Masters Athletes Who Made it to Lubbock Enjoyed a Great Competition! The 2025 USATF Cross Country Championships

January 21, 2025. The 2025 USATF Cross Country Championships were held this past Saturday, January 11th at Lubbock Christian University's Chapparal Ridge Course. Whether folks just needed a break after a busy 2024 or the perceived challenges of getting to Lubbock seemed too great, entries were lighter than usual. Then Winter Storm Cora threw a further monkey wrench into the works! Most folks from east of the Mississippi were flying into Dallas, either connecting too Lubbock or, in some cases, renting a car to drive the 5 hours to Lubbock. Dallas turned into an icy mess. Atlanta also faced icy difficulties!  As a result, many flights were cancelled. Several of the Atlanta M60 and M70 teams wound up spending six hours inside a plane on the tarmac in Atlanta, going through de-icing, then waiting, then returning to the gate for refueling, then waiting some more, before the flight was finally cancelled. Getting to Lubbock would have been smooth 99 times out of 100. Unfortunately, this was not one of those 99 times. As a result, 33 runners who entered, did not make it to the race. Those who made it to the race enjoyed a fine competition. It was windy and dry but not especially cold-mid 40's to mid-50's with good footing. Steady winds at 20 mph buffeted the runners, with gusts of up to 30 mph in the last 3 Km of the Men’s race. From reports, the athletes liked the course. Some sea level athletes thought the 3200' of altitude affected them; others were less sure. A few of the age division fields were thin but most enjoyed robust competition and the overall races were certainly well populated up front. Because few complete teams made it to Lubbock, the team divisions were solo affairs.

Note: A comparatively large number of athletes were listed as 'unaffiliated'. I know that some of them were, in fact, affiliated with the same club and team they have competed with for a long time. Apparently that difficulty was due to Club renewals not being approved in time for a January 8th cutoff date, which is very early in the new year. When I am pretty sure of the affiliation, based on past championships, I supply it with a notation, 'Unaffiliated/Impala Racing', for example. If I am just 'pretty sure' I add a '?' to the club name. If I do not know a C+lub affiliation at all, I record the affiliation as Unaffiliated [?].

OVERALL CHAMPIONSHIPS WOMEN This race, starting at 10:30 AM, covered 6 Km. 

Start of the Masters Women's Race at the 2025 USATF National Cross Country Championships in Lubbock TX Photo Credit: Kierra Eyiuche -- Imagun Images

Renee Metivier Team Red Lizard won the January 2022 edition of this race in San Diego by a wide margin. At that time, Metivier was mostly focused on Open goals. She did not race again in a Masters National Championship until December 2023 at Club Cross in Tallahassee FL. She ran into a buzzsaw, named Carrie Dimoff. Metivier ran a fine race to finish second, just 23 seconds back. It was the same story in the 2024 edition of this championship last January in Richmond. I imagine Metivier was relieved to see that Dimoff decided against going for the Club Cross/Cross Nationals double this year. There was still plenty of competition. Alison Crocker Red Lizard finished 7th overall at Tacoma in December. Still, Crocker was a minute back from Dimoff, further back than Metivier in 2023. April Lund GYS Track Club was expected to challenge; she won the 2023 edition of these championships and finished third behind Dimoff and Metivier last January. Lund was only 11 seconds behind Metivier. But Lund was one of the 33 who did not make it to Lubbock. It seemed that Kristin Shaw Red Lizard and Jessica Hruska Crown Running who finished 19th and 21st overall at Tacoma, just three seconds apart would compete for the podium. Shaw also finished 8th at the 2024 championships in Richmond, Hruska was also one of the 33 who were not at the championship. Katherine Gwyn's Unaffiliated [?] recent races give no hint that she would be competitive for the podium. She apparently finished 5th in 40-44 at the Run for the Water 10 Miler in Austin TX- in November. Her 1:17:56 time for ten miles is not suggestive of a nationally competitive athlete. The same is true of her 43:07 at the Austin Sunshine 10K in May. It could be there were mitigating factors in those races, or Gwyn may just be one of those athletes who excels at Cross Country. 

Once the gun sounded, Metivier went to the front and had no problem repeating the Overall win she enjoyed at the 2022 edition of this race in San Diego, this time in 22:24. 

Katherine Gwynn #1118 leads the Women's Chase Pack including, to her left, the viewer's right, Magdalena Donahue, Adrienne Neal, and Abby Dean at the 2025 USATF National Cross Country Championships in Lubbock TX Photo Credit: Kierra Eyiuche -- Imagun Images

Crocker and Gwyn kept Metivier in sight as long as they could, ultimately claiming second and third in 23:20 and 24:28. It was not Shaw's day; she finished fourth in 25:17. Magdalena Donahue Unaffiliated [?] who ran some fast 10K's seven years ago, finished fifth at 25:39. 

Renee Metivier Claims the Overall Masters Women's Title at the 2025 USATF National Cross Country Championships in Lubbock TX Photo Credit: Kierra Eyiuche -- Imagun Images

According to USATF News, Metivier appreciated the Chapparal Ridge course, saying, "The course ended up being one of the best courses I've run on aside from the wind - but that's cross country. The moguls made it really fun, and I loved that we would do these sharp turns where we could see the rest of the field."

Renee Metivier 22:24     Alison Crocker 23:20     Katherine Gwyn 24:28

MEN This race, starting at 11:30, over 8 Km, also had a strong favorite. Joseph Gray Club Northwest entered Masters ranks in 2024, promptly winning the Masters 10 Km Championships in Dedham MA at the end of April in 30:44, setting a Masters course record in the process. This fall, he claimed Overall Masters wins on the turf in Boulder at the Masters 5 Km Championships and at the Club Cross Championships, over 10 Km, in Tacoma. In Lubbock he could close off the Turf Trifecta! His main competition came from David Angell Roanoke Valley Elite, Nicholas Kipruto Unaffiliated/US Army[?], Trevor Pettingill Unattached, and Ayoub Touil Unaffiliated [?]. Angell is the two-time defending Masters National Grand Prix 45-49 champion. Angell finished seventh at the 2023 edition of these championships in Richmond and moved up to fifth overall this past January in Richmond. Angell has struggled at Club Cross, not cracking the top 30 at either Tallahassee or Tacoma. Kipruto finished 34th overall at the Army Ten Miler and was the fifth Masters, behind Elkanah Kibet and three others, registering 53:58. Kipruto started out strong at Tacoma in December but was not able to sustain that pace, finishing 19th in 35:40. Pettingill finished 30th overall at 2023 Club Cross in 2023 and moved up one spot in a deeper and more competitive field at Tacoma. Touil raced to a 6th overall and 1st Maasters finish at the Rock n Roll San Antonio Half Marathon in December 2023 and clocked a 32:14 to finish fourth overall at the Phoenix 10K this past November. 

Gray went right to the front and had no trouble separating from the field. His time of 25:31 gave him a victory margin of over 500 meters. Gray has won all three national Masters Cross Country titles available this season, from Boulder to Tacoma to Lubbock! After the race, Gray commented, according to a USATF News report, that "It was a big change in weather considering the weather I came through to get here. It was a beautiful course and a nice group of guys out there so I can't complain." Nicholas Kipruto and Ayoub Touil battled for second place for much of the race. 

Nicholas Kipruto close, multicolored singlet and Ayoub Touil far, black t-shirt battling for the Silver Medal in the Masters Men's Race at the 2025 USATF National Cross Country Championships in Lubbock TX Photo Credit: Kierra Eyiuche -- Imagun Images

Late in the race, Touil faltered and may have fallen. I heard a report that Kipruto paused, went back, checked that Touil was alright, and then continued to the finish. Kipruto finished second, over a minute and a half behind Gray. [Some small portion of that deficit may have been a result of his sportsmanlike conduct vis a vis Touil.] At that point, Touil had given everything he had to stay with Kipruto; he had no resources left to fight off Trevor Pettingill, who claimed the bronze medal thirteen seconds behind Kipruto. Touil finished fourth at 28:13, with David Angell fifth at 28:41.

Joseph Gray 25:31     Nicholas Kipruto 27:18     Trevor Pettingill 27:31

Joseph Gray wins the Overall Masters Men's Title at the 2025 USATF National Cross Country Championships in Lubbock TX Photo Credit: Kierra Eyiuche -- Imagun Images

AGE GRADING CHAMPIONSHIPS The Age Grading Percentage indicates how fast an athlete ran, adjusted for age and sex, compared to the best possible time for that single age, by global standards. Alan Jones and now, Jones and Tom Bernhard, analyze data on single age times from around the world to fit a curve to the best times at all ages. That curve shows how the best times fall off as folks age. It also predicts a fastest time for each single age. These graphs are done for the 1 Mile, 5K, 10K, Half Marathon and Marathon. Distances between these markers are found by extrapolation. From those curves, tables are created that can be read into timing programs to produce a Performance Level Percentage PLP. Online calculators are also constructed to allow anyone to calculate an age grade score, PLP, for any time, distance, age/sex combination. For example, if a male runner, aged 54 runs a 37:42 10K, that achieves an 81.56 PLP. If the runner achieving that time of 37:42 had been 68, the PLP rises to 92.92. The somewhat whimsical phrases of 'World Class, and 'National Class' have been attached to the PLP levels of 90% and 80%. The age grade tables that have been used since 2020 are referred to as the 2020 age grading tables. Bernhard, with Jones's oversight and assistance, has now updated these to 2025, based on single age best data from 2020-2024. The new tables will, I presume, come into effect at the first Masters National Road Championship of 2025, the 10K Championships at Dedham. 

MEN The top score, at Lubbock, was achieved by 3-time Masters Harrier of the Year, Rick Becker Atlanta Track Club, who enjoyed a large victory margin. His 32:22, at age 70, earned an 87.66 PLP to put him atop the Age Grading podium. That is his second consecutive age grading podium. He was third at Club Cross in Tacoma last month. He also won the age grading championships for the M60+ Race at the Tallahassee Club Cross Championships in December 2023. Roger Sayre Boulder Road Runners, 66, and Dan King Athletics Boulder, 65, took second and third. Sayre’s 31:45 scored an 85.92. King’s 31:30 graded at 85.77. Sayre matched the second place age grading finish he recorded at the Masters Half Marathon Championships in Indianapolis in October. King's third place finish follows his second place age grading finishes at Boulder in November and at Tacoma in December, 2024. Gray, the overall winner, was just off the podium in fourth with an 85.62%.

Rick Becker 70 32:22 87.66%     Roger Sayre 66 31:45 85.92     Dan King 65 31:30 85.77 

WOMEN Metivier, the overall women’s winner, also had the top age grade. At 43, her winning time, 22:24, gave her an 83.02 PLP. This was Metivier's first age grading win at a Masters Championships. And it was a dominant win, with almost four full percentage points between her and second place. Her previous best was in 2022 on the Mission Bay course in San Diego. She won the overall championship then and finished third in age grading. It was much closer for second place. Abby Dean Greater Philadelphia TC, 53, clocked 26:01 for a 78.98% and the silver medal. Jo Anne Rowland Impala Racing, 76, claimed the bronze medal; her 35:15 graded at 78.87%, just 0.11 percentage points behind. That was Rowland's second top five age grade place at a national championship. In 2023 at the Ten Mile Masters Championships in Sacramento, she recorded a 90.12% for fifth place. It was nearly a double-podium day for Crocker, as well as Metivier; Crocker finished fourth in age grading at 78.16%.

Renee Metivier 43 22:24 83.02%     Abby Dean 53 26:01 78.98%     Jo Anne Rowland 76 35:15 78.87%

AGE DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIPS Each Age Division winner is a national champion. 

WOMEN 40-44 Metivier, Crocker, and Gwyn, who went 1-2-3 overall, come from this division and so are also the top three here. See the discussion of Overall Championships above.

Renee Metivier 22:24     Alison Crocker 23:20     Katherine Gwyn 24:28

Note: This will not be true for National Masters (road race) championships, starting this year. The USATF Masters LDR Committee voted in favor of a proposal to follow the procedure, common in the road race industry, to eliminate the Overall winners from the pool of individuals eligible for Age Division awards.

45-49 Sheila Smitherman Barron Park Striders finished 29th in a deep, competitive field at Tacoma. Here in Lubbock, Smitherman raced unopposed in this division, winning in 26:50.

Sheila Smitherman 26:50

50-54 In fall 2022, Abby Dean Greater Philadelphia TC suffered a hamstring injury, was treated with a PRP shot and was not fully recovered for 2023 Cross Nationals in Richmond. She ran for team points but still landed on the podium, third. She captured the 50-54 Grand Prix title that year, winning the 5 Km, 10 Km and Half Marathon championships, with second place finishes at the 1 Mile and 12K. That fall she had surgery and was not fully recovered for the 2024 edition of Cross Nationals, also in Richmond. She again finished 3rd. I am not aware of specific problems in the second half of 2024 but Dean's results late in the year suggest she was not at full fitness. The 32:46 Dean turned in at the 8K on Philadelphia Marathon weekend in November, and the 19:42 5K in early December were both fine times but not quite as strong as Dean's best effort would likely be. Those times, plus Dean's history, made her the favorite, nonetheless. Samantha Forde Impala Racing would have been her chief rival. Unfortunately, Forde, tore her meniscus at Tacoma in December and is out of action for a month or two. With Forde absent, Dean's rivals were Alexandra Newman Impala Racing, a lynchpin of the Impala 50+ team, and Riva Rahl Unaffiliated [?]. Newman took 8th place at Richmond last January, finishing a good minute behind Dean. Rahl ran a 1:47:40 half marathon in 2018 and this past May, clocked a 52:12 10K in Dallas. Dean was the favorite and she delivered. Running in the top five overall for much of the race, Dean finished sixth overall, in 26:01, and first in 50-54. Dean enjoyed a winning cushion of well over a minute. Newman claimed second, a good minute ahead of Rahl.

Abby Dean 26:01     Alexandra Newman 27:39     Riva Rahl 28:44

55-59 No Entries.

60-64 Four athletes entered but only one was able to make it to the event. Neither Kris Huff Atlanta, who would have been the favorite, Leslie Nowicki Shore AC, nor Robin Tanner Atlanta could navigate out of Atlanta nor into Dallas/Lubbock. Mary Bryan Impala was traveling in from the West Coast. Such travelers apparently had fewer problems en route. Bryan had been flying in under the radar in any case. There were no results on Athlinks for a nationally competitive runner. Bryan had no recent national championship results, nor was she listed in any of the Pacific Association Cross Country results. None of that mattered. With no rivals on the course, Bryan enjoyed a 6 Km circuit in 37:40, winning the gold medal.

