Codrington, Boschen, MacKinnon Run to Top-10 Finishes at National Junior Olympic Championships

Results 

On Saturday (9-Dec), 87 athletes representing 10 clubs from USATF New York competed at the USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships in Louisville, Kentucky.  The competition was held at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park, the site of numerous NCAA championships, including the 2012, 2015, and 2017 Division 1 championships. Near perfect weather conditions graced the park for much of the day Saturday, but lightning and heavy rain came in just ahead of the boys 15-18 start, delaying the race until Sunday morning. 

A total of 3054 athletes and 273 teams from across the country competed in the championships.

Races were contested in 6 age divisions (8 & under, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, 15-16, 17-18) for boys and girls.  The top 25 finishers in each age division earned all-American status and the top 3 teams were presented with championship recognition. 
 
Seven (7) athletes from the New York association earned all-American honors while the Prospect Park Youth Running Club fielded seven scoring teams and the Ocean Breeze Wave Runners sent two teams to the line.

The storylines of the day for the New York athletes were the top-ten finishes by 
Morgan Codrington (VO2Max Track Club), Cyrus Boschen (VO2Max Track Club), and Kilian MacKinnon (Westchester Wolves).

In the 7-8 Girls race, Morgan Codrington, the Region 1 champion, battled with eventual winner Sadie Hamon, from Washington, throughout the race but it was Hamon who eked out the win by just .30 seconds. In the closest race of the day, both received official times of 7:33 on the 2 km course as they were 12 seconds ahead of the third place finisher. Cadence Leotaud (Hall's Express II Track) finished 22nd, running 8:16, to earn all-American honors.

At last year's championships Cyrus Boschen finished fourth in the 7-8 division. This year he moved up to the 9-10 division and despite being at the "bottom" of the division finished third running 10:51 for 3 km. He was the first 9-year old finisher. The race was won for the second year in a row by Robert Stepanov of Colorado in a time of 9:59. Led by the 31st place finish by George Gitt, the Prospect Park Youth Running Club finished 10th in the team standings with 322 points.

In the 11-12 Boys race Kilian MacKinnon finished sixth running 10:12 for 3 km. It was his best finish at the national championships having placed 13th two years ago in the 9-10 division. The race was won by Victor Jaimez-Solorio Jr. of California won the race stopping the clock at 9:45. Tristan Acevedo (The Camp) finished 31st running 10:38.

Abigail Riley (VO2Max Track Club) earned all-American honors for the third year in a row while Aria Boschen (VO2Max Track Club), and Saffa Ellis (Prospect Park Youth RC) each earned their second straight all-American honor. All three will return next year in the same divisions.

Riley, the Region 1 champion, finished 12th in the 9-10 Girls race running 11:30 on the 3 km course.. In the 11-12 Girls race, Boschen, the Region 1 champion, finished 22nd running 11:08.  In the 13-14 Girls race Ellis finished 21st running 14:19 on the 4 km course.

The Ocean Breeze Wave Runners finished eighth in the 11-12 Girls and 16th in the 7-8 Boys team standings.

The Prospect Park Youth Running Club teams finished 10th (9-10 Boys), 11th (15-18 Boys), 12th (11-12 Boys), 12th (13-14 Boys), 14th (9-10 Girls), 18th (11-12 Girls), and 30th (13-14 Girls).

Next year's championships will return to Louisville on December 14.
 

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Looking ahead to the 2024 indoor and outdoor seasons the USATF Youth Indoor Championships will be held in Louisville, KY (March 8-10), the USATF Youth Outdoor Championships will be held in New York (June 26-29), and the USATF National Junior Olympic Championships will be held in College Station, TX (July 22-28).