Nechanicky Punches Ticket to Worlds at USATF XC Championship

Jan 22, 2023

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At Pole Green Park just outside Richmond, Virginia on Saturday, some of the nation's high school cross country greats put on a show at the USATF Cross Country Championships, snagging both of the junior girls and boys individual titles and earning six of 12 automatic berths to the World U20 Championships next month.

Related: Riggs, Leo Young Lead The Way At USATF U20 XC Champs

Wayzata's Abbey Nechanicky nabbed one of those six automatic berths for the World U20 Championships in Australia by finishing 4th overall in a time of 20:07 for the 6K.

USATF U20 Girls Results (6K)

Finish	Runner	Time
1	Irene Riggs	19:45
2	Ellie Shea	19:48
3	Zariel Macchia	20:05
4	Abbey Nechanicky	20:07
5	Karri Baloga	20:07
6	Eva Klingbeil	20:11

Nechanicky is now eligible to run at the World U20 Championships next month if she is able to get there. Alternates will be named for the USA if any athlete is unable to make it to Australia.

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By finishing with a time of 20:07, Nechanciky set an "unofficial" state record in the 6K beating the previous record set by Grace Ping in 2019 with a time of 21:27, finishing 4th overall at the USATF U20 XC Championships. They are the only two girls in state history to run the 6K in a cross country race according to our database.

Five of the six girls who earned their spots on Team USA for the World U20 Championships are high schoolers in a field consisting of collegiate racers. Among the collegiate racers in the field were University of Minnesota runners and former Minnesota high school standouts Ali Weimer (STMA), Isabella Roemer (Chanhassen), and Elsa Bergman (Hopkins).

Finish	Runner	Time
9th	Ali Weimer	20:53
23rd	Isabella Roemer	22:25
27th	Elsa Bergman	23:19