Lake Braddock's Sophie Chase Finishes 11th in Nationals

Sophie Chase, a junior at , finished 11th in the 2011 Foot Locker Cross Country Championships National Finals (FLCCC) in San Diego on Saturday. Her time of 17:45 in the 5.0 kilometer race was 23 seconds behind first-place winner Molly Seidel of Hartland, Wis.

This was Chase's second consecutive trip to nationals. She qualified for the race in November with a time of 17:06, the third-fastest in Virginia history for 5,000 meters, at the 33rd Annual Foot Locker Cross Country Championships South Regional in Charlotte, N.C.

Sean McGorty, a junior at , and Ahmed Bile, a senior at , finished 10th and 12th respectively. McGorty ran the 5,000 meters in 15:28, and Bile in 15:30. The winner, Edward Cheserek of Newark, N.J., claimed the national title in 14:52.

Megan Moye from Moseley, Va., was the only other girl representing the Commonwealth. She placed 16th. Thomas Madden from Front Royal was the only other Virginia boy competing at nationals. He placed 23rd.

The Foot Locker Cross Country Championships is comprised of four regional 5K races, which took place across the country in the Midwest (Kenosha, Wis.), Northeast (Kings Park, N.Y.), and South (Charlotte, N.C.) on Nov. 26, and the West (Walnut, Calif.) on Dec. 3, culminating in the national finals.