Kroeger And Hall Capture First Place Titles In 28th Annual Foot

Kroeger and Hall Capture First Place Titles in 28th Annual Foot Locker Cross Country Championships National Finals

SAN DIEGO, December 9, 2006 /PRNewswire/ -- Kathy Kroeger of Franklin, Tenn., and Chad Hall of Big Bear Lake, Calif., won the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships (FLCCC) National Finals at Morley Field in Balboa Park in San Diego, Calif., today.

The girls' race began with a large group of 20 runners holding close through the first mile. Four-time FLCCC National Finals qualifier Marie Lawrence of Reno, Nev., made a move after the first mile and the rest of the field gave chase. The lead group became more defined through the second mile when Kroeger and Aurora Scott of Chesapeake, Va., set the pace. Kroeger opened up a lead with half a mile remaining and increased her distance from the pack to about 30 meters, finishing in 17:29 to become the South Region's first female national champion since Erin Keogh in 1986. Scott, who pressured Kroeger through the second half of the race, finished second with a time of 17:36, while Emily Sisson of Omaha, Neb., finished third in 17:56. Scott (South) and Sisson (Midwest) are both 2006 FLCCC Regional Champions.

In the boys' race, the excitement was intense as it came down to the final seconds between Hall, a senior at Big Bear High School and Steve Murdock of Clifton Park, N.Y. The race opened up with the entire field staying together and several of the top finishers vying for the lead. Northeast Regional Champion Craig Forys of Howell, N.J., took an early lead on the hill just after the first mile, but the pack quickly reconvened on the downhill. Staying together through the halfway point, Murdock attempted a move by breaking away two meters from the pack, but again, the group came back together and continued to battle for the win. In an exciting finish, Hall and Murdock were neck-and-neck through the last 400 meters, until Hall managed to pull away in the final stretch to claim victory in 15:20. Forys pushed it through the final 30 meters to pass Murdock for the second place finish in a time of 15:24. Murdock finished third, just one second behind Forys, with a time of 15:25.

The runners competed in ideal race conditions under sunny skies on a dry course. The temperature was in the mid-sixties for the girls' race, and slightly warmer for the boys' race.

The Foot Locker Cross Country Championships is comprised of four regional 5K races, which took place across the country in the Midwest (Kenosha, Wis.), Northeast (Bronx, N.Y.) and South (Charlotte, N.C.) on Nov. 25, and the West (Walnut, Calif.) on Dec. 2, culminating in the National Finals here today.