CANTON, Ohio — Annie Rodenfels wouldn’t be denied a USATF title for a second year in a row. After finishing third in last year’s field, Rodenfels crossed the finish line first at this year’s USATF Women’s 6 km Championships in Canton, Ohio, winning Saturday morning's race in 18:03. The USATF Women’s 6 km Championships are the seventh stop on the 2024 USATF Running Circuit. On-demand viewing of the USATF Women’s 6 km Championships is available on USATF.TV. Rodenfels improved her time by 30 seconds from last year’s run to take the title a year later after falling four seconds short to Ednah Kurgat in 18:31. Vestri followed Rodenfels in second in 18:16, with Emma Grace Hurley finishing third overall in 18:20, improving by one spot from her fourth place finish the year before. Vestri went to the front early, running 4:47 through the first mile to lead a pack of six, with Rodenfels, Hurley, Rachel Smith, Abby Nichols and Emily Durgin among the mix. Hurley took the lead through 3 km, running 9:02 ahead of the lead pack, with Rodenfels responding back moments later to take the lead at two miles in 9:41. Rodenfels remained the leader over the latter half of the race, running 12:06 at 4 km, then 15:04 at 5 km, with Hurley trying to close the gap in second position over the next two kilometers. Heading into the home stretch, Rodenfels’ lead increased her lead up to 10 seconds, with Vestri advancing into second just ahead of Hurley for the final 1 km. Smith found herself in fourth with a few meters remaining before Nichols ran her down at the very last second to claim fourth in 18:36. Smith followed in 18:37 for fifth. Just 10 seconds behind those two was Durgin, managing sixth overall in 18:47. Natosha Rogers led a pack of four just separated by five seconds to round out the top 10, finishing seventh in 18:54, with Annika Reiss in eighth in 18:58, Steph Bruce in ninth in 18:59 and Amaris Tyynismaa in 10th in 18:59. Durgin earned another 5 points from her sixth place run to sustain her top spot on the USATF Running Circuit standings, tallying her total to 39 points. Hurley earned 10 points for finishing third, putting her point total to 32 and moving her to third overall in the standings. Smith collected six more points and improved her total to 33 to tie for second with Annie Frisbie in the standings. Rodenfels’ win gives her 15 points, bumping her onto the standings in a tie for sixth with Fiona O’Keeffe, Betsy Saina, Rachel McArthur and Weini Kelati. The next stop on the USATF Running Circuit is the USATF Men’s 8 km Championships, taking place July 20 from Kingsport, Tennessee.
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 $20,100 in prize money will be awarded at the USATF 6 km Championships. The first ten U.S. runners earn points at each USATF Running Circuit race. For the USATF 10 Mile 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. Contributed by Keenan Gray