BATHURST, Australia — In sweltering heat on a hilly, muddy course at windy and storm-threatened Mount Panorama Farm in New South Wales, Team USATF's U20 squads stole the show at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships to claim bronzes. It was the first medal-winning performance ever for the U20 women, and the first since 1982 for the U20 men. The meet was being held for the first time since 2019 and the American youngsters came prepared to make history. Scoring 54 points, the American women won their first ever medal in the U20 6km race, putting four runners across the finish line in the top 20. Facing stern competition from the Kenyan and Ethiopian contingents, USATF champion Irene Riggs and runner-up Ellie Shea were the top women for the U.S. through 2km. Going through the muddy section for the first time, Shea lost her footing but popped right back up and passed the first split at 7:16 in 15th, one second in front of Riggs in 17th. Last year's USATF winner, Zariel Macchia, came through in 7:29 in 18th place, with Karrie Baloga 21st in 7:30. Eva Klingbeil and Allie Zealand were farther back in the field at that point. Riggs and Shea made strong moves on the second lap of the rugged 2km course to move up in the standings, bringing the lead pack into view. They hit 4km in 14:20 with Riggs 12th and Shea 13th, and Baloga moved up to 16th in 14:44. Struggling a bit through the halfway mark, Macchia dropped back to 22nd in 15:03 and as the fourth runner was the key to U.S. team medal hopes. Shea had the strongest finish for the U.S. and finished 10th in 21:48, the best individual placing by an American in this race since Melody Fairchild's bronze medal run in 1991. Riggs took 12th in 22:03, one place ahead of Baloga's 22:12, and Macchia had a great finish to place 19th in 23:05. Klingbeil (28th in 23:29) and Zeeland (34th in 24:00) also had good final laps to reinforce the best ever team effort by the U.S. A historic run in the U20 women’s race set the tone for the U20 men’s 8km as they faced what was perhaps the most challenging course of their young careers. Scoring 81 points, the American men answered the women as they nabbed bronze behind Kenya and Ethiopia’s 22 and 23, the first team medal since 1982. Marco Langon and Kole Mathison led a pack of American men chasing the lead pack through the first loop. USATF U20 champion Leo Young kept himself close to Langon and Mathison until it was time to make a move in the last loop. The Stanford commit charged down the final straightaway to finish as the top American with a 16th place clocking of 26:03 - the highest from an American since German Fernandez’ 11th place finish in Amman in 2009. Four more Americans were across the line in the next 47 seconds. Langon joined Young at the finish in 26:16 for 19th, moments before Max Sannes’ 26:24 earned a 21st place finish. Mathison and USATF silver medalist Micah Wilson clocked 26:42 and 26:50 for 25th and 27th before Evan Jenkins’ 28:00 run rounded out the pack in 53rd. 2 6:2 A large lead pack in the senior women's 10km race had USATF winner Ednah Kurgat and Weini Kelati in the mix in 12th and 13th as they went through the first 2km split, only a second behind the leader. In 22nd and 23rd were Emily Lipari and Katie Izzo, six seconds behind the lead pack, with Allie Buchalski 28th in 7:19. Kurgat kept her place over the second loop, going by 4km in 13:54 with Kelati as the top 20 were all within three seconds of each other. Izzo put an 11-second gap on Lipari and there was another four-second margin to Buchalski. Kelati had trouble with a slip into the third lap but recovered well to regain her position in the lead group as a bit of rain started to come down. At 20:48 through 6km, Kurgat was in 17th, five seconds off the lead, with Kelati right behind her in 19th. Izzo was 31st at that split, six places ahead of Buchalski as Lipari dropped back to 50th. Nothing much changed for the U.S. runners over the fourth loop and Kurgat and Kelati were still running together in the top 20. Izzo and Buchalski were in 32nd and 35th, while Lipari was 54th and out of contention. In the final half-mile, Kurgat lost a bit of ground and finished 19th in 35:36, with Kelati placing 22nd in 35:48. Izzo's 36:25 put her in 32nd and Buchalski rounded out the U.S. scorers with a 34th-place effort in 36:37. Lipari crossed the line in 56th with a time of 39:06. As a team, the U.S. tallied 103 points and ended up in fifth. As a huge storm threatened the area, the final race of the Championships started early, with the senior men's 10km athletes battling wind that buffeted the runners through much of the course. A triangular meet between Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda soon developed, with other nations on the outside looking in. Into the first trip through the tire piles, USATF champion Emmanuel Bor was ninth, two spots ahead of Anthony Rotich with Dillon Maggard another 28 behind in 39th. Andrew Colley (46th) and Sam Chelanga (52nd) were also in the top half of the field, but Reid Buchanan was well off their pace in 67th. Bor hit 4km seven seconds behind the leaders and holding onto a top-20 position but then dropped back a few places to 23rd by 6km as Chelanga was moving up through the pack into 26th, just six seconds behind Bor. Colley was 37th after a strong loop and was a stride ahead of Rotich in 39th. Chelanga passed Bor going into the final lap, passing 8km in 20th at 24:31. Bor trailed Chelanga by 12 seconds in 28th, with Colley 36th and Rotich 42nd. Chelanga finished 21st in 31:04, and Bor was 32nd in 31:37. The other two men's scorers were Colley, who was 36th, and Rotich, who was 45th. As a team the U.S. scored 134 points to place sixth. Alec Basten ran the lead 2km leg for Team USATF in the Mixed Relay and handed off to Emma Coburn in 10th place after a 5:57 segment. The steeplechase World Championships gold medalist in 2017 and former American record holder in that event, Coburn ran a great 6:13 split to bring the U.S. up to 5th place in 12:10 at the next pass to fellow steepler Jordan Mann. Mann, who helped the U.S. to a fourth-place finish in the event at the 2019 edition, had a very solid run to keep the American quartet in fifth, handing off to anchor runner Heather MacLean at 17:39 after a 5:29 split. MacLean crossed the finish line in fifth place, clocking 7:03 on her split to give Team USATF a final time of 24:32. A full list of results for the 2023 World Athletics Cross Country Championships can be found here. Join the conversation with USATF on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook using the hashtags #JourneyToGold and #WorldCrossCountry. Photo credit: Getty Images for World Athletics.