Four locals race to All-American status at Junior XC Nationals

SHELBYVILLE, Ind. — Competing against hundreds of other runners from all over the nation, Sandpoint's Olivia Betz, Miro Parr-Coffin, Boheme Parr-Coffin and Indy Parr-Coffin all achieved All-American honors for finishing amongst the top 25 in their respective age groups at the USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships held this past Saturday at the Blue River Cross Country Course.

The four, along with Paloma Parr-Coffin and Ruthie Laughridge, all run for the North Idaho Distance Project, a Coeur d'Alene-based premier youth running club founded in 2005. The club's main goal? To qualify and compete at this very event every year. The six runners from Bonner County who qualified for this year's national championships didn't just place among the top in the country, but ran to top finishes in three other November meets that followed the schools' cross country season.

Miro (13-14 year old boys) led all area athletes at the national meet, finishing third out of 421 runners and helping the North Idaho Distance Project win the team title with a 4,000-meter time of 12 minutes and 22 seconds. Yes ... that's an average mile pace of 4 minutes and 58 seconds per mile. Miro adds the third-place finish to his already impressive club resume, one that includes back-to-back Inland Northwest and Region 13 championship titles and a runner-up finish at last year's national championship.

Boheme (9-10 year old girls) was seventh out of 291 runners with a new personal record 3,000-meter time of 11 minutes and 36 seconds (6:13/mi). Earlier this season, she won the Mercury Mountainside Madness Invite in Colbert, Wash. and placed second at both the Inland Northwest and Region 13 championships.

Betz (11-12 year old girls) was 12th out 363 runners and helped the North Idaho Distance Project finish third out of 27 teams with a new personal record 3,000-meter time of 11 minutes and 1 second (5:54/mi). In her first year competing with the club, she ran to a first-place finish at the Inland Northwest championship and to second at the Region 13 championship.

Indy (7-8 year old boys) rounded out the All-American honorees, finishing 20th out of 247 runners with a new personal record 2,000-meter time of 7 minutes and 54 seconds (6:21/mi) while Paloma (13-14 year old girls) ran to a 32nd-place finish out of 394 runners with a new personal record 4,000-meter time of 14 minutes and 34 seconds (5:51/mi) and Laughridge (13-14 year old girls), who's coming back from an injury, to a 295th place-finish in 17 minutes and 16 seconds (6:57/mi).

"It's unbelievable that in this area were able to see these kind of results at these national-caliber meets," North Idaho Distance project head coach Allison Howard said. "It's really really competitive, to go out there and be third, fourth ... it's an amazing accomplishment, and often times the teams were competing against are from much larger metropolitan areas that have a much bigger draw."

Howard said all of her athletes have exceeded expectations this year, especially at the national meet, and that she couldn't be more proud of them.

"They have said yes to everything we've asked, they don't complain — I'm just blown away by what they are willing to give," coach Howard said. "They are just some of the grittiest, toughest, and just the most joyful kids you could ask to coach. I am absolutely blessed and honored to coach them."