Cross Country Council

Once again, I am composing my annual report for the Cross Country Council just as the U.S. national and international scene is starting.

The 2010 USATF National Club Cross Country Championships were hosted by Visit Charlotte at McAlpine Park on December 11 and featured record field sizes with over 1200 entrants and 1107 finishers and 153 scoring teams from across the United States vying for top honors and bragging rights as the nation’s top cross country team, as well as $30,000 in prize money. McMillian Elite (Flagstaff, Ariz) swept the Open team titles while Renee Baillie and Aaron Braun took the individual titles. Peter Magill and Lyudmila Vasilyeva were fastest in their respective Masters races, while Rick Becker and Carmen Ayala-Troncoso were the top age-graded Masters.

2011 was the introduction of the BUPA Great Edinburgh International Team Challenge and featured men’s teams from Great Britain & Northern Ireland, the United States and a European Select team racing over 8.2 km. finished second individually to lead a Team USA squad consisting of Bobby Mack (6th), Scott Baughs (7th), Stephen Furst (9th), David Jankowski (14th) , Ed Moran (15th) , Matt Gabrielson (18th), and Nick Arciniaga (23rd) to second behind the European Select Team.

The USATF San Diego-Imperial Association hosted the 2011 USA Cross Country Championships/US World Cross Country Team Trials at Mission Bay Park in San Diego, CA. The event featured athletes competing for national titles in six championship races, $38,000 in prize money, and berths on the Team USA Squad that would compete the following month at the IAAF World Championships. Brent Vaughn won his first national cross country title, while ran away from the rest of the country to win the senior women’s event for her fifth time. Erik Olson won the junior men’s title while Aisling Cuffee ran away with the junior women’s title. Peter Magill and Kathryn Martin topped the age-graded standings in the Masters races.

Team USA won the two senior team titles in the seventh edition of the North American Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Cross Country Championships, hosted on February 19 at Queens Park Savannah in Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago. Chelsea Orr (Junior Women) and Robert Cheseret (Senior Men) ran away to win individual golds in their respective divisions, while Megan Duwell and Kim Conley won silver and bronze in the senior women’s race and Colin Leak won bronze in the senior men’s race. Including Team USA, 166 athletes from 20 nations competed at the 2011 NACAC Championships.

Shalane Flanagan won individual bronze at the 2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Punta Umbria, Spain to lead Team USA’s senior women to repeat as bronze medalists. In addition to Flanagan, scorers Molly Huddle (17th), Magdelena Lewy-Boulet(18th), and Blake Russell (19th) all finished in the top 20 to give Team USA third in the team standings behind Kenya and Ethiopia; Alissa McKaig and Lisa Koll rounded out the Team USA senior women. Aisling Cuffee finished 187h in the junior women’s race to lead her teammates to seventh, while Craig Lutz claimed 29th in the junior men’s competition to lead his squad to eighth. Ben True finished 36th to lead the Team USA senior men to 10th. Kathryn Martin and Pete Bottomley were the top age-graded athletes at the 2011 USA Masters 5 km Cross Country Championships, hosted by the Genesee Valley Harriers, at Center Park, Fairport, NY on Saturday, Oct 22. Charlie Kern and Doreen McCoubrie led 200+ athletes (including the incomparable Joan Samuelson) over the course with the fastest times of the day.

The 2011 USATF National Club Cross Country Championships are scheduled for Saturday, December 10 at Jefferson Golf Course in Seattle, WA. Club Northwest and the Pacific Northwest Association of USATF are doing an outstanding job organizing the championships. The championships feature a $31,000 prize money purse going to USATF club teams participating in the event!

Our next major championships are the 2012 USA Cross Country Championships, which is scheduled February 11 at Forest Park in St. Louis, MO, and the 2012 USATF National Club Cross Country Championships, which will be conducted in Lexington, KY on December 8.

Due to the IAAF’s decision to only contest the IAAF World Cross Country Championships on odd- numbered years, there will be no IAAF World Cross Country Championships in 2012. Instead, UK Athletics is hosting the BUPA Great Edinburgh International Cross Country on Jan. 7 and inviting full U.S.A. teams to participate in the junior and senior divisions. The NACAC Cross Country Championships are also scheduled in Tobago in late winter.