Leading off today: You don't get to be this good by preparing for major competitions in haphazard fashion, so Aisling Cuffe came into the Foot Locker National Cross Country Championship this morning with a plan.
In fact, she had multiple plans.
And by the time the Cornwall senior was done, she also had something else: a national championship.
Cuffe led nearly start to finish and won in 16 minutes, 53 seconds to beat the field by more than 30 seconds at Balboa Park in San Diego. She didn't snare the course record that she coveted, but the Stanford-bound distance sensation did post the fastest winning time in nine years.
Cuffe finished more than 200 yards in front of Plano, Texas, senior Rachel Johnson, who was 11th last year. Julie Nacouzi of Santa Rosa, Calif., Montgomery High, was third in 17:29 after placing 25th as a junior.
Johnson City junior Lauren Mullins placed 21st in 18:13, an improvement from 32nd as a sophomore.
It marked the third straight All-American finish (top 15) in San Diego for Cuffe, who placed 12th in the race as a sophomore in 2008 and fourth last fall, and is the culmination of a long-term goal.
"It's going to be hard coming down from this much of a high," she said by telephone after the race. "This is what drove me every workout and every race."
And with the triumph she closes the books on an undefeated season, also lifting some self-imposed pressure. Cuffe said she felt as though she had to win every time she toed the line this fall. That won't be the case during the indoor and outdoor track seasons, when she'll be mixing in some 800-meter races as part of her preparation for what she hopes will be some sub-10:00 two-mile victories.
Obviously, half miles aren't a specialty for Cuffe, who has become accustomed to course records and decisive victories on the trails. At Foot Locker, Plan A started to fall a bit flat in that respect.
"I had a few plans and backup plans," she said. "I tried to break a little early but (Midwest regional champ) Allie Woodward was up with me and wasn't giving me any space. I wasted a lot of energy and thought I'd only have one more chance."
Known for a punishing approach to running that dares competitors to keep pace," Cuffe made her second surge a little more than a mile into the race, and this time no one could keep pace. In the matter of a kilometer she stretched a two-second lead into a 17-second margin.
"I was running for time, too," she said. "To run my fastest race I couldn't settle in with the chase pack."
Previous national champions out of New York were Christine Curtin of Mepham in 1982, Erin Davis of Saratoga in 1993 and Aislinn Ryan of Warwick Valley in 2004.
Cuffe, the two-time Northeast regional champion, is just the third New York girl to have placed in the top five at Foot Locker Nationals twice in her career, following in the footsteps of Davis (1993-94) and Ryan (2004-05).
In the boys race, Lukas Verzbicas of Orland Hills, Ill., Carl Sandburg High defended his championship in 14:59, with Futsum Zeinasellassie of Indianapolis North Central second in 15:10.
Packer Collegiate senior Eddie Owens finished eighth in 15:25, the same time recorded for No. 10 Chad Noelle of
Cornwall senior Aisling Cuffe.
