Posted: December 10, 2007

Athletics: Athletes overcome snowy conditions at 2007 Junior Olympic Cross Country Champs

INDIANAPOLIS - Paige Rice of Oregon CC claimed her second title in as many years Saturday at the 2007 USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships, presented by Finish Line, at Rim Rock Farm in Lawrence, Kansas. More than 2,100 athletes aged 8 to 18 from all 57 USATF Associations competed 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. The 2006 bantam girls winner, Rice dominated the field in the midget girls 3 km race cruising to victory in 10 minutes 58.57 seconds. Her next closest competitor was runner-up Nicole Mellow (Columbia Track Club) who finished in 11:15.04. 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. Individual boys' winners 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. For more information on the 2007 USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships, presented by Finish Line, including complete results, visit USATF.org. Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest