Seventeen athletes, ages 8 to 14, from the United Track and Cross Country club team based in Agoura Hills earned bids to race at USATF (U.S. Track and Field) Junior Olympics on Dec. 8 in Reno, Nev.
The runners qualified after racing in November in Las Vegas, just days after all 17 athletes evacuated during the Woolsey fire.
Sterling White of Oak Park finished fourth place overall in a race of 232 runners in the 8 and Under boys’ division, earning the title of USATF All American Stand Out.
Sterling is a second-grader at Brookside Elementary and the son of Steve White, head track and cross-country coach at Oak Park High School.
The United Cross Country athletes competed on a post season all-stars team, the California Comets, along with other young runners from the greater Los Angeles area.
United Cross Country is part of the United Track Club.
To qualify for the national event, athletes must finish in the top 30 in their age group qualifying race and teams must place in the top five.
The California Comets sent five age group teams to the Junior Olympics. The results are:
The 8 and Under Comets girls’ team: 10th place.
The 8 and Under Comets boys’ team: sixth place.
The 9-10 Comets boys’ team: eighth place.
The 11-12 Comets boys’ team: 11th place.
The 13-14 Comets boys’ team: 28th place.
The race was held at Rancho San Rafael Regional Park. Snow, ice and slush covered the running course. Despite temperatures of 24 to 32 degrees and an altitude of 4,500 feet, the California Comets quickly adapted to the unfamiliar course conditions and powered on.