Cross Country Council

I always find it “interesting” to be writing my annual report for the Cross Country Council just as the U.S. national and international scene is starting each year.

The 2009 USATF National Club Cross Country Championships were hosted by the Kentucky Track & Cross Country Coaches Association at Masterson Station Park on December 12 and featured over 1000 entrants (and over 900 finishers) and more than 100 scoring teams from across the vying for top honors, bragging rights as the nation’s top cross country team, and $30,000 in prize money. Zap Fitness (Blowing Rock, NC) won the open men’s team title, while the Boulder Running Company/adidas successfully defended their open women’s team title; David Jankowski and Serena Burla took home the individual titles. Tracy Lokken and Laura Haefeli were fastest in their respective Masters races, while Peter Magill and Carmen Ayala-Troncoso were the top age-graded Masters.

The Spokane Regional Sports Commission hosted the 2010 USA Cross Country Championships/US World Cross Country Team Trials at Plantes Ferry Park in Spokane Valley, WA. The event featured athletes competing for national titles in six championship races, $40,000 in prize money, and berths on the Team USA Squad that would compete the following month at the IAAF World Championships. Dathan Ritzenhein won the senior men’s race for the third time in his illustrious career, while ran away from the rest of the country to win the senior women’s event for her fourth time. Trevor Dunbar won the junior men’s title while Shelby Greaney ran away with her first junior women’s title. Colleen De Rueck and Tracey Lokken topped the age-graded standings in the Masters races.

Team USA won the two senior team titles in the sixth edition of the North American Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Cross Country Championships, hosted in early March at Mt. Washington Resort in Tobago (Trinidad & Tobago). Delilah Dicrescenzo (New York, NY) and Max King (Bend, Ore) ran away to win individual gold and lead their teammates to the team gold. Madeline Morgan(Birmingham, Ala) won silver and Erik Olson (Novato, Calif)won bronze to lead their teammates to team silver medals in the respective junior races. Over 100 athletes representing eleven athletic federations participated in this event.

Team USA’s senior women won the bronze medal at the 2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz to lead the U.S. Shalane Flanagan (12th) led (19th), Magdelena Lewy- Boulet(20th), and Amy Hastings (25th) to third in the team standings behind Kenya and Ethiopia; Renee Baillie & Emily Brown rounded out the Team USA senior women. Emily Sisson finished 18th in the junior women’s race to lead her teammates to sixth, while Trevor Dunbar claimed 29th in the junior men’s competition to lead his squad to eighth. Patrick Smyth finished 36th to lead the Team USA senior men to 9th.

Carmen Ayala-Troncoso and Alan Newton were the top age-graded athletes t the 2010 USA Masters 5 km Cross Country Championships, hosted by USAF Oregon, at Ft. Vancouver Park, Vancouver, WA on Saturday, Oct 23. Lyudmila Vasilyeva and Charlie Kern led 160+ athletes over the course with the fastest times of the day.

The 2010 USATF National Club Cross Country Championships are scheduled for Saturday, December 11 at McAlpinePark in Charlotte, NC, home of the Foot Locker South Regional. The Charlotte Sports Commission is doing an outstanding job organizing the championships. The championships feature a $30,000 prize money purse going to USATF club teams participating in the event!

Our next major championship is the 2011 USA Cross Country Championships, which is scheduled February 5 at Mission Bay Park in San Diego, CA. The 2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships is scheduled for Pumta Umbria, Spain on March 20, while the 2011 USATF National Club Cross Country Championships will be conducted in Seattle, WA on December 10.