Story, Hasty Highlight Banner Weekend for Area Runners

They did it again.

Brodey Hasty and Rebecca Story shined in one of the brightest spotlights of the season.

And they'll both continue their seasons into the next month, searching for a national championship.

Story qualified for Foot Locker Nationals for the second straight season. This time she qualified in first, winning the South regional in 17:24.

Last season, Story ran 17:38 for a sixth place finish. She then followed that up with a third place time at the National Championship in San Diego just a few weeks later.

Story is running with a lot of confidence right now. She hasn't lost this season, winning all five of her races by considerable margins each time. Saturday was the second time she'd run sub-17:30 this season.

"I really just wanted to get out there and see what I could do. This was really my first postseason race," Story told Milesplit.com after her championship run.

"Getting to start like this is really amazing. I'm really just happy with how I finished," she aded.

Story went to the lead early, which she later said was her plan all along. For most of the season, Story has had to run alone at the front of a pack. Foot Locker South was no different.

"I just tried to pretend it was one of my tempo runs," Story added. "Sometimes I'd peak over my shoulder to see where I was...toward the end I just really wanted to finish strong, and it turned out well."

Elsewhere in the state of North Carolina, Brodey Hasty continued his perfect season as well.

The senior from Brentwood won Nike Southeast for the second straight season. And this year was even more impressive than his winning run last year.

Hasty dominated, winning NXSE in 14:34, his second fastest time ever. 

"I think the goal today was to just make sure it was honest," Hasty told Milesplit's Cory Mull after the race.

"My race plan worked out that way. It's a perfect temperature out here...it felt really good an I'm pretty happy with it."

Like Story, Hasty pushed the pace early and often

And also like Story's plan, it worked to perfection. Hasty came away with his second straight title, booking his ticket to Oregon for NXN.

"This is by far my favorite course," Hasty said.

Trio of Boys Join Story in San Diego

Story and Hasty aren't the only athletes who will be advancing to the national championship meets in a few weeks.

Jake Renfree, Carter Coughlin and Titus Winders are all headed to Foot Locker Nationals as well.

Renfree made a big charge at the end of the race, passing four runners on the final stretch to secure his place in San Diego. 

Also of note, former Tennessean Carter Cheeseman is headed to Foot Locker as well. Cheeseman moved from Brentwood Academy to Fort Worth Christian this past season. He placed fourth on Saturday.

And back at Nike Regionals, Sasha Neglia punched her ticket to NXN with Hasty. The sophomore finished second, running 17:27. That's just three second behind Story's winning time at Foot Locker South.