Mary Bryan 37:40

65-69 This division had a similar story in one respect. Two of the entrants did not make it. The difference in this division was that the favorite was the athlete who made it to Lubbock. Suzannne Cordes Impala Racing is a very strong cross country runner. She was just off the podium at the Club Cross Country Championships in San Francisco in 2022 and in Tallahassee in 2023. She won the Masters 5 Km 60-64 Cross Country Championships in Boulder in 2022 and claimed the 65-69 title in November of this year on the same challenging Cross Country course. It would likely have been quite the battle for second had Kittty Musante Shore AC and Mireille 'Mimi' Silva Atlanta been able to compete. Silva finished 24 seconds ahead of Musante last February at the Masters 5 Km Championships in Atlant6a, clocking 22:40.  But Musante may have been off her best. In November and December of 2024, she turned in 5K's in Florida at 22:39 and 22:58. But we will have to wait for another time to see that matchup. Cordes won the age division, finishing first at 32:56. That is quite a bit slower than her usual 6 Km times. That may have been due to a lack of age division competition.

Suzanne Cordes 32:56

70-74 There were two entrants, Cindy Lucking Atlanta and Helene Myers Potomac Valley Track Club. Both made it to Lubbock and to the starting line. Lucking is coming off a fourth-place finish at Club Cross in Tacoma. At Clubs in Tallahassee the year before, Lucking claimed the silver medal. Myers, the 2024 Masters National 70-74 Grand Prix Champion, ran in both events, finishing many minutes behind Lucking. The Grand Prix rewards those who compete and Myers has been very persistent in competing at Masters National Championships. The division race came out as expected. Lucking won by over 18 minutes. Myers, nonetheless, collected 95 Grand Prix points to add to her total. Myers is currently in second, behind Lucking in that 2025 GP contest. 

Cindy Lucking 36:29     Helene Myers 55:05

75-79 Four athletes entered this division. But, again, only an entrant from the West Coast was able to arrive in Lubbock. Kathleen Allen Atlanta, Andrea McCarter Atlanta, and Nelda Williams Unaffiliated/Impala Racing were all, presumably, victims of Winter Storm Cora. As with 60-64, however, it was the favorite who made it to the competition. Jo Anne Rowland Impala Racing won the 75-79 Ten Mile Masters national championship this year in Flint MI in August. She ran 1:29:43 on the challenging, hilly Crim Ten Miler Course. In Tacoma this past December, Rowland claimed the 75-79 silver medal. Rowland encountered no trouble in Lubbock. She finished first. No one over the age of 65 finished ahead of her. As noted earlier, Rowland claimed the age grading bronze medal.

Jo Anne Rowland 35:15

80-84 No entries.

85-89 Joyce Hodges-Hite Atlanta, the defending 85-89 Masters National Grand Prix Champion, continues her quest for a repeat GP victory. She won at Tacoma. She repeated that in Lubbock. Hodges-Hite has two wins in two tries. Hodges-Hite already has a commanding lead in the 2025 Grand Prix contest for 85-89.

Joyce Hodges-Hite 1:14:28

MEN 40-44 Gray Club Northwest, Kipruto Unaffiliated [US Army] and Touil Unaffiliated [?] finished 1-2-4 in the Overall competition. The three are in the 40-44 division. Perforce, they finish 1-2-3 in this division. This was, to the best of my knowledge, the first Masters National Championship for Sean Prinz Unaffiliated [?]. He finished sixth overall, and fourth in this division, 55 seconds behind Touil. 

Joseph Gray 25:31     Nicholas Kipruto 27:18     Ayoub Touil 28:13

Note: This will not be true for National Masters (road race) championships, starting this year. The USATF Masters LDR Committee voted in favor of a proposal to follow the procedure, common in the road race industry, to eliminate the Overall winners from the pool of individuals eligible for Age Division awards. Had that procedure been in effect for this championship race, Touil would have won the Age Division gold medal; Prinz would have earned silver. Gray and Kipruto, as overall gold and silver medalist would have been removed from the age division competition.

The Masters Men's Race is Under Way at the 2025 USATF National Cross Country Championships in Lubbock TX Photo Credit: Kierra Eyiuche -- Imagun Images

45-49 Trevor Pettingill Unaffiliated was a slight favorite over David Angell Roanoke Valley Elite. Since his first appearance at a national championship, in Boca Raton for the 2023 Masters 5 Km Cross Country championships, Pettingill has been just a little faster than Angell. Pettingill finished 4th overall at Boca, seven seconds and one place ahead of Angell. It was a similar story at 2023 Cub Cross in Tallahassee except Pettingill enjoyed a half minute cushion overt Angell. At Tacoma in December, Pettingill claimed the 45-49 bronze medal, with Angell over a minute back. Angell has had better luck at Club Nationals, finishing 7th overall in 2023 and 5th overall this past January in Richmond. Tommy Boles Unaffiliated [?] turned in an 18:08 5K at his local turkey trot but I found no recent cross country results for him. Anthony Fleg Sports Warriors ran a 1:27:14 half marathon at the Duke City Marathon last October. In December, he clocked 3:04:24 at the California International Marathon, better known as CIM. After the gun sounded, Pettingill and Angell separated from the rest of the division field. At the one-mile mark, Angell was within a few strides of Pettingill. But Pettingill pulled away after that, winning in 27:31. Angell was a good minute behind, finishing 2nd in the division. This time, Boles's 5 Km time was a better predictor of success than Fleg's half and full marathon results. Boles claimed the division bronze in 31:57, with Fleg 1:20 behind Boles, in fourth.

Trevor Pettingill 27:31     David Angell 28:41     Tommy Boles 31:57 

50-54 One of the top contenders in this division, Robbie Genzel Denver Athletics, did not get to Lubbock. The favorite, Chokri Dhaouadi Sports Warriors, did make, it along with several other strong runners affiliated with the Blacksburg Striders, principally, Anderson Norton , Durelle Scott, and Ignacio Moore. Norton raced to a 1:21:38 Hokie Half Marathon in October and turned in a swift 17:53 5K in November. Perhaps more importantly, Norton had finished 8th M50 at 2023 Cross Nationals in Richmond, followed by a 5th place finish this past January on the same course. Scott was 14th and 13tth at the two cross national events. He was six minutes behind Norton at the Hokie Half. Moore finished 22 seconds ahead of Scott at Richmond in 2023 and enjoyed a half minute cushion in 2024 when he finished 8th in the division. He clocked 1:27:08 at the Hokie Half in September. Dhaouadi's credentials include an M45 second place at the 2020 edition of these championships in San Diego as well as the more recent second place he earned in M50 at the Masters 5 Km XC Championships in Boulder this past November. Dhaouadi cruised to a half minute win in 29:40. Athletes from the Blacksburg Striders took the next five spots. Norton was over a hundred meters behind Dhaouadi, claiming second in 30:17. Scott took third in 30:44, a minute and 4 seconds ahead of Moore, in 4th. Bradley Paye and Scott Huxtable, both of the Blacksburg Striders, finished 5th and 6th, in 32:09 and 32:18.

Chokri Dhaouadi 29:40     Anderson Norton 30:17     Durelle Scott 30:44   

55-59 In this division, two of the top contenders, Christopher Harris Atlanta TC and Matt Farley Bowerman TC, were among five entrants who did not make it to the starting line. Two others who were expected to battle for the podium were in Lubbock.  Kevin McGuire Blacksburg Striders was part of the Blacksburg Strider M50+ team that competed. Scott Siriano Shore AC was able to get to the event. McGuire and Siriano met in Richmond at the 2023 edition of these championships. McGuire finished 44 seconds ahead of Siriano, earning a 5th place finish in the 55-59 division. McGuire had an easier time of it this year, claiming the gold medal in 31:27, with a cushion of almost two minutes. Siriano is a committed competitor. He won the 2024 M55 Masters National Grand Prix Championship and is looking to repeat as Champion. Finishing second in 55-59, Siriano collected 95 points towards the 2025 GP championship.

Kevin McGuire 31:27     Scott Siriano 33:25

60-64 Three of the entrants made it to Lubbock. As it turned out, all three were among the top contenders. Had Lester Dragstedt Atlanta been able to make it we would likely have seen a good duel between him and Adam Feerst Boulder. Despite rehabbing a troublesome tendon, not to mention an ankle issue, over the last 8 months or so, Mark Zamek TC Running turns up at national championships and performs well. In the latest interval between rehab efforts, Zamek finished 2nd in the 60-64 division at 2023 Club Cross, 2024 Cross Nationals in Richmond in January, and then 2nd at the Masters 10 Km Championships in Dedham in late April. After that he was not able to compete at a national championship until December at Clubs in Tacoma. He was not able to make the podium there but was able to run close to the front in the early going and still finished 7th in a loaded field. Zamek was the favorite here in Lubbock. Mark Tatum Boulder Road Runners took a break from his better loved usual pursuit, trail running, to compete in Lubbock. Tatum was fourth overall and first in his division at the legendary Dipsea race north of San Francisco this year. That is a race he won outright a few years back. No slouch on the turf, Tatum finished 7th at the 2021 Club Cross Championships in Tallahassee and finished 2nd at both the 2022 and 2024 editions of the Masters 5 Km Championships in Boulder CO. Feerst was off his best in 2022 when he finished 10th at Boulder, a couple of minutes behind Tatum. This past November, Feerst finished fourth at Boulder, less than a minute back from Tatum. Feerst and Dragstedt are both running better than they did in 2022 at Boulder when they finished four seconds apart. It would have been a good race to watch. Given recent experience, the expected transpired. Zamek ran well, claiming the victory in 30:45. Tatum was second at 33:08, with Feerst a good minute back in third.

Mark Zamek 30:45     Mark Tatum 33:08     Adam Feerst 34:32

Roger Sayre #1039 and Mark Tatum #1049 right, white singlets, along with Dan King obscured, beyond and slightly behind Tatum, leading a group of 50+ runners as they vie for the 60-64 and 65-69 division championships in the Masters Men's Race at the 2025 USATF National Cross Country Championships in Lubbock TX Photo Credit: Kierra Eyiuche -- Imagun Images

65-69 Dan King Athletics Boulder is a master craftsman when it comes to injury prevention and rehab. But anyone who breaks as many records as King does is always running on the edge. He has a PHT issue that he is currently trying to be careful with. That meant he would, as he said beforehand, '...run for the division win, but I'm not going for an age grade win; I am targeting WMA at the end of March." Of course, if you read the age grading section above you already know how King did in age grading. Nonetheless, King, Roger Sayre Boulder Road Runners and Ken Youngers Atlanta were looking forward to a good dustup in Lubbock. Sayre and Youngers last met head-to-head on the turf at Richmond this past January where they finished in a virtual dead heat. Youngers was, unfortunately, one of the Atlanta guys who spent 6 hours on the tarmac before their flight was finally cancelled. Although not quite in the category of those top three, Dan Spale Boulder Road Runners has had plenty of top seven finishes on the turf at national championships. Spale claimed 6th in 60-64 at the 2019 Cross Nationals championships in Tallahassee. More recently, he finished 5th in 65-69 at the 2022 Club Cross championships in San Francisco. Two months earlier, Spale finished 2nd in 65-69 at Boulder in the 2022 Masters 5 Km Championships. Since the Covid interruption to road racing, King's main focus has been middle distance on the track. His extra advantage on the turf is that he can call on his speed to close out races if he needs it. That is true, notwithstanding that he rarely needs to call on it in Cross Country. Sayre, over the last year and a half has tilted his racing more toward the longer events, half marathon and up. He broke the American 65-69 record in the 25K in 2023 and broke his own record this year with a 1:40:41, age grade equivalent to a 1:24:03 Half Marathon. In order to win, Sayre would likely need to take it out hard,  manage to drop King, and build enough territory between them so that King's speed would not come into play. That did not happen. King ran with Sayre and his 60-64 Boulder teammate, Tatum. Eventually the two dropped Tatum, but Sayre could not shake King. In the end King had a 50-meter gap on Sayre, winning the division in 31:30. Sayre was second in 31:45. Spale, with no challengers, claimed the bronze medal in 35:48.

Dan King 31:30     Roger Sayre 31:45     Dan Spale 35:48

70-74 Rick Becker Atlanta, three-time Masters Harrier of the Year won the championship at Club Cross in Tacoma last month. All of his rivals were in that race, and none finished within three minutes of him. Becker was the heavy favorite. Since turning 70, Jack Pottle Boulder Road Runners has been the main man for Boulder, leading the illustrious Boulder duo, Doug Bell Boulder Road Runners and Doug Chesnut Boulder Road Runners, who have led the way for the past few years. At 2023 Cross Nationals in Richmond, it was Bell in 2nd and Chesnut 4th in 70-74, with Bell less than half a minute ahead of Chesnut. In October 2023, it was Chesnut 3rd and Bell 7th, the greater gap perhaps due, in part, to heat and humidity. Pottle was still racing in the 65-69 division in October at the 5 Km XC in Boulder but finished a half minute ahead of Chesnut, with Bell finishing 20 seconds after Chesnut. They raced as 70+ teammates at Tacoma. Pottle finished 5th in 70-74, with Chesnut and Bell in 12th and 15th. Don Morison Greater Philadelphia finished a half minute ahead of Bell at Richmond this past January. A month later, Bell came in a half minute ahead of Morrison at the 5 Km Road championships in Atlanta. The race unfolded largely as expected. Becker ran much of the race in the company of Sayre, Tatum and King, outdistancing his 70-74 rivals by three minutes at the finish. Pottle pulled away from his 70-74 rivals over the latter part of the race, eventually enjoying a 400-meter cushion when he claimed 2nd place in 35:24. This was Bell's day. He was able to put some distance between himself and his teammate, Chesnut, claiming third in 37:43. Chesnut ran with Morrison for much of the race. Morrison had more in the tank at the end, kicking away from Chesnut to claim 4th in 38:27, just three seconds ahead!

