Capistrano Valley's Bautista, Montgomery's Rahmaan look to conclude comeback stories with fantastic final acts

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Alyssa Bautista and Halena Rahmaan weren't too familiar with each other before this weekend.

They aren't considered among the title favorites at the 39th Foot Locker Cross Country Championships.

LIVE WEBCAST INFO

But their appearances in San Diego make them part of a significant and select group of female athletes to compete at national finals. And they are both architects of impressive comeback stories in order to be among the 40 qualifiers racing in the Foot Locker girls championship Saturday.

Bautista, a senior at Capistrano Valley CA, and Rahmaan, a Montgomery TX junior, are competing in the 5-kilometer final at Balboa Park's Morley Field after their teammates competed Dec. 2 at the 14th Nike Cross Nationals.

Capistrano Valley senior Haley Herberg placed 17th at Glendoveer Golf Course in Portland, Ore., with Montgomery junior Allison Wilson finishing 35th.

Rahmaan and Wilson, along with Bautista and Herberg are among 12 pairs of girls teammates in the past decade to have one athlete race at NXN and her teammate compete the following week in the Foot Locker final.

"I am honestly so blessed to have Haley as a teammate as well as a best friend, and to also have the guidance from my coaches," Bautista said. "It was a whole team effort for us to get to where we are today, so qualifying for national finals in the same year is truly historical for us."

Bautista, a UCLA signee, overcame anemia early in the season to place fourth in the California Division 2 state final -- with Herberg capturing the individual title -- and fifth in the Foot Locker West Regional.

"After having a handful of bad races and then finding out that I had anemia, I did not want my season to be determined from that," Bautista said. "I knew with the right nutrition and by overcoming a huge mental barrier I could overcome all the unfortunate things that went my way, so ending my season strong has been so amazing to me.

"It didn’t occur to me that I was capable of placing in the top five and advancing until a mile and a half into the race, so not only was it a huge accomplishment, but it also made me reflect on how much I have had to overcome this season."

After winning the Texas 6A state title, illness and allergies resulted in Rahmaan not being able to finish the NXR South race Nov. 18, with Wilson qualifying for NXN by placing fifth.

"I definitely cried a little bit and it was an emotional experience. It was something that me and (Allison) had been working toward the whole year," Rahmaan said. "I knew I had to bounce back strong for the (Foot Locker) South race because there were some pretty good girls in the running for the team."

Rahmaan regrouped to make the 16-hour drive to race Nov. 25 at Foot Locker South at McAlpine Greenway Park in Charlotte, N.C.

She finished sixth to lead a group of three Texas female athletes -- along with ninth-place Adoette Vaughan of Hockaday and 10th-place Heidi Nielson of Cinco Ranch -- to advance to the national final. It will be Rahmaan's second national championship appearance after placing 133rd last year at NXN.

"I'm definitely fortunate to have another opportunity with Foot Locker. I was really grateful for it," Rahmaan said. "It was definitely a bit of a sacrifice for my family and everybody who went to take time out of their Thanksgiving break to drive me there and back. It would have been a really hard drive back if I didn't make it."

Among the dozen girls teammates to compete in different national finals in the same year since 2008, Rahmaan and Wilson are first tandem from Texas to achieve the feat.

"It's hard to express with words how proud I am of Halena and Allison," Montgomery coach Chance Edwards said. "They have had an amazing season, both have come a very long ways, in a very short period of time.  Allison had a great day at NXN exceeding our top 40 goal. The goal for Halena will be a top 15 finish at Foot Locker."

Rahmaan gained a lot of inspiration from Wilson's performance at NXN, reminding her that the opportunity Saturday to become an All-American is a realistic goal.

"She did really great. She did awesome. It shows me I can probably do something like her," Rahmaan said. "We've been working toward this all year, so it's exciting."

Herberg, an Oklahoma signee, received the good news from Capistrano Valley coach Ken Sayles just before the start of the NXN girls championship race that Bautista had qualified at the Foot Locker West Regional at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif., providing extra incentive in her quest to become an All-American in Oregon.

"We had talked about it before and we didn't think it was going to be easy, but we thought it was possible," Herberg said. "She's absolutely my best friend and I'm super happy she did that and continued her awesome season already. I'm glad we're going to get to represent Capo at both national championships."

Bautista and Herberg are the third California girls duo to have one athlete race at NXN and the other at Foot Locker in the same year, joining Torrey Pines' Alli Billmeyer and Megan Morgan in 2008 and Vista del Lago's Madeleine Ankhelyi and Clare Carroll in 2011.

But they could become the state's first teammates to both earn All-America honors at their respective championships.

"We have worked so hard together for the past four years by pushing each other in practice and racing, and we both have been such great support systems to each other," Bautista said. "Nationals has been at the top of our goals, and I know that without Haley and my coaches I would not be where I am today."

Although Bautista has already made history by becoming the first Capistrano Valley athlete to advance to the Foot Locker finals, she knows her late-season surge to join fellow Californians Claudia Lane of Malibu, Alize Hartke of Oakmont, Chloe Arriaga of Walnut and Patricia Miessner of Eastlake among the West qualifiers wouldn't have been possible without the encouragement and belief of others.

"I am so grateful for all the help I have had from everyone, and by concluding my career at Foot Locker Nationals I hope to inspire others to never give up even when everything seems to be going wrong," Bautista said. "I’m feeling very strong and after a late start to the season, to end off my high school cross country career with an All-American finish would mean so much to me. I couldn’t have asked for a better ending to my season without my parents, coaches, and teammates, so I’ll be running this race for them."