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

Related Links: 

• Three High Schoolers Earn Automatic Bids To IAAF U20 XC Championships