Rick Becker 32:22     Jack Pottle 35:24     Doug Bell 37:43 

75-79 Based on results over the last few years and more recently, it looked like Rick Katz Boulder Road Runners was a solid favorite for the win, with Jerry Learned Atlanta equally solid for second place. Katz and Learned have met four times on the turf, from Boca Raton in October 2023 through to Tacoma in December 2024. Each time Katz finished ahead of Learned. None of those entered otherwise have been able to stay close to Learned.  It could have been a battle between Patrick Taylor Atlanta and me, Paul Carlin Unaffiliated/Ann Arbor TC, for third. On paper it looked like Katz-Learned-Carlin was quite likely. But those battles never materialized. Neither Learned, Taylor nor I made it to Lubbock. With no rivals to worry about, Katz ran with the 70-74 runners for much of the race; he won the 75-79 division in 40:29 with a 14-minute cushion.

Rick Katz 40:29     Micks Purnell 54:55

TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS Even before Winter Storm Cora hit Dallas, there were only a few divisions with competitive races, and all were on the Men's side. The Atlanta Track Club was sending 50+, 60+ and 70+ teams to battle with the Blacksburg Striders in 50+, and with the Boulder Road Runners in 60+ and 70+. The Atlanta athletes were willing to endure six hours on the tarmac, hoping against hope that their flight would be cleared for take-off. But it never happened. As a result, each division had just one complete team entered. Six teams were crowned national team champion. MEN Sports Warriors Albuquerque NM claimed the 40+ title with Blacksburg Striders Blacksburg VA taking gold in 50+. Boulder Road Runners scored wins in both 60+ and 70+. WOMEN Team Red Lizard took their third consecutive cross country championship in 40+, adding Lubbock to Tacoma and Boulder. Impala Racing finished first in the 50+ division.

Masters runners will have another chance to trod the turf in Gainesville FL at the end of March at the WMA Indoor Championships; the Non-Stadia cross country event is on Sunday, March 23rd. There is a 10K Road Race on the 29th. Details of those championships can be found here.

Note: This was the first championship since the first part of last year to use USATF's Sport 80 Membership Platform as the registration portal for USATF Masters National Championships. This is, no doubt, a big step forward for USATF and its Masters Championships. Because this championship occurred slightly after the beginning of the new membership year, there were a few glitches. A number of athletes were listed as 'unaffiliated' when they were, in fact, affiliated with the same club and team they have competed with for a long time. Apparently that difficulty was due to Club renewals not being approved in time for a January 8th cutoff date, which is earlier than usual for these championships. Those on site straightened out those problems for any cases where team membership made a difference. For those who were not on a declared, complete team, the 'unaffiliated' was left standing. At least one runner was initially assigned to the wrong Age Division but that was corrected prior to the close of registration.  Whether any of those difficulties were due to the new system or are just the standard kinds of problems that creep in for early in the new year championships. Until after registration closes there is no Status of Entries page as in the past. The user has to click on the 'register' button and, on the new screen, select 'VIEW PUBLIC ENTRIES'. That takes the user to a set of entry lists. The list initially displayed included all entrants for the championships, whether Masters, Open or U20. But the user can view any age group they are interested in whether individual or team by using the filtering system, checking the relevant box, for example M50-54, and then click on the 'Apply' button.

A Cold Morning in the Panhandle! Masters Athletes Head for Lubbock TX and the 2025 USATF Cross Country Championships

January 10, 2025. The Chapparal Ridge course at Lubbock Christian University is the site of the 2025 USATF Cross Country Championships this coming Saturday, January 11th. The course has hosted NCAA Division 2 Invitationals; this will be their first USATF national championship. If the weather forecast holds, it will be sunny and cold. When the Masters Women’s race goes off at 10:30 AM it will be in the upper 30’s. By the time the Men’s race goes off at 11:30, the temperatures are expected to rise to the lower 40’s. It may be in the 50’s for the Awards ceremony. The Texas panhandle received 1-2” of snow on Thursday. How will that affect the course? The races will also be complicated by winds in the teens, gusting to the 20’s. Situated at 3200 feet above sea level, runners who train at altitude will enjoy a modest advantage. NOTE: Although I mention times, it is perilous to compare cross country times too closely. Times achieved over the same distance on different courses will vary. Courses vary in terrain, elevation change and so on. Even the same course can be almost like two different courses on different days, depending on conditions. If it is soft and muddy one day and hard another, the times will be faster the second day. Rain or freezing temperatures can have a different effect on different surfaces, and terrain, as can snow or melting snow. You get the idea. 

OVERALL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Women. This race features Renee Metivier, a frequent member of Team USA at World Athletics Cross Country championships during her Open career. As an Open runner, Metivier represented Team USA at 5 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and is a four-time national Open champion at distances from 3000M to the Marathon. As a Masters athlete, Metivier won the 2022 edition of these championships at Mission Bay in San Diego over 6Km in 21:50. She finished second in the 2024 edition at Richmond VA at 21:47. April Lund will challenge again this year. She finished third in Richmond a year ago, just 11 seconds behind Metivier. Lund won the 2023 edition of these championships, in 22:03, with over a half minute to spare. Those championships also served as the selection race for the inaugural WMA Cross Country Championships in Bathurst Australia. Lund claimed gold in her 40-44 division race, clocking 23:53 over a challenging Mt Panorama course with elevation changes, muddy pits, hay bales, and chicanes to weave through. Lund also proved herself last year on the roads, with a fine 16:58 win over a strong field at the Masters 5 Km championships in Atlanta. Those two will have to watch out for Alison Crocker. She seems to be getting better as the cross country season progresses. She went from 4th Overall at her Pacific Northwest Masters Championship to 7th Overall at Club Cross Nationals last month! Her time on that gusty day over a muddy course, was 23:42. If she takes one more step up, she will definitely be in the mix for the win. Jessica Hruska won the 2022 Masters 5 Km Championships [if no modifier is used a USATF championship in this article is a road championship] in Atlanta with an 18:15 and finished 2^nd overall that year at the 5 km cross country championships in Boulder, at altitude, in 19:52. In December 2022 she finished fourth overall at Club Cross in San Francisco, with a 22:40 effort. But Hruska may not enjoy that same 2022 level of fitness; she finished 21st at Tacoma. And, in referring to Tacoma, I had best devote a line to Kristin Shaw who finished three seconds, and two places, ahead of Hruska last month. Metivier has to be the favorite over Lund, at least until Lund comes in ahead of her. But it should be a heck of a race! Most likely it will be Metivier-Lund going 1-2 in that order with Crocker claiming third. But Hruska and Shaw will be pushing them all the way!

Podium Favorites in Alphabetical Order:

Alison Crocker     April Lund     Renee Metivier

Renee Metivier right and Carrie Dimoff left with April Lund red shorts a stride back on the first loop at the 2024 USATF Cross Country Championships in Richmond VA Photo Credit: Mike Scott

Men. Joseph Gray, the two-time World Mountain Running champion, looks for another Masters Overall Championship. He ran away from the field last month in Tacoma, earning the victory over 10 Km in 33:20. That followed his 15:30 win at the 5 Km Cross Country Championships in Boulder in November, and his 30:44 win at the Masters 10 Km Championships. This race will be over 8 Km of high chapparal turf; Gray is a strong favorite. The athlete most likely to give Gray a challenge is Nicholas Kipruto who started well at Tacoma but finished 19^th in 35:40. It is hard to know how the conditions affected Kipruto, but the footing is likely to be better in Lubbock. Kipruto ran 53:58 at the Army Ten Miler last October. Ayoub Touil, a newly minted Masters runner, will also be in the mix. This fall he ran 16:08 for a 5K and 32:14 for fourth overall and the Masters win at the Phoenix 10K. Sean Prinz has run well this past year; he clocked 57:44 at the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run in April and 27:27 at the Ashenfelter 8K in November. Prinz will need to have things break his way to get on the podium. Gray seems to be a lock for the win. Kipruto's Army Ten Miler time is age grade equivalent to 32:42 for a 10K. That is a little slower than Touil's time in Phoenix. On the other hand, Kipruto has Tacoma under his belt. Touil apparently lacks a recent Cross Country race. I will use that to guess that Kipruto has a slight edge and suggests a final finishing order of Gray-Kipruto-Touil.

Podium Favorites in Alphabetical Order:

Joseph Gray     Nicholas Kipruto     Ayoub Touil

Joseph Gray leading most of the field in the men 40+ race at the 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA Photo Credit: Mike Scott

Age Division Championships 

Men 40-44 Gray, Kipruto and Aouil are all from this division, as is Prinz. If the order above holds for the Overall race, it holds for this division also. Gray-Kipruto-Aouil, with Prinz just off the podium.

Podium Favorites in Alphabetical Order:

Joseph Gray     Nicholas Kipruto     Ayoub Touil

45-49 David Angell was rock solid at Cross Country championships from 2017 through 2019, either on the overall odium or just off. Even with Club Cross, the toughest to podium on, Angell achieved a bronze medal overall finish at Spokane in December 2018. After Covid, Angell has had a more up and down record on the turf. A chronic niggling injury demanded attention; that interrupted training. Sometimes Angell was on; other times not. He, like everyone, grew older. Like others, once he graduated to the 45-49 division, Angell was more likely to compete for an Age Division than an Overall win. He has had success at Cross Nationals, however, finishing second and fourth in the 45-49 division at the 2023 and 2024 editions of Cross Nationals in Richmond. Angell clocked very fine, consistent 8 Km times-26:58 in '23 and 17:03 in '24. He has not been able to crack the top ten in the division at the last four Club Cross competitions. Angell and Trevor Pettingill have met at the Masters 5 Km Championships at Boca Raton in 2022. Pettingill edged Angell for the division silver medal in 16:52. Angell, seven seconds slower, earned the bronze. At 2024 Club Cross in Tallahassee and at Tacoma this past month, Pettingill again had the edge, finishing four division places ahead of Angell at Tallahassee and finishing 3rd M45 in Tacoma to Angell's 19th. Pettingill enters the favorite. But Angell is a battler. he has rarely, if ever, had two bad cross country races in a row. It does not look like anyone else can stay with those two. Quent Bearden and Sports Warrior teammates, Dewayne Carl and Anthony Fleg should contend for the bronze medal. Bearden appears to have the best speed of the three with a 17:37 at a Firecracker three miler, roughly equivalent to an 18:17 5K. Carl has a 3:20:54 Duke City marathon, at altitude, this year. Fleg counters with a 3:21:47 Duke City Marathon in 2023 and a 1:27:44 Duke City Half Marathon this past year. His 3:04:40 at the CIM this past December suggests how much faster they would run at sea level (and with an overall downhill Marathon). Bearden also has endurance credentials. He turned in a 7:19:51 at the JFK 50 Miler. The three are closely matched. One will, no doubt, break away. I can imagine that Carl and Fleg, as teammates, will stick together for at least the first half of the race. That could give them the advantage. I will go with Fleg for the bronze, on the basis of that 1:27+ half marathon at latitude, and let one of the others try to prove that pick wrong. That gives me Pettingill-Angell-Fleg.

Podium Favorites in Alphabetical Order:

David Angell     Anthong Fleg     Trevor Pettingill

50-54 Chokri Dhaouadi, Robbie Genzel, and Anderson Norton look to be the top contenders. At the 2020 edition of these championships at Mission Bay in San Diego, Dhaouadi finished 2nd in the 45-49 division at 28:07. His next appearance at a national cross country championships was this past November in Boulder. Now in the 50-54 division Dhaouadi was equally successful, walking away with the division silver medal in 18:30. A member of the Sports Warriors, out of Albuquerque, Dhaouadi, is equally adept whether running at altitude or sea level. That should give him some advantage at 3200' of altitude. Genzel ripped off a 34:45 10K in April at the Masters Championships in Dedham, earning the 50-54 bronze medal. Genzel clocked 37:40 over the 10 Km course at Tallahassee Clubs in 2023, finishing 14th in 45-49. Anderson Norton of the Blacksburg Striders presumably trains at Blacksburg's 2000 feet or more so a step up to 3200' should require little adjustment. He posted a 1:21:38 at the Hokie HM in Blacksburg in September and clocked a 17:54 5K at the local Turkey Trot in November. He has been successful on the turf as well, running 28:28 over 8 Km of turf to finish 8th in 45-49 at 2023 Cross Nationals in Richmond. Last year he ran a little slower on a much colder, windier day, 29:06 to finish 5th in this division. Frederick Dolan deserves mention as well. He has run well on the roads recently, placing 5th at the Masters 5 Km Championships in Atlanta with a 17:55 effort. His 44:04 12 Km at Highlands NJ earned him the Masters 12 Km Championships 50-54 silver medal. Dolan finished 4th at the 2023 Masters 5 Km Championships in Boca Raton FL with an 18:24. He finished 45 seconds and one place behind Norton at the 2024 edition in Richmond. This is probably the deepest division in this year's championships. There are easily seven other athletes who might break into the top four if any of these four are off their best. It seems as if Dhaouadi and Genzel should be close for the win, a great race to observe! After that I give Norton the nod over Dolan as that was the way it came out in Richmond last year. I will opt for Dhaouadi over Genzel for the win.

Podium Favorites in Alphabetical Order:

Chokri Dhaouadi     Robbie Genzel     Anderson Norton

55-59 This division seems balanced. There are several runners challenging for the podium. Probably Christopher Harris is the strongest. He turned in a 35:33 10K at Peachtree this past July and ran 1:00:28 at the PNC Ten Miler in October. Harris has also been effective on the turf, running 17:56 in the 5 km XC Championship to take 3rd M50 in Boca Raton. Club Cross always has a deeper and more competitive field; Harris finished 17th in this division at Tacoma last month in 40:29. Kevin McGuire is another Blacksburg Strider who has done well at Richmond. he finished 8th in M50 in 2023 with a 30:40 effort. last year on a cold, windy day, McGuire dropped seven seconds from his time, moving up to finish 5th in M55. After those two the crystal ball is less clear. Matthew Farley finished 7th in the 50-54 division 3 years ago at the 2022 edition of this championship in San Diego. His time was 31:14. At Clubs in San Francisco at the end of that year, Farley finished 42nd of 78 in that oddest of years consisting of a short 10Km around the Polo Fields track due to high winds and rain. Farley is definitely a strong runner on the turf. Where does Scott Siriano, the two-time defending M55 Grand Prix champ, fit in? He has finished behind both Harris at Boca and behind McGuire at Richmond. But can he challenge Farley for bronze? He was just a minute behind Harris at Boca and a half minute plus behind McGuire at Richmond. So he is not far off. Without knowing anything about Farley's current condition it is hard to know. But it seems unlikely he would come to Boulder without being ready to run. His Boulder teammates are back in Oregon, so he is here for the individual competition. Based on that, I will go for a likely order of Harris-McGuire-Farley, but Siriano could definitely upset that suggested finish.

