Eight Local Youth Runners Qualify for Junior Olympic National Championships

Naperville Track Club is proud to announce that eight of its cross country team members have qualified for the USA Track and Field Junior Olympic Championships, to be held on December 13, 2014 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Racers qualified at the Region 7 USATF Junior Olympic Championships, held November 22 at Lewis University in Romeoville.

National Qualifiers are:

8 and Under Division:

• Will Wachter (placed 6th in boys’ Regionals, running a 8:37 2K)
• Sienna McEneaney (placed 11th in girls’ Regionals, running a 9:42 2K)
• Cary George (placed 17th in boys’ Regionals, running a 9:23 2K)
• Dylan Boehm (placed 22nd in boys’ Regionals, running a 10:07 2K)

9-10 Division:

• Griffin Schultz (placed 11th in boys’ Regionals, running a 12:29 3K)

11-12 Division:

• Ali Bernard (placed 26th in girls’ Regionals, running a 11:59 3K)
• Zane Kinne (placed 28th in boys’ Regionals, running a 11:34 3K)

13-14 Division:

• Zach Kinne (placed 11th in boys’ Regionals, running a 13:44 4K)

Of the national qualifiers, so far three have confirmed that they will be traveling to Myrtle Beach to compete in the Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships. The team had a record 52 team members participate this season, led by Coach Chris Wolak and Assistant Coaches Paul Anderson, Natalie Carter and Courtney Dimitris.

The team has been practicing together after school on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays since September at a District 204 elementary school, and members participate in many local events together, including Warriors on the Run and the upcoming Turkey Trot.

The Naperville Track Club is an Official USATF Youth Cross Country and Track & Field team based in Naperville, Illinois. It includes runners from Naperville, Aurora, Oswego, Plainfield, and other local areas. In 2004, coaches from Neuqua Valley High School and Scullen Middle School formed NTC in order to help young runners develop healthy fitness habits and a lifelong love for running. Since then, the club has grown to include everything from national-caliber athletes to beginning runners. NTC works with each athlete, no matter how much talent or experience he or she brings, to set challenging, meaningful goals and work toward personal improvement.