National meet coming to Valley

The Spokane area has landed another national sporting event.

The 2006 Junior National Cross Country Championship will be held at Plantes Ferry Sports Complex in December 2006, the Spokane Valley City Council announced Tuesday.

The USA Track & Field National Convention chose the Spokane area over Portland, Ore., Reno, Nev., and Salt Lake City. The event is one of the largest junior cross-country running competitions in the United States, according to the Spokane Regional Sports Commission.

The championship is expected to attract 6,000 people and make an economic impact of $2.1 million, the sports commission wrote in a press release.

“We’ll be filling a few hotel rooms,” Spokane Valley Mayor Diana Wilhite said Tuesday.

About 2,500 male and female runners, ages 12 to 18, are expected to compete. Each will have had to qualify in their home region.

Plantes Ferry is a 72-acre multi-sport venue owned by Spokane County and operated by the Spokane Valley Junior Soccer Association.

It was selected “because it’s considered spectator friendly with open views of the race course and flexible in design to meet the needs and challenges of each age group,” the commission wrote.

Another big sporting event, the U.S. Youth Soccer 2004 Far West Regional Championships, was held at Plantes Ferry and at other local facilities last summer. That competition brought 12,000 people and had an estimated economic impact of $9.5 million, the commission said.