Podium Favorites in Alphabetical Order:

Matthew Farley     Christopher Harris     Kevin McGuire 

60-64 This division features a matchup between Mark Tatum and Mark Zamek. Tatum is a top trail runner, winner of his division at the legendary Dipsea race this past year, and owner of the division silver medal from the 2024 Masters 5 Km Cross Country at Boulder. Zamek has a troublesome tendon that has kept him in rehab mode off and on for over a year. It did not stop him from finishing seventh in a loaded division at Tacoma last month. During this period, he has also managed silver medal achievements on the turf at Tallahassee in 2023 and Richmond in 2024. He ran 36:08 to take the silver medal at the Masters 10 km Championships. When Zamek is at all cautious about his tendon, his modus operandi has been to find the strongest 60-64 runner and stay with him as long as he can. That is likely to be his strategy on Saturday. I would look for Tatum-Zamek to be 1-2 for a chunk of the race. Depending on how that goes, Zamek could win or gradually drop back. My best guess is that he will wind up second, but I would not be amazed to see Zamek on the podium if he is still in touch with 2 km or less to go. Lester Dragstedt can probably not go with those two. He finished two minutes behind Tatum at Boulder in 2022. On the other hand, Tatum has a bigger advantage at altitude, and Dragstedt's times improved a lot from 2022 to 2024. Dragstedt won the 60-64 division 5 Km championship this past year in Atlanta with an 18:19 and finished 4th at the 10 Km Championships in 37:48. He finished 5th on the turf at Richmond in 2023 with a 30:49 effort. Adam Feerst had a down period, dealing with injury, but he appears to be back stronger. His time at Boulder this year, where he finished 4th in 60-64 was a good minute faster than his 2022 time. In 2022, he finished a few seconds ahead of Dragstedt. Tatum vs Zamek should be fun to watch; this Dragstdt-Feerst matchup just as much fun (for the spectators, if not the competitors)! I will go out on 2a limb and suggest a finishing order of Tatum-Zamek-Feerst, with Dragstedt very capable of upsetting that order applecart.

Podium Favorites in Alphabetical Order:

Adam Feerst      Mark Tatum      Mark Zamek

Mark Zamek right tracking the eventual winner of Men 60+, Nat Larson, at the end of the first 3K loop at the 2023 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee FL Photo Credit: Mike Scott

65-69 Three top Masters runners, Dan King, Roger Sayre, and Ken Youngers, meet in the 65-69 division. At Boulder, they went 1-2-3. Sayre was not at Tacoma, but King again had the edge over Youngers. King has a niggling tendon issue that may factor into the race. King is aiming for a top performance at the Worlds in Gainesville at the end of March. he does not want to jeopardize that. The American 1500M and Mile record holder on the outdoor track, King has the advantage that he doesn't need a wire-to-wire victory with a good time. He can be content to let Sayre or Youngers set the pace, stay with them and bolt away with, say 200 meters to go. But we do not know what signals the tendon will be sending to King and how he will adjust if at all. King is the favorite to win if all goes well with the tendon. King won with wire-to-wire victories at two Club Cross races, Tallahassee in 2021 and Tacoma last month. He also won at Boulder, as he did in 2022, dropping his 2022 time by half a minute. Sayre and Youngers are no strangers. But, for a variety of reasons they have only had two recent meetings on the turf. One was at Boulder this past November where Sayre finished 2nd in 19:29 and Youngers third at 20:05. Given that was at altitude, the difference is not definitive. When they met at sea level the previous January in Richmond, they finished in a virtual dead heat, with Sayre given a time one second faster than Youngers at 32:44, despite the latter dealing with a back that went out with a half kilometer to go. It seems reasonable to speculate that Youngers would likely have come in ahead of Sayre had his back behaved. Apparently, Youngers has had no similar back issues in the ensuing twelve months. I view it as a toss-up. But I can suggest an order of King-Sayre-Youngers on the basis that Sayre came out on top in the official results at both Richmond and Boulder. Dan Spale is back at a national championship; he finished 2nd in M65 at Boulder in 2022 with a 20:53 effort. He ran 41:54 at the Bolder Boulder 10K this year, at altitude. Spale and Casey Hannan, who finished 7th in this division at Tacoma last month with a 35:12, will battle for the 4th spot unless one of the top three has an off day. I will go with King-Sayre-Youngers for 1-2-3 with, perhaps Hannan 4th and Spale 5th. Lots of intriguing competition going on within this division. 

Podium Favorites in Alphabetical Order:

Dan King     Roger Sayre     Ken Youngers

70-74 Rick Becker, 3-time Masters Harrier of the Year, goes for his second consecutive win in his new 70-74 division. His winning time at Tacoma last month was 33:48. Five of his 7 competitors in this division here at Lubbock were also at Tacoma. None finished within three minutes of Becker. No one expects anything other than a win. The three Boulder Road Runner teammates, Jack Pottle, Doug Bell, and Doug Chesnut appear to be the three to contest for 2-3-4. Pottle is new to the division. He came in 5th in M70 at Tacoma, nearly two minutes ahead of Chesnut and 2 and a half minutes ahead of Bell. They fared the same at Boulder. Pottle claimed 7th in M65 at 21:22. Chesnut and Bell took 3-4 in M70 at 22:51 and 23:11. At Tallahassee in December 2023, Bell and Chesnut came in essentially together at 37:57. Still. Cushman has finished ahead of Bell fairly regularly at recent cross country events. A finishing order of Becker-Pottle-Chesnut seems the most likely. Scott Lucking and Don Morrison could also contend for the podium. But Lucking finished over a minute behind Bell at Tacoma and Morrison finished almost a minute behind Bell at Richmond. They will need to have good days to have a shot at this podium.

Podium Favorites in Alphabetical Order:

Rick Becker     Doug Chesnut     Jack Pottle

75-79 This one seems straightforward. Rick Katz and Jerry Learned have met a number of times over the last couple of years. They went 1-2 in M75 at Boca with 24:49 for Katz and 26:12 for Learned. It was much closer at Tallahassee in 2023, with Katz taking 3rd just 18 seconds ahead of Learned in 4th. At Richmond the following January it was the same story. It seems reasonable to suggest the most likely outcome is again Katz ahead of Learned. The morning I was going to fly to Dallas and then drive to Lubbock, I learned that my flight to Dallas was cancelled. Despite my best efforts, no other alternative that was cost effective and timely could be had. As my team was not, in the end, able to send a complete team to Lubbock anyway, I accepted that I was not meant to compete, as an individual, at Lubbock. Had that not happened I would have had to weigh my chances for the podium, which were probably pretty good. But now I can write that Micks Purnell and Patrick Taylor will battle for the bronze medal. At Richmond in 2024, Taylor finished 9th in M75 at 51:54. Purnell ran 51:57 to finish 12th in M70. As Taylor was three seconds faster then, I will go with Taylor for the bronze medal.

Podium Favorites in Alphabetical Order:

Rick Katz    Jerry Learned    Patrick Taylor

80-84 Przemek Nowicki is unopposed. He will run the entire race and enjoy his first gold medal in a Cross Country national championship in a long time.

Podium Favorites in Alphabetical Order:

Przemek Nowicki

Women 40-44 Metivier, Lund, and Crocker, the favorites to go 1-2-3 overall, come from this division. Hence they are the favorites for the division podium as well, with Hruska and Shaw fighting for the next spot. 

Podium Favorites in Alphabetical Order:

Alison Crocker     April Lund     Renee Metivier

45-49 Sheila Smitherman finished 29th at Tacoma in this division in 29:16. She will win it in Lubbock as long as she finishes the race. She is unopposed.

Podium Favorite:

Sheila Smitherman

50-54 Abby Dean Greater Philadelphia Track Club returns to contend for the top spot. She finished third at the 2023 edition of these championships at Richmond in 26:26 and again last year in 26:44. In both years she was recovering from a medical procedure and had not fully trained up yet. She was on the podium at Atlanta in the Masters 5 km championships at 20:22 and at the Masters 10 Km Championships, running a slightly faster mile pace at twice the distance. Her 5K's in December and early January are also at that sub-6:30 pace so Dean should be ready to race. It would have been another good matchup with Samantha Forde Impala Racing but I learned that Forde tore her meniscus in Tacoma. It will be a few months before Forde can race again. Despite Forde's absence it looks like Impala Racing will have a 50+ team in Lubbock. If so, Dean's main competition should come from Alexandra Newman Impala, one of the mainstays of their 50+ team. She has run in the Richmond editions of this championship, finishing a minute behind Dean in 2023. Newman, the out-of-association runner for Impala hails from Colorado; she finished 4th in the division in Boulder with a 23:28. She finished 21st of 31 at Tacoma in 29:24. Gloria Wahl looks to be the better candidate for third place. She has run several half marathons in about 1:49, including at the Masters Half Marathon championships in Indianapolis; the hills on that course can be challenging. She also ran a 49:29 10K at Palo Alto in September. That puts her a bit ahead of Riva Rahl unaffiliated who ran a 52:12 10K in Dallas in May and, six years ago in 2018, a 1:47:40 half marathon. The most likely order seems to be Dean-Newman-Wahl. But Rahl could surprise if her fitness has improved since May.

Podium Favorites in Alphabetical Order:

Abby Dean     Alexandra Newman     Gloria Wahl

Abby Dean lleading a group of competitors in the Women's Masters race at the 2023 USATF Cross Country Championships in Richmond VA Photo Credit: Mike Scott

55-59 No entries.

60-64 Kris Huff Atlanta appears to be the one to beat. She has had a good year. She finished 4th in this division last year in Richmond with a time of 27:54. Her 21:23 5K in Atlanta landed her on the 60-64 podium. In August she claimed the silver medal at the Masters Ten Mile Championships at 1:11:55. Huff's teammate, Robin Tanner Atlanta looks good for second place although the mysterious Mary Bryan Impala could challenge. Tanner finished tenth in 60-64 at Richmond last year in 32:34. She claimed 27th in this division at Tacoma last month after finishing ninth in the division at Boulder in 27:37. Tanner has been a steady presence for the team this year, also picking up valuable points at the 5 Km Masters Championships in Atlanta and at the Ten Mile Championships in Flint MI in August, with a 1:30 effort. Leslie Nowicki's times have come down over the last couple of years. Whether that will be enough for her to overtake Tanner is the question. At Richmond last January, Nowicki ran a half minute faster than she had the previous year. But she was still a minute and a half behind Tanner. Later in the year at the 12 Km Championships, Nowicki clocked 1:09:19 to finish 11th at the 12 km Championships. Bryan is mysterious only in that I can find no results on Athlinks for a Mary Bryan who seems plausible. A 64-year-old Mary Bryan from California shows up on Athletes but there are no entries. That same Mary Bryan from San Anselmo ran a 2:31:44 half marathon at the Great Race of Agoura Hills in 2022. Is that the Mary Bryan who will be competing for Impala? If so, she is not a threat to Nowicki who ran 2:04:59 on the challenging course at Indianapolis in the Masters National Championships, finishing third in the division. It appears that Huff-Tanner-Nowicki is the most likely order of finishing on Saturday. 

Podium Favorites in Alphabetical Order:

Kris Huff     Leslie Nowicki     Robin Tanner

Kris Huff alongside Eileen brennan-Erler and ahead of her teammate, Mireille Silva red singlet background at the 2023 Club Cross Championships in Tallahassee FL Photo Credit: Mike Scott

65-69 Suzanne Cordes thrives on the turf. She won this division at Boulder in November in 23:43. She won it in 2022 as well, turning in a 23:16. With the deeper and more competitive fields at Clubs, Cordes has still competed for the podium, finishing fourth at both San Francisco in 2022 and at Tallahassee in 2023, clocking 26:49 and 27:39, respectively at the two national championships. She faces two worthy competitors. Mireille 'Mimi' Silva has aged up from 60-64 recently. At Tallahassee in 2021, Silva finished 8th in 60-64 at 29:04 but was well behind Cordes. Two years later she finished 7th at Tallahassee in 28:42, a minute behind Cordes. Silva also competed on the roads, finishing sixth in W60 at Atlanta in the Masters 5 Km championships. That is relevant because Kitty Musante, the other main challenger for the podium this Saturday, was also in that race, finishing third in 65-69 with a 23:04. Musante has not competed much on the turf. She did compete in Boca Raton in October 2023 at the 5 Km Masters XC championships, finishing fourth in this division in 27:01. What makes the race for the silver medal more interesting is that Musante was not at her best earlier this year. Her more recent 5K efforts this winter have been at 22:39 and 22:58. Still it seems the more likely order of finish is Cordes-Silva-Musante.

Podium Favorites in Alphabetical Order:

Suzanne Cordes     Kitty Musante     Mireille Silva

70-74 The likely order of finish is Cynthia Lucking and Helene Myers going 1-2. In 2019 Lucking finished 3rd in 65-69 at Cross Nationals in Tallahassee with a 30:34. In December 2023, Lucking returned to the national turf wars after a few years off for, among other things, a joint replacement. She ran slower, of course, at 35:31, but finished higher, earning the silver medal in 70-74. After finishing second in 70-74 at Boulder in 32:15, Lucking went to Tacoma. Lucking just missed a medal, finishing fourth in 34:58. She appears ready to roll for a win. Myers won the 2024 Grand Prix in this division. She won it from persistence and commitment to the national championships circuit. Her smile often lights up the cross country course or the roads as she completes yet another championship. She finished 13th at Tacoma in 56:10, over twenty minutes behind Lucking. But she will, almost for sure, win the silver medal and obtain 95 of 100 possible Grand Prix points in Lubbock.

