Paso Robles’ Tyler Daillak wins Foot Locker West Regional title, leading 10 California athletes qualifying for nationals

WALNUT – The Foot Locker West Regional was an opportunity Saturday for some runners to finish off their high school cross country careers in style by advancing to one final race, and others to announce their presence on the big stage.

On a clear day, with temperatures in the 70s, junior Cassidy Armstrong from Ballard High in Washington won the girls championship race while senior Tyler Daillak of Paso Robles High in California won the boys regional final on Mt. San Antonio College’s 5-kilometer course.

The top 10 finishers in each race advance to next Foot Locker Cross Country Championships on Dec. 14 at Balboa Park’s Morley Field in San Diego.

Armstrong’s win was a surprise, since she defeated reigning champion Chiara Dailey, a junior at La Jolla High, by a 17:42.0 to 18:04.2 margin.

“I just wanted to get top 10,” a giddy Armstrong said after the race. “I was not expecting to win at all. With about a mile to go, I kind of knew that I had it. I knew I had a lot left as long as she didn’t have a crazy, crazy kick I could do it. I’m kind of shocked.”

Dailey captured back-to-back California Division 4 titles Nov. 30 and had the best time overall at Woodward Park, earning the opportunity to compete Saturday at Nike Cross Nationals in Oregon.

But once again, Dailey chose to stay in California and qualified for Foot Locker Nationals for the third straight year.

Dailey was hoping to be the first repeat West Regional winner since Malibu’s Claudia Lane in 2016-17, but did become the first three-time national girls qualifier since Makena Morley of Bigfork High in Montana did it in 2011-14.

Chiara Dailey of La Jolla | Photo courtesy of Foot Locker

“I’m definitely pretty sick,” Dailey said. “I didn’t get good sleep last night. I knew I wasn’t going to feel good today. I tried to take it a little easier and just qualify. I’m not too upset about it. I know I’m in good shape, I’m just not feeling good today.”

For Daillak, it was a big improvement over last week, when he failed to complete his Division 2 state final, after winning all but one of his cross country races this season – he was second in the other one – up to that point.

Daillak ran 15:27.4 on Saturday to defeat runner-up Kade Brownell of Mt. Spokane (Wash.), who ran 15:34.0.

“This week I was a lot more controlled to start,” Daillak said. “Last week it was like, ‘I’ve got to go out crazy fast. I’ve got to win.’ This week, I was like, ‘I’m just trying to get top 10. I can chill out a bit at the start, go out slower that first 800 so I’m not fully locked at the mile.’”

Tyler Daillak of Paso Robles | Photo courtesy of Foot Locker

Daillak was fifth at the mile mark, but was first at the 2-mile mark.

Saturday was the opportunity for some other runners to make return trips to nationals, like Dailey.

Like Dailey, Brownell also earned the opportunity to potentially race at NXN following a fourth-place finish at the Nike Northwest Regional in Idaho, but chose to run at Mt. SAC instead and was one of four runners Saturday to make a return trip to nationals.

“My plan was to start out in the back and work my way to the front slowly as the race went on,” Brownell said. “Because if you’ve seen the course, it’s pretty dang hilly. So if you go out super quick in the beginning, you’re going to feel it on the hills. I slowly started working my way up, I stayed within probably 10 meters of the leaders and just slowly ran them down until I got second.”

Brownell was just 20th at the mile mark, but made up a lot of ground in the second mile, moving up to fifth.

Concord De La Salle senior Trey Caldwell finished fourth in the boys race (15:34.9), becoming one of the few runners to make it to Foot Locker nationals for three straight years.

Caldwell became the first male athlete in the region to achieve the feat since Conner Mantz of Sky View High in Utah and John Dressel of Mt. Spokane in Washington both qualified for three consecutive years from 2012-14.

The last California boys competitor to advance to the national championship three straight seasons was Louie Quintana of Arroyo Grande in 1988-90, including winning a national title in 1990.

“If there’s any course in the country where I feel comfortable, where I feel like I can have my best performance, it’s here,” Caldwell said. “This is definitely my favorite course. Something about here is just magical. I know I can execute no matter what the circumstances, no matter who I am racing against.”

Tyler Daillak of Paso Robles, left, with Trey Caldwell of Concord De La Salle and Josiah Tostenson of Crater

Caldwell went on to finish 30th at nationals two years ago and 25th last season.

While Brownell and Caldwell repeated as national qualifiers, Sonora senior Broen Holman did not. 

Holman advanced to Foot Locker nationals as a sophomore and NXN as a junior, but finished 27th in Saturday’s regional final.

On the girls side, Dailey will be joined by repeat Foot Locker national qualifier Eleanor Raker of Galena High in Nevada, who finished 10th (18:30.4).

“It wasn’t necessarily the race that I wanted, but I got the spot that I needed,” Raker said. “I’m really excited for nationals next week. I tried to stay within that front pack for the first mile, second mile it did spread out a little bit and I lost the first pack. I was just like, ‘I just need to get 10th.’”

California produced the most top 10 finishers with 10, but several other states broke long droughts.

One was Hawaii, as Moanalua freshman Sadie Krueger was sixth (18:27.3), the first female athlete to qualify from the state since 1999 and just the third in meet history.

“There’s a bunch of hills in Hawaii, but these hills are hard as well,” Krueger said. “My goal was to get top 10 and it was really hard. They’re such great competitors here.”

On the boys side, Flagstaff sophomore Yohanes Van Meerten became the first boy from Arizona to qualify for nationals since 2009 as he was third (15:34.5).

“This is my first (season) taking cross country seriously,” Van Meerten said. “Someone told me this (course) was fun and it wasn’t really that fun. But I was blessed to be able to finish third.”

Corbin Coombs of Organ Mountain High became the first from New Mexico to qualify for nationals since 2018. He was just 25th at the mile mark but moved up to eighth (15:38.7) at the finish.

“It’s super exciting any time you can cement yourself in history books for your state or your country,” Coombs said. “So I’m super grateful and blessed to be in this position. I was mainly focused on myself and trying to get in that top 10. I didn’t feel like I was at a disadvantage (with inexperience on the course) just because I put in so much effort studying how I would race it.”

Other boys qualifiers were: Josiah Tostenson of Crater High in Oregon (fifth, 15:38.1), Corona del Mar senior Max Douglass (sixth, 15:38.3), Clovis North’s Conor Lott (seventh, 15:38.3), Los Gatos senior Aydon Stefanopoulos (ninth, 15:41.5) and Vincent Recupero of Bishop Blanchet High in Washington (10th, 15:45.2).

Other girls qualifiers were: Jaelyn Williams of Eastlake (third, 18:11.5), Utah competitors Adria Favero of Olympus (fourth, 18:17.4) and Tatum Flach from Park City (fifth, 18:25.2), Ayanna Hickey of The Bishop’s School (seventh, 18:27.6), Vista Murrieta’s Erika Kirk (eighth, 18:28.1) and Rancho Cucamonga’s Nicole Alfred (ninth, 18:29.5).