USA Cross Team
INDIANAPOLIS – Ben True (Hanover, N.H.) has been named USA Track & Field’s Athlete of the Week after leading the USA men’s team to a silver medal at the 40th IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland on Sunday.
True placed sixth individually with a mark of 33:11, the top finish for a U.S. athlete in 27 years. Pat Porter also finished sixith in 1986, crossing the line at 35:49.
“Chris [Derrick] and I were sitting around the low 20s and feeding off each other,” True said after the race, “and I kept telling myself to hang in there for one more lap, as guys from other teams started to drop back and we started picking them off.”
The second-place finish ties the best performance mark in these championships since 1984 in East Rutherford, N.J. In 2001, the squad received a bronze medal in Ostend, Belgium.
“It was a hard course, with a lot of twists and turns, and a steep uphill,” True said, “and it was great that we were able to hang in there.”
Now in its 12th year, USATF’s Athlete of the Week program is designed to recognize outstanding performers at all levels of the sport. USATF names a new honoree each week and features the athlete on www.usatf.org. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week.
2013 Winners: January 9, Bobby Mack; January 16, Mary Cain; January 22, Ajeé Wilson; January 30, Duane Solomon; February 6, Chris Derrick; February 13, Jeremy Taiwo; February 20, Alysia Montaño; February 27, Galen Rupp; March 6, Jenn Suhr; March 13, Tia Brooks; March 20, Bridget Franek; March 27, Ben True
photo credit: Michael Scott
