Cody Pelliccioni nearing the finish at Foot Locker Nationals
For Cody Pelliccioni--the lone West Virginian to qualify for Foot Locker Nationals—it was a tough day as he finished 36th in a field of 40 runners at Balboa Park in San Diego Saturday morning.
Pelliccioni completed the 5K course, which is 3.1 miles, in 16:00. Lukas Verzbicas, who was the defending champion from a year ago, successfully captured his second Foot Locker National title by completing the course in 14:53.
The Morgantown High senior standout, Pelliccioni finished ninth on the South region team which finished second as a team behind the Midwest region. At the regional meet, Pelliccioni finished seventh on the South team to qualify for the race.
Pelliccioni was the first West Virginia native to compete out in San Diego since 2002, when current Morgantown resident—then Oak Glen star—Justin Simpson represented the Mountain State. Pelliccioni is only the fifth athlete from West Virginia to compete at Foot Locker Nationals in the race’s history.
Now that Pelliccioni’s outstanding high school cross country career is over, he will turn his attention to capturing a track title in the spring, which is something he doesn’t have on his trophy mantle, yet.