Posted: November 14, 2007

Athletics: Young Athletes Superb At Pacific Association/USATF Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships

FOLSOM, Calif. - November 13, 2007 - Over 350 young cross country runners kicked up the turf at the Pacific Association/USA Track & Field Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park on Sunday, November 11. The top 25 individual finishers and first three club teams in each of ten different age groups qualified for the USATF Region 14 Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships (November 25, Fresno, Calif.). From there, qualifying athletes advance to the 2007 USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships (December 8, Lawrence, Kan.). More than 2,000 athletes age 8 to 18 from all 57 USATF Associations will compete for boys' and girls' titles in ten age divisions at the national championship meet. The USATF Junior Olympic program age divisions are bantam (born 1997 or later) racing over 3 kilometers; midget (born 1995 or 1996) racing 3 km; youth (born 1993 or 1994) racing 4 km; intermediate (born 1991 or 1992) racing 5 km and young men/women (born 1989 or 1990) racing 5 km. According to Bob Shor, who directs the Pacific Association/USATF Junior Olympic meet, about 200 PA/USATF athletes typically qualify for the national meet, comprising about ten percent of the total field at nationals. "We have strong youth clubs, a great Junior Olympic cross country schedule of events, and, of course, an excellent California winter climate here in the Pacific Association," Shor said. "That makes all the difference for our kids." The Pacific Association/USATF JO Cross Country Championships on Sunday provided a preview of more to come from many talented youngsters. Competing in the intermediate boys division, 16-year-old Brandon Nied (Reno, Nev., unattached) dominated the field with a 1 minute, 34-second victory in a time of 16 minutes 53 seconds over 5 kilometers. The next closest competitor was Keiren Broussard (age 15, Fairfield, Calif., Full Stride Track Club) who finished second in 18:27. Ten-year-old Eleanor Velez (El Dorado Hills, Calif., Buffalo Chips), competing in the bantam girls division, claimed top honors as she finished in 11:40 over 3 km. Finishing second was Jocelyn Vides (age 10, Sacramento, Calif., Pacific United) in 11:53. Other individual winners for girls included Kyla Aiuto (age 12, Danville, Calif., Pleasanton Heat) in the midget division, 11:36 (3K); Shelby McIntyre (age 13, South Lake Tahoe, Calif., Tony Williams TC) in youth girls, 15:24 (4K); Kelsey Smith (age 16, South Lake Tahoe, Calif., Buffalo Chips) in intermediate girls, who successfully defended her title in 20:11 (5K); and Joelle Slater (age 17, Sacramento, Pacific United) in young women, 20:15 (5K). Girls' team champions were Roseville Express in bantam, Pleasanton Heat in midget, and Tony Williams Track Club in youth. Other individual boys' winners were Samuel Blake (age 9, Campbell, Calif., Los Gatos Athletic Association Track Club) in bantam, 11:12 (3K); Brynn Sargent (age 12, Folsom, Calif., Roseville Express) in midget, 10:36 (3K); Michael McCabe (age 13, San Jose, Calif., unattached) in youth, 14:10 (4K); and Matthew Petrillo (age 18, Los Gatos, Calif., unattached) in young men, 16:33 (5K). Team champions were Pleasanton Heat in bantam and youth, and Roseville Express in midget. "Overall, the meet was a big success," said Shor. "The kids were spectacular, the cooperation among all of the clubs and the parents made everything work smoothly. We look forward to seeing these young athletes in the regional and national meets." Dating back to the mid-1960's, the USATF Junior Olympic program is the most visible youth athlete developmental program in the world. Nearly 70,000 youth athletes compete each year in Junior Olympic Track & Field and Cross Country programs. Many of America's Olympians began as youth athletes. For more information and complete results from the 2007 Pacific Association USATF Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships, visit www.pausatf.org. The Pacific Association is the largest member association of USA Track & Field (USATF). We serve northern California and northwestern Nevada. USATF is the National Governing Body for track and field, long distance running, and race walking in the United States. For more information about the Pacific Association, visit our Web site at www.pausatf.org. Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest