It was a scene right out of a post-apocalyptic film: shadowy figures running around in dense fog.
It could easily have taken place somewhere in the Central Valley. But the location on Saturday was Balboa Park’s Morley Field on the occasion of the inaugural Brooks Cross Country Nationals.
Four section entrants highlighted the 98-deep field, including three in the girls race: Eastlake High School senior Jaelyn Williams, La Jolla High School senior Chiara Dailey and Christian High School junior Eliana Patterson.
Sage Creek senior Josiah Bowman represented local runners in the boys race.
All four section runners brought their A-game to the elite gathering. Williams entered the meet following setting a record-setting run in winning the Division I girls state championship race and then going on to post a third-place finish at the Nike Cross Nationals at week later in Portland.
Dailey entered the race as a three-time state Division IV girls champion.
Patterson, likely the smallest runner in the field, entered as the Division V section girls champion, bronze medalist at the state meet and the third-best runner at the Brooks west regional.
All put their best foot forward in front of a supportive home crowd.
Williams finished third with a time of 17:17.2 while Dailey placed 27th in 18:14.8. Patterson, sizing up the competition for next year, finished 33rd in 18:22.7.
The girls race mirrored the finish at the Nike meet with Michigan’s Natasza Dudek, New Jersey’s Blair Bartlett and Williams running three across midway through the race. Williams dropped back after the grueling hill and the race for the national title became a two-woman race.
Dudek collapsed after crossing the finish line in 16:55.5 to cap an lundefeated cross country season. Bartlett was right behind in second place in 16:576.1.
The Brooks field was ultra-elite with an estimated 192,000 girls competing nationwide in the sport whittled down to the top 48.“I’m very happy to be here in San Diego,” Williams said. “I was hoping to have a better race, but I’m happy.
“I wanted to stay with the leaders and take it out at the end. I think I went out a little too strong. That hurt me at the end.”
It played out like a replay of the previous weeks’ Nike Cross Nationals with Williams finishing behind both Dudek and Bartlett. Dudek beat Bartlett by 1.6 seconds in Portland and finished 7.9 seconds ahead of Williams.
Dudek edged Bartlett by1.6 seconds at Morley Field and topped Williams by 21.7 seconds. Williams finished two seconds ahead of fourth place finisher Sophia Szolosi, the reigning Ohio state champion (in the snow).
“I was hoping I could get them but after a while they took off,” Williams said. “I didn’t have enough energy after that. I tried to give everything I had. Last week (at the Nike Cross Nationals) was a little bit of both.”
But running on her home course made the pain ease a bit. Running alongside two fellow San Diegans also offered moral support.
“That was way more fun having that much support from San Diego, everyone cheering for us,” Williams said.
“That was the best part,” Dailey agreed.
Patterson, who was easily lost in the maze of whirring legs, said she enjoyed competing in the downpour at the section finals four weeks earlier the most in her running odyssey this year.
“I was raining hard, everyone was affected the same, so I didn’t feel any pressure,” she said. “It was slippery, but I didn’t fall like some of the runners did. It was pouring. I ran as fast as I could. I knew the other kids were dealing with the same thing. It was an amazing experience and definitely one I’ll remember for a long time.”
The petite La Mesa runner finished eighth among West runners while Dailey was sixth.
“It was very challenging,” Patterson said. “I didn’t know I could get that far. I feel very blessed that I could get third (at state and regionals). Those were really tough girls, they made me work for it.
“Hopefully I’ll be back here next year.”
Bowman had finished fifth at the preceding Brooks West regional meet but finished 10th on the West team at nationals, 38th overall in the 50-deep field in 16:18.6.
“I didn’t feel well at all, but I’m grateful I was able to finish strong,” Bowman admitted. “Overall, It was an amazing experience.”
Both the girls and boys winners on Saturday completed undefeated seasons, adding to the drama of the event beyond just the local runners.
Dudek, the Michigan state champion, was pushed hard to defeat Bartlett by the same time in successive weeks to become a double national champion while Utah state champion Jackson Spencer nipped Miami’s Marcelo Mantecon by 0.2 seconds in one of the most trilling finishes in Morley Field nationals history.
“I knew that the girls were very strong,” said Dudek, whose older sister Zofia won the Footlocker Nationals in 2019. “I knew it would take that final sprint. “
Spencer, the Utah-AA state, Nike Cross National Southwest region and Nike Cross Nationals champion, said the challenge at Morley Field was on the hill — “not to go down too fast and fall,” he said.
“I train my weaknesses into my strengths,” Spencer said. “I wanted to be among the leaders and win the sprint. But I would up in the middle of the pack to start the race and had to work my way up.”
The large hill presented a problem, however. So did Miami’s Marcelo Mantecon, who had finished 4.5 seconds behind Spencer at the preceding NCN.
But both runners kept on the trail and it eventually put them in position to employ a final kick. Mantecon had initially opened a slim lead heading up the hill but Spencer took the lead up the final incline to the finish line. Mantecon reached back for more and started to close the distance. If the finish line had been 10 meters longer, there might have been a different outcome.
Longtime observers called it one of the most exciting finishes ever in a nationals meet at Morley Field.
Spencer completed a flawless season in 15:10.7; Mantecon was right there at 15:10.9.
