2011 IAAF WORLD CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS March 20, 2011 in Punta Umbria, Spain TABLE OF CONTENTS TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT RELEASE .................................................................................................... 2 COACHES/STAFF BIOS .................................................................................................................... 3 ATHLETE BIOS .............................................................................................................................. 10 2011 USA CHAMPIONSHIPS .......................................................................................................... 35 TEAM USA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS HISTORY .............................................................................. 37 USATF MISSION STATEMENT USA Track & Field drives competitive excellence and popular engagement in our sport CREDITS The U.S. Cross Country Team Media Guide is an official publication of USA Track & Field. ©2011 USA Track & Field, 132 E. Washington St., Suitte 800, Indianapolis, IN 46204 317-261-0500; www.usatf.org Flanagan leads Team USA in quest for another team medal at World Cross Country Championships INDIANAPOLIS – Olympic Bronze medalist and American record holder Shalane Flanagan (Portland, Ore.) is once again set to lead the Team USA women at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships as they seek to improve on their bronze medal finish in 2010. As Team USA heads to Punta Umbria, Spain for the championships to be held on March 20, Flanagan and 2010 teammates American Record holder at 5,000 meters Molly Huddle (Providence, R.I.); and 2008 Olympic marathoner Magdalena Lewy Boulet (Oakland, Calif.); will join forces with Blake Russell (Pacific Grove, Calif.), a member of the U.S. team that won a bronze medal in the women’s short course in 2005; Lisa Koll (Portland, Ore.), the NCAA 10,000 meter record holder; and Alissa McKaig (Blowing Rock, N.C.), who finished fifth at the USA Women’s Marathon Championship in her debut at the distance last fall. The senior men’s team will be led by Brent Vaughn (Blackhawk, Colo.), who surprised the men’s field to win his first USA title at the 2011 USA Cross Country Championships in San Diego. Joining Vaughn in Spain will be Andrew Bumbalough (Portland, Ore.), a member of the U.S. junior team in 2006; Ed Moran (Williamsburg, Va.), the 2010 USA Men’s 10 km champion; Ben True (Hanover, N.H.), an NCAA All-American in Cross Country at Dartmouth; Brian Olinger (Westerville, Ohio), an NCAA All- American in Track and Cross Country at The Ohio State University; and Max King (Bend, Ore.), the 2010 NACAC Cross Country champion who will be competing on his fourth U.S. Cross Country squad. Cuffe leads junior women The junior women’s team will be led by high school senior Aisling Cuffe (Cornwall On Hudson, N.Y.), who won the junior women's 6 km championship in San Diego. Joining Cuffe will be Molly Grabill (Poway, Calif.); University of Washington freshman Katie Flood (Des Moines, Iowa); Sierra Vega (Santa Ana, Calif.); Julie Nacouzi (Santa Rosa, Calif.); and Hannah Valenzuela (Apple Valley, Calif.). Olson leads junior men The men’s junior team will see Stanford University freshman Erik Olson (Novato, Calif.), the 2011 Junior Men’s 8 km champion, along with Syracuse University freshman Maxwell Straneva (Binghamton, N.Y.); Craig Lutz (Highland Village, Texas); Justin Vilhauer (Visalia, Calif.); Ryan Poland of (Westminster, Colo.); and 2010 junior squad member Ammar Moussa (Arcadia, Calif.). For more information on the 2011 World Cross Country Championships visit www.usatf.org. GWYN COOGAN Senior Women’s Team Leader Gwyn Coogan from Exeter, New Hampshire, will serve as the senior women’s leader for Team USA at the World Cross Country Championships. The IAAF World Cross Country Championships are not new to Coogan, having competed in the event four times in her career. She was also the junior women’s team leader at the 2008 world championships in Edinburgh. In addition, Coogan competed on the 1992 US Olympic team in the 10000 meters in Barcelona, Spain, and ran for Team USA in the 1997 IAAF World Track & Field Championships in Athens, Greece. Coogan did not compete in track in high school at Phillips Exeter Academy; instead, she swam, played lacrosse, field hockkey, and squash. She made her debut in distance running when shhe went out ffoor cross country at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. "I wasn't looking for success when I went out for cross country. Whatever it was that I was looking for, I found it, and that's why I'm still running." At Smith, she won the NCAA Division III title at 3000m in 1985 and 1986; completed her Ph.D. in numbers theory at the University of Colorado in the summer of 1999; married distance runner Mark Coogaan in 1990; and is the mother of two children--Katrina (born 1993) and Margaret Gail (born 1998). During her competitive career, she scored personal bests of 32:08.77 over 10000 (1994); and a marathon best of 2:32:50 (1995) The 46-year old Coogan is a teacher and coach at her high school alma mater, Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire. She spent the 2009-10 academic school year teaching in Spain. 