Newton North's Barnicle headed to nationals
NEW YORK -- Second time's a charm for Newton North senior Chris Barnicle.
After finishing 10th last year, he won the Foot Locker Northeast Regional cross-country race yesterday at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx with a time of 15 minutes 27.2 seconds.
Barnicle will lead the Northeast contingent at the national finals -- the Foot Locker
The top eight finishers in the boys' and the girls' divisions make the national finals.
Nicole Blood of Gansevoort, N.Y., won the girls' division (17:41.8) for the second year in a row.
Last year, Barnicle was second alternate to the field of eight who headed to nationals, and Thorne went to nationals after a fifth-place finish.
Coming into the race, Barnicle was hopeful of a trip to nationals. "I felt pretty good," he said. "I was just hoping to get one of the top eight spots."
It wasn't until near the end of the race that he felt like he could win it.
"Coming up after the second hill, I thought, `Hey, let's go for it,' " he said. "I pushed it a little bit on that downhill. I just felt really good today. Coming up over the bridge, I heard someone say, `20 meters,' and I felt like I had a lot left in my tank so that I could have a pretty good kick."
Barnicle predicted he'll be considered one of the favorites at nationals, although he acknowledged some steep competition.
"[In] San Diego, I think I should really be considered one of the favorites. There's this guy Scott MacPherson from Texas [second in the South Regional yesterday, 14:48] and Andrew Bumbalough from Tennessee [first in the South, 14:32] and they're both really strong, but I think I can run with them.
"Everyone says San Diego becomes like 60 degrees or like 65 . . . Everybody will run really fast there." As for other local finishers, Alexandra Krieg of Wellesley finished 19th in the girls' race, while Tim Ritchie of Worcester and Brian Gagnon of Lowell were 37th and 48th respectively in the boys' race.
