The prestigious Foot Locker Nationals lived up to its pre-race billing as the most competitive cross country event in the country and Westford Academy’s Paul Bergeron made it a point to be right in the thick of things in his final schoolboy race.

After finishing 15th last year, the two-time Div. 1 All-State champion’s goal was to go all in and garner a gold medal Saturday over the hilly, 3.1-mile layout at Balboa Park in San Diego, CA. The entire field was out fast at the gun and Bergeron, who will attend Stanford, was as high as fourth place, that position coming at the 2-mile, which he passed in 9:50 after a 4:45 opening mile.

Bergeron ran hard over the hilly portions of the course and used his 8:51 2-mile speed on the final descent to take seventh at 15 minutes, 25.3 seconds. Bergeron qualified for the finals with an impressive third-place finish at the Northeast Regionals at Franklin Park two weeks ago.

“It was a solid effort,” said Bergeron. “I felt pretty smooth for the majority of the race. It got really hard, really fast, on the hill the second time. I kept my position most of the way and I tried to catch the guy in sixth coming down the hill and on the flat.”

The Northeast boasted the top-three finishers as Northeast Regional runner-up Drew Hill of Butler, PA surged at the top of the final hill and pulled away from Northeast champion Ryan Pajak of Pittsburgh, PA for the win in 15:06.9 to Pajak’s 15:12. Tamrat Gavenas of Phillips Andover Academy made a huge jump to capture the bronze medal in 15:16.6 after placing 31st last year as a freshman.

Gavenas concentrated on staying relaxed and running the hills consistently. He spent much of the fall running 300-meter hill repeats on the Phillips Andover campus and was ready for the inclines in San Diego.

“I came in with a strong mental strategy,” Gavenas said. “It was a tough race, but I knew if I kept in touch with the leaders I’d do really well. I started to find a rhythm running with these guys. I feel like I executed the plan really well. I didn’t have much experience last year. I felt like there was a lot of pressure to do well.”

The finish, Gavenas said, was a tough one. “I was exhausted with 600 to go and I could feel the lactic (acid) in my legs,” he said. “The last 200 was all out.”

Bergeron’s teammate, Jack Graffeo, wrapped up a stellar cross country season with a 30th-place finish in 15:59.9 after taking eighth at the regional race. He found the 70-degree plus conditions difficult and said he is more used to running in cold temperatures this time of year.

“It was a tough race,” said Graffeo. “The hills are everything they said they are. It was definitely the dagger of the race. I felt good, but it really wasn’t my day.”

Belmont’s Ellie Shea, wearing her trademark purple sunglasses, was part of the chase pack behind early leader Rachel Forsyth of Ann Arbor, MI. She passed the mile in a very quick 5:15.4 and was in eighth at 2-miles (11:09.8) before fading to 14th in 17:56.5. Sophomore Elizabeth Leachman of San Antonio, TX posted a scalding 16:50.7.

As tough a race as it was, Shea savored the experience of racing at nationals. “It was fun,” she said. “The race went out hard and I really tried to stick my nose in it. The hills were definitely hard, but it was fun.”

Cambridge’s Aoife Shovlin, fresh off a successful defense of her Div. 1 All-State title, finished 32nd in 18:49.7.