By Michael Newman

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How do you get to the Foot Locker Nationals in San Diego in two weeks? Al you have to do is finish in the top ten in one of the two championship races that will take place in the Midwest Regional Saturday morning in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

The Midwest Regional is one of the toughest of the four Foot Locker Regionals. This year is no exception.

The Girls race could offer up the surprises with possibly Ohio’s India Johnson the runner to watch. The Boys race has four of the top five favorites that will be running next week in Portland. We could see a tactical race with a charge in the final mile. Illinois had a presence in the NXR Midwest Race. Will we see the same on Saturday?

Here is a look at each of the championship races that will take place.

Foot Locker Midwest Regional Scouting Report

Girls Championship Race – 10:40 AM CST

This will be an interesting race to see who comes away with the win. There are no clear favorites heading to the starting line Saturday morning. The top returnee is Sarah Leinheiser (Carmel IN). The top runner on her team has been slowed by an injury finishing 21^st in her state meet and then not able to finish two weeks ago at the Nike Cross Regionals in Terre Haute. She just started to run in the last week and will compete on Saturday under “strict guidelines”.

You will have a couple of state champions to keep an eye on up front in this race. Kayla Young (Denver North HS CO) won the Colorado 3A State title at the end of October. She did not have her best race of the year last Saturday at the NXR Southwest Regional where she finished 16^th. Watch for her to bounce back in this race. Ava Strenge (St. Phillip Catholic HS, Battle Creek MI) was the Michigan LP D4 Champion tree weeks ago and will be one of the runners up front in this race. India Johnson (Hilliard Davidson OH) is the hot runner in this group. She followed up her win at the Ohio D1 Championships with a second place finish the next Sunday at the NXR Midwest Regional. She is one runner that we could see up front at the end of this race.

Illinois runners could be difference makers in this race with as many as four athletes in the hunt to finish in the top ten and a trip to San Diego. Lindsey Payne (Glenbard West HS IL) finished 26^th at the NXR Midwest Race after finishing 2^nd in the Illinois 3A State race. It would not surprise me that she is among the top ten in this race. Jocelyn Long (Barrington HS IL) did not have her best race of the year at Illinois 3A State where she finished 7^th. She bounced back at the NXR Midwest Regional where she finished 7^th. Watch for her to be a factor in this race. Brooke Wilson (Prospect HS IL), Delaney Appino (Rockford Boylan IL), Isabelle Christiansen (Oswego HS), and Daly Galloway (Gardner-South Wilmington HS) are other Illinois runners that I would keep an eye on.

Tyler Schwartz (DeKalb HS IN) is the Indiana State Champion and could be among the top ten in this race. The junior finished 5^th at NXR Midwest. Cailie Logue (Girard HS KS). She had a strong season winning the Kansas 4A State Championship. Her race at the NXR Heartland Regional was not her best finishing 59^th. I don’t think we will see that same kind of race in Kenosha.

Taylor Somers (Millard South HS NE) finished 18^th at the NXR Heartland Regionals after winning the Nebraska Class A Title. Keep an eye on her in this race. Anne Forsyth (Ann Arbor Pioneer HS MI) finished 3^rd at the NXR Midwest Regional and will be among the front runners in this race. Maddie Dalton (Carmel HS IN), Olivia Theis (Lansing Catholic HS MI), Kareena Duffey (Macomb L’Anse Creuse North MI), Tess Misgen (Shakopee HS MN), Courtney Klatt (Sioux Falls Lincoln HS SD), Dana Feyen (Gale-Ettick-Trempealeau WI), and Kate Jochims (Muskego HS WI) are some of the other runners to watch in the front in this race.

Boys Championship Race – 11:25 AM CST

This could be the race to watch with some of the top runners in the Midwest ready to toe the line. One runner who will not be there is Illinois 3A State Champion Soren Knudsen who is recovering from a hip injury that he suffered the week before his state race. Nevertheless, this race is loaded. Seth Hirsch (Millard West HS NE) finished 9^th at the 2015 Foot Locker Nationals. He ran a blazing 14:39 to finish 2^nd at the NXR Heartland Regional and should be one of the favorites. Finn Gessner (Madison LaFollette HS) just nipped Hirsch to win at NXR Heartlands and finished 11^th at the 2015 FL Nationals. He will be one of the favorites especially running on his home turf.

Illinois runners dominated two weeks ago at the NXR Midwest Regional. We could see the same kind of effect in this race. Dylan Jacobs (Sandburg HS IL) finished 2^nd in the NXN Midwest race and will be a factor on this course. Jack Aho (Grayslake Central HS) finished just behind Jacobs in the NXR Midwest race and will be among the front runners. Both ran under 15 minutes at Terre Haute and could come away with the win. Teammates Brian Griffith and Matt Pereira (Lake Zurich HS) finished in the top ten in the NXR Midwest race and could be in the top ten on Saturday. Pereira qualified for San Diego last year and would like to make a return trip. Illinois 1A Champion Brayden Hamblen (Rock Falls HS) ran 14:23 at Detweiller Park 3 weeks ago and has been training for this Saturday. I t would not surprise me if we see him towards the front. Wyatt McIntyre (Athens HS IL) was just behind Hamblen in that race and finished 15^th at NXR Midwest. He could also be a surprise.

Michigan should also be well represented in the front of this race. Riad Rababeh (Dearborn HS MI) surprised some by winning the Michigan D1 LP Title. He followed that up by finishing 2^nd at the Mid-East Championships last Saturday. It will not be a surprise if he is towards the front in this race. Noah Jacobs (Corunna MI) was the Michigan D2 Champ and finished just ahead of Rababeh in Ohio last week. Jacobs has gone undefeated against Michigan competition this season and will be a factor up front in this race. Mitchell Day (Alpena HS MI) finished 10^th at the NXR Midwest Regional after having a successful regular season campaign including a 2^nd place finish behind Rababeh in the D1 State Meet. He could be up front in this race.

Dustin Horter (Lakota East HS) won the Ohio D1 State title and finished 4^th at the NXR Midwest Regional. He will be among the front runners in this race. Austin Hindman (Wildwood Lafayette HS MO) won the Missouri Class 4 Championship followed by a 6^th place finish at Terre Haute. Keep an eye on him towards the front. Derick Peters (West Central HS SD) had a commanding season in his state winning the Class A title. He will look to bounce back in this race after finishing 31^st at the NXR Heartland Regional. Gabe Peters (Sioux Falls Lincoln HS SD) finished 15^th at NXR Heartland after winning the South Dakota AA State title. He will look to finish in the top ten in this race.

Patrick Roos (Edina MN) won the AA State title in his state. He will be running with his team at Portland next week after finish 12^th in the NXR Heartland. He could be a runner to challenge for a top ten finish. Seth Eliason (Hopkins HS MN) ran under 15 minutes finishing 4^th at the NXR Heartland two weeks ago. He is a runner to watch in this race. Gabe Fendel (Hamilton Southeastern HS IN) was a surprise at the NXR Midwest Regional 2 weeks ago when he finished a national qualifying 5^th. He won’t be a surprise up front on Saturday.

Other runners to keep an eye on include Vince Zona (Lyons Township HS IL), Tannor Wagner (Ashwaubnon HS WI), Gus Newcomb (Middleton HS WI), Matt Scrape (Pickerington Central HS OH), Nicholas Yanek (Pleasant Valley HS IA), Matt Aho (Grayslake Central HS IL), Joshua Romine (Mountain Vista HS CO), and Brendan Fraser (Pontiac Notre Dame Prep HS MI).