Folders |
Taryn Parks Becomes Four-Time Foot Locker National FinalistPublished by
Following injury to Northeast Regional 10th-place finisher Cochran, Parks is late addition to meet, making her 25th female athlete in event history to qualify for four finals By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor Graydon Morris won’t be the only four-time finalist competing Saturday at the Foot Locker National Cross Country Championships. Meet organizers confirmed Wednesday that Greencastle Antrim PA senior Taryn Parks has been added to the girls national final at Balboa Park’s Morley Field, after learning that a hip injury to Moon Area PA sophomore Mia Cochran would prevent the 10th-place finisher at the Northeast Regional from making the trip to San Diego. Parks, who finished 11th and more than five seconds behind Cochran at the Northeast Regional final Nov. 30 at Van Cortlandt Park in New York, was added to fill out the Northeast roster, securing her fourth career appearance at the Foot Locker championship meet. Parks has become the 25th female athlete in the meet’s 41-year history to qualify for Foot Locker nationals all four years. Morris, a senior from Aledo, Texas, is only the second male athlete to achieve the feat. Parks, the first four-time finalist since Makena Morley of Bigfork MT (2011-14), has progressed each year since placing 40th in 2016. She finished 36th as a sophomore and 27th last season. Parks is the first Northeast female athlete to advance to four Foot Locker finals since Shelby Greany of Suffern NY from 2005-08 and only the fourth individual in the region’s history to qualify four times, including the first from Pennsylvania. |
