National Club Cross Country Championships
Jacob Riley and Mattie Suver both bested fields of well over 200 runners Saturday, Dec. 8 in claiming Open men’s and women’s individual titles during the USA Track & Field National Club Cross Country Championships held at Masterson Park in Lexington, Ken. More than 100 teams and 1,200 competitors competed in the national championships, which were held in Lexington for the second time in meet history.
On the line were individual and team titles for both Open and Masters athletes. Hansons-Brooks Distance Project took home top honors in the men’s open division with a score of 50 points while Team USA Minnesota won the women’s open division with a score of 70. Malcolm Campbell (M40) of the Atlanta Track Club was the top overall Masters male finisher and Gwen Lapham of Club Northwest was the top women’s Masters finisher.
Racing for team champion Hanson-Brooks Distance Project, Riley cruised through the 10K course in a final time of 29 minutes, 58 seconds. He finished ahead of Craig Forys of the New York Athletic Club in a time of 30:04 and Elliot Krause, who was competing unattached and placed third in 30:05. Asics Running Club placed second with a score of 77 and Boulder Running Company / adidas was third with 106.
The Boulder Running Company finished 1-2 in the women’s 6K open race with Suver (20:01) and Brianne Nelson, who finished runner-up in 20:12. However, Team USA Minnesota placed four runners in the top 11 to secure the team title. Katherine Mackey of Club Northwest placed third in the women’s Open division in a time of 20:13.88. The Boulder Running Company placed second in the team standings with a total of 92 points and New Balance Boston was third with 97.
In Masters open competition, Campbell completed the 10K course in a time of 32:47 while Simon Gutierrez of Team Colorado placed second in a time of 32:53 and Frederic Kieser of Team Ohio third in 32:55. In the women’s 6K race, Lapham finished in a time of 22:17, which was ahead of teammate Linda Huyck (22:52) and Nancy Meck of the Atlanta Track Club (23:03).