Podium Favorites in Alphabetical Order:

Cynthia Lucking      Helene Myers

75-79 Jo Anne Rowland finishes on the division podium just about every time she races in a national competition. There are the rare exceptions of course. In one of the deepest and most competitive fields in memory at the 2022 Club Cross races in San Francisco, Rowland finished fourth. At Tacoma last month, Rowland finished second in 75-79 with a 35:34. Earlier in the year, Rowland was rolling along. She claimed the division title at the Impala Stampede in June with a 26:13. She captured gold at the Masters Ten Mile Championships in Flint MI with a 1:28:11. Kathleen Allen looks good for 2nd place. She finished seventh at Tallahassee Clubs in 2023 with a 39:17 effort. This past month, she competed in 75-79 at Tacoma, finishing fourth in 42:09. Nelda Williams was almost two minutes behind Allen at Tacoma, finishing fifth. Andrea McCarter, the two-time defending 75-79 Grand Prix champion, is likely to pick up 85 points for fourth place. She finished almost seven minutes behind Allen at Tallahassee in 2023 so is not likely to challenge for the podium. The likely order of finish is Rowland-Allen-Williams.

Podium Favorites in Alphabetical Order:

Kathleen Allen     Jo Anne Rowland     Nelda Williams

80-84 No entries

85-89 Joyce Hodges-Hite continues her quest for a third straight Grand Prix championship in 85-89. She is unopposed and will conclude her second straight race this season with 100 GP points. She won this division in Tacoma with a time of 1:12:46.

Podium Favorite:

Joyce Hodges-Hite

Age Grading Championships

Age-Grading overall championships indicate the best performance, adjusted for age. Based on single age best times from around the world, Alan Jones devised the age grading tables that have been used for at least the last 15 years. Jones fits a curve to data on the best single age performances in the last five years for the 5K, 10K, half marathon and marathon as anchors. He then interpolates for distances between those, like 8K or 15 K. Once Jones retired, Tom Bernhard started helping Jones with his tables. This year Bernhard took a more active role in preparing the 2025 tables. Each athlete has a percentage figure, sometimes referred to as a PLP [Performance Level Percentage] assigned to their individual time indicating how close they are to the fastest possible time for their individual age and sex. If the tables suggest the best possible 10K time for a 70-year-old male is 38:00 and a 70-year-old male runs a time of 40:00, his percentage is 38/40 * 100 or 95%. I guess that the new tables will start being used for the 10 Km Masters championships in Dedham in late April, but that is just a guess. Timing companies have to be able to get software that has the new tables. Every past iteration of this process has resulted in more challenging age grading standards and that is likely this year as well. Bests never get slower; they either improve or stay the same. Women have continued to push out the boundaries at all ages. This results, ironically, in tougher standards going forward. For now, any age grade figures are from the 2020 age grading tables.

Metivier, Lund, Cordes and Rowland are the favorites in the Women’s race. Dean should figure into that race as well. 

Becker, Gray, and Sayre are favored among the men. King and Zamek should probably be included but they have both said they will not go all out in the championships as they have bigger targets late this year. They are still both hunting for the win, if possible, though so who knows? 

Team Championships

Note: Men 40+ and 50+ require that teams have five scoring runners. For men 60+ and above and for Women, the number required is three. Scoring is by adding up the places of the required scoring runners; low score wins.

Men 40+ Sports Warriors, out of Albuquerque, look good for the win.  They are unopposed.  50+ Atlanta Track Club and Blacksburg Striders go head-to-head again. Atlanta copped the bronze medals in the 2023 edition of these championships in Richmond. But last year the Striders jumped in and claimed gold with 46 points. Atlanta finished fourth with 90. History suggests the Striders are likely to win. of their six entries all but one is from 50-54. Striders have a very solid six that should be able to run as a pack for much of the race, admittedly with a couple of Atlanta TC runners along with them. 60+ Atlanta and Boulder Road Runners appear to be the strongest teams. Boulder looks to be a little stronger with Tatum, Sayre and Feerst compared to Becker-Youngers and Feerst but it will, no doubt, be close! Shore AC may be able to put together a 60+ team for GP scoring purposes and a set of bronze team championship medals. They have two declared and can add a runner from 80+. 70+ It is again Boulder vs. Atlanta but in this division, Boulder is the clear favorite; their top three are likely to finish in front of all of Atlanta's runners. 

Women 40+ Team Red Lizard is the favorite. They just won the 40+ championship at Tacoma last month. They may be unopposed here. The team is so strong, with Metivier, Crocker and Shaw up front, that they would win against almost any imaginable opponent. The only question arises because the Sport 80 Membership application wiped out affiliations at the end of 2024 and only reinstated them once the Club's renewal was fully processed. That meant an unusual number of 'unaffiliated' registrations. I was identified as unaffiliated though I have run and continue to run for the Ann Arbor Track Club. The Club said that they renewed but were waiting for USATF to process. There are three unaffiliated runners listed for the 40+ team championships. If they are, actually, from the same club, then they might be opposing Red Lizard. But it could also be that they are new to USATF and thought, individually, that they had to enter both the individual and team competitions, even if unaffiliated. We will find out on Saturday. It will likely be Red Lizard winning. But there may be a second-place team as well. And, of course, anything is possible. Red Lizard have just the 3 runners required. If one of them runs into trouble getting to the championship or fails to finish for some reason, then they will not get a score. There is just a single team entered in each of the 50+, 60+, and 7+ divisions. Impala is unopposed in 50+ with Atlanta unopposed in 60+ and 70+.

That concludes the preview of the 2025 edition of the Masters races at the USATF Cross Country Championships. It is a smaller turnout than usual but most of the fields are still strong with a couple of the fields as stellar as ever. There are lots of intriguing matchups to watch.

Masters Races at 2024 Club Cross Country Championships-Tacoma-Recap 2-Age Grading and Age Division Championships

December 30, 2024 Event Date and Place-December 14, 2024 Chambers Creek Regional Park, Tacoma WA -- Recap, Part II-Age Grading and Age Divisions -- Recap No. 1 on Teams and Overall Championships was posted on Dec 28. I use the same first paragraph here to describe the setting for those who are only reading this recap. The 25 mph winds, gusting up to 50 mph, were whipping up the whitecaps on Puget Sound, visible behind the Start Line.  It helped a bit that the course is mostly laid out east and west and the wind was out of the south. But that did mean lots of cross wind, and a high wind is never a runner's friend! Cloudy, with occasional light rain, the upper 40's temperatures were warm enough that most athletes ran in shorts and singlets, possibly with arm sleeves or a long-sleeve t-shirt underneath. Some muddy spots on the course got muddier, and more slippery as the morning wore on. These were classic Cross Country conditions, the kind that remind athletes they can do hard things! A common comment was something like, "Man that was miserable! Such fun! Loved being out there with the other guys!" All agreed that the Chambers Creek course, itself, was a fine course and that the host organization, Club Northwest, had organized a terrific competition that would be remembered for years as one of the classic tests of the Masters Cross Country runner.

The Women's race went off first at 9:30AM over 6Km, followed by the Men's 60+ race over 8 Km at 10:15 and then the Men's 40+ race over 10Km at 11:15. The course was laid out with a 3K loop and a 2K loop. The Women traversed the 3 Km loop twice. The 60+ Men did the same but added a final 2 Km loop. The 40+ Men added two circuits of the 2 Km loop, instead of just one.  

OVERALL AGE GRADING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Note: =Age Grading scores an athlete on a percentage scale in terms of how fast their time is compared to the fastest possible time so far by an athlete of the same age and gender, based on international data. It is emblematic of the fastest time run, adjusted for age, across all age divisions. Because there are three different races, each with somewhat different conditions, especially with regard to the footing, it makes sense to give out age grading awards separately for ech race.

MEN'S 40+ RACE In 2022 in San Francisco, the top 5 age graded runners were, in order, Peter Hammer, Jaime Heilpern, David White, Ivan Lieben, Joshua McAdams. Only one of those five made the top five at Tallahassee last year. They were: Frank Zoldak, Jaime Heilpern, Malcolm Richards, Chris Grauch, Jesse Davis. Last year, Zoldak electrified the cross country world with his 11th finish out of the 55-59 division, winning the age grading by three full percentage points. This year the winning margin was 0.6 percentage points. Though not as spectacular as last year, Zoldak's top 60 finish overall was pretty darn good for a 58-year-old. In fact, Zoldak's 37:07 for an 85.86 Performance Level Percentage PLP topped the age grading again. That makes it two age grading wins in a row for Zoldak at Club Cross. 

Frank Zoldak #1089 On His Way to the Top M40+ Age Graded Run- In the Early Going, with 40+ runners, Travis Boyd, Patrick Reaves, Jake Stout, and Jake Stout - The Masters Races at 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA. Photo Credit: Michael Scott

Rusty Snow Santa Barbara, finished in the top 40 overall, but Snow was 'only' 55. His 36.24 earned him second place. Gregory Mitchell Bowerman cracked the top thirty at age 51; his 35:56 merited an 83.32 PLP. 

Greg Mitchell red/black singlet, finishing third in M40+ Age Grading--Gets out early with 40+ runners, Jesse Lang, Eric Blake, Brendan Prindiville and Ben Mangrum - The Masters Races at 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA. Photo Credit: Michael Scott

He edged Jaime Heilpern HOKA Aggie for third by 0.17 percentage points. Heilpern's 4th place finish was his fifth consecutive top 5 finish in age grading, dating back to 2018 Club Cross in Spokane. Emmet Hogan Northwest was fifth, just three hundredths of a percentage point behind Heilpern. McDonagh and Davis who finished 2nd and 3rd overall, finished 6th and 7th in age grading.

Frank Zoldak 58 37:07 85.86     Rusty Snow 55 36:24 85.21     Gregory Mitchell 51 35:56 

WOMEN'S RACE Jeanette Groesz Red Lizard , who finished 2nd in San Francisco and fifth in Tallahassee last year, moved up to the top spot. Her 31:13 time at age 75, was good for 147th place out of 212 overall in the Women's race. She beat 65 women; only 8 of them were her age or older! Her PLP was 87.72. 

Jeanette Groesz, 75 #1650, -On her way to the top Age Graded Run in the Women's Race- Negotiating a slippery turn in the company of 40+ runners, Kendra Price and Jinghua Liu Tervalon - The Masters Races at 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA. Photo Credit: Michael Scott

Suzanne La Burt Shore was a percentage point behind. Her 26:05 at age 61 landed her just outside the top 50 overall. Her previous best finish at Club Cross has been her fourth-place finish in both 2021 and 2023 in Tallahassee. The next two places went to others from the same age division. Mary Cass Liberty ran 26:27 at age 63, earning an 86.02 PLP. Cass has been moving up each year. In 2022, she finished 5th; in 2023 4th and this year, third! 

Suzanne La Burt white singlet - On Her Way to the Silver Age Grading Medal in the Women's Race - with Patricia Bellan, Deanna O'Neil, Liisa Knoblich, and Jessica Gordon - The Masters Races at 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA. Photo Credit: Michael Scott

Patricia Bellan's HOKA Aggie 83.91 netted her the 4th place finish. Bellan finished 10th in 2022 and 7th last year in Tallahassee. This matches her 4th place age grading finish in 2018 in Spokane. St. Jean, 6th overall, finished 5th in age grading. She was followed by Lisa Knoblich Northwest and Deanna O'Neil Bowerman finished 6th and 7th.

Jeanette Groesz 75 31:13 87.72     Suzanne La Burt 61 26:05 86.65     Mary Cass 63 26:27 86.02

MEN'S 60+ RACE Steve Schmidt Ann Arbor not only won the 60+ race, he also took top age grading honors. His 31:21, over 8 km of turf, at age 64, earned a PLP of 85.38. Schmidt finished 2nd in age grading in 2022, and 4th last year at Tallahassee. It is his first age grading win at a national Masters championship. 

Steve Schmidt not only won the Men's 60+ Race, He Also Earned the Top Age Grade - The Masters Races at 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA. Photo Credit: Michael Scott 

Dan King Athletics Boulder, one year older, ran a half minute slower and merited an 84.74 PLP for second place. The third spot on the age grading podium went to Rick Becker Atlanta, 70. His 33:48 rang up an 83.93 PLP. Becker rarely misses the age grading podium and has many wins to his credit. 

Dan King Earned the Silver Age Gradinng Medal in the Men's 60+ Race - Getting Out Early with GVH Runners, Joe Mora, Alan Evans, and Mike Nier - The Masters Races at 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA. Photo Credit: Michael Scott

Nat Larson Greater Springfield finished second overall, ten seconds behind Schmidt, earning an 83.34 PLP for fourth. Larson finished 3rd in 2022 and won it all in 2023. Gary Ostwald Boulder, 78, moved up from 10th last year to 5th this year. He was just three hundredths of a percentage point behind Larson. Ken Youngers Atlanta, 8th last year, moved up to 6th this year, and was followed by the 2022 winner, Jacob Nur SRA, in 7th.

Steve Schmidt 64 31:21 85.38     Dan King 65 31:53 84.74     Rick Becker 70 33:48 83.93

AGE DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIPS

WOMEN'S RACE 

40-44 Dimoff Bowerman, Kadavy HOKA Aggie and Keenan Checkers captured the overall podium. 

Carrie Dimoff closing in on her Overall Win and 40-44 Division Championship in the Women's Race - The Masters Races at 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA. Photo Credit: Michael Scott

The overall winning trio capture the 40-44 division podium at the same time. Lenge Warren and Crocker finished 4th and 5th.

From Left: Jennifer Keenan, Chelsea Lenge Warren, and Jenny Kadavy ultimately finished 3rd, 4th and 2nd in W40, respectively - The Masters Races at 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA. Photo Credit: Michael Scott

The discussion of the Women's Race in the Overall Championships section posted on December 28, applies equally to this age division. See that analysis.

Carrie Dimoff 22:40     Jenny Kadavy 23:10     Jennifer Keenan 23:25

45-49 Gretchen Hurlbutt Boisie Betties, Meriah Earle San Diego TC, and Maggie Shearer Cal Coast, highlighted in the Overall section as well, finished 4th, 9th and 11th overall. They go 1-2-3 in this division. 

Gretchen Hurlbutt and Maggie Shearer eventually finished 1st &3rd in W45. They are leading a group including Andrea Garvue, Jennifer Lutz, Jennifer St. Jean. Alison Crocker, Ashley Carroll, and Jessica Hruska - The Masters Races at 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA. Photo Credit: Michael Scott

Vivian Hyman Jane's finished 14 seconds behind Shearer to capture 4th. Six seconds later, Eva Lozano San Diego crossed the finish line to claim 5th.

