By SteveU

Junior Women

The Team USA Junior Women head to Poland with a recent history of 5th- to 7th-place finishes and typically getting at least one runner into the top 20.  In the last Worlds of 2011 (there was no meet in 2012), both Aisling Cuffe (17th) and Katie Flood (19th) made the top 20 and the Americans were seventh.  On the other hand, in 2009 Neely Spence led the way in 19th, followed by Ashley Brasovan in 26th, but the team as a whole took fifth.

This year, NCAA champs 26th-place finisher Emiy Stites of William & Mary and Michigan prep Erin Finn probably have that top 20 potential.  Perhaps at least one more, maybe Washington prep Katie Knight, could get up there as well.  Finn and Stites have a trio of Team USA appearances in the Great Edinburgh and NACAC meets, as well, so their international experience will help.  The cold weather and possible snow can’t help but play into US hands as they shoot for the top 5 or better.  Another key will be teamwork and packing as many as possible into the top 40.

Emily Stites (Unatt./Coll. Of William & Mary)
USA XC Championships: 1st
Recent Accomplishments: 26th NCAA XC; indoor bests of 4:51.03 mile, 9:34.31 3k, 16:05.71 5k
Overview: Just a state 6th-place XC finisher and a 10:37.79 3,200 runner her senior year at Wyoming (Ohio) HS, Stites didn’t really have national class creds coming into the Tribe program— so her improvement as a frosh has been remarkable.  It started at the Paul Short meet (6th) and NCAA Pre-Nats (19th), and continued through the NCAA South Regional (10th) and National (26th) meets.  Among freshman at NCAAs, she was fourth and Laura Hollander was the only American-born true frosh ahead of her.  She was 7th in January for Team USA in the Great Edinburgh Juniors.  Then at USATF Juniors, she showed she can be a dominant, fearless front-runner.  She’ll do well in Poland, though, to run controlled behind the East African talent and possibly work together with Finn.

Erin Finn (Unatt./West Bloomfield, Mich. HS)
USA XC Championships: 2nd
Recent Accomplishments: 12th place Foot Locker Midwest, 1st Brooks 2M 10:08.24, 2nd NBNI 5,000 16:18.02
Overview: Finn has been one of the top prep distance girls the past few years, but being healthy is the key.  When healthy, she can dominate a race like Brooks or nearly win a Foot Locker title as she did in 2011.  But illness hampered her at FL Midwest last fall and then last week at NBNI, when she lost her 5k national record despite an amazing effort.  It helps, though, that Finn bounces back well and has already represented Team USA twice in Juniors XC – at the 2012 Great Edinburgh, then winning the 2013 NACAC.  She also trains in Michigan weather that could be relatively similar to Poland (Sunday’s forecast is sunny and upper 20s).  If she’s back healthy, she and Stites could work together for maybe a finish in the 20s or better.

Carrie Verdon (Unatt./U. of Colorado)
USA XC Championships: 3rd
Recent Accomplishments: 131st NCAA XC; indoor bests of 9:42.17 3k, 16:47.36 5k
Overview: Verdon had a stellar career at Campolindo HS in California, which included junior year highlights of 19th in the 2010 Foot Locker Finals and 10:22.50 for 3,200 the following spring.  Senior year wasn’t quite as strong, but as a Buffalo this past fall, Verdon had a solid frosh season – especially in taking 16th at PAC-12 and 7th in the NCAA Mountain Region.  She was consistently Colorado’s #2 woman.  That was followed by a few pretty good indoor efforts.  Verdon seemed to be close to top career form at Juniors and led a tight pack of four for the 3rd-6th qualifying spots.  She’s become accustomed to the colder weather that will greet them in Poland.  Working with those three to finish in the first half of the field would be a worthy goal.

