Janke Leads Team USA to NACAC XC Championships U20 Title

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Washington State freshman Justin Janke's fourth-place finish led the USA U20 Men's team to the team gold medal at the 13th Annual North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Cross Country Championships in Boca Raton, Florida, Saturday morning.

Janke, from Spokane, Wash., ran the South Country Regional Park 6,500 meters course in a time of 19 minutes 22.36 seconds. The top three U20 men were Kiernan Lumb from Canada and Auturo Is Reyna Tristan from Mexico who tied for first with a time of 19:19.42. Victor Ortiz, from Puerto Rico, took third in a time of 19:22.16.

The USA U20 men's team won with a total of 25 points followed by Mexico with 31, Canada with 42, and Puerto Rico with 49.

The USA U20 men's team and their placings were: Aidan Reed, sixth (19:25.59), Isaac Harding, seventh (19:27.12), Nicholas Rink, eighth (19:30.09), Jericho Cleveland, 12th (19:39.42), and Jacob Branch, 15th (19:55.36).

"The race was really tactical, and at least the weather complied, it wasn't as hot and as humid as it had been when I got there," Janke said. "The pace was really relaxed for quite a while, and I found myself leading or up front for the first half of the race. It was really packed up for the first half, but due to an early course mishap that didn't affect the distance. I realized I had to do something to maybe win it. I was leading for a while, then some of the other runners rallied and caught up, and I latched on. And then the crazy mishap occurred where they directed us away from the finish for another 500 meters. I was still able to regain control from my kick and still take fourth, out-kicking a guy from Mexico. I'm still really happy with my performance and had a great experience representing the USA, hopefully the first of many."

Janke finished eighth at the 2017 USATF Cross Country National Junior Men's Championships Feb. 4, in Bend, Ore. He ran the muddy and snowy 8,000m course at the Rivers Edge Golf Course in a time of 26:41.

Janke was a member of the WSU cross country team that took 14th place in the NCAA Championships. He finished 48th overall at the Pac-12 Championships, ninth on the team, but did not compete at the NCAA West Region or NCAA Championships meet.

Washington State University Athletics

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