Junior Alex Banfich (Plymouth, Ind.) finished 10th at the Footlocker Midwest Regional over Thanksgiving weekend. Her top 10 finish qualifies her for the national race in San Diego on Dec. 9. (photo courtesy of Footlocker)
Article published Nov 27, 2006
Banfich earns bid to nationals
For the second consecutive year, Alex Banfich will run for a national high school cross country championship.
The Culver Girls Academy junior earned a trip to the Foot Locker national finals by finishing 10th at Saturday's Midwest Regional.
The Foot Locker sporting goods chain annually sponsors the national meet, to be held in San Diego, Calif., on Dec. 9.The top 10 boy and girl finishers from four different regions qualify for the event, which is to be televised by the Fox Sports Network.
Banfich, the two-time defending IHSAA girls state cross country champ, finished 10th by covering a 5,000-meter (3.1 mile) course at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside in Kenosha in 18:04.
In her first trip to the national finals, a year ago, Banfich finished 35th.
Hannah Miller, a junior at Northridge, was 145th. A total of 341 girls finished the race.
In the boys race, Loren Spirito, a senior at Northridge High School, finished 34th in 15:51. Another Northridge runner, Ladd Mercer, placed 97th. New Prairie senior Ryun Toth was 109th.There were 320 boy finishers.