Youth Cross Country Season ends in Hoover, Alabama
12/28/16
PITTSBURGH — The 2016 Youth Cross Country season came to a close on Saturday, December 10th at the USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships in Hoover, Alabama. Over two dozen athletes represented TRA and were amongst nearly 3500 of the top athletes from across the country.
Athletes participated in an opening ceremony on Friday, December 9th where they walked with their regions, recited the Junior Olympic Athlete Oath and listened to some local musicians. As a special treat, elite athletes and Olympians, Terrence Trammell and Kristin Heaston, offered words of encouragement and spoke about their respective athletic journeys.
11-12 Girl, Faith Wilson, earned All-American honors (top 25) in her 3k race. She placed 13th with a time of 11:46.63. This performance was the only All-American performance for TRA athletes. Other notable performances include Penn Hills Eagles teammates, Lenna Birchard and Amina Robison. They placed 29th and 30th in the 8 & Under Girls 2K race which had 214 total athletes. Robinson was the 8 & Under Girls Individual Champion in the 2016 Youth Cross Country Challenge.
2016 TRA National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships Participants:
| Place | Name | Age Division | Team | Time |
| 29 | Birchard, Lenna * | Penn Hills Eagles | 8 & Under Girls | 9:10.67 |
| 30 | Robinson, Amina + | Penn Hills Eagles | 8 & Under Girls | 9:10.83 |
| 72 | Mahoney, Jai’Anna | Penn Hills Eagles | 8 & Under Girls | 9:43./74 |
| 107 | Eagle, Mary | River City Elite | 9-10 Girls | 13:40.18 |
| 124 | Guilfoyle, Catherine | River City Elite | 9-10 Girls | 13:52.74 |
| 216 | Gongas, Alexandra | Get Fit Families | 9-10 Girls | 14:52.63 |
| 256 | Orr, Ariel | Get Fit Families | 9-10 Girls | 15:32.72 |
| 13 | Wilson, Faith | Mountain Top | 11-12 Girls | 11:46.63 |
| 96 | Hicks, Alaina * | Get Fit Families | 11-12 Girls | 12:39.17 |
| 245 | Zalenski, Julia | Get Fit Families | 11-12 Girls | 13:32.98 |
| 267 | Orr, Riley | Get Fit Families | 11-12 Girls | 13:43.69 |
| 330 | Rotelli, Gianna | Get Fit Families | 11-12 Girls | 14:26.35 |
| 331 | Kreber, Abby | Get Fit Families | 11-12 Girls | 14:26.94 |
| 59 | Lucot, Tara * | Get Fit Families | 13-14 Girls | 15:06.23 |
| 179 | Bowes, Mckenna | Get Fit Families | 13-14 Girls | 16:01.36 |
| 232 | Sellati, Madelyn * | Pacer Track | 13-14 Girls | 16:23.44 |
| 291 | Carter, Emily | Pacer Track | 13-14 Girls | 16:51.04 |
| 96 | Moorehead, Jenna * | Get Fit Families | 15-16 Women | 24:59.64 |
| 96 | Lythgoe, Franklin | Pacer Track | 8 & Under Boys | 9:20.03 |
| 98 | Rotelli, Enzo * | Get Fit Families | 8 & Under Boys | 9:20.77 |
| 45 | Weinmann, Renz + | Pacer Track | 9-10 Boys | 12:17.90 |
| 160 | Rotelli, Matteo | Get Fit Families | 9-10 Boys | 13:19.26 |
| 58 | Singleton, CJ | Get Fit Families | 11-12 Boys | 11:37.26 |
| 188 | Barrett, Timothy | Unattached | 11-12 Boys | 12:21.79 |
| 369 | Hicks, Aidan | Get Fit Families | 11-12 Boys | 13:57.26 |
| 114 | Turner, Kasey | Pacer Track | 13-14 Boys | 13:53.48 |
| 194 | Burkhart, Antonio | Pacer Track | 13-14 Boys | 14:17.87 |
+ 2016 Youth Cross Country Challenge Individual Champion
* 2015 National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships Participant
Complete 2016 USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Results can be found here.
Each of these athletes had to qualify for the national competition by participating in the 2016 Region 2 Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships in Morris Plains, New Jersey. The competition was held on November 20th at Central Park. Nearly 75 athletes and eight teams represented Three Rivers in the 4 Association, Regional competition. Those teams included Get Fit Families, Greensburg YMCA, Mountain Top Track & Field, Nadia Track, Pacer Track, Penn Hills Eagles Track, River City Elite, and Valley Speedsters. Individuals who placed in the top 30 and teams who placed in the top 5 advanced to Hoover, AL.
Penn Hills 8 & under girls had a stellar performance at the competition. Led by 2016 Youth Cross Country Challenge Winner, Amina Robinson, 5 athletes finished within the top 15 and secured a 1st place team finish with 26 points.
Other notable performances:
- 9-10 Girls, Jenna Lang – Pacer Track – 2nd Place
- 9-10 Boys, Renz Weinman – Pacer Track – 3rd Place
- 11-12 Girls, Faith Wilsion – Mountain Top Track & Field – 3rd Place
- 11-12 Boys, CJ Singleton – Get Fit Families – 2nd Place
- 13-14 Girls, Tara Lucot – Get Fit Families – 2nd Place
- 15-18 Men, Haden Boutiller – Mountain Top Track & Field – 3rd Place
Complete Region 2 Cross Country Results can be found here.
Congratulations to all the youth athletes on a successful Cross Country season.