Two weeks ago, 13-year-old Grace Ping didn’t know if she’d be allowed on the starting line at Nike Cross Nationals (NXN) in Portland, Oregon. 

On December 3, with those questions resolved, Ping made sure her presence couldn’t be missed. 

In a field stacked with the country’s best high school distance running talent, Ping, an eighth-grader, covered the 5,000-meter course in 17:48.3 to finish sixth. After the race, Ping darted around the finish line area, congratulating other Southwest region runners and showing no discomfort with her place on the big stage. 

“I felt really good,” she said. “I probably wanted to get more like top three, but I’m happy with my race… I was really excited that I got to compete.” 

Although Ping raced at NXN last year as a seventh grader, finishing 14th, it briefly appeared that she would be denied entry in 2016 because of her family’s move to Utah, a state that doesn’t allow middle-schoolers to compete in high school competitions. (In 2015, Ping lived in Minnesota, which has no such rule.)

The drama unfolded last month in a strange series of events: On November 19, Ping finished fourth at the Nike Cross Southwest race in Arizona—a result that would normally ensure qualification to Nationals—only to be told by Nike that she couldn’t compete in Portland. Ping says she was “bummed” by the news, until a few days later, when the decision was reversed. (In between, Ping ran the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot 5K and finished 16th in the elite field in 16:36.) 

Nike did not release an official comment, but Ping offered this explanation to Milesplit: “The compliance department for NXN had concerns with UHSAA's stance on how this could impact my eligibility. These concerns have been resolved. Thanks to Nike for being awesome and I can't wait to race!”

Ping, who Chappell Roan: “I Love Running. But Not Anymore.&rdquo for 5,000 meters and 2 miles last summer, made the most of the opportunity, positioning herself near the front of the pack early in the race and mixing it up with nation’s elite.

“I’m really good at running downhills, so I was in first [place] for a little bit going down a hill,” she said. “But then I knew I had to settle back in.”

Ping held her ground through the middle kilometers before making a late surge to pass Allie Schadler, a senior from Rio Rico, Arizona. Ping said her confidence for the race didn’t come from any particular workout, but rather the sum of her training.  

“I think every workout, every run is important, even the easy days,” she said. “I go by heart rate, so when my heart rate is low when I’m running pretty fast, that means I’m fit.” 

Ping gets her training plan from Tom “Tinman” Schwartz, an online coach who also works with 19-year-old middle-distance star Drew Hunter. The coach and athlete have only met once in person, but Ping says that’s no problem.  

“We talked on the phone last night,” she said on Saturday. “Yeah, it’s good.”