Five High School Athletes To Represent Team USA At NACAC XC


Five high school athletes accepted invitations to compete at the North American Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC) Cross Country Championships in Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, on February 16, USA Track and Field announced recently. 

In total, the USA Junior team will include 11 athletes, also consisting of collegiate freshman, and athletes were granted invitations following their finishes at the USATF Junior Cross Country Championships on February 2 in Tallahassee, Florida.

A total of 31 Federations within NACAC will compete at the National Championships, including athletes from Mexico, Canada, Hondura, Jamaica and Costa Rica, among others. 

The list of high schoolers competing include: Grace Ping (Winona Cotter, MN), Heidi Nielson (Katy Cinco Ranch, TX), Graydon Morris (Aledo, TX), Colin Baker (Academic Magnet, SC), Noelle Adriaens (Pinckney, MI). 

Those chosen to compete in the men's 8K race and women's 6K race were selected in team processing at the USA Championships, with the top six athletes in each race receiving invitations first, before deferments led to the team being rounded up. 

Ping, who finished fourth at the USA Junior Championships and earned an automatic place at the IAAF U20 Championships in March, was the highest finisher of any high schooler accepting an invitation.

Nielson was sixth in the women's race, while Morris (7th), Baker (15th) and Adriaens (9th) all accepted invitations. 

The USA team, which also includes senior men's and women's teams, will be coached by Boise State University volunteer distance coach Dave Mills and University of Wisconsin's Jim Miller, who's the head women's coach at Wisconsin. 

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Full USA Team For The NACAC XC Championships

racenameresidence
Senior Men 10kmReid BuchananManhattan, Kansas
Senior Men 10kmFrankline TonuiColorado Springs, Colorado
Senior Men 10kmAbbabiya SimbassaColorado Springs, Colorado
Senior Men 10kmJoel ReichowWhite Bear Lake, Minnesota
Senior Men 10kmDavid ElliottBoise, Idaho
Senior Men 10kmEvans KirwaDaytona Beach, Florida
Senior Women 10kmKatrina SpratfordProvidence, Rhode Island
Senior Women 10kmHannah EversonColorado Springs, Colorado
Senior Women 10kmJessica TonnSeattle, Washington
Senior Women 10kmSamantha BluskeToledo, Ohio
Senior Women 10kmBreanna SierackiDuluth, Minnesota
Senior Women 10kmGrayson MurphySalt Lake City, Utah
Under 20 Men 8kmGraydon MorrisAledo, Texas
Under 20 Men 8kmReece DonihiPhoenix, Arizona
Under 20 Men 8kmAdam DayaniCarrollton, Texas
Under 20 Men 8kmColin BakerNorth Charleston, South Carolina
Under 20 Men 8kmMatthew ScrapePickerington, Ohio
Under 20 Women 6kmGrace PingWinona, Minnesota
Under 20 Women 6kmHeidi NielsonKaty, Texas
Under 20 Women 6kmRachel McCardellBloomfield Village, Michigan
Under 20 Women 6kmSamantha CormanClarks Summit, Pennsylvania
Under 20 Women 6kmNoelle AdriaensPinckney, Michigan
Under 20 Women 6kmKatie DammerClarks Summit, Pennsylvania


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