You’ve probably heard her name — Grace Ping.

Ever since Grace’s world record youth distance times became known to the public, she has been in the news and continues to earn titles and compete and a national level.

Recently, Ping participated in the USATF (U.S.A Track & Field) cross country championships in Florida, hoping to qualify for the world championships. The top six runners in the race would qualify for the worlds.

To , Grace placed 4th  competing against many Division 1 college athletes and moved on to the next meet, in Trinidad.

“She ran like a boss!,” Ryan Ping, Grace’s dad and supporter, said.

After the meet in Florida, Grace and her family knew she was ready for the next challenge. She was old enough to compete and felt prepared to go against some tough competitors.

Her first stop after the Florida race was NACAC.  The NACAC race includes a total of 30 nations. Some of Grace’s competitors were from Aruba, Barbados, Bermuda, Cuba, Costa Rica, Canada and elsewhere.

Grace, along with her teammtes, was given official Team USA gear so that people knew what country she was representing.

“It’s definitely one of the coolest parts about this!” said Grace.

Grace was not only excited for her new running wardrobe but also the experience as a whole.

She’s never competed in another country before but she’s always open to trying new things especially when it involves running. Her confident spirit certainly effected her running in a positive way.

Grace finished 10 out of 30 in Trinidad. One thing that she learned at this competition is that she needs to work on adjusting to new countries, whether its through the food, weather conditions or just the set up as a whole. The weather was very hot for the race.

After Trinidad she’ll be off to Denmark for the IAAF, another meet she qualified for when she placed top 6 at USATF. She’ll get to compete with some  professional runners.

This series marks a high point in Grace’s racing career and is the first step in a very bright future.