December 5, 2018—For the ninth year in a row, a top high school runner from Spokane will be competing at the Foot Locker National Cross Country Championships, to be held Saturday at Balboa Park in San Diego. In fact, this year two Spokane runners from North Central High School—Allie Janke and Erinn Hill—will be competing at the National Meet, as both finished in the top ten at the Foot Locker West Regional Cross Country Championships last Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) in southern California.
This will be the first trip to Foot Locker Nationals for both girls. Janke finished second in the Girls Seeded Race at last weekend’s West Regional Meet, and Hill was ninth. No Spokane runner has ever won the Foot Locker Nationals, which have been held annually since 1979, but John Dressel of Mt. Spokane finished second in 2013. That finish tied the top finish by any Washington runner by Andrew Maris of White River High School (Buckley), who was runnerup in 1989. The best finish by a Spokane girl has been fourth on two occasions—in 1989 by Sarah Schwald of Mead, and in 2005 by Megan O’Reilly of Mt. Spokane. Last year Katie Thronson finished 19th at the National Meet.
The West Regional meet where the runners qualified last weekend was one of four Foot Locker competitions held across the country. The top ten runners from each of four regional meets advance to the National Championships.
Spokane area runners who have competed in the Foot Locker National Meet are listed below. More information on the Foot Locker Regionals and Nationals may be obtained by logging on to www.footlockercc.com.
Spokane Foot Locker National Competitors:
1982: Annette Hand, Central Valley H.S.—19th place, 17:58
1983: Christine Slentz, Lewis & Clark H.S.—16th place, 18:08
1987: Chris Lewis, Mead H.S.—12th place, 15:22
1988: Lisa Dressel, Rogers H.S.—25th place, 18:43
1989: Stuart Burnham, Ferris H.S.—7th place, 15:15
Greg Kuntz, Mead H.S.—16th place, 15:31
Sarah Schwald, Mead H.S.—4th place, 17:35
Carrie Moller, Rogers H.S.—14th place, 18:14
1992: Matt Davis, Mead H.S.—31st place, 16:51
Jessica Fry, Rogers H.S.—25th place, 18:58
1993: Matt Davis, Mead H.S.—3rd place, 15:08
Michah Davis, Mead H.S.—10th place, 15:24
1994: Skiy Detray, Mead H.S.—30th place, 16:08
1995: Isaac Hawkins, Ferris H.S.—12th place, 15:33
1996: Isaac Hawkins, Ferris H.S.—26th place, 16:29
2000: Michael Kiter, Shadle Park H.S.—23rd place, 15:41
2001: Jesse Fayant, Mead H.S.—10th place, 15:07
2002: Jamie Geissler, Mead H.S.—11th place, 17:53
2003: Evan Garber, Mead H.S.—15th place, 15:31
2005: Taylor Nepon, Mead H.S.—36th place, 16:14
Megan O’Reilly, Mt. Spokane H.S.—4th place, 17:36
2010: Andrew Gardner, Mead H.S.—4th place, 15:18
Nathan Weitz, Shadle Park H.S.—31st place, 15:52
Kendra Weitz, Shadle Park H.S.—36th place, 18:38
2011: Nathan Weitz, Shadle Park H.S.—3rd place, 15:21
Andrew Gardner, Mead H.S.—6th place, 15:24
2012: Andrew Gardner, Mead H.S.—11th place, 15:34
John Dressel, Mt. Spokane H.S.—14th place, 15:37
2013: John Dressel, Mt. Spokane H.S.—2nd place, 15:10
2014: John Dressel, Mt. Spokane H.S.—6th place, 15:18
2015: Justin Janke, North Central H.S—25th place, 15:45
2016: Amir Ado, Ferris H.S.—16th place, 15:31.4
Kearan Nelson, Central Valley H.S.—6th place, 17:48.5
Katie Thronson, Lewis & Clark H.S.—33rd place, 18:22.2
2017: Katie Thronson, Lewis & Clark H.S.—19th place, 18:26.9
Turlan Morlan, Gonzaga Prep—37th place, 16:38.8
2018: Allie Janke, North Central H.S.
Erinn Hill, North Central H.S.
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