INDIANAPOLIS — Many of the top distance runners in the United States will converge on Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, Virginia, Saturday for the USATF Cross Country Championships - the first stop on the 2023 USATF Running Circuit for athletes competing in the open division. Competitors will vie for berths on Team USATF for the World Athletics Cross Country Championships, slated for February 18 in Bathurst, Australia, and in the open and masters divisions prize money will be up for grabs. The top 10 finishers in the men's and women's open races will divvy up more than $25,000, with the winners receiving $4,000 each, while masters entrants will battle for prize money that will be awarded to the top five age-graded performers in each race, plus the winner of each age division. Pole Green Park, located northeast of Richmond, has hosted numerous USATF Association and collegiate conference championship events since 1998, but this is the first time the USATF Championships will be held at the facility. Runners will enjoy a 100% grass/dirt surface as they traverse 2km loops on the flat Upper Course. After the Richmond Cross Country Festival kicks off with a pair of community races, USATF championship events start at 10:30 a.m. ET with the masters women's 6km, followed by the masters men's 8km at 11:30, U20 women's 6km at 12:30 pm, U20 men's 8km at 1:15, open women's 10km at 2:00, and open men's 10k at 2:50. Five of the top 10 finishers in each open race at last year's USATF Championships in San Diego return for the 2023 event, headed by runners-up Weini Kelati and Dillon Maggard. Kelati ran side-by-side with eventual champion Alicia Monson through 6km before Monson started to pull away over the final 4km to win by 17 seconds in 33:39. In the men's open race, Maggard was outkicked by Shadrack Kipchirchir, who won by two seconds in 30:32, with Sam Chelanga third, also in 30:34. The next three men who finished behind Maggard and Chelanga in 2022 also return. Two-time national champion Leonard Korir was fourth, missing out on the podium by three seconds, while Benard Keter placed fifth in 30:49 and Benjamin Eidenschink was sixth in 31:07. Hillary Bor, a two-time Olympian who was eighth in the 3,000m steeplechase at last summer's World Championships in Eugene, has 8:08.41 speed over the barriers and could be a threat to make the podium, along with Emmanuel Bor, who clocked 13:00.48 indoors for 5,000m last year and was on Team USATF for the 2019 World Athletics Cross Country Championships. 2020 champion Anthony Rotich is also back and won three NCAA steeplechase titles to go with the 2019 USATF 5km road crown. 2022 USATF 10km road champion Biya Simbassa turned in a 60:37 half marathon at Valencia, Spain, in October and was the NACAC cross country champion in 2019. Emily Durgin and Stephanie Bruce finished within inches of each other last year in the women's race, with Durgin nabbing fourth and Bruce fifth in 34:50. Carrie Verdon, the ninth-place finisher, and Susanna Sullivan, who was 10th, are also back looking to move up the standings. USATF National Club Cross Country winner Bethany Hasz is in top form and Katie Izzo, sixth at the Club Nationals, was third in the NCAA Championships in 2019 for Arkansas. Ednah Kurgat, the NCAA cross country champion in 2017, adds quality depth to the women's field. Defending U20 women's champion Zariel Macchia tops the entrants in the younger division. Macchia ran away with the 2022 title by 49 seconds in 22:50 and added the USATF National Youth 5K road race crown at New York City in November with a 17:41 to take top honors in the 15-16 division. Her top challenger could be Nike Cross Nationals winner Irene Riggs, who won that 5km race in 16:40.9. Karrie Baloga, who finished 11th for Team USATF in the 3,000m steeplechase at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Colombia last August, was the CHAMPS Sports cross country championships winner after taking the New York high school title. CHAMPS runner-up Ellie Shea was also the 2022 New Balance Indoor Nationals 5,000m champion with a 15:49.47. NXN boys' fourth-place finisher Kole Mathison won the CHAMPS Sports national cross country championship and took Indiana state high school track titles in the 1,600m and 3,200m last year. Twin brothers Leo and Lex Young lead a strong trio of challengers from California's Newbury Park High School, teaming up with Brayden Seymour. Lex Young won the California high school state title in 14:27.9, with Leo second at 14:38.4, and Seymour took 13th individually as their school dominated the team scoring with 24 points to win the Division II trophy. More information about the Championships can be found here. Race videos, results, post-race interviews will be available shortly after the race in cooperation with RunnerSpace.com. Join the conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #USARC.
The USATF Running Circuit is a USATF road series featuring USATF championships from one mile through the marathon and consistently attracts the best American distance runners with more than $500,000 to be awarded in total prize money. A total of $26,200 in prize money will be awarded at the USATF Cross Country Championships. The first ten U.S. runners earn points at each USATF Running Circuit race. For the USATF Cross Country Championships, scoring is set as 15 for first, 12 for second, 10 for third, 7 ,6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1, with those earning the most points receiving prize money at the end of the series. The mission of the USATF Running Circuit is to showcase, support and promote U.S. runners. Since its inception in 1995, the USATF Running Circuit and its races have provided over $7 million to U.S. distance runners. Join the conversation with USATF on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook using the hashtag #USATF.