Aside from the NCAA Championships, it was a busy day of racing for Flagstaffians.
Some results:
–At the Nike Cross Southwest Regionals in Mesa, Flagstaff High’s Yohanes Van Meerten finished 10th in the boys’ championship race in 14:46.25, despite having not raced all season because he transferred late from Northland Prep to Flagstaff High.
The NXR, however, is not officially affiliated with high school racing, so Van Meerten, a sophomore, was able to compete. And he performed impressively, considering that he has hardly raced at all this season. (Previously, he ran in the George Kyte Classic, a college meet, unattached, and in the open race at Desert Twilight.)
Van Meerten’s 10th place finish might be enough to elevate him to a coveted NXN spot, since finishers from the automatic team qualifiers don’t count in selecting individuals from each regional. Click here to read our profile of Van Meerten.
Flagstaff coach Trina Painter said earlier this week that Van Meerten had been bothered earlier by IT band issues, but was “ready” to go Saturday. That certainly was the case. Van Meerten ran a steady race, covering the first mile in 4:40 to stay within striking distance of the leaders, then moved up two spots through the second mile and eventually finishing 10th.
His time was nearly 15 seconds faster than the 15:00.07 he ran in late September in the Desert Twilight non-sanctioned race, though back then he had little competition.
Flagstaff’s Alex Bland, the two-time state champion, also ran in the NXR championship race and placed 120th in 15:45. That is somewhat slower than the 15:33 Bland ran at Desert Twilight, but bear in mind Saturday’s race came after a grueling full season of running for Bland.
In the NXR SW girls championship race, Flagstaff High’s top two runners, Olivia Baker and Taylor Biggambler, competed. Baker finished 89th in 18:33.72, off her P.R. of 18:25 on this course. Biggambler placed 118th in 18:53.
— At the Philadelphia Half Marathon Saturday morning, Hoka NAZ Elite’s Ahmed Muhumed continued his hot streak by winning in his debut at the distance in 1:03.16. McKirdy Trained Eritrean Filmon Ande was second in 1:03:25.
Muhumad, in his final race of an extended fall road season, was consistent on Saturday. At just before 5K, he was averaging 4:54 per mile, lowered the pace to 4:52 at the 10K mark and kept that consistently through 12 miles, before clocking a 4:35 final mile.
Click here to read our profile of Muhumed.
— At the JFK 50 Mile Race in Maryland, one of the oldest ultramarathons in the U.S., Flagstaff’s Lindsay Prescott placed sixth among the women in 6:47:18.
It was Prescott’s longest race of her career — she began as a road marathoner — and comes on the heels of becoming the U.S.’s top 50K road ultra runner, winning April’s Mad City 50K in Madison, Wisc., in a course record 3:21:36. In between races, Prescott also won September’s Flagstaff to Grand Canyon Stagecoach 55K.
Former Flagstaffian Emily Harrison Torrance (now living in South Dakota) finished one place behind Prescott, two minutes back.
Click here to read our profile of Prescott from last spring.
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