October 13, 2014
Mariah Timms
News Writer
Virginia News
Two Virginia youths made headlines last week for astounding achievements. Jennifer Yu, 12, of Ashburn, became the first U.S. girl to win a world chess title in many years. Yu, whose family moved to Virginia in 2011, began playing chess in first grade. She was the first American girl to win the World Youth Chess Championship in 27 years, at the competition last month in South Africa. Yu is ranked in the top 500 of U.S. chess players and is a national master. Caleb Hymans, 9, of Annandale broke a running world record. He beat the previous record for a 5K in his age group by 14 seconds on Sept. 20. The time was recently certified by the Association of Road Race Statisticians. He finished sixth overall among about 1,400 runners, who were mostly adults.
