Virginia Set to Host USATF Junior Olympic XC Championships
Posted Friday, 12 December, 2008
USA Track & Field's premiere youth cross country meet, the 2008 USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships, will crown individual and team champions this Saturday at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, Va.
Featuring more than 3,000 age-group youth athletes from around the country, the Junior Olympics will be contested over the challenging landscape of Pole Green Park, which consists of a 232-acre area in Hanover County. With rolling terrain and a challenging hill, Pole Green Park has proven to be an outstanding site for Virginia cross country meets.
Athletes aged 8 to 18 will compete for boys' and girls' titles in five age divisions. The USATF Junior Olympic program age divisions are bantam (10 and under) racing over 3 kilometers; midget (11-12) racing 3 km; youth (13-14) racing 4 km; intermediate (15-16) racing 5 km; and young men/women (17-18) racing 5 km.
Individual boys' winners from the 2007 Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships in Lawrence, Kan., were Marcus Garrow in bantam, 10:59.07; Colin Kerr in midget, 10:27.46; Lukas Verzbicas (Illinois) in youth, 13:16.04; Eric Fitzpatrick (Team Idaho) in intermediate, 16:26.09; and Patrick Casey (Bozeman Track Club) in young men, 15:59.73. Team champions were Equalizers Team A in bantam, youth and intermediate, Pops Track Club in midget, and Team Provo in young men. It was the second team title in a row for the Equalizers youth team.
Last year's girls winners included 2006 bantam champion Paige Rice of Oregon, CC who dominated the field in the midget girls 3 km race cruising to victory in 10 minutes 58.57 seconds. Other individual winners for girls included Hanna Blache (Corona Pan) in bantam, 11:46.62; Eleanor Fulton (Zoom Track Club) in youth, 14:55.43; Elizabeth Briascoe (Awesome Power) in intermediate, 18:34.38; and Emily Reese (Northside) in young women, 19:04.66.
Girls' team champions were the Elgin Sharks in bantam, San Diego SoCal Roadrunners in midget, Equalizers Team A in youth, and the Buffalo Chips in intermediate and young women. It was the second team title in a row for the San Diego So Cal Roadrunners in the midget division.
The USATF Virginia Association, Hanover County Parks & Recreation, the Richmond Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau, and the Sports Backers (Richmond Region Sports Commission) are proud hosts of the 2008 USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships.For more information on the 2007 USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships, visit www.usatf.org.
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