Thirteen athletes from the Colorado association competed at the USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships in Paris, Kentucky. A total of 1,346 athletes from across the country competed in the championships. Historically all ten championship races have been conducted on one day but this year the meet was conducted over two days to ensure proper COVID-19 mitigation procedures could be achieved. One of these procedures included races being broken into wave starts which created an unprecedented level of suspense as athletes in each division had to wait to the final wave to learn of their placing. The course, considered challenging by most, included an uphill finish.
The storylines of the day for the Colorado athletes were the national title won by Dylan Smith (Parker Panthers) in the 11-12 boys division, the runner-up finish by Elin Latta (Parker Panthers) in the 9-10 girls race, and five other Coloradans earning all-American honors for their top-25 finishes.
Smith ran to victory in the boys 11-12 division. His winning time was 10:22 over the 3 km course as he won by three seconds. His teammate Kendrick Parrill also picked up all-American honors with his 14th place finish; running 11:06.
In the 9-10 girls division twin sisters Elin and Iris Latta finished second and seventh, respectively. Their younger twin sisters Remy and Reese Latta finished 31st and 35th, respectively. Older sister, Addyson Latta finished 84th in the 11-12 division.
In the boys 7-8 division Trace Safken (unattached) ran to a sixth place finish running 7:39 over the 2 km course.
Brady Smith, Dylan’s older brother, finished 10th in the 13-14 boys race running 13:51 on the 4 km course. His Parker Panther teammate Griffin Mazeski also earned all-American honors finishing 20th in a time of 14:08.
In the 9-10 boys race, desipte suffering a broken collarbone on October 31, Nicholas Garofalo (Parker Panthers) fought hard to place 26th; just .5 seconds outside of an all-American finish.
Siblings Van (51st; 9-10 boys) and Palmer Johnson (133rd; 13-14 girls) rounded out the Colorado performances.
To see the full Colorado Results Scoreboard click here.
The 2021 national championships will return to Paris, KY next year.