Doug Brady, Danny Nicolls, Walter Schafer, Scott Fauble, and Garrett Golesh represented Colorado at Foot Locker Midwest. The middle three are advancing to Foot Locker Nationals. Photo by Bob Nicolls.
Special to Colorado Track XC by Bob Nicolls
Footlocker 2009
Could this be the year that the tide finally swings in Nike’s favor and the slow death of Foot Locker quickens? I'm not sure, but certainly there were more individuals then ever opting to go to Nike.
Tradition vs Theory. Foot Locker vs Nike.
The tradition of Foot Locker is indeed strong with the “best of the best” competing there for thirty years. A look at the qualifiers is a “Who’s who” of the best distance runners the US has to offer today. Foot Locker treats the kids great, and it is a wonderful experience for them as they head off to the next level.
Cross Country is, however, a team sport. Nike, with all its power and strength, stepped in to fill the void of no national team race 7 years ago. They have had, and still have, massive logistical problems to overcome, but they’ve been able to create a bona fide national race, one that now addresses individuals in an NCAA format.
My hope would be that Foot Locker and Nike join together once again and create one race that addresses all the issues and leaves everything else at the door. However, since they are both footing the bill and that expense is likely categorized on their financial statements as “promotional," this could still drown a combined effort. One suggestion for Nike is to ditch the ridiculous hay bales and watering of the course. Reality does not match theory on that, particularly when no regional meet has these features, And, too, at least make all regional meets spike courses if you strive for a true cross country experience.
2009 Colorado Foot Locker Entrants
Kelsey Lakowske
Kelsey was undefeated in Colorado this year, dominating all competition. Indeed, her time was 38 seconds better than her closest pursuer in the CO combined results at the State meet. And, too, it would have put her 162nd in the combined CO boys race, beating 406 boys! Who better than Melody Fairchild, her coach, to provide instruction on how to excel in San Diego this weekend?
Walter Schafer
Walter had an excellent season, losing just once to Scott Fauble at the Cherry Creek Invite. He later gained his first title in the 5A State meet, then placed 2nd at Foot Locker Midwest to qualify himself for the finals.
Scott Fauble
Scott was undefeated in Colorado this season. He, too, gained his first individual title at the state meet by posting the fastest time of the day in 4A competition. His 5th place at FLMW earned him the chance to run against the best in San Diego.
Ryan Poland
Ryan also capped an undefeated season by winning the 3A State title and posted the 2nd fastest time of the day. His 8th-place finish at Foot Locker Midwest qualified him to run in the finals this weekend. Ryan Poland now joins Bret Schoolmeester as a Foot Locker finalist from Denver Christian High School--quite an impressive feat for a school that small to have had two Foot Locker finalists.
Danny Nicolls
Danny finished 3rd in the 5A State meet, leading his team to that state championship. He went on to gain entrance to FLF by placing 9th at the FLMW meet.
This was the 4th year in a row that Colorado Boys placed 4 runners in the finals. Colorado has produced 24 representatives at the Finals in the last seven years alone! Considering our small population in relation tomany of the other 12 states in the Midwest region, this is a prodigious statistic. Every year we are discounted as “pundits” look at our altitude times and don’t realize what happens when our athletes compete at sea level.
Shhhh, lets leave it that way.
Good luck to the above this weekend, prepare well this week and have fun….after the race.