Josh Methner, Graydon Morris, Patrick Anderson Lead Foot Locker Field

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Josh Methner's season has been special, but not quite perfect. 

The senior from Hersey IL sent shockwaves through Illinois and beyond when he smashed Craig Virgin's all-time state meet record at Detweiller Park in Peoria. 

Methner kept that momentum going through the Nike Cross Midwest Regional and the Foot Locker Midwest Regional before taking second last week to Nico Young of Newbury Park CA at Nike Cross Nationals in Portland. 

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Young's performance was perhaps the best in the 16 years of the Nike-sponsored championship. He beat Methner by 14 seconds. 

The Newbury Park senior is not part of the equation on Saturday at San Diego's Balboa Park, site of the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships. That could leave the door wide open for Methner to become the fifth runner from the Midwest region to claim the title in the past seven years. 

"I'm definitely thankful to be in this position," Methner said after last week's race. "Foot Locker is going to be awesome. We've got some of these Midwest guys going down there too, so we'll be traveling together and I'm excited to have another fun race."

If Methner can summon another big effort for the fifth time since Nov. 9, he could pull away from Saturday's field and win the Foot Locker title. He was sixth last year, just five spots and 14 seconds behind winner Cole Hocker. 

Methner rates, at a minimum, as the co-favorite. 

Four-Timer Looks For Storybook Ending

Graydon Morris has more experience on the Balboa course than anybody. The senior from Aledo, Texas is making his fourth straight appearance and has been solely focused on Saturday's race all season. 

Morris finished second in 2017 and third last year -- and he feels stronger than ever coming into this week's championship. 

"There's a little bit of pressure because I want to live up to what I did last year, but mostly I'm excited," Morris said. 

For the second year in a row, Morris is the top returner. He'd love nothing more than to cap his high school cross country career the same way the only other male four-time qualifier did -- Jorge Torres won it all in 1998 after previously placing second (1997), fifth (1996) and 13th (1995).

Because Morris has been more focused on Saturday's race than any other, it's difficult to tell whether he has expressed his full capabilities up to this point. He may be holding something back, which makes him dangerous. 

Methner has been more impressive over the past month, without question. But Morris has been taking careful aim with his one final shot at Foot Locker glory. 

An Undefeated Pennsylvania Champion

Patrick Anderson is the only runner in Saturday's field who hasn't lost a race this fall. 

The senior from Pittsburgh, Pa., the Northeast regional champion, broke the all-time Pennsylvania state meet record when he ran 15:25.7 in Hershey. That was a 38-second improvement over his winning time from 2018.

"I'm pretty confident coming off of my best season ever of cross country, with a great state meet and a great regional race," Anderson said. 

Anderson is obviously stronger than he was a year ago. And he'd love to atone for the disappointment of last year's 29th-place finish. 

Pennsylvania has never produced a Foot Locker boys champion. The highest finish ever from the state came from Mike Connelly, who finished second in 1982 in Orlando. The last champion from the Northeast was Edward Cheserek, who won twice, in 2011 and 2012.

Don't Forget This Guy

Last year, Carter Solomon opened eyes with a surprising fourth-place finish at Foot Locker. He had a fantastic race.

"Every day I run I think about that day," Solomon said over the summer. "I'm just wishing to go back. I hope my training goes as well as it did last year and I have another opportunity to do it again."

Solomon's track times last spring didn't jump off the page, but his primary focus was contributing to his team's 4x800 relay. He earned a spot at Nike Elite Camp and then had a very strong season in Michigan -- winning 13 straight races that concluded with a Michigan Lower Peninsula Division 1 title. 

He is better than he was in 2018 even if it seems he has been slightly off the radar. 

Solomon, of Plymouth High in Canton, Mich., finished ninth at the Foot Locker Midwest regional, but all he really needed to do there was place in the Top 10. 

No one needs to be reminded of how top-end Michigan runners have done in the past at Foot Locker. From Dathan Ritzenhein to Grant Fisher, there is a proud history. Michigan boys have won a total of seven times. 

Solomon unlocked the puzzle last year: "I started off slow and built up as the race progressed and gave it everything I had at the end," he said. 

Back On His Feet Again

Thomas Boyden of Skyline High in Salt Lake City was on fire back in September. He established himself at home as the top guy in Utah that month and then won the Bob Firman Invitational in Idaho, breaking the course record with 14:59. 

Seven days later he finished third -- about 20 seconds behind Leo Daschbach and Cole Sprout -- at the Nike Desert Twilight in Arizona. 

Boyden was 13th at Foot Locker last year and qualified for a return trip on the all-pavement rain course last weekend at Mt. SAC in Walnut, Calif. 

Boyden's season was going great until he reached the Utah state meet and suffered a fall and DNF. The path to redemption included a long wait to get back into a race. It was 45 days between the Utah state finals and Foot Locker West. Boyden used that time to re-adjust and get focused on one last push for a top finish at Foot Locker. 

He may be something of a darkhorse Saturday, but Boyden has demonstrated an ability to run at an elite level.

"There's probably four of five of us that can win it, however the meet plays out," Boyden said. "We'll see. Whatever happens, happens."

Only 12 runners in Saturday's field were in the most recent Dyestat Top 30 (Nov. 28). Others who should be aiming for a big finish Saturday include Liam Murphy from Millstone, N.J., who was eighth last week at NXN and only six seconds behind Methner, Evan Bishop of East Grand Rapids, Mich., who was ninth at Foot Locker last year; and Gavin Sherry, a talented sophomore who won the Connecticut and New England Championships.