By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

The 42nd edition of the Eastbay Cross Country Championships, formerly the Kinney Nationals or Foot Locker Nationals, is scheduled for Saturday, December 11 at Balboa Park’s Morley Field in San Diego, Calif.

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Here are 10 storylines to follow at the final high school national championship cross country event of the year:

Cook looks to create rare title recipe

Since a second national meet was added to the postseason schedule in 2004, with Nike Team Nationals joining what was then known as the Foot Locker Championships – and this season the Eastbay Cross Country Championships – among the December events, no female athlete has won multiple titles in the same year.

Lukas Verzbicas of Sandburg High in Illinois is the only male competitor to secure individual crowns at both Nike Cross Nationals and Foot Locker in the same year, achieving the historic double in 2010.

Although the postseason calendar did not include the presence of NXN in Oregon for the second year in a row, Natalie Cook of Lewisville Flower Mound High in Texas has the opportunity to become the only girls athlete to pair a title at the Kinney/Foot Locker/Eastbay championship meet with a victory at another national event.

Cook, an Oklahoma State signee, prevailed Dec. 4 in the gold race at the RunningLane Championships in Alabama, producing the second-fastest 5-kilometer cross country performance in U.S. prep history by clocking 16 minutes, 3.93 seconds at John Hunt Park in Huntsville, Ala.

Cook could also become the first Texas female athlete to win a Kinney/Foot Locker/Eastbay national title, with Chelsey Sveinsson of Greenhill High finishing runner-up in 2009 and Rachel Johnson of Plano High placing second in 2010.

Sydney Thorvaldson of Rawlins High in Wyoming won postseason meets last year at both the XC Town USA Meet of Champions in Indiana, along with the High School Cross Country National Invitational in Texas, but neither event returned to the postseason calendar this season.

Searching for the region’s next leading man

Since the national finals returned to San Diego in 2002 following a five-year stretch in Orlando where Midwest male athletes won four straight titles from 1998-2001, the region has continued its impressive run of success, including the past three individual boys champions with Dylan Jacobs of Sandburg High in Illinois in 2017, Cole Hocker of Cathedral High in Indiana in 2018 and Josh Methner of Hersey High in Illinois in 2019.

During the past 18 finals at Balboa Park’s Morley Field, the Midwest has produced the individual boys winner 10 times, contributing to the region’s overall dominance of crowning 21 national champions. The other three regions have combined for 20.

Zane Bergen of Niwot High in Colorado and Riley Hough of Hartland High in Michigan are the leading title contenders for the Midwest after both placing in the top five Dec. 4 at the RunningLane Championships in Alabama and securing the top two spots Nov. 27 at the Eastbay regional meet in Wisconsin, splitting their two head-to-head meetings thus far.

Hough, a Michigan State commit, has the potential to elevate Michigan into a tie for most boys national winners produced by one state with eight overall, matching the success of California, which hasn’t captured an individual title since 2006.

Grant Fisher of Grand Blanc High was the last Michigan champion, securing back-to-back individual titles in 2013-14.

Bergen, a Stanford signee, is seeking the first national championship by a Colorado male athlete since former Doherty High standout Adam Goucher in 1993.

A lot of ground to cover

Zane Bergen and Riley Hough are among the five male athletes, with Natalie Cook leading the five female competitors scheduled to race Saturday following a quick turnaround after participating Dec. 4 at the RunningLane Championships.

Kole Mathison of Carmel High in Indiana, Shane Brosnan of Union Catholic High in New Jersey and Michael Toppi of Viera High in Florida are joining Bergen and Hough. Mathison was ninth in Alabama, Brosnan finished 13th and Toppi placed 29th.

Cook is joined by Riley Stewart of Cherry Creek High in Colorado, Jenna Mulhern of West Chester Henderson in Pennsylvania, Ava Parekh of the Latin School in Chicago and Lilly Shapiro of Colts Neck High in New Jersey.

Stewart took third in the gold race at RunningLane, Mulhern finished fourth, Parekh placed ninth and Shapiro secured 13th overall.

Since 2004, when NXN and Foot Locker began to race in back-to-back weekends in December, 19 female athletes and 24 male competitors have placed in the top 10 in both national events in the same year.