Kathryn Knight (North Central HS, Spokane, Wash.)
USA XC Championships: 4th
Recent Accomplishments: 3rd NXN Finals, 6th Brooks 2M 10:17.78, also 9:36.23 3k at U-W
Overview:  If Knight – the second prep on Team USA women – can rise to the occasion in Poland anything like she has at the past two NXN Finals in Portland, she could make a huge impact for Team USA.  Knight admits there’s something special for her about Portland Meadows and that Nike-sponsored season finale, but there’s got to be something about being on the largest stage, too – even if that stage evolves from national to global.  She’ll have to take measure of herself and decide whether to push ahead with Finn and Stites, and be daring, or to work with the rest of her teammates closer to the middle.  Knight’s two indoor races have been at PR level – another good sign.

Samantha Nadel (Unatt./Georgetown U.)
USA XC Championships: 5th
Recent Accomplishments: 16th Big East XC, 126th NCAA XC, indoor 3k best of 9:25.87
Overview:  Nadel’s senior track seasons at North Shore (Glen Head) in New York had some big highlights – including a Millrose Mile win and a 10:16 3,200 at Loucks – but she cut both seasons short.  She also ran 11th (2010) and 10th (2011) in consecutive years at NXN Finals.  With her new team, she helped the Hoyas to a Big East XC title with her 16th-place finish and she notched a fast 3k at Penn State during a limited indoor season.  Some folks tend to think of Nadel as more of a miler, but she reinforced her distance creds with her showing at Juniors.  How her training has gone in several weeks since will tell the story.

Sydney Scott (West Virginia U.)
USA XC Championships: 6th
Recent Accomplishments: 26th Big 12 XC, 24th NCAA Mid-Atlantic XC, no indoor
Overview:  After her senior season at Denver South (Colo.) yielded a state 4A XC title, a 6th at FL Midwest and 26th at FL Finals, Scott took her talents across the country to Morgantown.  She was a solid top-7 contributor all fall, highlighted by her upper-pack conference and regional finishes.  This winter, there’s been no indoor and the focus on XC has paid off with the berth to Worlds.  This is a good step forward and hopefully, she can hang with her teammates the way she did in St. Louis.


Junior Men

On paper, the Team USA Junior Men’s squad is a solid group that should be able to continue a recent history of finishes in the second half of the top ten.  For perspective, the 2010 and 2011 squads (there was no Worlds in 2012) each took 8th-place and were led by identical 29th-place finishes by Trevor Dunbar and Craig Lutz, respectively.  The 2009 squad, on the other hand, was fifth, but benefitted from the talents of German Fernandez (11th) and Chris Derrick (15th) – the two best US runners to represent the Juniors since Dathan Ritzenhein and Matt Tegankamp in 2001.

This 2013 squad does have four who have already competed at the NCAA level, which will help, but a top 15 finish from any US individual would be a lot to ask.  The team’s hopes of getting in the top five probably lie with teamwork and packing as many into the top 25-35 as possible.  A snowy course and cold weather will probably help the Americans and USATF Junior champ Craig Nowak should have one of the best kicks of the group.

Craig Nowak (Oklahoma State U.)
USA XC Championships: 1st
Recent Accomplishments: 26th Big 12 XC, 28th NCAA MW Reg. XC; indoor bests of 4:08.77 mile, 8:15.45 3k
Overview:  In the final year-plus of his prep career at Cypress Woods HS in Texas, Nowak established himself as one of the country’s top prep talents with 1600/3200 bests of 4:06.65 and 8;49.12 (3rd Arcadia), plus his 3rd in the NXN Finals the previous fall.  It wasn’t easy to make it on the Cowboys’ top seven last fall, during an NCAA championship campaign, but he had top-30 finishes at Big 12s and regionals before being bumped off for nationals.  The Juniors 8k race was near-perfect for him, coming down to a kick as it did.  He improved from 16th in 2012.  Realistically, it would be tough for him to compete against the top African talent in Poland.  Forming a pack-running strategy with teammates might be wise.

