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Heat Junior Olympics Cross-Country Team Chilled by Atlanta Cold

Team Places Fifth in Nation; Livermore’s Drew Callen Achieves “All-American” Status

The Pleasanton Heat Junior Olympics Cross-Country teams encountered unexpected record low temperatures in the 20’s with blustering winds competing at the exciting USA Track and Field National Junior Olympic Championships in Carrollton, Georgia this past weekend. Braving the elements, including a mist with the ice-cold wind, over ten-thousand spectators lined the course to watch, clad in heavy coats, scarves and blankets.

Despite the cold, difficult to train for in warmer climates, the Heat’s Bantam boys team finished a very respectable fifth (5th) in the nation overall. Many of the Heat’s runners finished in the elite Top 50, and one, Midget boys’ class running sensation Drew Callen of Livermore, claimed the most prestigious “All-American” status, finishing 22nd to lead the Heat’s individual runners.

After watching the Bantam boys’race, Callen wisely borrowed various items of clothing from other runners, such as a hat and gloves, to get off to a great start, and was able to wind his way through many cold, tired runners at the end of the 3,000 meter course to pace the Heat and grab the coveted All-American award. The chilly course wound through woodsy areas, challenging hilly terrain, and a large number of vast puddles.

“I knew I had to get out in front of those 300 runners as fast as I could, because the course narrowed very quickly, and I didn’t want to get stuck behind a bunch of other guys in the mud,” said Callen. Callen received an All-American medal, and a large plaque emblazoned with his running bib and the “All-American” designation at an awards ceremony celebrating the event.

Callen’s victory is all the more sweet, because last track season a foot injury forced him to sit out the Nationals in the 1500 meters. His parents, Derwin and Denese, were careful to research the right shoes, and allow his injury to heal, so that he could run this year.

“It was an awful feeling, watching Drew try to finish last year with that foot problem. We knew we weren’t going to let that happen again, so we put the reigns on Drew despite some protest, but it seems to have worked,” Mr. Callen beamed.

The Bantam boys’ respectable fifth place finish was also a bright spot, with Ismail Adam, James Langford, Eric Cavalli, Jake Potter, Ryan Stratman, Parker Deuel, Jake McCarthy, and Declan Rosdahl scoring well. Adam, Langford, and Cavalli all finished in the Top 50.

The Bantam girls’ team was 13th overall, led by Nicole Hood, who also finished in the Top 50 individually (40th overall). Other members were Taylor Chavez, Nicole Torquato, Taylor Machado, and Breann Chavez.

The Midget girls’ team placed 20th overall, paced by Sara Aliotti, who finished Top 50 also (37th overall), with Cory MacDonald, Megan Leoni, Livermore’s Tatiana Delledera, Haley Lenz, and Katie Funke also scoring.

The Intermediate boys team was 12th overall, led by Jimmy Elam, with Tristan Blair, Andrew Bock, Nick Williams, Chris Simpson, and Andrew Dixon performing well.

Other Top 50 runners were Tariq Adam in the Midget boys (33rd overall), All-American Ashley Stratman in the Youth girls division (26th overall), and Ashley Chavez in the Youth girls.

Other top finishers were Adrian Fuentes in Midget boys, Katena Sanford in Youth girls, Livermore’s Robbie Knorr and Marcus Funke in Youth boys, Brittany MacDonald, Tara Meyer, Nicole Nathanson, and Kendall Nemeth in Intermediate girls.

Back to DyeStatCal 2002 Cross-Country Results

is published by

Editors: Doug Speck and Rich Gonzalez
Publisher: John Dye

�2002 by DyeStat