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Staples senior Hannah DeBalsi, Brien McMahon senior Eric van der Els and Ridgefield’s Gabe Altopp qualified in the regional, which was held at Van Cortlandt Park in New York.
DeBalsi, who is headed to Stanford University, qualified for the nationals for the third straight year with a fourth-place finish. She ran 17:43.7, a little more than eight seconds behind winner Madeleine Davison of Wexford, Pa.
Van der Els finished fifth in 15:30.5 to earn his first trip to the national race. Noah Affolder of Fort Drum, N.Y., won in 15:23.9. Van der Els has committed to run for the University of Connecticut next year.
Altopp, who will run for Brown University next year, finished ninth in 15:34.3. He nipped the 10th place finisher by a second and the 11th place finisher by just four seconds. Altopp surged into the ninth in the final 400 meters of the race, unleashing a late kick to move into the top 10.
The national championship race will be held in San Diego, and features the top 10 runners from four regions from around the country. The Northeast Region included runners from the New England states along with New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and Delaware.
Click here for more information about the Foot Locker races.
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