One Year Taller and Fitter, Nelson Flies to Victory in San Diego
By Becky Orfinger

Zoe Nelson storms to victory. (Photo by Alison Wade/NYRR)

Last year, Zoe Nelson was the only freshman to make it to the finals of the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships. This year, she came into the race one of the favorites after dominating Montana cross country all season and winning the West regional by 13 seconds. With Ari Lambie from the Northeast weakened by a stomach bug, the sophomore star looked like the favorite -- and she came through.

Although she was warned by her older brother Andy, a former Foot Locker finalist, not to go out too fast, it was Sara Powell who came through the half-mile mark first. (She said later that she didn't regret it.) But Nelson wasn't too far behind and was looking to move up.

At the mile mark, it was clear that no matter who the individual winner would be, the Northeast team would likely win that section of the competition. Junior Caitlin McTague, competing in her first Foot Locker Championship, led there, with Nelson and Northeasterners Laura Cummings, Nicole Blood and Katy Trotter leading the chase pack. Coming down the course's big hill for the first time, Nelson was in the lead and looking strong.

Heading into the second loop of the course, Nelson continued to open up her lead and passed the two-mile mark in 11:19. Behind her, the Northeast-dominated pack was waiting for someone to make a move. When the girls came down the hill for the second time, the crowd roared for Nelson, knowing her lead was too large for anyone to catch her. But several Northeast teammates were still battling one another for runner-up honors.

Nelson stormed up the last hill and coasted into the finish at 17:30, looking relieved but not especially spent. Fourteen seconds later, Trotter crossed the line, leading teammates McTague and Cummings to an amazing 2-3-4 finish. Meghan Owen, kicking past Blood for 8th place, sealed the win for the Northeast.

"I finished 20th in this race last year, and this year it was on a different course in a different place, so I wasn't sure what to expect," said Nelson. "I was hoping that I had improved enough that I could handle anyone. I like this course much better [than last year's.] I really liked the hill."

Many of the returning Foot Locker finalists agreed with Nelson's assessment of the course, calling it a "true" cross country course because of its tight turns and hills. Nearly everyone agreed that the weather in San Diego today-sunny, dry and in the 60s-made race conditions much more enjoyable than they had been in Orlando.