Bergen, Hough and Mathison are eligible to achieve the feat in the boys race, with Cook, Stewart, Mulhern and Parekh pursuing the impressive goal in the girls final.

Freshmen aiming for fantastic debuts

All three freshmen girls who competed at the 2019 national final earned All-America honors, with Carly McNatt and Tatum David – now teammates at IMG Academy in Florida – finishing eighth and 10th overall, in addition to Karrie Baloga of Cornwall Central in New York placing 11th.

Three more ninth-grade female competitors qualified for Saturday’s final, seeking similar success after all finishing in the top five in their respective regions.

Sadie Engelhardt of Ventura High in California was the West runner-up and has the potential to become the eighth freshman from her state to earn All-America honors, with aspirations to join a group that includes Jordan Hasay of Mission Prep, Sara Hall of Santa Rosa Montgomery and Deena Kastor of Agoura.

Karlie Garcia of Oakmont High was the last California ninth-grader to earn All-America honors in 2009.

Hasay boasts the freshman 5-kilometer record of 17:05 at Balboa Park’s Morley Field, with only three ninth-graders ever running under 17:15 in San Diego.

Abby Faith Cheeseman of The Webb School in Tennessee became only the third freshman female athlete from her state to qualify for nationals, joining Jenna Hutchins of Science Hill in 2018 and Kathy Kroeger of Independence in 2005.

Hutchins earned All-America honors as a ninth-grader by placing ninth, with Kroeger just missing that recognition by securing 16th overall.

Zariel Macchia of William Floyd in New York was the Northeast runner-up as a ninth-grader, becoming the 11th freshman female competitor from her state to qualify. Five of them have earned All-America honors, including Baloga, with Erin Davis of Saratoga Springs one of two ninth-graders in meet history to capture a national title, achieving victory in 1993, before Hasay triumphed in 2005.

Keegan Smith of Knoxville Catholic in Tennessee is the lone freshman boys qualifier and just the fifth in meet history, becoming the first ninth-grade male competitor to compete in San Diego since Graydon Morris of Aledo High in Texas in 2016.

Futsum Zienasellassie of North Central High in Indiana boasts the highest finish by a freshman boys athlete, placing seventh in 2008. Jorge Torres of Wheeling High in Illinois also earned All-America honors by finishing 13th in 1995.

Tremendous family ties

By winning the South Regional title Nov. 27 at McAlpine Park in North Carolina, Natalie Cook and her mother, the former Melissa Gulli, became the fourth mother-daughter pairing in meet history to both qualify for the Kinney/Foot Locker/Eastbay national final.

Gulli was 23rd in 1997 representing Klein High in Spring, Texas.

Melissa and Natalie joined Ceci Hopp and Anne St. Geme, Gina Braz and Catarina Rocha, along with Vickie Cook and Cami Chapus among the mother-daughter tandems to compete at the national championship.

Hopp captured the individual title in 1980 competing for Greenwich High in Connecticut, with St. Geme finishing 13th in 2005 representing Corona del Mar High in California.

Cook finished in the top six three times, with her best performance a third-place effort in 1980 for Alemany High in California. Chapus earned 22nd in 2011 representing Harvard-Westlake High in California.

Rocha was a three-time qualifier and placed second for Peabody High in Massachusetts in 2012, with her mother Braz finishing 21st competing for the same school in 1984.

Abby Faith Cheeseman of The Webb School in Tennessee joined her father Ken Cheeseman, who was 17th representing Lake Howell High in Florida in 1982, along with her brother Carter Cheeseman, a two-time qualifier who was sixth and 10th overall in 2017 and 2018 for Fort Worth Christian High in Texas.

Taylor Rohatinsky of Lone Peak High in Utah followed her father Josh Rohatinsky, a three-time finalist representing Provo High. Josh was a two-time All-American, placing fifth in 1998 and fourth in 1999.

Taylor Rohatinsky became the first female qualifier from Lone Peak after Justin Hartshorn finished 32nd in the boys final in 2017.

