Bei Has Enough in End to Catch Siraki for Title

ORLANDO, Fla. —  Californian’s Sara Bei of Santa Rosa Montomery and Anita Siraki of Glendale Hoover finished 1-2 to lead a convincing showing by the West in the girls’ division of the Foot Locker National High School Cross Country championship Saturday on the Oak Tree golf course.

The win was especially sweet for Bei, who finished 10th in this race as a freshman and third as a sophomore but failed to make the national finals last year when she was 10th in the West regional.

Siraki and Alicia Craig of Gillette Campbell County, Wyo., the pre-race favorite, dominated the early portion of the race, passing the two-mile mark at 11:02. Meanwhile Bei, who was last at the 800-meter mark, worked her way through the field and by the 2 1/2-mile mark joined Siraki in what had became a two-person race. With less than 200 meters left, Bei began to close the five-meter gap and finally passed Siraki in the last 50 meters to win by one second in 16:55.

“I questioned myself when I was in last place, but when I caught up easily I thought I would have a chance,” Bei said.

Siraki summed her up effort saying, “I was happy with my run but when it comes down to the end it’s the person with the best leg speed that wins and that’s not me.”

Dathan Ritzenhein of Rockford, Mich., dominated a high-quality field to became only the second boys’ two-time winner in the meet’s 22-year history.

After a leisurely first mile in 4:47, Ritzenhein hammered the second mile in 4:33 to establish a commanding lead and went on to run 14:35, winning by 20 seconds.

“It’s the greatest feeling in the world,” Ritzenhein said.

Ryan Hall of Big Bear and Allen Webb of Ruston South Lakes, Va., tried to stay with Ritzenhein in the second mile but couldn’t.

“I tried to throw in a surge and catch up to him, but I just couldn’t do it,” Webb said.

Hall, who fell behind Webb by 50 meters at the half-way mark, closed well to just miss finishing second, 14:55 to 14:49.

“I really feel good [about my season],” Hall said. “I lost part of my season when I was taking medication [for acne] but this will really set me up for the track season.”

The West won the girls’ team competition with 19 points defeating the South (48), Midwest (56) and East (96) and the boys’ competition with 30 points defeating the South (48), Midwest (56) and Northeast (96).