Noah Castro at Foot Locker South - Mike McMillion Photo
Amazing 9 year old and double indoor AAU National Champion Noah Castro of Hurricane, West Virginia easily won the Foot Locker South Region 3000m boys 10 and under race with a blazing fast time of 10:59 for a 5:54 mile pace.
Noah Castro (R) jumped out early - Photo by James Castro
Castro, a fourth grader at Winfield ES, placed first in the 10 & Under Boys and made 1st Team All-South in a time of 10:59. Castro is the youngest West Virginian to ever win at the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships – South Regional. Noah ran the second fastest time in history for 10 & Under Boys at the Foot Locker South Regional. The record is held by Jude Burst of Louisiana back in 2009 in a time of 10:53. Burst is the current world record holder for 10 & Under boys 3000 meters. On December 1st, 2012 Castro will be running at the AAU National Cross Country Championships being held at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC.
Noah Castro (L) and Gabriel Cole of Virginia early in the race. Cole finished 4th.- Photo by James Castro
Noah Castro: A picture of the perfect runner - Photo by James Castro
Back in February as a young 9 year old, Castro won the AAU 1500m Indoor National Championship with a time of 5:13.31 and followed that up with another gold medal in the 800m in 2:36.6,and those were not his fastest times (see below). A lot of middle school kids would be proud of those times.
Noah's PR's---- 8yrs old- 800m - 2:33 Capitol Strider Invit. 1500m - 5:08 USATF Nats 3000m - 11:27 - footlocker 5k - 19:44 Wva 5k Championships 9 years old-- 800m - 2:29 Reg 5 Qualifer 1500m - 5:01 USATF Nats 3000m on track - 10:56 Strider Invit. 3000m cross-country - 10:59 footlocker 5k-18:21 (Certified 5K Course!)
The future of West Virginia and U.S. distance running is looking very good. Watch out world, here comes Noah! No ark needed this time.
Noah Castro 800m National Champion video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY3xiTVe_G4
Coach Mike McMillion contributed to this article