Collins and Heineking to compete for spot on Team USA

Story Links

SAN DIEGO, Calif .- Two Cavalier cross country runners will be racing for a spot on the USA team this weekend. Freshmen Ryan Collins and Emil Heineking will be competing in the Junior Men’s 8k at the 2008 USA Cross Country Championships at Mission Bay Park in San Diego, Calif., on Saturday afternoon.

The top six finishers in each of the six races will qualify to represent Team USA at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh, Scotland on March 30.

Heineking and Collins are competing in the Junior Champions, where Heineking is considered a favorite at the championship. He earned All-America status from the United States Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association following his rookie season. He was also named the ACC Freshman of the Year and finished 56th at the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Indiana, last fall.

Both Cavaliers are running against Elliot Heath, a current Stanford University freshman and defending champion in the junior men’s event. German Fernandez, the 2007 California state champ, finished third in last fall’s Foot Locker National Championships and Matt Tebo of the University of Colorado, who was a member of Team USA at last year’s World Cross Country Championships, will also be participating in the event.

The Junior Men’s 8k is scheduled to be the fifth event of the day, beginning at 3:30 p.m.