For Jackson Spencer, winning last month's Nike Cross Nationals title afforded him a greater opportunity.

 

Spencer will be one of six athletes competing for the United States’ Under-20 men’s team at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, Fla., Saturday Jan. 10, concluding his long fall season that goes back to his first race in August.

 

“I have felt really good on my last few workouts, especially for extending my season so long,” Spencer said. “Coach and I ramped up the workload and workouts going into this meet.”

 

Spencer will make the jump from the 5-kilometer distance to 8k, his first, when he heads to the starting line at Apalachee Regional Park. The U20 men’s race is scheduled for 10:55 am ET.

 

As part of this year’s selection process for the U.S. U20 team, the top overall finisher at NXN was awarded a spot on the roster for worlds, joining the top five finishers from the U20 race to make up the six-person team. 

 

Despite a long season, which dates back his first race of the fall in August, Spencer’s coach, Doug Soles, feels his month-long preparation following wins at both Nike Cross Nationals and Brooks XC Championships in December has prepared him to face the world’s best.

 

“He seems to be ready to roll,” Soles said. “He had some serious workouts that he seemed to nail. He did a six-mile tempo at 5:09 pace at 6,300 feet elevation. Seems like he should be going fast.”

 

Spencer had his eye on the World Championships opportunity all season long and he spoke about it after winning the Brooks XC title in San Diego. 

 

"Ever since I was a little kid I wanted to be good at something, you know?" Spencer, a BYU recruit, said. "It wasn't even necessarily running, just whatever I was good at I wanted to try to be the best at it. Coming into (the season) this year, I thought, you know, I want to be an Olympic level athlete. I know it isn't quite that, but from where I'm at at 18, I wanted to make a world stage and I want to compete against the true best of the best."

 

Spencer will represent the U.S. alongside Texas’ Aidan Torres, Cal Poly’s Tyler Daillak, Wake Forest commit Daniel Skandera, Minnesota’s Salvador Wirth and New Mexico’s Dylan Maloney. Torres won the U20 title at Glendoveer Golf Course in Portland, following Spencer’s win at NXN.

 

The women’s U20 team will also feature another high school standout in Blair Bartlett of Lawrenceville NJ. The first-year cross country runner finished second at NXN, but because champion Natasza Dudek is a Polish citizen, Bartlett was awarded the spot on the U.S. team.

 

“I am so grateful and excited for the amazing opportunity to compete for Team USA in the World Athletics U20 Championships," Bartlett said. "Training and competing in cross country this year has been so much fun, and I’m excited for more."

 

Bartlett will compete with NC State’s Daniella Scheffler, Princeton’s Caroline Barton, Cincinnati’s Abigail Sewell and Minnesota’s Norah Hushagen and Avery Marasco-Johnson. The U20 women’s 6k race is scheduled for 10:20 am ET.