Gretchen Hurlbutt 23:35     Meriah Earle 23:51     Maggie Shearer 24:11

50-54 Jennifer St. Jean Central Park finished 6th overall and claimed this division title at the same time. She was a half-minute ahead of all division rivals by the end of the first 3K loop and increased the lead by another minute on the second and final 3K loop. 

Jennifer St. Jean claimed 6th Overall and won the 50-54 Division in the Women's Race - The Masters Races at 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA. Photo Credit: Michael Scott 

Behind her, Holly McIlvaine Northwest and Carla McAlister Cal Coast were locked in a contest for 2nd. By the 3K mark, McIlvaine, at 12:09, was 20 meters ahead of McAlister, nice, but not enough for the lead to be secure. 

Holly McIlvaine and Carla McAlister finished 2-3 in W50. They are running here with Cambria Wu, Crystal Query, and Eva Lozano - The Masters Races at 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA. Photo Credit: Michael Scott

Sixty meters back, there was a similar battle for third, between Allison Nuxoll Boise, leading at 12:33, and Gwen Lapham Northwest. Rebekah Kennedy Central Park was 30 meters behind Lapham but was still within striking distance. McIlvaine had the better last loop, claiming the silver medal in 25:08, well over 50 meters ahead of McAlister. Although she lost ground to McIlvaine, McAlister ran a strong last lap, finishing third with a 27-second cushion. Nuxoll pulled away from Lapham on the final loop. Kennedy closed well, leaving them in 4th, 25:54, fifth, 26:02, and sixth, 26:08.

Jennifer St. Jean 23:41     Holly McIlvaine 25:08     Carla McAlister 25:27

55-59 Amy Halseth Prado, who won the 55-59 division at the San Diego-Imperial Association Cross Country Championships ran away from the field. She enjoyed a 60-meter lead at the end of the first 3K loop. Karolyn Bowley B.A.A. finished 2nd in the 50-54 division at San Francisco and won the 50-54 division in Tallahassee last year. Just a month before this race, she finished 7th in the Masters race, and 1st 55-59, at the New England Cross Country Championships. Bowley should have been ready to contend for the win. Bowley must have been off her best. Bowley was well back from Halseth by the end of the first loop, and had Jennifer Harvey Central Park, just a few strides back, to worry about. Bowley typically has good speed to go with her endurance, but Harvey is the holder of the 55-59 American Record in the Road Mile at 5:25. One would not want Harvey close with a hundred meters to go! As if that were not enough to worry about, Amy McMahon Checkers was just 15 meters behind Harvey. McMahon had finished 3rd in 50-54 in the Masters 5 Km XC Championships in Boston in 2021. Halseth had no trouble finishing things off, taking the division win in 25:37, with a cushion of over a hundred meters. 

From Left: Jennifer Harvey, who finished 2nd in 55-59, is running here with athletes from other divisions: Patricia Bellan, who finished 2nd in 60-64, Deanna O'Neil, Suzanne La Burt, who won the 60-64 division, Lisa Knoblich and Jessica Gordon - The Masters Races at 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA. Photo Credit: Michael Scott

In the end, Harvey was able to outkick Bowley, claiming the 55-59 silver medal, with Bowley just a single second back. That final sprint did not get Bowley into 2nd place, but it did get her on the podium! 

Karolyn Bowley finished 3rd in 55-59. Here she runs with athletes from other divisions, Marisa Asplund, Alice Fraser, Amanda Watters, and Alanna Bernacchi - The Masters Races at 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA. Photo Credit: Michael Scott

The fourth-place finisher, McMahon stopped the clock at 26:35. Margi Bell Prado was almost a minute behind McMahon in fifth!

Amy Halseth 25:37     Jennifer Harvey 26:06     Karolyn Bowley 26:07

60-64 Suzanne La Burt Shore has owned this division since turning 60 a little over a year ago. Mary Cass Liberty AC has pressed her at many races but has not beaten her. Patricia Bellan HOKA Aggie finished 3rd behind La Burt and Cass at Tallahassee last year. Deanna O'Neil Bowerman has run a couple of 5K's under 20 minutes. How would that translate to a 6K XC race? Lisa Knoblich Northwest won the 60-64 division at the Pacific Northwest Regional XC Championships. La Burt, who took the silver medal in age grading, wasted no time. She attached the course. Bellan and O'Neil tried to stay with her, but had to let her go. By the end of the first loop, La Burt had a good 30-meter lead on the duo, who were running in tandem. Cass was 60 meters behind them, perhaps just biding her time. La Burt was almost 200 meters ahead when she took the win in 26:05. Cass closed strong, passing eight athletes on the final loop. 

Mary Cass dark blue singlet, rear of front group finished third in 60-64 with a strong last loop that carried her past all of these in front of her: Rhea Goerge, Samantha Forde, Eva Bertalan, Sharon O'Grady, Margi Bell, and Xiong Zhu - The Masters Races at 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA. Photo Credit: Michael Scott 

She got close, but could not quite catch Bellan, who rallied to hold her off. Bellan enjoyed the second-place finish, a single second ahead of Cass! O'Neil was just five seconds back in 4th! Knoblich finished 5th in 27:07, five seconds behind O'Neil.

Suzanne La Burt 26:05     Patricia Bellan 26:56     Mary Cass 26:57.

65-69 The top contenders included: Donna Grocki Shore, Trisha Kluge Ideal Performance Athletics, Betsy Miller Red Lizard, Kathi Sleavin Northwest, and Sarah Tabbutt Impala.  Grocki has no recent Cross Country results that I can find. But she claimed the bronze medal at the Masters 12 Km Championships in 55:14; that is age grade equivalent to a 45:31 10K. Kluge finished 15th in the 60-64 division two years ago in San Francisco. More recently she won the 65-69 division at the OTC Butte to Butte 10K in 46:23. Miller won her division in May of '23 at the PDX triathlon. She ran the 5K portion of that in 25:14, after a half-mile swim and an 11-mile bike ride. More recently, Miller finished first of two in the 65-69 division at this October's Stumptown Cross in Portland OR. Sleavin finished 6th in 60-64 at the San Francisco Club Cross two years ago and followed that with a 5th place finish in Tallahassee last year. She also has a 1:38:50 half marathon t her credit this year. Tabbutt finished 16th in 60-64 at San Francisco, two minutes behind Sleavin. In fall of 2023, Tabbutt ran a 1:45:58 half marathon at the Clarksburg Country Run. Kluge must have had an off day in San Francisco two years ago. This year, on the first 3 Km loop, Kluge forged a lead of more than a hundred meters. Sleavin, who finished 2 minutes ahead of Kluge on that day, could not stay with her. Tabbutt, who finished behind Kluge two years ago, was also faring better today; she was about 45 meters astern of Sleavin, but a good 80 meters ahead of Grocki. Grocki had a similar gap on Miller at the 3K mark. Kluge kept cruising; she finished first with a cushion of nearly three hundred meters. 

Trisha Kluge #1374 won the 65-69 Division.  She is running with athletes from other divisions Jessica Zdeb #1655 and Mary Swan, Jennifer Brennan, and Hiroko Guarneri 3 in a row behind Kluge - The Masters Races at 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA. Photo Credit: Michael Scott 

Sleavin held strong, but so did Tabbutt. Sleavin claimed the silver medal at 30:37. 

Kathi Sleavin #1202 finished 2nd in the 65-69 Division-running with Robin Driver #1609 and teammates, Heather Slee and Michele Neal - The Masters Races at 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA. Photo Credit: Michael Scott 

Tabbutt was 17 seconds back in 3rd. Grocki cut 8 seconds out of Tabbutt's lead on the final 3K loop but that still left her in 4th. Miller finished a little over a minute later in fifth place.

Trisha Kluge 29:02     Kathi Sleavin 30:37      Sarah Tabbutt 14:59

70-74 Ernestina Martin San Diego was the strong favorite for the win. Martin took the bronze medal in 29:16 at San Francisco two years ago; no one else in the field who ran at San Francisco cracked 30 minutes. In April she took the 70-74 division win at the Carlsbad 5000 with a 23:41. This September, she won the division at the Ursula Rains Balboa Boogie 5K Cross Country event hosted by her club. Two months later she took the 70-74 win at the San Diego-Imperial Association Championships over 4.1K. Donna Chan Impala, Cynthia Lucking Atlanta, Sharon Moore GVH, and Deborah Shea San Diego would likely battle for the remaining podium spots. Chan finished 6th in 70-74 at San Francisco with a 33:11. This spring, she clocked a 24:55 5K in winning the 70-74 division at the Impala Stampede. Since returning to action at the 2023 Club Cross Championships in Tallahassee, Lucking has run well. She claimed the 70-74 silver medal there in 35:31 over 6 Km. Lucking followed that, a month later, with a solo win in Richmond in 34:50 over the same distance. A month after that, she finished 2nd in the Masters 5 km road championships in Atlanta with a 26:51. Lucking was still rolling this November; she went up in altitude to Boulder Co for the Masters 5 Km XC Championships and came back with the Silver medal in 32:15. Moore returned to national masters competition this year. In 2021 at Club Cross in Tallahassee, Moore won the 65-69 division in 31:42. This March, Moore clocked 43:31 to finish 2nd in 65-69 at the YMCA 'Runnin' of the Green' 5 Miler in Rochester. At the USATF Masters Ten Mile championships in Flint MI, Moore captured the bronze medal with a 1:28:06 effort. Shea finished 13th in San Francisco with a 33:24. This October Shea clocked a 1:57:46 half marathon at the Portland marathon. Moore tried her best to stay with Martin but lost a half minute to her in the first 3K. But Moore's efforts paid off; she was well ahead of the others. Chan was more worried about staying ahead of Lucking, 15 seconds back, than she was thinking about catching Moore. And Shea still had a real shot at a run for the podium. She was just ten seconds behind Lucking. Martin stretched her lead over the final loop, winning in 32:26. 

Ernestina Martin #1526 won the 70-74 Division-She is running with runners from other divisions here: from left: Sandra Gregorich, Jill Hendrickson, Kay Pinkstaff orange singlet, unidentifiable runner no bib# visible - The Masters Races at 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA. Photo Credit: Michael Scott 

Moore finished 49 seconds later but had kicked her spread over Chan up to nearly two minutes. 

Sharon Moore Center #1302 finished 2nd in the 70-74 division. She is shown here with two runners from other divisions- From Left:  Betsy Miller and Kendra Hershey - The Masters Races at 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA. Photo Credit: Michael Scott 

Chan doubled her lead over Lucking on the final loop, taking third with 34 seconds to spare. Lucking finished 4th, with Shea 24 seconds back in 5th.

Ernestina Martin 32:26     Sharon Moore 33:15     Donna Chan 35:14

75-79 Jeanette Groesz Red Lizard claimed the gold medal in the 70-74 division in San Francisco and then, again, at Tallahassee last year. In Tacoma, Groesz earned the top age grading score on the day. She won this division by 4 minutes! Groesz ran the first 3K loop in the company of many other runners, but they were all from younger age divisions. And that was true at the finish as well; Groesz won 75-79 in 31:13. She was sandwiched between a 41- and a 44-year old. 

Jeanette Groesz won the 75-79 Division - shown here leading Donna Grocki who finished 4th in the 65-69 Division - The Masters Races at 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA. Photo Credit: Michael Scott 

The other four ran more or less by themselves as well, at least as far as the division rivalries are concerned. Jo Anne Rowland Impala was two minutes behind Groesz at the halfway mark and two minutes ahead of her closest division rival. Irene Herman Impala crossed the 3K mark next in 19:51, over 80 meters ahead of her closest division competitor.  Kathleen Allen Atlanta, in turn, was a hundred meters ahead of Nelda Williams Impala. Those gaps all grew larger over the second loop. Rowland claimed second with almost two minutes of cushion. 

Jo Anne Rowland #1392 finished 2nd in the 75-79 Division-Shown here running with athletes from other divisions- Drusilla Pratt-Otto, followed by Cindy Lucking - The Masters Races at 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA. Photo Credit: Michael Scott 

Herman enjoyed the bronze medal with a gap of almost two minutes back to Allen, who clocked 42:09. Williams finished fifth in 44 minutes flat.

Jeanette Groesz 31:13     Jo Anne Rowland 35:34     Irene Herman 40:21

80-84 Meg Ludlum Northwest showed up, ready to compete. No one else did. Ludlum claimed the gold medal by winning in 1:03:27.

Meg Ludlun 1:03:27

85-89 Joyce Hodges-Hite Atlanta also ran with no opposition. Hodges-Hite won the 85-89 division in 1:12:46.

Joyce Hodges-Hite 1:12:46

MEN'S 60+ RACE 

60-64 Steve Schmidt Ann Arbor, Nat Larson Greater Springfield, and Paul Smith Bowerman went 1-2-3 in the Overall Competiton for M60+; at the same time, they collected the first three spots in this division. 

Steve Schmidt left Leads Nat Larson as, midrace, they push to overtake Paul Smith. Schnidt and Larson went 1-2 in 60-64 - The Masters Races at 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA. Photo Credit: Michael Scott 

Douglas Baldwin Twin Cities and Alan Evans GVH finished 4th and 5th Overall and enjoy 4th and 5th in this division as well. See the discussion in the Overall section posted on December 28th.

65-69 Dan King Athletics Boulder just set the American 65-69 Record for the 1500 Meters and 1 Mile Run on the Outdoor Track. King, of course, still holds the 60-64 Mile Record on the Outdoor Track. He finished 6th overall and 2nd in age grading.  King's 31:53 allowed him to win this division by a minute and a half.  

Dan King purple singlet, knit hat won the 65-69 Division-Shown here mixing it up with the top 60-64 Division Runners - From Left: Mark Zamek, Thomas Tayeri, Nat Larson, Steve Schmidt, Joe Mora, Alan Evans and Mike Nier behind Evans, obscured - The Masters Races at 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA. Photo Credit: Michael Scott 

Ken Youngers Atlanta, Kevin Haas TC Running, and Jacob Nur SRA were part of a larger 60+ chase group for the first 3K loop. At the end of that loop, they were a half minute behind King, running in tandem, all three crossing the 3 Km mat within a second of 12:10. On the second loop, Youngers was able to stay in contact with the 60-64 group they had been running. Haas and Nur had to let Youngers go. At the end of the second 3 Km loop, Youngers was at 24:47; there was now a good 40 meters between Youngers and Haas. Nur was another six seconds back in 4th. Haas was able to take 4 seconds out of Youngers' lead on the final 2 Km loop but it was not enough. Youngers cashed in his 33:32 for the silver medal, just 8 seconds ahead of Haas. 

