Junior Olympic XC Championships

Saturday, December 12th

BTC Youth Girls brave snow to take second place at Junior Olympic XC Championships

Reno, Nevada - Following an hour-long delay due to snowy conditions, and 30 degree weather, Montana athletes began their charge towards bringing home 11 All-Americans and a second place finish in the Youth Girls 4K race in December at the 2009 USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships at Rancho San Rafael Regional Park in Reno, Nevada.

The event featured more than 2,300 runners, with athletes aged 8 to 18 competing 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.

Hit with a winter storm a few days before the championships, Reno was blanketed with snow. As the snow continued to fall, officials from the Reno Tahoe Winter Games Coalition (RTWGC) and USATF's Pacific Association worked to make sure that course conditions would be cleared in time for the championship races. And while another six inches of snow is expected to hit tomorrow, the winter storm watch does not take effect until mid-afternoon.

Led by Caroline Hardin with a 15th place finish, the Bozeman Track Club’s youth girl’s team placed three runners in the top twenty spots to earn the silver medal in the 4K race, finishing one point behind the Equalizers, a team from California that is nationally ranked as one of top cross-country programs in the country. Member’s included Caroline Hardin (15), Aja Strakey (18), Andie Creel (20), Brigid Bradshaw (61), Alexa Welch (108), Hannah Flook (202); Abigail Hansen (213), and Cami Kohler (216).

On the Youth Boy’s side Colter May of Bozeman finished 18th (14:18.0) for All-American status in the 4K championship race. Other team members included Hunter May (15:35 - 132); Habib Mostefa (15:57 – 164); Issac Lowe-Anker (16:19 – 185); Benjamin Krick (16:21 - 189); Theo Bennett (17:15 - 218); and Max Malloy (17:50 - 230).