Abbey Leonardi 16th at Footlocker Nationals 17:57

Dec 11, 2010

Leonardi finishes 16th at Footlocker Nationals, running 17:57 results

Abbey Leonardi finished off her junior XC season with a 16th place finish at the Footlocker National Championship at Balboa Park in San Diego, CA. Abbey got out very well running in the top 3 for the first 400m (70), as eventual national champion Aisling Cuffe took the pace out hard daring anyone to challenge her. Cuffe (Cornwall, NY) would go on the run 16:52 to dominate the rest of the field. Abbey was in the top 5 at the 800m which was passed in 2:34, she continued to be in the top 5 at the mile (5:25). abbey continued to challenge for an All-American spot, as she was still in 8th place half way through the race. The early fast pace started to take it's toll as the hit the hills at Balboa Park, at 2 miles Abbey dropped back a little to the 13-14th place range. Over the final mile Abbey would dig deep to try to hold on to a top 15 spot, she would just miss out as she crossed the line running 17:56, good for 16th. No doubt a much better race than 2009 for Leonardi, she showed she belongs to be mentioned as one of the top distance runners in the country. The good thing, she'll have one more shot at All-American honors next fall, and with two previous races under her belt that experience will be invaluable as she aims to qualify for a 3rd straight year. In fact coming she is ranked 4th out the returning runners next fall. Leonardi was competing in the meet for the 2nd straight year, she finished 22nd last fall running 18:11, she is the only Maine HS girl to qualify twice for the event.