Granite State Flash Runners Earn All-American Status at Nationals

December 8, 2012 Balloon Fiesta Park - Albuquerque, New Mexico

On Saturday Dec. 8, Granite State Flash had 38 youth runners attend USA Track & Field’s 2012 Junior Olympics Cross Country National Championships at Balloon Fiesta Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Having qualified to attend by racing against the best runners in Region 1- MA, NH, VT, ME, CT and NY- these New Hampshire athletes competed amongst 2,100 athletes from all across the US to determine the top cross country athletes in each age division. While the sunny and cool weather was perfect for XC, at 5,100 feet the near mile-high elevation made breathing difficult for most, and was a hurdle rarely faced by runners from the Northeast. Still, Flash runners showed their strength and determination in achieving much success against the field as well as their competition from the region.

Highlighting the day, a trio of Flash girls achieved All-American status by coming in top-25 in their respective races. Violet Sullivan of Brentwood came in 25^th in the Midget Girls 3K race with a time of 11:43, earning back-to-back All-American status while just in her first year as a Midget. Madeleine Hunt of Amherst raced a personal record 14:59 in the Youth Girls 4K race to garner 8^th overall and 1^st from Region 1. And Caroline Fischer of Merrimack came in 1st for the region and 2^nd overall in the Bantam Girls 3K race, running an 11:44.63 and just .06 seconds off the winning time of 11:44.57. With her 2^nd place finish Caroline was also the overall top finisher from not just New Hampshire, but also from all of Region 1. And while Flash did not have any top-3 teams this year, the club did have the most first-from-region team finishes (3). Within Flash, Masho Primmer had the greatest improvement by slashing 33 seconds off her previous PR set at NY's regional race.

Full results from the the National meet can be found at www.USATF.org/. Following are the results of the Granite State Flash athletes, including Place, Time and Town. * indicates a personal record (PR) was set. Top 25 individuals earned All-American status:

Sub-Bantam Girls 2K (8 and Under): Charlotte Sullivan (61, 9:06*, Brentwood), Masho Primmer (62, 9:07*, Amherst)

Sub-Bantam Boys 2K: Garrett Vaillancourt (107, 9:27, Manchester)

Bantam Girls 3K (9-10): Caroline Fischer (2, 11:44, Merrimack), Morgan Nault (45, 12:49, Manchester), Gillian Gallagher (64, 13:00, Litchfield), Keegan Pepin (65, 13:00, Auburn), Katelyn Pepin (93, 13:22, Auburn), Kaylee L'Etoille (114, 13:47, Litchfield), Lilly Law (141, 14:16, Londonderry), Taylor Clark (170, 15:00, Contoocook). 5th Place overall team finish.

Bantam Boys 3K: Zack Allen (61, 12:22, New Ipswich), Joseph Ntengeri (69, 12:26, Nashua), Ryan Fischer (80, 12:36, Merrimack), Matt Bernier (117, 13:03, Rindge), James Sullivan (144, 13:26, Brentwood), Connor Donoghue (156, 13:46, Amherst). 5th Place overall team finish.

Midget Girls 3K (11-12): Violet Sullivan (25, 11:43, Brentwood), Kalin Gregoire (78, 12:13, Londonderry), Marley Sullivan (114, 12:28, Manchester), Bailey Carrillo (117, 12:29, Merrimack), Rebecca Ntengeri (122, 12:30, Nashua), Mollie Simpson (149, 12:47, Manchester), Jordan Vaillancourt (156, 12:50, Manchester), Alexandra Seeley (181, 13:03, Londonderry). 12th Place overall team finish.

Youth Girls 4K (13-14): Madeleine Hunt (8, 14:59*, Amherst), Madison Clark (31, 15:37, Contoocook), Ariel Vaillancourt (48, 15:53, Manchester), Molly Power (68, 16:12, Hampton), Heidi Ntengeri (71, 16:15, Nashua), Erica Lane (121, 16:44, Merrimack), Katie Valin (135, 16:54, Wilton), Taylor Lacey (166, 17:21, Chester). 5th Place overall team finish.

Intermediate Girls 5K (15-16): Shannon Glidden (121, 24:35, Greenfield)

Intermediate Boys 5K: James Busi (71, 18:14, Plaistow), Christian Parenteau (83, 18:31, Hollis), Dan McColley (91, 18:35, Brentwood), Sam Richmond (135, 19:45, Bedford