Sieracki, Simbassa Victorious For U.S. At NACAC XC

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Breanna Sieracki withstood the heat and humidity of Trinidad & Tobago better than most and won the 10-kilometer senior women's race Saturday at the North America Central American Caribbean (NACAC) Cross Country Championships.

Sieracki, who had finished 19th at the USATF Cross Country Championships on Feb. 2, won the race in 36:24. Jessica Tonn finished third in 36:40, as the U.S. women edged Canada for the title, 18-20 (scoring four instead of five).

Temperatures rose to a steamy 90 degrees Saturday at Queen's Park Savannah in Port of Spain.

The U.S. swept the top four spots in the senior men's 10K as Biya Simbassa won in 31:49. Teammates Frankline Tonui and Reid Buchanan were within two seconds of him. 

Rory Linkletter of BYU, competing for his native Canada, was fifth.  

Taryn O'Neill, a freshman at Villanova who hails from Lake Country, British Columbia, won the U-20 women's 6,000-meter race in 22:08 to lead a 1-2-3-4 sweep for Canada.

With four runners scoring, Canada scored a perfect 10 points to the United States' 33.

Sami Corman of Georgetown was the top U.S. finisher, taking sixth in 22:45.

Prep runners Heidi Nielson of Texas was eighth and Grace Ping from Minnesota was 10th. 

Evan Burke led the Canadian U-20 men to a 1-2-3-6 finish and victory over the U.S., 12-30. Burke's winning time over  8,000 meters was 27:20.

High school standouts Colin Baker of South Carolina (27:46 for fifth) and Graydon Morris of Texas (27:58 for seventh) led the U.S.

RESULTS