Siraki Makes Run for National Title

Now that the West regional cross-country championships are behind her, senior Anita Siraki of Hoover High can relax . . . and run in the national championships today at Oak Trail Golf Course at Shades of Green in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

Siraki and senior Natalie Stein of North Hollywood will be among the 32 runners in a race among the top eight finishers from the West, Midwest, Northeast and South regionals.

Siraki had won her first 11 races of the season by a minimum of 30 seconds entering the West regional at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, yet she was extremely nervous before a race in which her main goal was to qualify for nationals.

It would have been a shock had Siraki, who will run in her second consecutive national championship, failed to qualify, but that didn’t prevent her from being antsy before a race in which she finished second to senior Alicia Craig of Gillette, Wyo.

“I was trying to stay relaxed,” Siraki said. “But because it’s regionals, you know you have to qualify and that’s stressful. . . .

“Once you make nationals, you know you’re in and all you have to do is give it your best race.”

Siraki finished a stunning fourth in the national championships last year after placing seventh in the West regional and it would not be a surprise if she won today.

She and Craig have been co-favorites for the national title since early in the season.

Craig, third last year, finished 15 seconds ahead of Siraki in the West regional, but neither she nor Siraki put forth an all-out effort.

“I gave it a good effort,” Craig said after winning her second consecutive West region title. “But I know that [nationals] is the race that counts.”

Today’s 5,000-meter race will be a classic matchup between a runner known for her strength--Siraki--and a runner known for her speed--Craig.

Siraki was the No. 1-ranked 3,200 runner in the nation during track season, but she realizes if the race comes down to a kick, Craig has a distinct advantage. Craig has run 2:12.48 for 800 meters while Siraki has a best of 2:15.41.

“I’m going to try to go out faster than usual in the first mile,” Siraki said.

“And then get progressively faster after that.”

Stein, who finished a surprising eighth in the West regional, will be shooting for a sub-18-minute clocking today on a flat layout in which the course record is 17:05.8.

“I’d like to break 18,” she said. “But I’m not sure where that will put me.”

Stein, the second girl from the City Section to qualify for the national championships since the meet began in 1979, capped a breakthrough track season in June with an eighth-place finish in the 3,200 in the state championships.

Her improvement has continued in cross-country.

She set a course record in the Bell-Jeff Invitational at Griffith Park on Sept. 30, placed third in the individual sweepstakes race of the Mt. SAC Invitational on Oct. 21, won her second City title on Nov. 18 and placed fifth in the state Division I final a week later.