Lauren Ping of Desert Vista High in Arizona also became a Kinney/Foot Locker/Eastbay national qualifier just like sister Grace Ping, who was 31st representing Cotter High in Minnesota in 2018, followed by a 30th-place effort for Desert Vista in 2019.

Grace and Lauren have the unique honor of both qualifying for Nike Cross Nationals as well as the Foot Locker or Eastbay Championships during their careers.

Craving championship credentials

Kate Peters, a junior at Lake Oswego High in Oregon, has an opportunity to end one of the biggest championship droughts in meet history by becoming the first winner in either gender from her state.

Oregon has produced a pair of female runner-up performances, with Melissa Lucas of Portland Jesuit placing second in 1993 and Mariel Ettinger of La Grande in 1997.

Tracy Garrison of Klamath Union was second in the boys national final in 1983 and Galen Rupp of Central Catholic was runner-up in 2003.

Kenny Klotz of Central Catholic won the Nike Team Nationals at Portland Meadows in 2005, but Oregon has never crowned a girls individual national champion in any postseason race since multiple events began being held in December in 2004.

Peters is unbeaten entering the girls final, along with Angelina Perez of Lakeland Regional High in New Jersey.

Perez, a Florida signee, is looking to become the first female competitor from her state to win the national title since Janet Smith-Leet of St. Francis High in 1983.

New Jersey has seen Ashley Higginson of Colts Neck win Nike Team Nationals in 2006, but the only Kinney/Foot Locker/Eastbay champions from the state in the past four decades have been Brendan Heffernan of North Hunterdon in 1992 and two-time winner Edward Cheserek of St. Benedict’s Prep in 2011-12.

Gavin Sherry of Conard High, a Stanford signee, is hoping to become the first boys champion from Connecticut, after the state has produced three girls individual winners, including Sydney Masciarelli of Marianapolis Prep in 2018.

No Connecticut male competitor has ever finished higher than eighth at the Kinney/Foot Locker/Eastbay final, with Sherry looking to improve significantly on that mark after placing 14th as a sophomore in 2019.

Riley Stewart of Cherry Creek High in Colorado is pursuing the first Kinney/Foot Locker/Eastbay title by a female athlete from her state since Katelyn Kaltenbach from Smoky Hill in 2003. Melody Fairchild of Boulder is the only other Colorado girls competitor to secure an individual crown, winning back-to-back championships in 1989-90.

Caroline Wells of Winter Springs High in Florida, a Stanford commit, is attempting to become only the second girls winner from her state, joining Ashley Brasovan of Wellington High in 2007.

California dreaming of more

For the first time in meet history in 2019, California did not produce an athlete placing in the top 15 in either championship race, and thus, did not have a competitor achieve All-America honors.

California leads the all-time lists with 92 boys All-Americans and 91 girls All-America honorees. Only the New York girls, with 51 All-America recipients, even have half as many as California in either gender.

The host state had five girls qualify for the national final, along with four male athletes, looking to start new streaks.

Kenan Pala of Francis Parker High, a Yale commit, and Wake Forest-bound Mark Trammell of Santa Fe Christian are a pair of hometown heroes in the San Diego Section, looking to make their mark in the boys final.

It marks the first time since 2010 that a pair of boys qualifiers from San Diego are representing the West, when Matt Carpowich of Torrey Pines finished 17th and Darren Fahy of La Costa Canyon took 30th at the familiar venue of Balboa Park’s Morley Field.

Zach Ayers of Davis Senior and Max Sannes of Big Bear, an Air Force Academy commit, have also qualified. Michael Vernau was 10th for Davis at the 2015 final, with former Big Bear stars Chad Hall winning the title in 2006 and Ryan Hall placing third in 2000.

Sadie Engelhardt of Ventura, Olivia Williams of Acalanes, Sophia Nordenholz of Albany, Anna McNatt of McClatchy and Aishling Callanan of Peninsula are the five female qualifiers from California, which hasn’t boasted a girls All-American since Claudia Lane of Malibu High won her second of back-to-back national titles in 2017.

California had six girls finalists without an All-American in 2019 and five qualifiers without producing a top-15 finisher in 2018. This year marks the seventh consecutive national championship with California having at least four female athletes in the final, including seven qualifiers in 2014, matching the depth of 1985, 1987, 1990, 2004 and 2006. The California girls record for one year is eight finalists in 2009.