3/6/11 FRED FINKE Senior Men’s Team Leader As one of the pioneers of track & field on the internet in the early 1990s, Fred Finke was a founding member of the MileSplit Board of Directors when the company incorporated in 2004. His vast knowledge and experience within the sport have ledd to accolades and leadership positions for decades. That combined with Fred's personal moxie made an ideal fit as the Executive VP of Business Development for Milesplit. Fred is a six-time Florida Coach of the Year and national finalist for National Coach of the Year. The Longwood, Fla. resident has also served as meet director for some of the largest meets in the country including Great American, USATF Senior Nationals, Junior Olympic Nationals, World Cross Country Trials, NACAC Cross Country Championships, and flrunners.com Invitational. In addition, Fred was the first high school coach to be named a head coach for a world championship team when he was selected as Men's Coach for the 1998 World Cross Country Championships in Marrakech, Morocco. In 2001, he was inducted into the Florida Sports Hall of Fame. This is Finke’s second assignment on a USA cross country team. Fred currently serves as the Chairman of the Long Distance Running Division and High Performance Division for USA Track & Field as well as on the Board of Running USA. In 2010, he was inducted into the Running USA Hall of Champions. Finke, a USATF Level III coach, earned his bachelors degree in biology from Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas. Outside of the coaching arena, Fred was a pioneer in high school track & field on the internet when he founded Coachnet.net in 1993. Fred has also taught advanced computer technologies while coaching and teaching on top of his roles with USATF and MileSplit. He and his wife, Nancy Turner, have two children: John, 2005 graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and a pilot currently deployed, and a daughter, Morgan, currently an autistic instructor teaching in Abilene, Texas. ROBERT GARY Junior Men’s Team Leader Robert Gary from Columbus, Ohio, currently the head track and cross country coach at Ohio State University, will lead the junior men’s squad at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Punta Umbria. Currently in his fifth season as the head men's track and field coach and 15th coaching the cross country team at Ohio State, Gary has elevated both programs to new heights and has established himself as one of the nation's elite coaches. Gary led the cross country team to a second-place finish in the 2009 Big Ten championships, and the Buckeyes went on to place third at the NCAA Regionals before taking 21st at the NCAA Championships. On the track, Gary led the Buckeyes to a second-place finish at the Biig Ten indoor championships and a third-place showing during the outdoor season. Ohio State finished fifth in the Big Ten indoors in late February. Gary is also the personal coach of Team USA senior team member Brian Olinger, wwho finished sixth at the USA Cross Country Championships in San Diego, and is one of the country’s top steeplechasers. As an athlete at Ohio State, in 2004, he became the fifth former Buckeye to gain a bid to two separate U.S. Olympic teams and qualified for the finals for the 11th-straight year at the 2005 USA Nationaals. A 1996 participant at the Atlanta Olympic Games, Gary placed second in the men's steeplechase at the Olympic Triials earlier that year with a career-best 8:19.46. Eight years later, his third-place finish at the trials gained an automatic bid on the U.S. team headed to Athens, Greece for the 2004 Olympic Games. Gary last competed at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in 2004, where he placed 33rd in the 4k short race in Brussels, Belgium. He also finished 128th in the senior men’s 12k race in 1998 in Marrakech, Morocco. Gary will be on the Team USA staff at this summer’s IAAF World Track & Field Championships in Daegu, South Korea as an assistant coach in the distance events. Gary received a degree in English education from Ohio State in the fall of 1996. He is a graduate of Evanston Township High School (Chicago, Ill.) where he was a state champion in the two-mile and an All-Midwest selection in soccer. He resides in Columbus with his wife, Rita, and son, Percy. KELLY STRONG Junior Women’s Team Leader Kelly Strong from San Luis Obispo, California, will serve as the junior women’s leader for Team USA at the World Cross Country Championships. This is Strong’s first assignment as a team leader on a USA cross country squad.