Bermuda Pacers Track Club will be among the teams represented at the 2025 Cross Country Coaches National Youth Championships in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Saturday.

The club has sent a 12-strong team ranging in age from 8 to 17 over various distances at Victor Ashe Park.

Bermuda Pacers head coach Cal Simons feels the event promises to be a “great running experience” for his athletes, who will be up against some of the best cross country runners in the United States at this level.

“We attended a similar event [AAU Cross-Country Championships] at the same location in 2019 and the athletes did very well,” he told The Royal Gazette.

“We are very excited to be going back to an event of this level. The event is a well organised event that attracts more than 1,800 junior cross country runners each year from across the United States.

“The temperature may be a bit chilly. However, I am sure that the athletes will rise to the occasion.”

The team will be led by distance runners Gianluco Bortoli and Tobiah Goodchild who are both competing in the boys 15-16 division, as well as Jeada Grant and Azari Jones in the 17-18 and 15-16 girls’ divisions respectively. The boys event will be contested over 5km, with girls competing over 4km.

Distance runner Stanchez Smith has accepted an invitation to join the club and will compete in the 15-16 boys’ division.

The remaining team members consists of distance runners Riana Robinson, Elena Bortoli, Zara Bule, Ronan Davidge, Spencer Halderman and Naomi MacGuinness.

Robinson, Bortoli, Bule, Davidge and Halderman will compete in the 13-14 age group, while MacGuinness will compete in the 11-12 girls division and race over 3km. Elliott Davidge, the youngest member of the team, will race over 2km.

Goodchild, Jones and Grant are the surviving members of the Bermuda Pacers team that competed at the AAU National Cross to Country Championships in Tennessee six years ago.

The local track club departed for the championships on Thursday accompanied by team officials and parents.