Article published Dec 11, 2006

Banfich's gamble pays off with a top 20 finish

TIM CREASON
Tribune Correspondent

A calculated gamble helped Culver Academy junior Alex Banfich earn a spot among the Top 20 high school girl cross country runners in the nation.

Banfich, a resident of Plymouth, finished 17th at Saturday's Foot Locker National Cross Country Championships.

On a warm, sunny day in San Diego, she covered 5,000 meters (3.1 miles) in 18:34. Television cameras whirred and Olympic medal winners looked on from the sidelines as she reached the finish line almost stride-for-stride with a runner from Arizona and another from Mississippi in an incredibly competitive race.

"Alex did exactly what I asked her to do, which was be last place at the mile mark," said Culver Academies coach Mike Chastain, who attended the three days of Foot Locker festivities, along with his star runner.

"Some people might feel she was taking a risk, but in a race of this magnitude, you have to figure a lot of girls are going to be too excited and take off too fast. Alex just kept her cool and did a great job of moving up." From the back of the 40-runner field, Banfich moved up steadily from the halfway point. She reached the top 15 before being swept back to 17th in a sprint for the finish.

Kathy Kroeger, a sophomore at Independence High School in Franklin, Tenn., won the girls national title in 17:29. Aurora Scott from Virginia took second in 17:36.

Banfich, the two-time Indiana state cross country champion, was the only Hoosier girl in the race. She qualified by finishing 10th at regional competition in Wisconsin on Nov. 25.

"I stuck to my race plan and even though I was in about last place at the mile, I moved up throughout the race and just focused on continuing to pass people," said Banfich. "The race went pretty much according to plan except that my last 600-800 meters were not very strong and that last part is definitely the part I'm going to work on for future races."

 

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Banfich’s motor still running

Ron Haramia
Sports Editor

It has been a few weeks since she won the Indiana girls high school cross country state meet - again - but Culver Girls Academy’s Alex Banfich has not been just laying around waiting for track season.

As she has done the past two years once the prep season ended, Banfich participated in the regional and national high school cross country meets sponsored by Foot Locker. And this year the CGA junior had her best finish to date.

After qualifying for nationals with a 10th place finish at the regionals in chilly Wisconsin during Thanksgiving weekend, Banfich raced in idyllic San Diego, California, this past weekend. Running a longer distance than her high school races (5K instead of 4K), Banfich placed 17th overall with a time of 18:34.

“The best part of my race was probably around the 1.5-mile (mark) where (I was) passing people and feeling good and excited,” Banfich said to race officials afterwards. “I had held back during the first mile so I was excited to start competing with the people around me and after mile point that’s basically what I did.”