Tessa Barrett and Hannah DeBalsi had been there before.
Two weeks ago and several thousand miles away, the undefeated senior and the soft-spoken sophomore were side by side on a downhill segment in the closing stages of the Northeast Regional of the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships.
Fast forward to the final 500 meters of Saturday’s National Finals in San Diego, and Barrett and DeBalsi were battling for the lead once again. On both occasions, Barrett responded to the late challenge from the Connecticut runner, preserving a perfect 2013 season and claiming a national title.
Barrett finished the 5,000-meter course at Balboa Park in 17 minutes, 16 seconds, becoming the first-ever Foot Locker champion from Pennsylvania. Her performance ranks as one of the fastest since the championship returned to San Diego in 2002.
“I knew the competition, but I tried to not let that phase me,” Barrett, a Penn State commit, said of her preparations for facing the top 40 harriers in the U.S. “This whole week, I powered down the electronics and really tried to focus and say,
‘OK, you’re going out to San Diego, enjoy it, enjoy the run, enjoy the day.
“Whatever may be, may be. Just try to push as hard as you can at the end.”
Although she was in or near the lead for the entire 3.1 miles, Barrett needed every bit of a strong finish to be the first to reach the line. DeBalsi worked her way up to fourth and then focused in on the eventual winner and the lead Barrett had built and protected over the last two miles of the race.
“The second loop I was giving it all I had to catch her,” said DeBalsi, who finished in 17:26. “I did come up to her at the end of the downhill just like at Van Cortlandt (Park). Then she had a way stronger kick than I do at this point.
“We knew this race always goes out super fast so just hanging back a little bit in the beginning and then letting them all fly and die for the first mile. Other than that, I wanted to have a race where at the end I was collapsing. I wanted to give it all I had, and I did that.”
As one of the top returnees from 2012 and this year’s South champion, Caroline Alcorta of Springfield, Va., was expected to be in contention and proved to be throughout. Alcorta, Lucy Biles of Herriman, Utah, and Californian Anna Maxwell only had the dust from the lead vehicle to contend with as they led the field through the opening 440 yards in 1:03 and initial half mile in 2:32.
Barrett was right behind the lead trio, while DeBalsi’s conservative start put her in about 25th place. Regional champions Makena Morley of Montana and Kelcy Welch of Indiana moved toward the lead group with three-fourths of a mile in the books and the main climb on the figure-8 course dead ahead.
With the leaders covering the opening mile in 5:20, Barrett moved into position to take the point and gauge the response. Iowa’s Stephanie Jenks stayed the closest, and the lead duo opened a gap over the rest of the field.
“I was a little surprised (that I broke away), but I just said Go for it,” Barrett noted. “I felt really strong, I felt really good.”
With Jenks still hanging on, Barrett embarked on the second lap around the park with a stride on her closest challenger and then Alcorta in third. The Pennsylvanian reached two miles in 11:03 and appeared to have full control over the field.
Meanwhile, DeBalsi slipped past Alcorta, who finished third in 17:31, on the second climb and began to close on Barrett. The leader proved up to the challenge again and concluded the rare undefeated season as national champion.
"It’s unbelievable, just unbelievable,” Barrett said. “I never thought I would even win the region.
“No, I didn’t even think (undefeated) was possible. I just wanted to get out and have a good season. I had a really, really rough time last year. I think it just shows that adversity just makes you so much stronger.”
In addition to DeBalsi, two of the other big movers were her Northeast teammates – Anoush Shehadeh of Larchmont, N.Y., and Brianna Schwartz of Pittsburgh. Both runners were looking for some redemption on opportunities that had eluded their grasp.
Not able to finish the National Final in 2012, Shehadeh returned to San Diego courtesy of a second in the Northeast regional. Although her customary slow start and a fall slowed her initial progress, the junior was not to be denied a top placing and All-American status in 2013, finishing fourth in 17:35.
“I started in 38th, and I tried to move up in the first loop,” she said. “When the dirt got really loose, someone’s foot caught me from behind and I did a complete face plant with mud. I have battle wounds all over my legs … and then I got up (and I said), No, I didn’t finish last year. I am here to race.
“I am going to work my way up and have a strong race. No fall, no start is going to change that.”
Motivated by a placing not to her liking from the Pennsylvania state meet, Schwartz responded with a fourth at the regional level and then stormed from 10th to sixth in the final 500 at Balboa Park to reach the finish in 17:43.
Maxwell led the West in fifth at 17:39, while teammates Biles and Morley were seventh and eighth in additional 17:43 clockings. A pair of Midwest runners – Jenks and Taylor Werner of Missouri – closed out the top 10 in ninth and 10th, respectively, as each region had at least one competitor hit that mark and had at least a pair of runners place 15th or higher and receive All-American honors.
The Northeast won the team title with just 26 points.