Sierra Flyers compete at nationals

Sierra Flyers run at Junior Olympic nationals

Staff Reports

Nick Schlager of Carson City and the Sierra Flyers youth running club finished 29th in his Midget Boys race at the USA Track and Field Junior Olympic National Cross Country Championships held in Albuquerque, N.M., on Saturday.

Schlager, a Carson Middle School sixth grader, was four seconds shy of qualifying for a top-25 finish to earn All-America honors in the Midget Boys (11- and 12-year-olds) age group, but he still ran a strong time of 12 minutes, 5 seconds on the 3-kilometer (1.87 miles) course at the Lovelace New Mexico Soccer Complex-Bernalillo.

Christy Works also finished 66th in the Youth Girls race, as she ran 17:37 over a 4-kilometer course. She was part of a Silver State Striders team that finished third in the Touth Girls standings.

Annie Brinson finished 77th in the Intermediate Girls race with a 22:24 clocking for 5-kilometers and Megan Meyer ran 23:35 to finish 114th.

In the boy's bantam division 3ks, Nicky Dicianno finished 122nd for 3-kilometers and Peter Brinson ran 15:07 for 178th place. Their Silver State Striders team finished 11th.

In the Midget Girls race, Ashley Turner ran 14:13 for 3-kilometers to finish 167th.

The experience was a good one overall for the Flyers, according to coach Dennis Brinson.

"I was proud of how they all did," Brinson said. "Kids come from all over the nation to compete - every race had from 200 to 300 plus runners - and they were all focused and not intimidated. The experience is great for them. They know they are among the top runners in America."

The 2004 Junior Olympic national meet will be held in Chicago.