Find current entries below of Maryland XC runners who will be making the trip up to Van Cortlandt Park in New York City next weekend to race at Foot Locker Northeast.
Foot Locker Northeast Entries: Maryland Boys - Maryland Girls
Arguably Maryland's top 3 girls individuals will be racing at Foot Locker Northeast rather than NXN Southeast in 4A state champ Maria Coffin of Annapolis, 2A state champ Hayley Jackson of Patuxent, and 2A state runner-up Brit Lang of Oakland Mills. All three runners have aspirations of making it to sunny San Diego and qualify for Foot Locker Nationals with a top 10 finish in the Northeast Regional. It is often rare for Maryland to have one Foot Locker Nationals qualifier, but could we see three girls make it this year?
Jackson was the fastest performer at the state meet (18:23) last weekend repeating as the 2A state champ, while Coffin was just two seconds slower at 18:25 winning her first state title in 4A. Lang finished 25th (18:57) in last year's Foot Locker Northeast and was Maryland's top finisher in the race, while Coffin finished 34th in the same race with a time of 19:11.
Coffin raced earlier in the season on the 4K course at the Manhattan Invite and ran the fastest time ever by a Maryland runner on the historic course in a 14:22 top 10 finish in the Eastern States championship race. Jackson raced last year at NXN Southeast in the post-season and expects to perform much better than her 52nd place showing last November in Cary this Saturday at Van Cortlandt.
Other top girls entrants from Maryland include the Eastern Shore's best in Kathryn Gearhart of Easton and 3A state runner-up Nandini Satsangi, a freshmen at Poolesville.
The boys leading entries include two state champions in 2A state champ Brian Cave of South Carroll and 1A state champ Will Merritt of Smithsburg. Cave ran 16:33 last Saturday at Hereford to claim the 2A state title, while Merritt also became a first-time state champ with a 16:50 performance.
No real threats for any individual qualifiers from Maryland in the boys race, but great opportunity for all in the state's contingent to see how they can far against other top runners from the Northeast Region and finish season on a strong note.
The 16-time 1A state champ Ty Franks of Bohemia Manor is also entered, but has been out due to injury virtually all season. Other top entries actually include the state's top two freshmen in Daniel Saxon of Liberty and Justin Diehl of Calvert. Both will likely run in the underclassmen race and will exciting to see another head to head matchup between the state's fastest two newcomers.