Strand qualifies for national meet

Ethan Strand’s legend continues to grow. 

On Saturday, Nov. 30, the Vestavia Hills High School junior became the first male Alabamian in 15 years to qualify for the Foot Locker Cross Country Championship National Finals. 

He punched his ticket to the Dec. 14 meet by placing sixth at the Foot Locker South Regional, held at McAlpine Greenway Park in Charlotte, North Carolina. 

The top 10 finishers advanced to nationals. 

“I’ve been wanting to do this since I ran last year as a sophomore,” Strand said. “I mean, I came into that meet just wanting to get my feet wet, wanting to see how it is. This year my ultimate goal was to qualify, so I mean accomplishing that this year, I felt really relieved.”

Strand, who in early November won his second consecutive Class 7A state cross-country title, completed the 5K race in 15 minutes, 6.3 seconds. That’s well ahead of his time from 2018, when he ran 15:43 and placed 23rd. 

Strand is the first Alabamian to qualify for the boys championship race since Hoover’s Robert Bedsole made it in 2004. He also is the first Vestavia Hills runner to advance to nationals. Rebels head cross-country coach Brett Huber said Strand’s performance left him “speechless.” 

Strand knew what to expect at the regional meet and relied on the knowledge he gained from his experience last year to formulate a race plan. He went out with the leaders, came through the mile in 4:38, settled in and then hung on. 

“With 250, 300 meters to go, I started kicking like crazy and kicked past a few people in the process,” he said.

Huber said Strand was in 12th place with about 600 meters remaining before he made his decisive move. He’ll aim to replicate that strong finish at nationals, which will be held at Balboa Park in San Diego, California. 

There, he’ll compete against 39 other runners from across the country who qualified at the South, Northeast, Midwest and West Regional meets. A live webcast of the race can be found at footlockercc.com Dec. 14 at noon CST. 

“I just want to place as high as possible,” Strand said.