Houstonians win Footlocker Regionals

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Houston-Area Athletes Win Footlocker South

By Rhonda Ellis

Two of the top cross country runners from the Houston area dominated the field at the Footlocker South Regional Championship held this Saturday in Charlotte, North Carolina.  The race featured seeded runners from a ten-state region.  There were 243 runners in the boys race and 172 runners in the girls race. 

Cali Roper of Willis won the girls division with a time of 17:02 on the 5K course and Craig Nowak of Cy Woods won the boys division with a time of 14:37.  Nowak was only five seconds from the course record in the event, which has a 32-year history.  Roper was the 2011 girls 4A Texas state champion in cross country and Nowak was the boys 5A state champion. 

The top ten runners from each race will advance to the Footlocker national championship in San Diego, California December 10.  Other Texas finalists include Karis Jochen of A&M Consolidated who placed 9^th with a time of 17:31, Daniel Vertiz of San Antonio Reagan who placed 3^rd with a time of 14:40 and Robert Domanic of Lewisville Hebron who placed 10^th with a time of 15:02.