FOOT LOCKER CROSS COUNTRY NATIONALS

Six Of Last Year's Top 12 Are Back On The Girls Side, But Newcomers Rachel Forsyth and Elizabeth Leachman Pose Serious Threat

By Keenan Gray of DyeStat

Familiar faces, as well as some intriguing new ones, make up an impressive girls championship field that is set to embark on Morley Field at Balboa Park in San Diego for this year’s Foot Locker Cross Country Championships. Here is a look at the top athletes to watch at this year’s national final.

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Zariel Macchia, Northeast

The junior from William Floyd High on Long Island is having the best season of her career. 

She continues to be one of the leading figures in the New York running scene, winning eight of her nine races this fall, including wins at the Manhattan XC Invitational, Nike XC Town Twilight in Indiana, and the New York State Federation Championships.

But her biggest achievement may have been winning the Foot Locker Northeast regional title and beating her World U20 Cross Country Championships Team USA teammate and last year’s national runner-up, Ellie Shea. Macchia traveled to Boston and ran 17 minutes, 12.9 seconds to win by eight seconds to clinch a third consecutive berth to San Diego.

Macchia has a history of showing up at Foot Locker and exceeding expectations. She was 12th as a freshman in what was then called the Eastbay Cross Country Championships, and sixth last year when it was called the CHAMPS Sports Cross Country Championships.

Macchia could be ready to make another step closer to the No. 1 spot. 

Ellie Shea, Northeast

The long wait for her senior season debut finally ended when she took to the course at Franklin Park in Boston for Foot Locker Northeast on Nov. 25.

Last year’s national runner-up to Karrie Baloga opened the season with second  place in 17:20.3, earning a third trip to nationals.

Shea's preparation also included competing in last weekend's Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener at Boston University in the women’s 3,000 meters. She ran a time of 9:26.13 to finish 39th overall.

Shea was just six seconds out of first place last year. She led the race in the closing minutes but fell behind Baloga on the second pass over the hill. Her experience leading the race and how to manage the course my play in her favor as she returns to Balboa Park on Saturday.

Shea, don't forget, won a bronze medal as part of the the U.S. women's U20 cross country team at the World Cross Country Championships in Australia in February. 

The Belmont, Mass. resident can join 2018 champion Sydney Masciarelli as the only champions from Massachusetts.

Elizabeth Leachman, South

For the first time since her season debut, Leachman suffered defeat at last weekend’s Nike Cross Nationals, finishing 15th in her debut at one of the national championship meets. This weekend, she has an opportunity to put together one of the best comeback stories.

Leachman punched her ticket to Foot Locker a week after dominating Nike Cross Regional South, winning the South regional title in 16:33.3, while leading six other girls to break the 17-minute barrier at McAlpine Park in Charlotte, N.C.

Despite a tough race in Portland, where Leachman led for 10 minutes in difficult muddy conditions, Leachman has proven herself to be a championship contender this season. With her impressive wins at the state and regional level, the sophomore from Boerne, Texas is one of he favorites this weekend. 

She could give Texas a second champion in three years. Natalie Cook from Flower Mound won it in 2021. 

Rachel Forsyth, Midwest

Perhaps no other runner will be hungrier to race this weekend than Rachel Forsyth, especially after the outcome at Nike Cross Nationals in Portland.

For the first time this year, Forsyth lost a race. She was fifth in Portland after going undefeated in Michigan and in the Midwest, so she has plenty of motivation coming into San Diego. 

Forsyth, a senior from Ann Arbor, Mich., competed at nationals two years ago and finished 33rd as a sophomore. Her 2022 track season, lost due to complications from a well-documented battle with an eating disorder, was followed by a cross country season that was modest by her standards. She was still recovering. 

Forsyth has been sensational this fall and won the Foot Locker Midwest title in 16:57.8.

Although Michiganders have enjoyed incredible success in San Diego over the years, only two have won the girls championship: Megan Goethals in 2009 and Zofia Dudek in 2019. 

Allie Zealand, South

Like Forsyth and Leachman, Allie Zealand will continue her busy championship season by completing the national double at Foot Locker this weekend.

