It was an historical moment for Maryland running last weekend at Van Cortlandt Park in New York. Maria Coffin crossed the line in third place at the Foot Locker Northeast Regional Championships. Then Hayley Jackson did. She was followed by Abigail Green and Julien Webster. All four girls were among the top ten, punching tickets to next Saturday's Foot Locker Cross Country Nationals in San Diego, California.
Coffin is the one member of the star-studded group that has been there before. She also finished in third place at last year's Foot Locker Northeast Regionals before going on to finish 27th at nationals. Jackson finished 87th last year before improving to sixth this year. Green ran at Nike Cross Nationals Southeast in 2015 where she finished 31st.
The four girls qualifiers - along with Dalton Hengst and Will Merritt on the boys side - represents possibly the best performance by the state of Maryland at a national qualifier ever. Three of them - Coffin, Green and Jackson - shared their Saturday at the Naval Academy Golf Course in Annapolis.
Afterward their workout, stretching and lunch they sat down with Kris Jost to discuss their upcoming race next weekend in San Diego.
Although they will be racing as individuals the four girls will definitely be representing much more than themselves on Saturday. Maryland is not often viewed as one of the top running states around the country but its seven total national individual qualifiers this year marks one of the best years ever for the state in the sport of cross country. Even as the indoor season kicks off there will be plenty of runners and fans alike rooting for all of the Maryland qualifiers.
It was an historical moment for Maryland running last weekend at Van Cortlandt Park in New York. Maria Coffin crossed the line in third place at the Foot Locker Northeast Regional Championships. Then Hayley Jackson did. She was followed by Abigail Green and Julien Webster. All four girls were among the top ten, punching tickets to next Saturday's Foot Locker Cross Country Nationals in San Diego, California.
Coffin is the one member of the star-studded group that has been there before. She also finished in third place at last year's Foot Locker Northeast Regionals before going on to finish 27th at nationals. Jackson finished 87th last year before improving to sixth this year. Green ran at Nike Cross Nationals Southeast in 2015 where she finished 31st.
