However, to the shock of the year eight student, finishing under 13 minutes and 45 seconds meant not only was his in the top echelon of the state, Innes was invited to run in the United States, with a two-week tour over the school holidays ticking off Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

"I didn't even know it was a thing until I got invited," he said, chuckling.

Innes, along with 21 other runners from Australia, competed in three competitive races and a fun run while in the States but also joining excursions to the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam, in which the Orange High student labelled "an amazing experience".

He performed well in the three competitive runs, too.

The 14-year-old finished 71^st from 164 competitors in their first race over 5km, 30^th from 99 in an under-18s 4km race and 51^st from 208 runners in a second 5km run.

However, it was off the field Innes had the most enjoyment as he got to know his fellow travellers on the trip, which was organised by Sports Travel Australia, with 15 boys and seven girls making the trek across the Pacific.

"I made some good friends there," he said.

"It was good making friends and we had some awesome experiences going to the Grand Canyon, the Hoover Dam, Disneyland, and Universal Studios."

The cross-country season is now over for Innes, who'll move on to touch football and futsal over summer, but he won't quit running over summer and will be back stronger than ever next year.

He's yet to nail down specific goals about where he wants to end up, but the trip fanned the flames of wanting to run competitively.

"I'll just keep training and seeing where I go from there, I just hope I can get somewhere," he said.