Seven local runners will compete in the USATF national cross country championship

By Kevin Spain, The Times-Picayune

December 08, 2009, 2:07PM

A majority of post-collegiate athletes never get the opportunity to compete on a team in a national caliber event, but that is exactly what a group of amateur athletes in the New Orleans area plan on doing this weekend.

On Saturday, seven runners, ages 23 to 35, will compete in the USA Track and Field Club National Cross Country Championship, a 10k (6.2 mile) race in Lexington, Ky.

The New Orleans Track Club will sponsor the runners who are all NOTC members. Many of the runners are former metro area high school standouts that also ran track and cross country for Louisiana universities. The team includes LSU graduates Nick Accardo, Drew Haro, and Matt Manning, Tulane alumnus Ryan Gallagher, and Sean Allerton who ran for Southeastern.