Grinaker to run for U.S. at NACAC championships
March 04, 2009 | Women's Cross Country
athid=6138&deptid=169"> --> Hanna Grinaker is trading in her Badger red for the Stars and Stripes this weekend.
The University of Wisconsin junior will run as part of the U.S. national team at this weekend's North America, Central America and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC) Cross Country Championships in Titusville, Fla.
One of five runners on the U.S. women's team, Grinaker will compete against a field of 170 athletes representing 16 nations in the fifth-annual event. The women 's division event is a 6-kilometer race and will be run at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at Chain of Lakes Park in Titusville.
Grinaker qualified for the national team with an sportid=169&storyid=16767"> --> 11th-place finish at last month's USA Cross Country Championships in Maryland.
Grinaker, 21, is one of just two collegians on the team, joining West Virginia junior Clara Grandt, 21, who was eighth at the U.S. championships. The other U.S. competitors are Kasie Enman, 29, of Huntington, Vt., Erin Nehus, 27, of Indianapolis, and Megan Guiney, 28, of New York.
A two-time cross country All-American for the Badgers, as well as a three-time All-Big Ten Conference selection, Grinaker is redshirting the indoor track and field season for UW.
During the 2008 cross country season, Grinaker earned an 11th-place finish at the Big Ten championship and went on to finish ninth at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional.
The NACAC is an area association of the International Association of Athletics Federations, the international governing body of track and field. Founded in 1988, the NACAC is comprised of 32 member nations and holds regular championship events across a variety of events and age groups.
Current UW senior Gwen Jorgensen competed in the NACAC Under-23 Track & Field Championships in 2008, winning a gold medal in the 5,000 meters.