Malachy Schrobilgen (U. of Wisconsin)
USA XC Championships: 2nd
Recent Accomplishments: Red-shirted XC and indoors, but ran 8:10.27 3k unattached.
Overview: Schrobilgen, despite redshirting all fall and competing in just one race indoors, was really in St. Louis and made half a year’s worth of training worthwhile.  The 8:10 3k he clocked in January showed he was reasonably close to top form and he converted it well to the XC course a few weeks later.  As a senior at Oak Park-River Forest HS, was 3rd at 3A state XC, then made both the NXN and Foot Locker Finals.  He also went 8:57.60 for 3,200 in track and won a state title there, as well.  A smart race will be a nice springboard to his collegiate future.

Matt McClintock (Unatt./Purdue U.)
USA XC Championships: 3rd
Recent Accomplishments: 8th Big Ten & NCAA Great Lakes Reg. XC; 103rd NCAA XC; indoor track bests of 8:07.06 3k, 14:18.95 5k
Overview:  McClintock’s progress since he started at Purdue last fall has made him one of the most impressive frosh in the country.  His 8th-place finishes at both the Big Ten and Great Lakes meets were stellar, even if he wasn’t quite as good at NCAAs and Wisconsin adidas (80th).  He continued strongly this winter with his indoor PRs.  McClintock was infrequently tested competing at the Class C level in Maine for Madison HS, but he made it to Foot Locker Finals as a senior – surprising with a 15th-place finish – then ran 9:06.24 for 3,200.  He’s risen to a new level, however, since becoming a Boilermaker.  Although the relative ability level of all of the Team USA men’s juniors is close, McClintock might be someone who can break out here.

Darren Fahy (Georgetown U.)
USA XC Championships: 4th
Recent Accomplishments: 11th Big East XC, 173rd NCAA XC; indoor track best of 8:10.36 3k
Overview: Making Team USA this time had to be sweet for Fahy after last year’s near-miss (he was seventh).  He also represented last summer at the track World Juniors in the steeplechase.  Fahy’s been a prodigious talent since his early days at La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad, Calif.) and the peaks of his prep career included XC victories at Mt. SAC and Foot Locker West, and track bests of 9:03.15 3k ST, 8:54.51 3,200 and 4:08.15 1,600.  He’s had ups and downs as a Hoya so far, but his Big East finish was good last fall and the recent 3k PR was solid, too.  His international experience should help him lead his mates.

Thomas Graham (Unatt./Stanford U.)
USA XC Championships: 5th
Recent Accomplishments:  5th Don Adams XC, 89th Wisc. Adidas XC; indoor best of 8:09.68 3k
Overview:  It’s fitting that Graham would make this team as he seemed to get an earlier start on longer distances and collegiate level racing than most preps.  As a prep at Cary Academy (Raleigh), Graham raced track 5,000s multiple times, including against collegians.  As much as anyone, he seemed destined for the longer track races, the road, and possibly the really long stuff.  His racing so far as a Cardinal has been light, but he was definitely one of the favorites in St. Louis.  While he didn’t execute the race quite as he would have liked, he made the team with little problem. 

Andrew Gardner (Mead HS, Spokane, Wash.)
USA XC Championships: 6th
Recent Accomplishments: 11th Foot Locker Finals; 4th Brooks 2M 9:06.52
Overview:  One of the more disappointing outcomes at Foot Locker Finals for a favorite was Gardner’s 11th, following 4th- and 6th-place finishes the previous two years.  Overall, Gardner had a strong fall, not losing until Foot Locker West – where qualifying is the main thing, anyway.  Given all that, Gardner’s outstanding finish in St. Louis had to feel awfully good.  He was, of course, the only prep to qualify for Worlds and topped some of those who beat him at Foot Locker in doing so.  Gardner was ready when the break came and while he was outkicked by the others he was with, he was seven seconds clear of seventh place (and just 1.4 seconds out of second).  In his other major race since Foot Locker, he had a solid run at Brooks that was the equivalent of just four seconds off his 8:59 3,200 best.