Freshman sensation Rolonda Jumbo (Fr, Chinle) toed the line with some of the nations best runners at the USA Cross Country Championships. The slightly muddy course didn't appear to slow the young runner down as she crossed the finish line in 8th place. Jumbo was two places short of qualifying for the USA team. Her time of 21:48 on the 6K course was four seconds behind sixth place runner Emily Pritt of North Carolina State University.
Neely Spence, a freshman at Shippensburg in Pennsylvania won the race in 20:43. The top high school female runner of the day was second place finisher Ashley Brasovan (Sr, Florida) the 2007 Footlocker National Champion. The top 6 runners will head to Jordan to compete in the World Cross Country Championships on March 28th.
Jumbo was the only high school runner from Arizona.
On the boys side two former Arizona high school runners Jim Walmsley, a Horizon high school graduate now running for the Air Force Academy, and Matt Boughton, a Desert Vista graduate now running for Arizona State, both participate in the junior race. Walmsley finished the 8K course in 19th place in 25:36 with Boughton finishing 46th in 26:56