California leads all-time with 224 female qualifiers and 179 boys national finalists. New York and Virginia are the only other states with more than 100 all-time girls finalists and Texas surpassed 100 boys qualifiers this season with three individuals placing in the top 10 in the South Regional.

Teammates make it twice as nice

For the first time in Indiana cross country history, a pair of girls teammates have qualified for the Kinney/Foot Locker/Eastbay national final in the same year, with Park Tudor juniors Sophia Kennedy and Gretchen Farley placing third and ninth Nov. 27 at the Midwest Regional in Wisconsin.

Carmel holds the Indiana record with six female finalists in meet history, qualifying athletes in 2002, 2003, 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017, but never multiple competitors in the same year.

Farley and Kennedy are the first girls teammates to qualify for the national final since North Central High of Washington was represented in 2018 by Allie Janke and Erinn Hill. Janke placed 22nd and Hill finished 33rd in the championship race.

It marks the 30th time in meet history that girls teammates have qualified in the same year, with Saratoga Springs High in New York and Smoky Hill High of Colorado both achieving the feat three times.

Community School of Naples High in Florida, North Hunterdon High in New Jersey, Lake Braddock High in Virginia and Southlake Carroll High of Texas have all had female teammates qualify for nationals in the same year twice.

Only twice have a pair of girls teammates both finished in the top 10 in the same year, with Katie Flood finishing eighth and Ashlie Decker taking ninth representing Dowling Catholic High from Iowa in 2009, in addition to Kathy Knowlton placing ninth and Kris Katterhagen earning 10th for Bellarmine Prep of Washington in 1980.

Seeking another Sweet Sixteen

Not since Erin Keogh of Langley High in Virginia won back-to-back national titles in 1985-86 has the winning time achieved by the girls champion in San Diego been under 17 minutes in consecutive years on the 5-kilometer course at Balboa Park’s Morley Field.

Keogh’s performances capped a stretch of four seasons in a row where the girls champion achieved sub-17 efforts in San Diego, including Janet Smith-Leet of St. Francis High in New Jersey in 1983 and Cathy Schiro O’Brien of Dover High in New Hampshire in 1984.

Sara Hall and Amber Trotter achieved the feat in 2000 and 2001 in Orlando, but since the championship meet returned to San Diego in 2002, only twice has the winner produced a sub-17 performance, including Zofia Dudek of Ann Arbor Pioneer High in Michigan running 16:45 in 2019.

Melody Fairchild of Boulder High in Colorado still holds the girls course record in San Diego at 16:39 from 1990.

Fairchild is one of nine female competitors to eclipse the 17-minute mark when the national final has been held at Balboa Park’s Morley Field.

Dudek led three female athletes to sub-17 performances in 2019, including Marlee Starliper of Northern High in Pennsylvania and Abby VanderKooi of Muskegon Western Michigan Christian, which is the most in any girls final contested in San Diego in meet history.

There are several female athletes capable of joining that group in Saturday’s championship race, which has the potential to equal or surpass the depth of the final two years ago.

Midwest girls seeking another masterpiece

Although the regional team competition is often considered secondary to the pursuit of individual titles and All-America recognition, the Midwest girls have produced one of the most impressive runs in meet history by winning three in a row from 2017-19, including two of the top five lowest scores in meet history with 20 points in 2018 and 24 points in 2019.

The Midwest girls boast the most overall team victories in meet history with 20, including a record six straight from 1984-89. The region is looking to resume competition in San Diego with a fourth straight victory, which would be the most by any group since the Midwest won five in a row from 2008-12.

The West, led by five California athletes, is seeking its first girls team victory since 2005, with the Northeast looking to contend for top honors for the first time since 2013.

The Midwest and West boys regions are tied for most victories overall with 17, although the Northeast prevailed in 2019, winning for the first time since 1996.

The Northeast and Midwest tied at 43 points apiece, with the Northeast prevailing on a sixth-runner tiebreaker, the first time it decided the boys winner in meet history. The only time a sixth runner determined the girls winner was in 2007, with the Northeast edging the South after the teams tied at 42 points each.