At Footlocker West Regional Meet 2023, Blake Bay, ‘27, won the freshman race by 20 seconds, Dec 2.
The Footlocker meets are a series of races held in four different regions (West, Midwest, Northeast, and South). California is a part of the West Region with 11 other states. The first national cross country championships were held in 1979 and sponsored by Woolworth Kinney Shoes. Later in 1993, Footlocker took over the race. The nationals are usually held at Balboa Park in San Diego.
These cross-country meets gather the top cross country runners around the nation and award one male and one female with the title of best high school distance runner in the U.S. The Top 15 runners in each gender division are named “All Americans.” From this meet, there have been many college, professional, and even Olympic-level runners who competed in the race during their high school years.
At the West Regional Meet, athletes run a 5K (3.1 miles) course. There is one male and one female race for each grade level and then the Championship races. These Championship divisions combine the best athletes from all grades and the top 10 finishers qualify for nationals. The West Regional Meet is held at Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) and the course contains three very hard hills and different kinds of terrain.
Bay, ran in the freshman race with 217 athletes. He arrived at the race site the day before the meet and got a chance to preview the course for himself. When the race started, Bay made his way to the front. For the first two miles, he stayed with the lead pack of 3-4 boys. As he started his last mile, he surged to the front and started to separate himself from the other runners. When he reached the finish line, he had a comfortable 20-second lead and became the West Region freshman champion. His time was 16:45, which is a 5:23 mile pace.
After his race he was congratulated by his family and Coach Shawn Young. He is proud of all the progress Blake made this season.
“It’s truly gratifying as a coach to see his talent, training, and toughness,” Young said.
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