Ken Youngers left #1041 finished 2nd in 65-69-Here he is mixing it up with runners from 60-64-From Left: Brian Sterling, David White-Espin, and Michael Chasse - The Masters Races at 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA. Photo Credit: Michael Scott 

Nur finished 4th in 33:57. Nur had finished 3rd overall in the 60+ race at San Francisco, behind Schmidt but ahead of King. He has not been consistently at the top of his form this year. Ron Hyde Phoenix Free Soles finished 5th at 34:26.

Dan King 31:53     Ken Youngers 33:32     Kevin Haas 33:40

70-74 Rick Becker Atlanta has won many aa Age Division Championship on the cross country turf and has enjoyed overall age grading wins as well. He has been selected Masters Harrier of the Year three times. This year he had to settle for third place in age grading behind two outstanding runners. One might think he would have had an easy time winning the age di vision this year. But one of his competitors for the win was John Barbour Greater Lowell. They have met many times over the years. In fact, if yoou look back to 2004 Club Cross inPortland OR, you will find becker winning M50, with Barbour fourth!  Becker has said that Barbour 'brings out the best in me,' a nice tribute to a rival. In San Francisco in 2015, when they were both 61, Barbour stayed with Becker for the first 7 kilometers. It was only in the final kilometer that Becker was able to pull away to win by 6 seconds. The pair met in San Francisco again in the 2022 Club Cross Championships; that day belonged to Barbour. Barbour, as it turned out, was not ready for that kind of effort this year, but he had plenty in the tank to compete with everyone else. Barbour ran 42:22 at the Lone Gull 10K in September and won his division at the New England Cross Country Championships in November. James Linn Shore has had an excellent year. He won the 70-74 division at the Masters 5 Km road championship in Atlanta with a 19:43. A runner accepted a USADA sanction for doping at that championship. Linn had finished ahead of every runner other than that fellow in Richmond at the 2024 USATF Cross Country Championships. Linn also won the Masters 12 Km Championships in September, In early November, Linn went up to Boulder and came back with a division win. Jack Pottle Boulder Road Runners , like Linn, ran a sub-20 minute 5K this year. At the Masters 5 Km XC championships in Boulder, Pottle finished 7th in 65-69. But his time was a good minute faster than Linn's winning time. James Robinson GVH would have come into these championships unheralded, had he not finished almost two minutes ahead of two very strong cross country runners, Jim Foster and Ted Larison, at the USATF Niagara Championships.

The first loop saw Becker pull away to a lead of over 80 meters on the division field. He was followed by Barbour, a good 50 meters ahead of Linn. Pottle was only 20 meters behind Linn, with Robinson another 30 meters back. They were all running well, still in the podium fight. The second 3K loop saw one new development. Becker was pushing relentlessly up front; he now had 200 meters on Barbour. Barbour had also lengthened his lead over the rest. Linn now saw a couple of hundred meters between Barbour and him. But Pottle had gradually reduced the gap up to Linn to a few strides. Robinson had lost a little ground to Pottle but was closer to Linn now, about 40 meters behind the pair. There would be a battle for the bronze medal, even as it seemed gold and silver were all but set. Becker kept the hammer down all the way, winning in 33:48. 

Rick Becker won the 70-74 Division-Leading three 60-64 division runners- from left: Rich Power, Eric Gustavsen, and Ron Hyde - The Masters Races at 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA. Photo Credit: Michael Scott 

Barbour, despite his strong efforts was a good 350 meters back. But he, in turn, had stretched his lead to over 300 meters. 

John Barbour Center, #1334 finished 2nd in 70-74. He leads Jim Linn white singlet, behind Barbour to his right with runners from other divisions, Mike Filipow green singlet and Doug Fulton #1256 - The Masters Races at 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA. Photo Credit: Michael Scott 

As suspected, there was a 3-way battle for the bronze. Linn was strong all the way to the end, holding off a strong closing charge by Robinson that brought him up to Linn and Pottle. Linn had enough in the tank to answer Robinson's surge, gaining the bronze medal with 4 seconds to spare. Pottle was fifth in 37:03.

Rick Becker 33:48    John Barbour 35:23     James Linn 36:42

75-79 Two years ago in San Francisco it was a big surprise to see Gary Ostwald Boulder Road Runners hang in there for the entire race and sprint past the leader for the win. To be sure, he had been on the podium at Cross Nationals in San Diego earlier that year and had finished 2nd at the Masters 5 Km XC in Boulder, where he trains. But no one, except possibly Ostwald himself, expected to see him win that race. But we have gotten used to it. Ostwald has been a regular atop the 75-79 podium since then, on both the turf and the roads. The athlete he beat in San Francisco, Ronald Wells Jamul Toads, had ruled the roost before that, winning the division title at Tallahassee in 2021 by a half minute and cruising to victory at Cross Nationals the following month with a margin of a minute and a half. At Tallahassee in 2023 it was Ostwald and Wells 1-2 again, but it was not close. Ostwald grinded it out for a winning margin of well over a minute. In Richmond that next January, Gene Dykes was on his game and came in ahead of Ostwald but no one else finished within a minute of Ostwald. Dykes was otherwise engaged and didnot enter at Tacoma. David Dunbar Jamul Toads has been a very solid runner. He finished 8th in the 70-74 division in both 2022 and 2023. His time in 2022 was a good 40 seconds faster than Ostwald's winning M75 time. But a year later at Tallahassee, Ostwald was over a minute faster than Dunbar. Rick Katz Boulder has also been a fixture at USATF Masters national championships. At that 2004 Portland Club Cross, I referenced earlier, from 20 years ago, Katz finished 5th in 55-59. Katz, like all long-term runners, deals with injuries from time to time. I do not know if that is the reason, but Katz was not at Club Cross in 2022, after finishing 6th at Tallahassee in 2021, a few seconds behind Learned. Last year in Tallahassee, Katz finished 3rd in Tallahassee and followed that with a third-place finish at Richmond. Jerry Learned Atlanta is usually in the top five at national competitions, often on the podium. That is a little less true at Club Cross which is the deepest field each year. In San Francisco in 2022, he was competing as a 74-year-old, finishing in 17th place in 70-74. The next year at Tallahassee, competing in 75-79, Learned finished 4th, finishing 18 seconds behind Katz. He repeated that 4th place finish in Richmond a month later at Cross Nationals but was a minute and a half behind Katz.

By the end of the first 3K loop, it was clear that Ostwald was on his way to another good day. Dunbar, despite his best efforts, was a good 40 meters behind Ostwald in 2nd place. There was nearly a hundred meters between Dunbar and Wells, running in third. It was looking like the pendulum was swinging back from Katz to Learned. In fourth place, 40 meters behind Wells, Learned had a 60-meter lead on Katz. The 2nd 3K loop was more of the same. All of the gaps grew. The gap from Ostwald in 1st to Dunbar in second grew to over a hundred meters. Wells was now over 200 meters behind Dunbar; Learned only lost a dozen meters to Wells but grew his lead over Katz by 90 meters. The third loop, 2K long, saw Ostwald maintain his gap on Dunbar, winning the division title in 38:27. 

Gary Ostwald far right #1085 won the 75-79 division-shown here running with 70-74 runners - From Left: Reno Stirrat, Douglas Chesnut, and Rick Pfeiffer - The Masters Races at 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA. Photo Credit: Michael Scott 

Wells won the bronze medal at 40:42. Learned slipped further back on the final loop. Katz took 27 seconds out of Learned's lead but was still over 80 meters behind. Learned was fourth in 41:52, with Katz fifth at 42:23

Gary Ostwald 38:27     David Dunbar 39:11     Ronald Wells 40:42

80-84 Len Goldman Tamalpa often competes at Club Cross, finishing in the top ten almost always and usually in the top 5. He finished 4th in 70-74 at Lexington KY in 2017 and 5th the following year in Spokane. After skipping 2019 and 2021, Goldman finished 6th in 75-79 at San Francisco. This year he clocked a 23:01 5K at the Impala Stampede and finished 4th at the Masters1 Mile Championships in Danville CA. Jan Frisby Boulder finished fifth in 75-79 at Cross Nationals in Richmond VA this January. After turning 80, Frisby secured the 80-84 win at the Masters 10 Km championships in April and the 1 Mile Championships in May. After some minor injury problems in the middle of the year, he bounced back to take the 80-84 win at Boulder. Fred Martin Tamalpa finished just a single second behind Frisby in Danville to take 2nd in the 80-84 division. In 2022, Martin finished 12th at Clubs in San Francisco, 6 minutes behind Goldman. Martin clocked a 25:56 5K at the Impala Stampede that following summer. Nine years ago at the 2015 Club Cross Championships in San Francisco, Przemek Nowicki Shore finished 3rd in 70-74, behind Goldman, who won that year, and ahead of Martin. Nowicki was not competitive at Club Cross again until 2021 when he finished 8th, 30 seconds behind Frisby. Nowicki has been battling various injuries and health issues over the last few years. He has apparently turned the corner. He recently ran a 53:59 10K at the Giralda Farms 10K. Nowicki is a tough competitor if healthy and capable of closing fast. Goldman got off to a good start. Despite the wind and the raw conditions, he covered the first 3K loop in 16:42. His teammate, Martin, was second, but a good 60 meters was between them, Nowicki was third but faced a similar deficit up to Martin. Frisby sometimes starts slow and picks up speed once he is past the initial stage. But the first loop suggested that something was ot right and this might be an off day. He was 150 meters back from Nowicki. Goldman ran into no trouble on the second loop. He extended his lead over Martin to well over 200 meters. But Nowicki had a better loop than Martin. Nowicki passed him. Martin rallied and fell in behind, abut 25 meters back. Nowicki reported after the race that his muscles were cold at the start but as they warmed up, he felt better and better. Frisby was grinding it out on a tough day, falling back. Goldman stayed strong, winning the division title at 47:32. 

Len Goldman #1626 won the 80-84 Division-Shown here with runners from younger divisions- From Left: Ronald Souza #1505, Michael Mester #1007, and Glen Stewart #1340 - The Masters Races at 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA. Photo Credit: Michael Scott 

Nowicki had the best of it on the last 2K loop. He grew the gap back to Martin and closed to within 50 meters of the winner. 

Przemek Nowicki started conservatively; as he warmed up, his pace quickened; he moved up 5 places on the second loop to take the silver medal in 80=84 - The Masters Races at 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA. Photo Credit: Michael Scott 

Martin was third in 36:08, with Frisby fourth at 50:58. John Philllips San Diego Striders, who had run the Carlsbad 5000 in 26:05in April, had a miserable day, but salvaged it with his fifth-place finish in 56:22. 

Len Goldman 47:32      Przemek Nowicki 47:53     Fred Martin 48:35   

85-89 David Turner Atlanta keeps on rolling. He finished 3rd in 75-79at Cross Nationals in Tallahassee in 2018, and was fourth in 80-84 at 2021 Club Cross on that same course. He finished 3rd, at 28:54, in 80-84 at the Masters 5 Km road championships in Atlanta. But he aged up to this division and was stronger than his only opponent in Tacoma. Richard Zerbe Northwest ran 38:45 at his most recent 5K earlier in the year. But it was a hard day for Zerbe. Turner enjoyed a lead of over 6 minutes after the first loop. Turner did not let up and Zerbe kept plugging. 

David Turner led from wire to wire to win the 85-89 Division with Patrick Taylor and Patrick Dwyer in the background - The Masters Races at 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA. - Photo Credit: Michael Scott 

At the end of the 8K race, Turner had the 85-89 win with a cushion of sixteen minutes. Zerbe earned the silver medal at 1:13:20. 

David Turner 57:01     Fred Zerbe 1:13:20

MEN'S 40+ RACE

40-44 Joseph Gray, Neil McDonagh, and Jesse Davis went 1-2-3 Overall in this race. At the same time, they pick up the medals for this division. Brian Flynn and Kevin Hansen finished 4th and 5th.

Joseph Gray claims the Win Overall and in the Men's 40-44 Division - The Masters Races at 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA. - Photo Credit: Michael Scott 

See the Overall recap posted on December 28th for the analysis, which applies equally to this division contest.

45-49 Roosevelt Cook Cal Coast is moving up from the 40-44 division, where he enjoyed one top 5 and one top 10 Overall finish at Club Cross. Cook was sixth overall at Club Cross last year in Tallahassee. Cook won the Masters race at Carlsbad this year in 15:15. He clocked 31:37 at the Dana Point Turkey Trot 10K last month. Neville Davey West Valley finished 3rd overall at the 2015 Club Cross Championships in San Francisco, 4th a year later in Tallahassee, and won the Overall Championship at 2017 Club Cross in Lexington KY. On the track, he won the Masters 1 Mile Exhibition at the 2016 Olympic Trials in Eugene OR. In 2018, Davet set the Masters 1 Mile Record of 4:22 at the Mile of Truth in Danville. As of today, it still stands. We learned earlier this year that the Danville course is not designed for easy records, so that makes Davey's time even more impressive. Last year in Tallahassee, Davey finished 10th overall and won the 45-49 division. Anthony Gallo Team Run Flagstaff finished 5th overall at the Masters 5 Km XC Championships in Boulder in 2022.  In a much more competitive field at Clubs in San Francisco that year, Gallo finished 8th Overall. Gallo finished 8th in M40 at the Masters 5 Km XC in Boulder last month. Peter Gilmore West Valley finished 2nd Overall in Clubs at Lehigh in 2019 and again in Tallahassee in 2021. He debuted in the 45-49 division in San Francisco in 2022 with an 11th Overall and a win in 45-49. He ran a 2:31:53 Marathon in Napa Valley in March and ran a 15:39 5K at the Impala Stampede in June. Ben Mangrum Tacoma City first ran Club Cross as a Masters athlete at Spokane in 2018, finishing 30th Overall. The field was deeper and stronger at San Francisco in 2022, and the course, the Golden Gate Polo Grounds track, unique for a Cross Country race; he finished 49th overall. Mangrum ran 2:31:44 at the Tacoma City Marathon last year and took 8th overall, in 42:23, at the Sound to Narrows 12K in Tacoma. Trevor Pettingill Unattached/UT first tested the national Masters Championship waters at Boca Raton last year, finishing 4th overall and 2nd in 45-49. Amidst better competition at Clubs in Tallahassee a couple of months later, Pettingill still enjoyed a Top 30 finish overall and 9th in this division. Brendan Prindiville Boston Hares finished 30th overall at Tallahassee Clubs in 2021. More recently, Prindiville finished 9th overall and 5th in 45-49 at the Masters 10 Km Championships in April at 33:45. He tested the turf in November at the New England Cross Country Championships, finishing 5th in the Masters race. Cook took it out hardest from the gun, but Gilmore kept his 'M45' bib in sight and closed with him over the first loop. By the end of that first loop, Gilmore had established himself at the front of the 45-49 division in 10:05. He had 20 meters on Cook , in 2nd, followed by Davey, with Pettingill by his side, the same distance back from Cook. 

