Ashley Brasovan kicked things off earlier this fall by commiting to Duke University.  And then just a week ago, fellow Footlocker Finalist Kayla Hale said she would be joining Ashley as a Blue Devil. Now this week on the eve of Christmas, we have several new signings of top Florida distance runners--the first signs of the flood of them that will pour in all of January and February. Mandy Perkins of Spruce Creek has committed to the University of Florida, Jason McLeod of Circle Christian signs with Bryan College in Tennessee (full article), and Jordan Schilit of Tampa Jesuit will be heading to Haverford College in Pennsylvania.

After a successful fall cross country season, Circle Christian School (CCS) senior Jason McLeod has chosen the small, Dayton Tennessee, Christian college in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains for his athletic and academic pursuits.

Marki Lyon is an active and talented distance runner and soccer player at Fletcher High. Entering her junior year in 2008 she found herself feeling in the "worse shape of her life", little did she know that symptoms would likely save her life. She had congenital heart defect of the type that have caused other healthy athletes to simply die unexpectedly during physical activity. Watch this video, it may save your life or that of someone you know.

In a field top-heavy with some of the area’s best young male runners, and including a large turnout of elementary-aged female runners (aka, Girls on the Run), Embry Riddle’s Stuart Patterson emerged first.

As many of you know, Leon County decided that the 2008 meets would be the last cross country races held at the beloved Miccosukee Greenway.  Most people consider this to be one of the best (if not the best) cross country courses in the state.  Teams often travel from the most distant reaches of Florida to the FSU Invitational each year just because of this course. The county was prompted to make this decision after some citizens expressed concern over the environmental impact of the cars and kids on the grass and also because it caused part of the public park to be shut down on those rare Saturday mornings. In this article is a letter written by Brad Mason that was published recently in abbreviated form in the Letters to the Editor section of the Tallahassee Democrat.

Over the past four years Kayla Hale has become a constant on cross county courses in the state of Florida and beyond. Hale’s efforts didn’t go unnoticed. Schools came from near and far, and after months of visits, calls and soul searching a decision has been made. Kayla Hale will become a Duke Blue Devil.

Universal Sports is a new television network, owned by NBC, that focuses 24-7 on covering sports most others scorn such as swimming, gymnastics, skiing, snowboarding, cycling, volleyball, and--oh yes--track & field.  This year they have offered full-length coverage of the marathons in Berlin, New York, Boston, and Chicago.  They cover international track & field events on a weekly basis during the summer such as the IAAF Grand Prix events and the IAAF World Athletics Championship.  We here at MileSplit are also in discussions with Universal Sports to bring you coverage of major high school and college meets (and other coverage) in 2009--and the prospects look very hopeful!  They are already in over 30 million homes and look to be in 20 million more in the next couple of months.  The problem?  None of the current prospects are in Florida.  How can we get them here?  Read this article...

Race summary, videos, interviews, photos, and more.  

Will it be Hasay, Brasovan or Kroeger? Or will a new girls champion be crowned? Catch all the live action from the Foot Locker CC Finals right here on MileSplit.

We are here in San Diego, getting ready for Saturday's Footlocker Nationals.  The athletes are arriving today at the beautiful Hotel del Coronado.  We'll hook up with our two Florida representatives tomorrow at the course:  defending national champion Ashley Brasovan and three-time qualifier Kayla Hale. The weather is nice here, at a cool 67 degrees.  We are hoping that Saturday's forecasted scattered showers hold off until the afternoon!  We will be broadcasting the race live here on Satruday starting at around 11AM Eastern (girls race goes off at 11:45am).  Afterwards our coverage team will have lots of coverage including race video, video interviews, photos, and articles.

Longtime USA Track & Field volunteer and contributor Bob Fine of Delray Beach, Fla., was struck and killed by a car while running at 5:45 a.m. In Reno, police confirmed Wednesday morning. Fine, 77, was in Reno to attend USATF's 2008 Annual Meeting.

This year's version of the 2008 Florida Athletic Coaches Association Senior All-Star Meet did not disappoint as both kids and coaches had a fun time in Tallahassee this weekend... Above: The Region 4 team celebrates the event with a mud fight from the course's holding pond after finishing their races.