logged by McLaughlin was the best by a Colorado runner since Katelyn Kaltenbach won with a 17:24 in 2003 (both Whitney Anderson and Kaitie Vanatta placed 4th since that time, but with times slower than the one posted by McLaughlin on Saturday).
And so the books close on Allie McLaughlin's brilliant, though abbreviated, high school cross country career. McLaughlin only started competing in cross country as a junior and was arguably well on her 
way to the 5A state individual title in 2007 until slowed by an injury. McLaughlin ran no post-season races in 2007, so Foot Locker Midwest and Foot Locker Nationals this year were her first experiences with national-level competition.
On the boys' side, Evan Appel, at left (photos by Don Rich, PennTrackXC), closed out a brilliant four-year high school career with a 6th-place finish at Foot Locker Nationals. It was the third appearance at Foot Locker Nationals for the Dakota Ridge standout and his best placing. Appel finished in 15:36 on the
Balboa Park course.
Also placing in the top 10 from Colorado was Buena Vista standout Joseph DeMoor (at right). DeMoor closed out his senior season--and a dramatic rise from his performances of previous seasons--with a 15:44 clocking and 10th place overall.
Colorado's other two entries in the boys race were Andrew Berberick of Mullen and Joseph Manilafasha of Denver North. It was Berberick's first time at Foot Locker Nationals and Manilafasha's third. Berberick finished 17th in 15:54 and Manilafasha 35th in 16:19.
Foot Locker Nationals closed out an extremely successful high school cross country post-season for Colorado runners. In all, five Colorado entries competed at Foot Locker Nationals, four more Colorado individual entires competed at Nike Cross Nationals, and two Colorado girls teams competed at Nike Cross Nationals.
