Recent USATF 20 km Championships winners Hillary Bor and Keira D’Amato lead an all-star cast into Saturday’s USATF 10 km Championships, with Bor seeking to extend his USATF Running Circuit standings lead.
The USATF 10 km Championships, hosted by the Great Cow Harbor 10K in Northport, New York are the tenth stop on the 2024 USATF Running Circuit.
Three weeks ago at the USATF 20 km Championships in New Haven, Connecticut, Bor ran away over the final miles to win his second title on the USATF Running Circuit season, winning by 17 seconds. The circuit veteran leads the USATF Running Circuit standings with 52 points, ten points ahead of second place Biya Simbassa.
Bor won the 20 km contest by 17 seconds, easily running to victory. That win came after winning the USATF 10 Mile Championship title earlier in the season, while placing second at the USATF 15 km Championships and third at the USATF 8 km Championships.
Simbassa is also entered in Saturday’s contest and seeks his second USATF 10 km title after winning in 2022. Simbassa is having a terrific 2024 campaign, with three third place finishes on the USATF Running Circuit, including a third-place effort at the USATF 20 km Championships earlier this month.
2021 USATF 10 km champion Sam Chelanga is another top contender. Chelanga placed fifth at the USATF 20 km Championships three weeks ago, while placing seventh in the 10,000 final at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Track & Field this summer.
The top returnee from last year’s race is Willy Fink. Fink narrowly lost to champion Clayton Young, with a mere three seconds separating the two at the finish. Fink placed 13th in the 5,000m final at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Track & Field in Eugene and has only raced once since late-July.
Currently fourth in the USATF Running Circuit standing, Diego Estrada is another key athlete to watch. Estrada sits fourth with 25 points, while winning the USATF 25 km Championship race earlier in the season.
Other notable contenders including USATF 8 km Championship fourth place finisher Afewerki Zeru, USATF 20 km Championship eighth place finisher Nick Randazzo – who placed ninth at the USATF 10 km Championships last year, and USATF Cross Country Championships runner-up Anthony Rotich.
The battle for the win will be fierce in the women’s race. D’Amato enters as the favorite on paper after winning the USATF 20 km Championship title by 25 seconds three weeks ago. D’Amato is clearly in great racing shape and will look to win her second USATF Running Circuit title on the season. The veteran also placed second at the USATF 15 km Championships earlier in the year, while also placing tenth in the 10,000m at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Track & Field.
Jess McClain finished second to D’Amato at the USATF 20 km Championships and could have the slight edge over the shorter 10 km distance. McClain is having a career year, having placed fourth at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Marathon near the start of the year, then finishing fourth again in the 10,000m final at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Track & Field.
The top returnee from the 2023 USATF 10 km race is Emma Grace Hurley. Hurley currently sits in a tie atop the USATF Running Circuit standings with Rachel Smith, with both athletes having 50 points to their names. Smith isn’t racing Saturday, which gives Hurley a strong opportunity to position herself first in the standings with only one race to go in the season after Saturday’s contest.
Hurley placed fifth at the recent USATF 20 km Championships. She’s earned runner-up finishes at the USATF Cross Country Championships and USATF 8 km Championships this season, as well as a third-place finish at the USATF 6 km Championship.
Amanda Vestri is another top name to keep an eye on. Vestri placed just behind Hurley at last year’s USATF 20 km Championship, but finished one spot ahead of Hurley at the USATF 6 km Championship this season when she grabbed second. Vestri placed fifth at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Track & Field in the 10,000m, as well.
USATF Running Circuit veterans Erika Kemp and Natosha Rogers are two others ready to challenge for top three finishes. Kemp placed eighth in the 10,000m at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Track & Field, while Rogers placed 12th in that same race and finished third at the USATF 8 km Championships this summer.
Annie Rodenfels, who is the reigning USATF 6 km champion and finished eighth in the 3,000m steeplechase at the Olympic Trials, is more than capable of challenging for the win, as is Katie Izzo, who placed fourth at the USATF 8 km Championships and 13th in the 10,000m at the Trials. Sophia King looks to improve on her seventh-place finish in 2023 at the USATF 10 km Championships, as well.
One more athlete to keep an eye on is high school senior Zariel Macchia. The New York native is one of the top ranked distance runners in the country this fall and opens up her racing season in Northport.
About the USATF Running Circuit
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 $41,000 in prize money will be awarded at the USATF 10 km Championships.
The first ten U.S. runners earn points at each USATF Running Circuit race. For the USATF 10 km 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.
On-demand race videos, results, and post-race interviews will be available on USATF.TV shortly after the race in cooperation with RunnerSpace.com. Join the conversation on X with the hashtag #USARC.
Contributed by Scott Bush.