DE PERE (NBC 26) — De Pere High School junior Grady Lenn is heading to nationals this week in cross country — one of few high school sports with a true national competition.
Lenn qualified by finishing fourth at the Nike Cross Regional meet in South Dakota three weeks ago.
After missing out last season by two places, Lenn is excited to make a name for himself.
"I'm just looking forward to the experience of it, and having my first race at the full national stage of, like, really, really good guys throughout the race," Lenn said. "So I'm excited for that."
Lenn races Saturday in Portland, Oregon at Nike Cross Nationals (NXN) — you can stream the race for free on RunnerSpace here. The boys championship race begins at 11:35 a.m. Pacific, or 1:35 p.m. Central on Saturday.
Lenn will be one of three Wisconsin boys in the race — and De Pere's coach believes he's the first runner from northeast Wisconsin ever to run at the meet.
"I think he can surprise a lot of people throughout the country this week and show people, just how talented he is, and make an even bigger name for himself," De Pere cross country coach Chris Hendricks said.
Hendricks and Lenn say Grady is shooting for a top-21 finish, which would earn him an All-American title.
"I feel like being a Midwest guy gives me a little more to prove, because I don't always have the good weather during track season, especially, to run the fast times," Lenn said, "So being able to prove [myself] on the national level, just by beating people, is definitely the goal."
The NXN race will cap off a season that saw Lenn finish second at the WIAA state championship meet, covering the 5,000-meter course in 15:09, and win the Fox River Classic Conference championship by 37 seconds, in 15:25.
"This area known as a really competitive area for boys distance running," Hendricks said. "But Grady, you know, being in this that low-15-minute 5K category, for boys high school running in this state — that's just something different."
His coach says Lenn's patience and race tactics have progressed greatly since he started running his freshman season.
"Grady's just a super cool kid," Hendricks said. "He's earned this opportunity, he's put in the time, and he's an example of, if you work really hard at something that you love, great things can come out of it. Even if it doesn't happen the first time, then you just keep trying."
