CLERMONT, FLORIDA--The Junior Boys race the showcased NACAC US dominance. The team swept the top six positions behind the 19:51 by PA's David Mock.
David Mock leads a pack of US runners during the race.
(photo by Jason Byrne, FLrunners.com)
The US charge was lead by Pennsylvania's David Mock. The William & Mary freshman was riding high off an impressive showing at the US Championships last month. The meet made him realize that his training was begining to pay off.
"(USATF Championships) was a huge confidence booster. It made me realize I could run with this kind of competition," explained Mock, "... I put in a lot of mileage of the summer...and in the fall I wasn't really used to it, but I have been feeling really good in my training lately and (the hard work) is really starting to pay off."
Mock wasn't intimidated by the hilly course, "I really like hills... usually I just want to go out and take it as hard as I can, but my coach wanted me to hold back for at least the first K. And I did that and it paid off."
Mock's crossed the finish line in 19:51 on the 6K course. Former-Floridian Timothy McLeod came by in second place 7 seconds later in 19:58. Current Florida State Seminole and Tallahassee Chiles graduate Alex Miletich was the final Florida native represented. His time of 20:10 was good enough to earn him a fourth place finish.
David Mock following the race.
(photo by Jason Byrne, FLrunners.com)
Central Florida's Jenny Barringer walked away with the NACAC championship on her home turf. For those unaware, NACAC stands for North America, Central America and Carribean. Barringer won the 4K race against international competition on the brutal cross country course at the National Triathlon Training Center in Clermont.
Runners battled heat and steep hills, taking a huge toll on both their muscles and their times. Barringer took the race out hard in her usual style and never looked back. She lead the entire race by a decent margin, and finished strong with a 16 second lead over USA teammate Christina Fidducia. Barringer's time was 14:50.
The Team USA show didn't stop there, as the Junior Girls with Virginian Emily Harrison and Zoe Nelson bringing home the scoring sweep for the team. In international meets, teams score just four runners--giving the USA a perfect 10 points, easily beating Puerto Rico and Jamaica.
This is the first year of the NACAC Cross Country Championships. The organization has hosted a track & field championship for several years now. USATF and IAAF officials were on hand, some seeing the Clermont course for the first time--seemily all were impressed by the tough, yet spectator friendly course and modern facilities. Is looks like Clermont will host the meet for at least two more years and possibly future events on both the cross country course and, perhaps even more impressive, world class track at the NTC.