McElroy saves the best for last

Talking to Matt McElroy two days later, it hadn’t really sunk in yet.

At the last race of the cross-country season, the last race of McElroy’s cross-country career at Edison High, everything was great for the senior.

He finished second at the Foot Locker Cross-Country National Championships Saturday at Balboa Park in San Diego, in 15 minutes, 23 seconds.

“I’m still pretty amazed,” McElroy said Monday. “I don’t even know what to say. It was a perfect race for me. Just to have all my team down there, my coaches and my family, it was great.”

McElroy, the Sunset League champion who finished third at the CIF Southern Section Division II finals and second in Division II at the CIF State Meet, used his late-season strategy again to perfection. Even in the muddy conditions and with rain coming down during the race, he surged at the end and made the other runners try to catch up.

“Pretty much from 800 meters left, I started pushing a lot,” McElroy said. “The third-place guy [Wade Meddles of Nevada], I blew by him with 400 left or 500 left.”

Luke Verzbicas of Orland Hills, Ill., just a sophomore, won the race in 15:08. Meddles was third at 15:24, a second behind McElroy.

“[Verzbicas] is a freak,” McElroy said. “He’s at a collegiate level and he’s beyond any other runner in the race This was just a great way to end the season. Most of my races I got second and to pull out another second at nationals, it’s really nice.”

The Foot Locker championships combined 10 top high school runners from each of four regions: West, Midwest, South and Northeast. McElroy had qualified fourth in the West regional the weekend before at Mt. San Antonio College.

McElroy can now focus on track in the spring, where he finished fifth in the boys’ 3200 meters last year at the state meet.

He would like to continue running in college and said his top three choices are currently Oklahoma State, Oregon and Northern Arizona.