Texas Junior Overcomes Injuries And Illness To Win Second Consecutive Foot Locker Championship

By Keenan Gray of DyeStat

DyeStat PHOTOS | INTERVIEWS | RESULTS | RACE REPLAY

SAN DIEGO – For all that Elizabeth Leachman has been through in her junior season, getting back to the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships was more than a reward. It was also a blessing.

Despite ongoing injuries and sickness she endured throughout the fall, the junior from San Antonio, Texas found a way to overcome all of it in the final months of the season and made her way back to Balboa Park in San Diego on Saturday to defend her national title.

Leachman became the sixth girl in Foot Locker meet history to win back to back nationals, taking the girls title in 17 minutes, 31.1 seconds at the 45th installment of the oldest high school cross country championships in the country. She has a chance to become the first three-time champion next year.

“An unexpected end to the season in a good way,” Leachman said. “I think there’s been a roller coaster of emotions and expectations for what I was going to be able to do, so to be able to finish on a strong note is a huge blessing.”

On the verge of calling her season prior to the Texas state championships on Nov. 2, Leachman managed to put together an impressive last month of racing that included winning a second straight UIL Class 5A title, racing to third place at Nike Cross Nationals and repeating as champion at Foot Locker.

“Definitely super blessed to be back. This is one of my favorite races,” Leachman said. “Of course, the season hasn’t gone quite in the direction I thought it would at the beginning, so to even be here was such an honor and to be able to come out with the win I guess was the best end-of-the-season that I could have hoped for.”

Leachman approached Saturday’s race similar to how she did a year ago. She was conservative early and moved up. 

Much like Rachel Forsyth last year, Zariel Macchia of Shirley, N.Y. went to the front and set the pace over the first lap of the two-loop course while Leachman hung behind.

Macchia held a six-second advantage over Leachman through the first mile, with the gap closing to two seconds at the halfway point.

By mile two, Leachman went to the front with a four-second advantage over Macchia, with Victoria Garces in the mix and only two seconds behind.

“I really just tried to focus on making sure I had something the second loop,” Leachman said. “Having raced this course before I think gave me a bit of an advantage just knowing how I felt the second loop last year because even at my best fitness, which I would say is where I was at last year at this time, I was pretty dead by the time I got to the last half mile.”

Leachman continued building her lead going into the final climb and Garces was within four seconds at 2.5 miles. Macchia fell off pace and trailed by 15 seconds.

Once Leachman made her way back to the start line, with about 200 meters left, her lead grew to nine seconds. By that point, Garces couldn't catch her and Leachman enjoyed another victorious moment in the finish chute.

Garces, representing Midland, Mich., followed eight seconds later for second overall in 17:39.9, improving 18 spots over her 20th-place finish last year. Garces outsprinted Leachman for second place just a week ago for second place at Nike Cross Nationals.

Macchia, racing in her fourth Foot Locker final, completed her best finish with a third place run of 17:49.6. 

“Foot Locker means the world to me, it means so much,” Macchia said. “Coming into this race, I wasn’t worried about racing smart or playing any tricks. I just wanted to go out and run it the way I felt good during the race. I just really wanted to show how much this event has meant to me throughout my running career.”

Ruby Ihmels of Bismarck, N.D., a sophomore, trailed Macchia by a second to finish fourth in 17:50.5, improving 19 spots from her finish at last year’s race, and Libby Dowty of Morgantown, Ind., concluded her junior season with a fifth-place finish in 17:55.9 to give the Midwest team two runners in the top five.

Along with Leachman, Kerrigan Chaney of Roanoke, Va., finished sixth in 18:00.9, Lilly Beshears of Springdale, Ark., claimed seventh in 18:04, Macy Wingard of Aubrey Texas, earned 10th in 18:06.9 and Sophia Bendet of Universal City, Texas, took 11th in 18:08 to help the South team prevail for the team title, by one point over the Midwest, with 35 points.

Norah Hushagen of Forest Lake, Minn., ran 18:08.9 for 12th, Brooke Chapman Westerville, Ohio, ran 18:14.1 for 13th, Emily Cohen of Englewood, Colo., ran 18:16.9 for 14th and Rosie Mucharsky of Denver ran 18:19.9 for 15th to all claim All-American honors for the Midwest team.

Virginia Kraus of Bethlehem, PA., joined Macchia as the only other Northeast athlete to finish in the top 10, earning eighth in 18:04.6.

Jaelyn Williams of Chula Vista, Calif., led the West team with a ninth-place run of 18:04.9.