Stanford-bound senior caps unbeaten cross country season with victory by 34-second margin in San Diego.
She has the typical anxieties about an upcoming major move to the West Coast, but recent history suggests Aisling Cuffe has little to be worried about because she makes wise decisions every time she steps foot into California.
Last month, the
Cornwall Central (New Windsor) senior made her official recruiting visit to Stanford University amidst a lot of uncertainty. Every major college distance running program has had an eye on Cuffe for four years, and her two most recent college trips hadn't done much to help her make a decision.
"I had five visits planned out and had visited Duke and Villanova already," she said Saturday. "They're two great places and I knew it was going to be a hard decision. And then I went to Stanford and had an amazing visit. I fell in love – there was nothing I didn't like. I know it's a long way from home, which made it a tougher decision. I'm going to have to prepare for everything that goes with that."
Let's go out on a limb and say she'll adapt just fine, particularly if Saturday in San Diego was any indication of her ability to roll with change.
Cuffe's first bid to break from the field didn't have the intended result, but she still led from nearly start to finish at the Foot Locker National Cross Country Championships and won in 16 minutes, 53 seconds to beat the field by 34 seconds at Balboa Park in San Diego.
Though she didn't snare the course record that she coveted, Cuffe did post the fastest winning time in nine years by finishing more than 200 yards in front of Plano (Texas) senior Rachel Johnson, who was 11th last year. Julie Nacouzi of Montgomery (Santa Rosa, Calif.), was third in 17:29 after placing 25th as a junior.
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. "This is what drove me every workout and every race."
And with the triumph she closed the books on an undefeated season that brought with it a lot of pressure. She spoke earlier in the season about how she felt she wasn't allowed to lose on the cross country trails, where her list of accomplishments this fall included another NYSPHSAA Class A championship, a victory by 43 seconds in the state Federation meet and two of the most prestigious invitational championships in the country – Eastern States and the Great American.
But coming off her fourth-place finish last year in the only race she did not win, Cuffe again sensed the expectations. And she rose to the challenge.
"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 as a relentless attacker who 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 follow. 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."
That was one lesson learned a year ago on the Balboa Park course. Another was that she had to be committed when the time came to make her break.
"I learned that if I wanted to make a move, it couldn't be half-hearted," she said. "I tried last year about the same place, but it was half-hearted and it didn't work."
Cuffe's upcoming challenges won't be as dramatic. For starters, the pressure to win is gone. In order to reach her next goal of sub-10:00 two-mile runs at major indoor and outdoor track meets, Cuffe will be mixing more speed work into her routine. And she'll be the first to tell you she'll be in over her head against the cream of the 800-meter crop in some of her tune-ups and maybe even the Millrose scholastic mile Jan. 28.
"I know I'll lose some of those," she said.
On the other hand, she's completed the fall season by acquiring a coveted trophy as well as another perk acquired on a sunny weekend.
"I'm already sunburned," she said with a laugh. "I'm coming home with tan."
MORE CROSS COUNTRY* In the Foot Locker boys race, Lukas Verzbicas of
Sandburg (Orland Park, Ill.) defended his championship in 14:59, with Futsum Zeinasellassie of
North Central (Indianapolis) second in 15:10.
Verzbicas and Zeinasellassie set a demanding early pace, plowing through the mile mark in 4:45 to separate from the pack. Verzbicas picked up again at the two-mile mark and this time Zeinasellassie couldn't stay with him.
Verzbicas became the third boy to capture consecutive Foot Locker titles, following Abdirizak Mohamud in 1996-97 and Dathan Ritzenhein in 1999-2000.
* Though the scholastic cross country season is over, several of this weekend's top competitors will have to decide whether they want to compete in the U.S. Junior Championships Feb. 5 in San Diego for a possible berth in the World Junior Championships in Spain on March 20.
