San Diego’s cross country community, new sponsor help save famed national championship

From sadness and disappointment to determination and finally celebration. All in seven days.

The shock of learning Foot Locker would no longer be sponsoring Balboa Park’s national cross country championships, crowning individual champions, set running enthusiasts on that path.

Started 46 years ago by the F.W. Woolworth Company as the Kinney Nationals, the meet was rebranded the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships in 1993.

After a week of angst, Brooks stepped in. The new Brooks XC Championship presented by Fleet Feet will bring together boys and girls champions from across the country to run at Balboa Park’s Morley Field course.

It’s a true national championship.

The first reaction to Foot Locker’s decision to drop the meet was shock, mixed with sadness and disappointment. An event that started almost five decades ago and produced champions like San Diego High’s Marc Davis (1986), Rancho Buena Vista’s Kira Jorgensen (1987), and El Camino’s A.J. Acosta (2005), along with local runners like Meb Keflezighi (second in 1993), who went on to win an Olympic silver medal plus capture the Boston and New York marathons, couldn’t just disappear.

Could it?.

It took people like 1994 girls champion Julia Stamps, 1998 boys champion Jorge Torres, meet director Mike Cummings and dozens of others working quietly behind the scenes to save the race.

Brooks had previously been interested in a meet like this to go with the Brooks PR Invitational summer track meet in Seattle. Nothing could happen as long as Foot Locker continued to support the championships in the major way it had for 22 years.

But Foot Locker was sold to Dick’s Sporting Goods last spring, and that company apparently didn’t have the same interest in maintaining the event.

“There was an immediate national reaction, especially among former runners who competed in the nationals,” said Stamps, a three-time finalist. “We’re like family. The event is different from any other, matching the toughest of the toughest on a real cross country course.”

In less than a week, sadness and frustration was replaced by elation as Brooks announced it had reached a multi-year agreement to sponsor the race.

There will still be four regionals, with the top 10 runners (originally it was eight) advancing. The new Brooks race will include something different: 10 “golden tickets.”

The details are being worked out, but Stamps said the golden tickets could allow runners who want to compete in the Nike Nationals a week earlier an opportunity to race in both events. The Brooks West Championships are the same weekend as the Nike Nationals at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut.

Or if a truly deserving runner has to miss a regional due to an emergency, the golden ticket could provide a second chance.

Cummings said he couldn’t be happier with the new arrangement.

“Last week it looked like the meet was dead, but now it’s alive,” said the longtime Valley Center High School coach and athletic director. “No one jumped for joy when it looked like it was the end of an era. This is really a very special event.

“A lot of people came together to make it happen. It wasn’t a problem to have the regionals or the championships this year because we already have everything in place. We work on this in the fall and the city knows what dates we need. It was a matter of pride for all of us who worked the meet over the years. It’s the premier high school running event in the country.

“We just couldn’t lose it.”