Janke & Gray help Team USA win titles at NACAC Cross Country Championships...
BOCA RATON, Florida—Washington State University freshman Justin Janke (Ieft/photo by Mike Scott) helped lead Team USA to the victory at the NACAC U20 Cross Country Championships Saturday at Burt Aaronson South County Regional Park Saturday morning.
Janke was Team USA’s first runner across the line, finishing fourth in 19:23 over a 6.5k course.
After some initial confusion in which the runners were sent off course, according to a tweet from Athletics Canada, Kiernan Lumb of Canada and Arturo Reyna Tristan were given a tie for the win in 19:20, with Janke fourth in 19:23.
Behind Janke, Team USA’s three other runners—Aidan Reed, Isaac Harding and Nicholas Rink finished 6-7-8 to give the Stars & Stripes a final team score of 25 to outdistance Mexico by 6 points, with Canada third at 42.
In the senior men’s 8k race, Lakes HS graduate Joe Gray finished third, as Team USA took the first five spots to score a perfect 10 points (4 runners score in international cross country).
Gray ran 22:51, as Abbabiya Simbassa won in a time of 22:41.
In the senior women’s 8k, Inglemoor HS grad Tansey Listed finished ninth in a time of 28:11, as Canada’s Sasha Golish won in 26:49, eleven seconds ahead of Team USA’s top runner, Amy Van Alstine.
The USA and Canada finished with identical scores of 18, with Canada winning the tie breaker, as their fourth runner finished 7th to the USA’s 8th.
Sedro Wooley HS standout Kristen Garcia, who will also run for Team USA at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Kampala, Uganda in three weeks, finished 14th in the Under-20 women’s 5k race, clocking 18:20, as Canada’s Brogan Macdougal won in 16:40.
Incoming University of Washington freshman Shona McCulloch finished ninth for Team Canada, in a time of 17:41. McCulloch will also compete at the world cross country championships for Canada in three weeks.
The Canadians took the team title over Team USA 12-36, with Mexico third at 49.
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