BOYS KINNEY/FOOTLOCKER REGIONAL

HISTORY & STATISTICS

BY MIKE QUINN

we will make an effort to add girls stats for next year

There have been 26 runnings of the Northeast Regional, dating back to 1979.  From 1979-1992 the sponsor of the race was Kinney Shoes, with Foot Locker assuming sponsorship since 1993.

The first year of the Northeast Regional was not conducted with the now customary end of the season race.  In 1979, the St. John's University Invitational served as the Kinney Northeast Regional Championship. This race was held in the middle of October on the same Van Cortlandt Park 5,000 meter course that is used today.

The qualifiers in 1979 came from the fastest times of the day contested over 4 separate races.  In 1980, the race was changed to the same format that is used today; one single championship race held at the end of the season.

In 1979 and 1980, the top 7 runners qualified for Nationals, not the top 8 which has been the case every year since 1981.  In 2005, 10 runners will qualify for the Foot Locker National Championship from the Northeast Regional.

Contrary to popular belief, the Van Cortlandt 5,000 meter course was not designed specifically for the Northeast Regional race.  This course was first unveiled during the 1978 cross-country season, and was subsequently used for the 1978 New York State Federation Championships.  The Northeast is the only region to hold its qualifying race at the same venue, and the same course for that matter, since the inception of the Kinney/Foot Locker series in 1979.

It should be noted that all of the statistics that follow are based on the actual qualifiers, and not the alternates that may have ultimately run at Nationals in place of the original qualifiers from the regional race.

Over the entire history of the race from 1979-2004, there have been 206 boys qualifiers from 12 states and the District of Columbia.  Delaware is the only state in the region that has never had a runner qualify for the National Championships.  Also, West Virginia and Ohio competed in the Northeast Regional in the early years of the race, but no longer do so.

Boys Qualifiers By State

Breakdown of New York Qualifiers

New York is the only state to have more than 3 qualifiers in a single year.  New York has 3 qualifiers in: 1979, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995, 2001, 2002 and 2004.  New York had 4 qualifiers in 1989 and 5 qualifiers in both 1986 and 2000.

New York has only been shut out from having at least one runner qualify on four occasions: 1981, 1996, 1997 & 1999.

The only year that saw a combined New York/New Jersey shutout was 1999.

Three qualifiers is the most in one year by any state other than New York:

There have been a total of 28 total repeat qualifiers.

Jason DiJoseph of New Jersey is the only 3-time qualifier: 1986, 1987 & 1988.

John Trautmann of New York (1984 & 1985) and Brendan Heffernan of New Jersey (1991 & 1992) are the only two time winners of the Northeast Regional.

Three runners have gone on to win the National Championship.  Brendan Heffernan of New Jersey was the 1992 National Champion.  Matt Downin of New Hampshire was the 1994 National Champion.  Abdirizak Mohamud holds the distinction of being the Northeast's only two-time (1996 & 1997) National Champion.  Each won the Northeast Regional in the year of their National Championship(s) with the exception of Mohamud, who finished in 2nd place at the 1996 Northeast Regional.

There have only been 4 sophomore qualifiers: Jason DiJoseph of New Jersey in 1986, Brendan Fennell of New York in 2000, Kevin Tschirhart of New York in 2002 and Ryan Sheridan of New York in 2004.

The only non-consecutive year repeat qualifiers are Brendan Fennell, who qualified as a sophomore in 2000 and then won the Northeast Regional in 2002 as a senior and Kevin Tschirhart who qualified as a sophomore in 2002 and again in 2004 as a senior.

Repeat Qualifiers By State

New York (8.5)

John Trautmann 1984 & 1985 (2-time winner)

Kerry Fly 1985 & 1986

John Horkheimer 1987 & 1988

Kevin Hogan 1989 & 1990

Chris Gonzalez 1991 & 1992

Jonathan Riley* 1995 – qualified from NY in 1995 and MA in 1996

Peter Meindl 2000 & 2001 (2001 Winner)

Brendan Fennell 2000 & 2002 (2002 Winner)

Kevin Tschirhart 2002 & 2004

New Jersey (5)

Jason DiJoseph 1986, 1987 & 1988 (1988 Winner)

John Coyle 1987 & 1988 (1987 Winner)

Brendan Heffernan 1991 & 1992 (1991 & 1992 Winner)

Bob Keino 1992 & 1993 (1993 Winner)

Steve Slattery 1996 & 1997

Massachusetts (4.5)

Bill Crowley 1984 & 1985

Jonathan Riley* 1996 (1996 Winner) – qualified from NY in 1995 and MA in 1996

Abdirizak Mohamud 1996 & 1997 (1997 Winner)

Andy Powell 1997 & 1998 (1998 Winner)

Victor Gras 2002 & 2003

Pennsylvania (2)

