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San Lorenzo Valley sophomore cross country runner Anna Maxwell passed ten of the nations elite distance runners in the last 800 meters to finish 24th at the Foot Locker National Cross Country Championships in San Diego on Dec. 10.
Forty runners — the top ten from four U.S. regions – were selected to run at the Foot Locker National Championships in an open division format where school size is irrelevant and only top times matter.
To qualify for the race, Maxwell won the Central Coast Section Division IV title for the second consecutive year and finished eighth at the Foot Locker regional qualifier in Walnut last weekend.
Molly Seidel from Hartland, Wisc. won the race in 17 minutes, 22 seconds while Maxwell clocked in at 18:15 over the 3.1 mile course. This was Maxwell’s second straight appearance in the race, and she shaved 11 seconds off her finishing time from last December when she finished 28th. Also representing the county, Aptos High junior Nikki Hiltz finished in 18:04 good for 17th place.
“Always, you just want to be improving,” Maxwell said in a phone interview minutes after the race. “I feel good about the race and am proud of my time. I just need to keep getting better.”
Maxwell has set a goal for herself: to make the Foot Locker Nationals all four years of her high school career.
“I really think it would be a neat way to set myself apart in the running world,” Maxwell said. “I know it’s a big goal but I don’t think it is out of reach.”
The only other runner to do that in the girls division was Jordan Hasay in 2005-2008 from Mission College Preparatory Catholic High School in Arroyo Grande. Hasay went on to qualify for the Olympic trials in the mile between her sophomore and junior years in high school.
Maxwell is well on her way after appearances as a freshman and sophomore at the national meet.
