Ka'Deem Wynn - Melbourne Central Catholic senior Amanda Beach ran with some of the top girls in the nation at this year’s Foot Locker Cross Country Championships in San Diego, CA. The Duke University signee had a fantastic and memorable senior season, and after a fifth-place finish at the state cross country meet, she came back and finished fifth in the Foot Locker south region (running a personal-best of 17:31) and twelfth at nationals, running 17:53 respectively.

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Having fellow Floridian, Bailey Hertenstein to run with, Amanda came through the first mile of the race fairly comfortable, running 5:33. With Florida being known to “not have any hills” compared to the rest of the United States, Amanda was faced with the challenge of tackling Balboa Park’s infamous hill not once, but twice. However, with Hertenstein right with her, she pushed on and continued to tackle the course, moving up and going through two miles just under 11:30.

Staying in the middle for the majority of the race, Amanda and Hertenstein began to separate shortly after 2.5 miles and a bit more as they hit the three-mile mark. In the end, Amanda was able to surged pass a few more runners before crossing the finish line in twelfth. Hertenstein held on and finished twentieth, respectively.

Amanda’s top-15 finish earned her All-American honors, and it was the highest finish by a Florida female runner since Ashley Brasovan won the national title in 2007. In the past 10 years, Emilie Amaro finished thirteenth in 2006, and Bridget Blake finished fifteenth in 2012. However, on the all-time list, Amanda is tied for fourth with Christina Benton, who finished twelfth as well in 2000. Jennifer Simpson (was Jennifer Barringer at the time) is second after finishing third at Foot Locker in 2003, and Carmen Gardner is the third best on the list, with her best finish being eleventh in 1982.

“It’s really exciting,” she said after. “I didn’t really know what to expect, it’s my first time here, and I was setting myself up to peak at the end of my season so I just wanted to give all I had.”

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