There was an M45 chase pack 50 meters back, containing Mangrum and Prindiville, along with Eric Blake Boston Hares and David Simmons Northwest. Blake finished 3rd overall in Tallahassee in 2021 and 14th the following year in San Francisco. Simmons finished 24th overall at both Tallahassee Clubs, in 2021 and 2023. He clocked a 1:13:34 and a 1:12:48 half marathon this year. Gallo and Patrick Dill, who ran a 16:43 5K recently and finished ahead of Mangrum and Simmons at the Pacific Northwest XC Championships in November, were about 35 meters behind Simmons.

Roosevelt Cook #1160 with the early 45-49 lead on the eventual winner, Peter Gilmore #1744 with other runners - From Left: Adam Schroeder, John Poray, Kevin Pool, Nicholas Kipruto, and David Larpenteur - The Masters Races at 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA. - Photo Credit: Michael Scott  

By the end of the 2nd 3K loop, Gilmore had a 50-meter lead, with Davey 2nd and Cook trailing him by a few strides in 3rd. Pettingill had not been able to move up with Davey; he was now 50 meters back in 4th, running without M45 company. Mangrum, Prindiville and Gallo were a small pack chasing Pettingill 35 meters back. Gilmore continued to push; his 50-meter lead ballooned to over a hundred. Davey now had 40 meters on Cook. 

Neville Davey #1726 won the silver 45-49 medal. Here he tries to work his way through a tangle of runners including, from left: Patrick Reaves #1120, David Clark orange singlet, Fabian Daza #1293 - The Masters Races at 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA. - Photo Credit: Michael Scott   

Pettingill was only 25 meters back from Cook so there could still be some change in finishing order. Gallo was 20 meters back from Pettingill with Mangrum another 20 meters back. Prindiville was within a good stride or two of Mangrum. How much gas was left in the tank for the final two meters on a raw day with a muddy course? Gilmore added to his lead, raising it to close to 150 meters. His 35:19 gave Gilmore the 45-49 win; it was his 2nd 45-49 win in two tries. Cook battled to stay with Davey. In the end, despite the two being given the same time, Davey had a clear gap on Cook in finishing 2nd M45 behind Gilmore. Mangrum moved up nicely on the final loop, closing with Gallo and petting gill and then outsprinting them to the finish line. Mangrum had fourth in 36:03, followed by Pettingill and Gallo, 5th and 6th, at 36:04 and 36:05! That was Pettingill's best XC outing as a Masters athlete! Prindiville finished 7th in 36:31.

Peter Gilmore 35:19     Neville Davey 35:50     Roosevelt Cook 35:50

50-54 John Gardiner Cal Coast regularly finished top ten overall at Clubs throughout his early 40's and into the 45-49 division. His best finish was in 2016 at Tallahassee when he finished 3rd officially (2nd if an athlete who accepted a USADA sanction a couple of years later is not counted). Last year in Tallahassee, Gardiner finished 5th in M50. This year he finished 2nd in 50-54 at Carlsbad in 16:36 and clocked 16:25 at the Dinosaur Dash in November. Jaime Heilpern HOKA Aggie finished 2nd in 50-54 at Tallahassee in 2021, but followed that with M50 wins in San Francisco the next year and at Tallahassee Clubs in 2023. He finished 2nd in M50 at the Masters =1 Mile Championships in Danville in My and a month later won his division at the Impala Stampede 5K in 16:04. Julian Marsh West Valley finished 17th in 40-45 at Tallahassee Clubs in 2021; a year later, Marsh finished 11th in M45 in San Francisco. He clocked 16:29 at the Impala Stampede 5K and finished 5th in 50-54 at the Masters 1 Mile Championships. Gregory Mitchell Bowerman finished 2nd Overall in 2013 Club Cross at Bend, OR, and won the overall Championship the following year at Lehigh in Bethlehem PA. The next two years his official placement was 2nd. But that was behind a runner who later accepted a USADA sanction. If that sanctioned athlete is eliminated from consideration, Mitchell's record reads as a second place followed by three first places in his first four years participating in the Masters races at Club Cross, an impressive four years! More recently, Mitchell has been top 5 in M50 at the 2022 Club Cross in San Francisco and the next year at Tallahassee. Mitchell seems to have kicked it up lately. He finished 1st in M50, and 6th overall, at the Masters 5 Km XC Championships in Boulder and clocked 15:38 at the Boise ID Turkey Day 5K. Todd Rose West Valley, in his first three Club Cross championships as a 45-49 athlete, finished 5th at Spokane, 5th at Lehigh and 1st at Tallahassee in 2021. In his last year in the division, Rose finished 15th in the division. Rose's first year in M50 was last year at Tallahassee; he finished 3rd. This year, Rose finished 3rd in 50-54 at the Masters National 1 Mile road championship in Danville. Rose followed that with a 15:58 5K at the Impala Stampede in June. Mark Yuen West Valley finished 2nd in 45-49 at San Francisco Clubs in 2015. His other Club outings in that division resulted in 6th place finishes. Yuen was back at the top oof his game at Tallahassee Clubs in 2021; he won the 50-54 division with room to spare. The following two years saw him finish 4th and 7th in 50-54. Apart from a 1:40 pacing effort at the, apparently, short half of the San Francisco Marathon in July, no recent race results are evident. When the gun sounded, Mitchell wasted no time in moving out ahead of the M50 field. He was just outside the top 30 overall at the end of the first 3K loop. He had a good 50 meters on Gardiner, Heilpern, and Rose, running as a group in 2nd through 4th. Marsh and Yuen were running together about 50 meters behind that group in 6th and 7th. By the time the 2nd 3K loop was completed, Mitchell's lead had doubled to well over a hundred meters. Gardiner and Heilpern were running together still, separated by just two seconds, 2nd and 3rd at 21:43. Marsh and Yuen had moved up to run with Rose as a group in 4th through 6th, at 21:57. On the next to last loop, Mitchell boosted his lead over Gardiner to 150 meters. But Gardiner had now gapped Heilpern, who was 30 meters back in third. Marsh had left Rose and Yuen a couple of dozen meters behind and closed to within 9 seconds of Heilpern. Mitchell claimed the 50-54 win in 35:58, with almost a minute to spare. 

Gregory Mitchell #1119 won the 50-54 Division-Running with, from left, Eric Blake, David Simmons, Brendan Prindiville, Richard Bouckaert, and Chad Carver - The Masters Races at 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA. - Photo Credit: Michael Scott   

Gardiner maintained his lead over Heilpern, finishing 2nd at 36:53. 

John Gardiner #1165 Powers His Way Through a Muddy Turn-capturing the silver 45-49 medal-with Steven Thornock #1513, David Angell black headband, background, Anthony Gallo sunglasses, and teammate, Matt Yacoub - The Masters Races at 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA. - Photo Credit: Michael Scott 

Six seconds later, Heilpern finished third in 36:59, just edging Marsh in a closing sprint. They received the same time. From a head-on look it was not clear who finished ahead of whom. Luckily, the referee has a side camera lined up on the finish line to determine such close finishes. It was Heilpern in 3rd, Marsh in 5th. Rose finished 5th in 37:11. Yuen finished 6th, just two seconds ahead of a fast-closing Marcelo Mejia Perez. Eighth through tenth went to Matt Yacoub Cal Coast, Orin Schumnacher Bowerman, and Ian Fraser Northwest, respectively.

Greg Mitchell 35:58     John Gardiner 36:53     Jaime Heilpern 36:59

55-59 Rusty Snow Santa Barbara and Frank Zoldak Boulder would likely battle for the win. Snow has not competed at Club Cross as a Masters athlete before this year. He competed at Cross Nationals from 2013 in St. Louis through Boulder in 2014 and 2015 and into 2016 in Bend, OR. At those championships, he finished 3rd, 2nd, 6th and 5th, respectively. Snow did not compete at national Masters Championships from 2016 through 2023. This past January, Snow led his team into Richmond, VA for Cross Nationals; the team earned the silver medals. Snow collected a gold medal for his 55-59 win, at 27:29, with room to spare! A month later he demonstrated his endurance with a 1:12:05 half marathon at Ventura, CA. Zoldak was new to Masters national championships last year at Tallahassee. He amazed many by not only winning the M55 division but by running in the top ten overall for much of the race, falling back over the last two kilometers to finish 11th overall. At the Masters 5 Km XC+ Championships in Boulder CO this November, Zoldak won his division with over a minute and a half to spare.

Emmet Hogan Bowerman has been a very solid performer in his division. At the Lehigh Club Cross in 2019, Hogan was 5th in 50-54. He followed that with a 19th in the division in San Francisco three years later, and finished off the 50-54 division with a 10th place last year in Tallahassee. He celebrated moving up to a new age division with a division win at Carlsbad tis past April in 16:37 and a first at Lilac Bloomsday's 12K at 41:45. Ivan Lieben has been a steady presence near the top of his division at Club Cross, at least since 2013 when he finished 55th overall at Bend OR. At San Francisco in 2015 he was 9th in M45 and two years later at Lehigh he finished 20th in the division. In 2021 and 2022, at Tallahassee and San Francisco, Lieben finished 3rd and 2nd, respectively. In the process of regaining post-rehab fitness this year, Lieben ran 17:02 at the Impala Stampede. Two years earlier he had run 16:06. Michael Mallon debuted in Tallahassee as a Masters XC runner, finishing 13th in M55. This year he ran a 37:28 10K at the Illinois Marathon in April, and finished 6th in the division at the Masters Ten Mile Championships in August with a 59:33. A regular participant in loppet and birkebeiner Cross Country Skiing races, Brad Moening Twin Cities is also pretty fast on the roads. He clocked 16:34 to take the 50 and up title at the Brian Kraft 5K and 58:13 to win the 55-59 Ten Miler at the Twin Cities in Motion Marathon. Charles Mullane West Valley started his Masters Club Cross participation with a 74th place overall finish at bend in 2013. Five years later, he finished 23rd in 45-49 at Spokane Clubs. In 2021 at Tallahassee he finished 7th in M50, following that with a 6th place at San Francisco in 2022. Last year at Tallahassee he had a less enjoyable outing, finishing 26th in this division.

When the gun sounded, Zoldak went toward the front of the pack as he did last year. This year he did not make it up to the top ten. That would have been unlikely just from the greater depth at a Club Cross that draws over 750 athletes in total. Nonetheless, by the end of the first 3K loop, Zoldak, at 10:14, was in the top 30 overall and had 50 meters of apace between him and Snow, running in second. It was looking a lot like the 55-59 division last year. Snow was in 2nd place at 10:25. He had a commanding lead over the next two athletes, probably a hundred meters. Hogan and Moening were running side by side at 10:47. Lieben was 50 meters back in 5th, followed by his teammate, Mullane, a few strides back, and he by Mallon, another few strides to the rear. Whether Zoldak is slightly off his fitness from a year ago or it was a superior effort from Snow, the tables were reversed by the end of the 2nd 3K loop. Zoldak slowed his pace on the 2nd loop. Snow took full advantage, catching and passing Zoldak. Snow was at 21:24 with a 70-meter lead on Zoldak. Hogan had left Moening behind and now had cut the distance up to Zoldak from about 150 meters to a little over a hundred meters. 

Emmet Hogan #1231 won the bronze 55-59 medal, running here in the company of Brad Moenning #1643, who finished 4th in the division, Richard Falcone #1581, Orin Schumacher #1121, and Bryce Lighthall #1733 - The Masters Races at 2024 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA. - Photo Credit: Michael Scott 

There was a gap of over 40 meters between Hogan in 3rd and Moening in 4th. But Moening was not being pressured by his competitors; his gap back to the others had grown to over 60 meters. Mullane was now leading that chasing trio, in 5th, 8 seconds ahead of Lieben in 6th, with Mallon a few strides back from Lieben in 7th. On the next to last loop, Snow added to his lead over Zoldak, now up to a good 130 meters. Zoldak was still running well; Hogan took just three seconds out of that lead; he was still a hundred meters back with just 2 kilometers to go. Moening was now 15 seconds behind Hogan, up from the ten second deficit at the 6 Km mark. Lieben and Mallon had not been able to stay with Moening; there was now a hundred-meter gap. Mallon, however, had crept closer to Lieben and was almost even with 2 kilometers to go. Snow poured it on over the last loop, winning the division crown, in 36:24, with 43 seconds to spare. Hogan took another 11 seconds out of Zoldak's lead but could not deny Zoldak the silver medal. Moening finished 4th at 38:01, 42 seconds behind Hogan. Mullane closed well to pull back to 5th place, within 4 seconds of Moening. Mallon moved ahead of Lieben as they closed out the race and held it all the way to the finish line. It was Mallon in 6th with Lieben 7th, just one second behind.

Rusty Snow 36:24     Frank Zoldak 37:07     Emmet Hogan 37:19

That concludes the recap of the Masters races at the 2024 USATF Club Cross Country National Championships. Athletes will be talking about the raw conditions and muddy stretches for years to come! In my first recap, I noted that no one went down, at least not of the usatf.tv video. Now that I have looked more closely at Mike Scott's photos, it is clear that some folks did go down on that muddy turn that featured in so many of his pictures. And there were a couple of other stretches evident on the video, that would certainly have been a challenge to negotiate without falling. Hats off to those that survived and those that thrived!

On to Lubbock TX and the 2025 USATF Cross Country National Championships on January 11th. Details are here.