Cross, Diaz Advance To Foot Locker Nationals, Marquez Zentmeyer Finish 11th, 12th Just Miss Out

Nov 29, 2014

Miami Sunset senior Nick Diaz and Merritt Island junior continue the Florida tradition of sending runners to Foot Locker Nationals after placing 8th and 9th respectively at Foot Locker South. Timber Creek junior Brandon Marquez and Sickles senior James Zentmeyer just missed out finishing 11th and 12th. Check out the race videos, interviews, and more from all the action!

The state's top individuals headed to Foot Locker South in Charlotte, North Carolina for a chance to earn their golden ticket to the national meet in two weeks in sunny San Diego. Place top ten and you're in. If not, the consolation prize of sunny Florida awaits. Timber Creek junior Brandon Marquez who we wrote about in a recent article went out to the front and after Andrew Hunter of Virgina jumped out to a big lead, jostled with Carter Blunt of Texas for second position. Marquez was second at the top of the hill with Merritt Island's Steven Cross, the 3A runner-up following behind in fourth.

Nick Diaz of Sunset the 2013 4A Cross Country Finals champion was in about 15-20th at the start of the race and slowly picked off runners in the final stretch. While they were gaining ground and inching closer to the next stage in the Foot Locker series, Marquez's dreams were slowly slipping away. With 500 meters left he looked solid in third place, but began to slow down while others past. Five runners, six runners, seven runners, Cross, then Diaz, with one spot left. He gave it everything he had, but came up one spot short in 11th with fellow Floridian James Zentmeyer of Sickles coming in 12th. For Diaz, who was ninth at Nike Southeast last year it will be the second time attending a national meet. Cross on the other hand is also continuing a stellar season that saw him finish no worse than second in any meet in the state of Florida! The Sunshine State was second behind only Virginia in team scoring with 61 points. Watch the race video and see what they had to say below.

WATCH: Boys Seeded Race Video

Nick Diaz Interview

Steven Cross Interview

Top Florida Boys

8 7 #557 Steven Cross (11) FL #1 15:01 4:50
9 8 #641 Nicholas Diaz (12) FL #2 15:01 4:50
11 10 #1581 Brandon Marquez (11) FL #3 15:10 4:53
12 11 #2857 James Zentmeyer (12) FL #4 15:18 4:56
32 25 #3037 Ryan Rodriguez (12) FL #5 15:34 5:01
33 #1020 Jack Guyton (12) FL #6 15:34 5:01
39 #381 Garrett Camps (12) FL #7 15:37 5:02
41 #1990 Alejandro Pedraza FL #8 15:38 5:02
42 #1682 Dean McGregor (12) FL #9 15:40 5:03
49 #2608 Connor Vaughan (12) FL #10 15:44 5:04
50 #1249 Joshua Jacques (11) FL #11 15:44 5:04
52 #964 Nicholas Gonzalez (12) FL #12 15:45 5:04
53 #651 Bradley Dixon (12) FL #13 15:45 5:04
57 #623 Ryan Degale (12) FL #14 15:47 5:05
60 #1420 Joel Lacy (11) FL #15 15:48 5:05
61 #1856 Michael Nazareth (12) FL #16 15:48 5:05
62 #818 Joey Fitzpatrick (9) FL #17 15:48 5:05
64 #531 Gabriel Correa (11) FL #18 15:49 5:06
66 #2505 David Cash Tampa (12) FL #19 15:50 5:06
67 #940 Tomas Gimenez-Beron (12) FL #20 15:51 5:06
70 #359 Andrew Cacciatore (12) FL #21 15:53 5:07
71 #814 Tyler Fisher (12) FL #22 15:54 5:07
72 #747 Daniel Erickson (12) FL #23 15:54 5:07
73 #1303 Mason Jones (10) FL #24 15:55 5:08
74 #35 William Aman (12) FL #25 15:55 5:08
76 #1577 Alex Margetts (12) FL #26 15:55 5:08
79 #2004 Noah Perkins (11) FL #27 15:56 5:08
80 #2139 Christopher Rife (12) FL #28 15:57 5:08

(Photo By Sharon Morton Candiano)

For the first time since 2002 a Florida girl has not advanced from the Foot Locker South Regional to the Foot Locker National Championships. Despite that fact, team Florida had five girls in the top sixty lead by Lake Mary senior and FSU signee Fatema Jaffer who ran a personal best of 18:00. Elizabeth Mulford and Margaret Schloss also had great days running 18:05 and 18:10. Jaffer had this to say after the race.

"The meet was really fun. I loved the course. I've never had an experience like that before."

WATCH: Girls Seeded Race Video

Top Florida Girls

29 26 #1252 Fatema Jaffer (12) FL #1 18:00 5:48
32 29 #1830 Elizabeth Mulford (12) FL #2 18:05 5:50
40 33 #2251 Margaret Schloss (12) FL #3 18:10 5:51
51 36 #384 Sarah Candiano (12) FL #4 18:18 5:54
57 38 #1544 Morgan Lucey (12) FL #5 18:20 5:54
64 #398 Audrey Carpenter FL #6 18:25 5:56
78 #626 Kayley DeLay FL #7 18:37 6:00
82 #2591 Daniela Urzua (10) FL #8 18:39 6:00
92 #124 Autumn Bartlett (12) FL #9 18:48 6:03
99 #2146 Brianna Rischar (12) FL #10 18:54 6:05
100 #56 Lauren Archer (11) FL #11 18:55 6:06
103 #776 Claire Farnsworth (11) FL #12 18:55 6:06
112 #2568 Lindsay Tomaini (11) FL #13 19:07 6:10
114 #1357 Emily Kerns (12) FL #14 19:08 6:10
122 #1845 Annika Mursten (10) FL #15 19:15 6:12
126 #473 Daley Cline (11) FL #16 19:19 6:13
139 #1181 Victoria Hoppe (12) FL #17 19:37 6:19
147 #1289 Sinclaire Johnson (11) FL #18 19:42 6:21
154 #338 Briana Burnett (10) FL #19 19:52 6:24

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