Mike Connelly 1981 & 1982

Mike McWilliams 1988 & 1989 (1989 Winner)

Maine (2)

Louis Luchini 1997 & 1998

Ben True 2002 & 2003 (2003 Winner)

Connecticut (2)

Brian McGovern 1999 & 2000

Ahmed Haji 2002 & 2003

New Hampshire (2)

Matt Downin 1993 & 1994 (1994 Winner)

Cory Thorne 2003 & 2004

Vermont (1)

Mint Henk 2000 & 2001

West Virginia (1)

Steve Taylor 1981 & 1982 (1981 Winner)

Schools With Multiple Qualifiers

Two schools have had two runners qualify in the same year.  North Hunterdon of New Jersey had Andy Martin and Bill Babcock qualify in 1984, and very likely would have also had Brad Hudson join them had he not transferred to a school in Oregon for his senior year.  Cambridge Rindge & Latin of Massachusetts had Scott Cody and Jamalh Prince qualify in 1987.

North Hunterdon has had 4 separate qualifiers in the 26 year history of the Northeast Regionals.  Walt Whitman of NY, Highland Regional of New Jersey and Londonderry of New Hampshire have had 3 separate qualifiers.

New York

Walt Whitman (Pat Jennings 1979) (Joe Hopkins 1980) (Ryan Sheridan 2004)

Bishop Ford (Chris Gonzalez 1991 & 1992) (William Arnold 1994)

Monsignor Farrell (Ed Healy 1979) (Neil Donohue 1984)

Garden City (T.J. McArdle 1986) (Brian Quinn 1992)

Longwood (Kevin Krause 1988) (Kevin Hogan 1990*)

*Kevin Hogan transferred to Longwood in 1990; he qualified as a junior for Westhampton in 1989.

New Jersey

North Hunterdon (Brad Hudson 1983) (Andy Martin 1984) (Bill Babcock 1984) (Brendan Heffernan 1991 & 1992)

Highland Regional (Jerry Andrews 1979) (Kevin Pumphrey 1985) (Nate Miller 1998)

Hunterdon Central (Jim Herdman 1983) (Jonathan Fasulo 1998)

Paul VI (Ron Faith 1985) (Jason DiJoseph 1986, 1987 & 1988)

Westfield (Cliff Sheehan 1980) (Matt Elmuccio 1996)

Massachusetts

St. John's Prep (Dan Foley 1982) (Chris Georgules 1990)

Seekonk (Gary Crowley 1982) (Bill Crowley 1985)

Cambridge Rindge & Latin (Scott Cody 1987) (Jamalh Prince 1987)

Rhode Island

Rogers (Paul Haupt 1980) (Michael Pieroni 1984)

St. Raphael's (Chris Magill 1989) (Keith Woodman 1993)

New Hampshire

Londonderry (John Mortimer 1994) (Todd Swenson 1997) (Dave Barrett 1999)

Northeast Regional Winners By State

New Jersey (8)

Jerry Andrews 1979* (Fastest winner of the 4 qualifying races)

Cliff Sheehan 1980

John Coyle 1987

Jason DiJoseph 1988

Brian Spoonire 1990

Brendan Heffernan 1991 & 1992

Bob Keino 1993

New York (7)

Anthony Smith 1982

John Trautmann 1984 & 1985

T.J. McArdle 1986

Seton McAndrews 2000

Peter Meindl 2001

Brendan Fennell 2002

Massachusetts (5)

Barry Sirchis 1983

Jonathan Riley 1996

Abdirizak Mohamud 1997

Andy Powell 1998

Chris Barnicle 2004                                                                                                                                             

Pennsylvania (2)

Mike McWilliams 1989

Dan Coval 1999

Maine (2)

Matt Lane 1995

Ben True 2003

New Hampshire (1)

Matt Downin 1994

West Virginia (1)

Steve Taylor 1981

Averages

The average winning time over the history of the race is 15:30.4.

The average 8^th place time over the history of the race is 15:52.3.

The average 10^th place time over the history of the race is 15:59.7.  The top 10 runners will qualify in 2005.

The average time of all 206 qualifiers is 15:43.1.

Listed below are the average winning times broken down in 5 year increments:

5 Largest Margins Of Victory

5 Narrowest Margins Of Victory

Of the total 206 qualifiers over the last 26 years, 28 have qualified with a time of 16:00.0 or slower. By year, the number of qualifiers with times at or above 16:00.0:

The year with the most qualifiers under 16:00.0 was 1981, with 24 runners breaking that barrier.

Fastest 8th place finishers

*Dennis Chin did not qualify in 1980, as only the top 7 qualified for the first two years (1979 & 1980) of the race.

Slowest 8th place finishers

Fastest Non-Qualifiers [8th place finisher 1979-80; 9th place finisher 1981-2004]

5-Man All-Time State Averages