Over 700 of the country's best distance runners will converge on San Diego, California, this Saturday for the USA Cross Country Championships. As usual, an experienced contingent of Minnesotans will be competing for national championships and coveted spots on the U.S. Team that will compete at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh, Scotland on March 30.Winona's Elliot Heath, a freshman at Stanford University, will defend his title in the Junior Men's 8k. Alex Gits of Edina, also a freshman at Stanford, will compete in the Junior Women's 6k. Both Heath and Gits won Minnesota Class AA 3200 meter titles last spring.
Team USA Minnesota will be well represented, with seven athletes competing. The Men's Open 12k field will include Team USA Minnesota athletes Andrew Carlson, Matt Gabrielson and Chris Lundstrom. Carlson finished 11th in the event last year, but was named to the U.S. team when a number of athletes declined the trip to the World Championships in Mombasa, Kenya. Carlson later had to withdraw from the team after suffering a cracked rib from a fall during a training run. Gabrielson, who finished 12th in 2007, will be seeking to make his fourth consecutive trip to the World Cross Country Championships.
The Team USA Minnesota women will be led by Katie McGregor, who has qualified for the World Championships Cross Country team each of the past five years. She will be joined by teammates Emily Brown, Kristen Nicolini Lehmkuhle and Mandi Zemba in the Women's Open 8k. Brown and Zemba, two of the newest members of the Twin Cities-based training group, will be competing in the USA Cross Country Championships for the first time.
A number of former Minnesota high school stars will also be competing in San Diego. The Women's Open field will include Cack Ferrell, who competed for St. Paul Academy and Summit School and Princeton University. Ferrell now trains with the Oregon Track Club Elite program. Ferrell was named to the World Championships team in 2007 and led the U.S. to an eighth place finish in Kenya.
The Men's Open field will feature former Stillwater and William & Mary standout Sean Graham, who also trains with the Oregon Track Club Elite program. If Graham makes the World Championships team he will be reunited with his high school coach, Scott Christensen who will coach the U.S. senior men's team. Also registered for the Men's Open event are Christopher Raabe, formerly of Sauk Rapids and North Dakota State and Levi Severson, formerly of Waseca and the University of St. Thomas. Severson will represent the U.S. Air Force in the Armed Forces Cross Country Championships, which take place in conjunction of the National Championships event.
Some of the country's best masters runners will also be competing in San Diego, running 8k over the Mission Bay Park course. Minnesotans Paul Giannobile (45-49), Barb Spannaus (60-64) and Thom Weddle (65-69) will be among the competitors.
A complete list of entrants is available at usatf.org.
Watch DtB for results over the weekend, and early next week a report from Stillwater coach Scott Christensen, who will be at the meet, and event photos.
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