Zealand comes to San Diego after her first appearance at Nike Cross Nationals, where she ran 17:49.7 to finish 13th overall and earn All-American honors. While it wasn’t an outcome she had hoped for, given the conditions at Glendoveer Golf Course, San Diego provides her an opportunity to bounce back.

Zealand was among those seven girls who broke the 17 minutes barrier at the South regional, running 16:50.4 to place third and earn a return ticket to nationals.

The future Liberty Flame from Lynchburg, Va. will make her third appearance and is seeking her second consecutive All-American honor following an eighth-place effort last season when she ran 17:38.8.

Abby Faith Cheeseman, South

Abby Faith Cheeseman’s resume speaks for itself and it demonstrates that she has remained one of the nation’s top distance runners the past few years.

The four-time Tennessee cross country state champion qualified for her third trip to nationals out of the South region, earning second place behind Leachman in a time of 16:50.1.

Cheeseman took home fourth place honors as a sophomore at last year’s national meet, running 17:13.4 to improve her 2021 effort by 27 spots when she placed 31st. She follows Shea as the second-best returner in the field.

Cheeseman, of Bell Buckle, Tenn., posted a 5-kilometer best time of 16:44.1 this season. She won the individual championship at the Great American XC Festival on Oct. 7 in Cary, N.C. 

A victory would make her the second girl from Tennessee to win the Foot Locker title, joining Kathy Kroeger from 2006. 

Ruth White, Northeast

One of Maine’s best distancer runners ever, Ruth White, is ready to make one more splash at Foot Locker to cap off her impressive high school career.

The senior from Orono took her first trip to San Diego last fall when she earned a fourth-place finish at the CHAMPS Northeast Region and then finished 17th at the national meet. This year, White finished third in the regional, making it to a second consecutive appearance to Balboa Park and she has eyes on a top finish after missing an All-American citation by two spots last year.

White never lost a race in the state of Maine between 2021 and 2023, including three consecutive Class C state titles. She was also a three-time New England Interscholastic Cross Country champion. 

White, a future Boise State Bronco, is part of a strong Northeast team, including Macchia and Shea, at this year’s nationals.

Chiara Dailey, West

Chiara Dailey is one of several up-and-coming stars that could potentially play spoiler in San Diego this weekend, just like what Addy Ritzenhein managed to do at Nike Cross Nationals.

A sophomore from nearby La Jolla, Dailey continues to impress the California racing scene with wins at Mt. SAC, the CIF Division 4 State Championship final, and most recently, at Foot Locker West. She qualified for her second appearance at nationals. 

Dailey was 14th at last year’s meet, running 17:51.7, and was the top overall freshman in the field.

Dailey, along with Eleanor Raker from Nevada and Sophia Rodriguez out of Washington, provide a solid trio for the West team.

Jessica Jazwinski, Midwest

While Forsyth has shown to be dominant in the state of Michigan, another runner who was nearly as good in the same state was Jessica Jazwinski. 

A junior, Jazwinski of Shelby, Mich. (Hart High) won a total of 14 of 15 races this fall during the regular season, with her lone defeat coming at the first race of the year at the Benzie Pete Moss Invite on Aug. 26 against none other than Forsyth.

Since then, Jazwinski racked up 14 consecutive wins, including two sub-17 performances at the WMC Mega Meet on Oct. 17 and at the Michigan Meet of Champions on Nov. 11. 

Jazwinski heads to San Diego as a returning All-American, finishing 11th last year in 17:43.4. She finished fourth at the Midwest regional two weekends ago.

Mary Bonner Dalton, South

The numbers have never been better for Mary Bonner Dalton than in her senior season. 

Bonner Dalton of Charlotte made vast improvement in her racing this season, lowering her lifetime best 5,000-meter time by 30 seconds from her sophomore year to run 16:53.8 at the South regional to qualify for a second consecutive Foot Locker nationals.

She also won her first North Carolina state cross country title, winning the 4A crown by 50 seconds after finishing second the year before. 

Bonner Dalton is another returning All-American looking to improve upon her 12th-place finish at Balboa Park.