Chiara Dailey of La Jolla High and Trey Caldwell from Concord De La Salle High are both three-time national finalists leading 10 California athletes among the 80 overall qualifiers into the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships on Saturday in San Diego.
The girls 5-kilometer final is scheduled for 9:15 a.m. PST, with the boys championship race held at 10 a.m.
Dailey, a junior, has earned All-America honors the past two years at Balboa Park’s Morley Field by placing 14th in 2022 and elevating to 11th last season.
Dailey is the first California girls competitor to advance to the national championship race three consecutive years since Jordan Hasay of Mission Prep qualified all four seasons in 2005-08, highlighted by individual titles in 2005 and 2008.
Caldwell, a senior, finished 30th in 2022 and improved to 25th last year in San Diego.
Caldwell is the first California male athlete to reach three straight national finals since Louie Quintana from Arroyo Grande High in 1988-90, including capturing a national championship in 1990.
Trey Caldwell of Concord De La Salle | Photo courtesy of Foot Locker
Dailey is one of three San Diego Section girls competitors scheduled to participate Saturday, along with Jaelyn Williams of Chula Vista Eastlake and Ayanna Hickey from The Bishop’s School.
Williams is the first female athlete from Eastlake to qualify for the Foot Locker national final since Patricia Miessner in 2017.
Williams is competing in her third consecutive national championship race after participating in Nike Cross Nationals the past two years, including All-America honors in Oregon last season.
Hickey is the first athlete from The Bishop’s School to advance to the national final.
Erica Kirk of Vista Murrieta is also the first competitor from her school to advance to the Foot Locker championship race.
Nicole Alfred from Rancho Cucamonga is the first female athlete from her program to qualify to race in San Diego.
Darius Riley represented Rancho Cucamonga in the boys national final in 2017.
Tyler Daillak, the West Regional winner, became the first Paso Robles athlete to advance to the national championship race.
Conor Lott, the Division 1 state champion, is the first Clovis North boys competitor to qualify for the Foot Locker national final after Isaiah Galindo competed at NXN in 2019.
Ashlyn Leath represented Clovis North in the Foot Locker girls championship race in 2022.
Max Douglass became the first Corona del Mar male athlete to secure a berth in the national final.
Aydon Stefanopoulos of Los Gatos, who competed at NXN last season, is the first competitor from his program to participate at the Foot Locker national final.
Kenan Pala of Francis Parker was the last California male athlete to earn All-America honors in San Diego, placing second in the 2021 championship race.
Elizabeth Leachman of Boerne Champion High in Texas is looking to become the first back-to-back Foot Locker girls national champion since Claudia Lane of Malibu High in 2016-17.