Bruin runners can't qualify for nationals

WALNUT, Calif. — A few measly seconds were all that separated Mountain View's Steve Strickland and Heidi Magill from advancing to the cross country national championships next weekend. Instead, the two senior runners will have to settle for Western Regional all-Americans.

The top eight boys and girls at the Foot Locker Western Regional championships earn a spot at nationals. Strickland finished ninth and Magill finished 10th.

"This year was just so fast," said Mountain View coach Dave Houle. "The whole field was just fast."

Strickland was in the hunt the entire race, falling from sixth to ninth in the final 10 yards. Houle said if the race had been 10 yards shorter, Strickland would've made it. Instead, he finished in 15:49, three seconds behind the eighth place finisher.

Albuquerque's Shadrack Kiptoo won the race in 15:32.

While Strickland needed the race to be 10 yards shorter, Magill needed it to be 10 yards longer. With 300 meters to go, she was 19th. She was able to pass nine competitors on the track but didn't have enough real estate to pass two more.

Magill finished with a time of 18:38. Montana's Zoe Nelson won the race with a time of 18:07.

Other Utah boys who finished in the top 50 in the seeded race were: Judge's Patrick Smyth, Bryce Valley's Levi Lefevre, Orem's Timothy Wright and Mountain View's Jared Keller.

Other Utah girls who finished in the top 50 in the seeded race were: Bingham's Kit Zeigle, Judge's Samantha Gaffney and Fremont's Alexis Meyer.