SAN DIEGO – Elizabeth Leachman captured her second straight national title Saturday at the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships, but the back-to-back crowns secured by the junior standout from Boerne Champion High in Texas wasn’t the only memorable double achieved at Balboa Park’s Morley Field.
Leachman covered the 5-kilometer layout in 17 minutes, 31.1 seconds, with fellow junior Jaelyn Williams of Chula Vista Eastlake High overcoming a sore Achilles to finish ninth in 18:04.9 and become the only female athlete from the West Region to earn All-America honors.
Leachman became the first repeat Foot Locker girls winner since Claudia Lane of Malibu High in 2016-17.
Since Nike Team Nationals was introduced in 2004 in Oregon and evolved into Nike Cross Nationals four years later, Williams became the fourth girls competitor in California prep history to become an All-American at both the Foot Locker final and NXN.
Jaelyn Williams of Chula Vista Eastlake, right, and Virginia Kraus of Saucon Valley in Pennsylvania | Photo courtesy of Foot Locker
Williams, who secured seventh last season at Glendoveer Golf Course in Portland, is the only athlete among the quartet – including Anne St. Geme from Corona del Mar, Marissa Williams of Palisades and Sadie Engelhardt from Ventura – to place in the top 10 in both national finals during her career.
Williams became the first qualifier for Eastlake at the Foot Locker national championship since Patricia Miessner in 2017, also extending the streak to four years in a row that California has produced at least one female athlete with All-America recognition in San Diego.
Jaelyn Williams of Chula Vista Eastlake | Ken Martinez photo
Chiara Dailey, a junior at La Jolla High, was hoping to add to her impressive Foot Locker legacy, but the two-time All-American and back-to-back Division 4 state champion was last among the 40 competitors at the mile mark Saturday and withdrew from the race shortly thereafter as a result of illness.
Ayanna Hickey, a junior at The Bishop’s School in La Jolla and the San Diego Section Division 5 champion, finished 30th in 18:52.4 as the first athlete in program history to compete in the Foot Locker final.
Erika Kirk, a senior at Vista Murrieta High and the program’s first competitor to advance to the national championship race, took 34th in 19:15.0.
Nicole Alfred, a senior at Rancho Cucamonga High, placed 37th in 19:31.8.
Alfred became the first athlete to represent the program at the national final since Darius Riley qualified for the boys championship race in 2017.
Tamrat Gavenas of Phillips Academy Andover secured the boys championship in 15:23.9, becoming the second male athlete from Massachusetts in meet history to win the title, joining Abdirizak Mohamud of Boston English High in 1996-97.
After the West Region was shut out of boasting an All-American in the boys national final last season, the lineup responded with four athletes placing in the top 15 for the first time since 2021.
Trey Caldwell, a senior at Concord De La Salle High, achieved All-America honors for the first time in his career by capturing 12th in 15:47.9, the best performance by a competitor from the host state since Kenan Pala of Francis Parker secured runner-up honors three years ago.
Trey Caldwell of Concord De La Salle, right, and Robert Mechura of Roseville Area in Minnesota | Ken Martinez photo
Caldwell, the first California male athlete to advance to three consecutive national finals since Louie Quintana from Arroyo Grande High in 1988-90, had finished 30th in 2022 and 25th last season.
Caldwell achieved the second-highest finish by a Concord De La Salle competitor in meet history, trailing only the eighth-place effort by Blair Hurlock in 2013.
Trey Caldwell of Concord De La Salle | Ken Martinez photo
Max Douglass, a senior at Corona del Mar and the Southern Section Division 4 winner, placed 18th in 15:52.6 as the first boys competitor in program history to advance to the Foot Locker national final.
Tyler Daillak, the first Paso Robles athlete to qualify for the Foot Locker national championship race, followed his West Regional victory by achieving 23rd in 16:00.2.
Conor Lott, a junior at Clovis North High and the Division 1 state champion, grabbed 30th in 16:18.4.
Lott is the first boys competitor for the Broncos to advance to the Foot Locker national final after Ashlyn Leath competed for Clovis North in the 2022 girls championship race.
Aydon Stefanopoulos, a senior at Los Gatos High and the first Foot Locker national qualifier in school history, earned 35th in 16:30.4.