Teare, Zealand, Gardiner, Nance Qualify for World XC Championships at USATF Champs. in Richmond

Results

On Saturday (20-Jan) 94 members of USATF Virginia competed in the USATF Cross Country Championships in Richmond, VA. 460 athletes from 40 states competed in the championships.

Six races were conducted - Open Men (10 km), Open Women (10 km), U20 Men (8 km), U20 Women (6 km), Masters Men 8 km, and Masters Women (6 km). 

Athletes in the open and U20 races were competing for spots on Team USA the World Athletics Championships in  Belgrade, Serbia in March.  The top 6 in each race race were invited to represent the U.S. at the world championships.

The highlights for the Virginia athletes in Richmond were four athletes (Cooper Teare, Allie Zealand, Maddie Gardiner, and Berkley Nance) qualifying for the world championships and the national masters titles won by Forest Braden, David Angell, the Colonial Road Runners, and the Blacksburg Striders.

OPEN MEN - 10 km In the men's race Cooper Teare, who recently relocated from Oregon to Blacksburg, won the race in a time of 29:07. Teare was in the lead pack throughout the race and was able to cover a strong move at 8 km by Moran Pearson of Colorado. With 1 km to go, Teare put his head down and started a furious kick to the finish to win by five seconds over Anthony Rotich of Colorado. Cole Hocker, also a recent transplant to Blacksburg, finished 12th running 29:53. Other top-50 finishers were turned in by Nate Jennings (25th, 31:19) of Henrico, Bret Greene (40th, 32:16) of Charlottesville, and Luke Gilman (45th, 32:45) of Stafford.

U20 WOMEN - 6 km In the U20 women's competition, Allie Zealand (Forest, VA) and Maddie Gardiner (Formula TC; Charlottesville) finished second and fifth, respectively to earn Team USA spots for the world championships in March. Zealand and eventual winner Zariel Macchia of New York battled throughout the race with Macchia just edging ahead in the final meters to win by .9 seconds. Zealand's time was 20:31.9. Gardiner ran 20:49 to easily secure fifth place and her ticket to Serbia. Sadie Adams (Formula TC; Crozet) finished ninth running 21:26. 

U20 MEN - 8 km In the U20 men's competition, Berkley Nance of Richmond earned the final qualifying spot as he finished sixth running 24:26 on the 8 km course. He was 10 seconds ahead of the seventh-place finisher. Nance a senior at Mills Godwin High School who has announced he will matriculate to Birmingham Young University next year, was the only high school athlete to qualify for the men's world championship team.

I’ve been thinking about this race ever since last year’s with the goal to make the national team. I went through the recent high school cross country season with this race on the back of my mind. After high school nationals, I took a short break, my training was adapted more to the 8k distance. The race went great, and I’m so excited and honored to represent Team USA at worlds! - Berkley Nance

Isaac Lamprecht (Richmond T&F Club) finished 21st running 26:02.

MASTERS MEN - 8 km In the masters men's competition, 68 Virginians competed with two individual national titles and two team titles earned by the locals.

Forest Braden (Colonial Road Runners; Williamsburg, VA) was the first to cross the line as he won the 40-44 national title, His time on the 8 km course was 25:35. Finishing third was his Colonial Road Runners teammate Adam Otstot running 26:19.  The low sticks by Braden and Otstot led their Colonial Road Runners squad to the team title with 40 points. The team's other scorers were William Christian (9th M40-44, 27:15), Scott Ickes (17th M40-44, 28:20), and Mark Tompkins (4th M45-49, 29:04). The Ragged Mountain Racing team finished second with 53 points. Their team scorers were Matthew Barresi (4th M40-44, 26:55), Christopher Pirch (5th M40-44, 27:05), William Palmer (2nd M45-49), Charlie Hurt (11th M40-44, 27:44), and Bert Jacoby (M40-44, 29:41). The Blacksburg Striders and Endorphin Fitness teams finished fifth and sixth, respectively.

Joining Braden in winning an individual national title was David Angell (Blacksburg Striders, Blue Ridge, VA) as he won the men's 45-49 division. His time of 27:05 defeated Palmer by 38 seconds.

In the men's 50+ team competition, the Blacksburg Striders won the national title scoring 46 points as they defeated the Santa Barbara Running Club of California by 2 points with the Colonial Road Runners capturing the team bronze with 78 points. The team scorers for the Blacksburg squad were Anderson Norton (5th M50-54, 29:07), Ignacio Moore (8th M50-54), Kevin McGuire (5th M55-59, 30:34), Durelle Scott (13th M50-54, 30:40), and Michael Stowe (15th M50-54, 31:49).

Earning a trip to the awards podium for his top-three finish was Pete Gibson (Tidewater Striders, Murfreesboro, NC) who finished second in the M65-69 division running 31:25. He was just seven seconds behind David Westenberg of Massachusetts.

MASTERS WOMEN - 6 km In the women's competition, Deborah Snagg (Richmond Track & Field Club, Richmond, VA) and Deelyn Robinson (Colonial Road Runners, Williamsburg, VA) earned podium finishes. Snagg finished second in the 70-74 division running 29:14 on the 6 km course. Robinson finished third in the 55-59 division running 27:17.

The Colonial Road Runners finished fourth in the women's 40+ team standings; just five points off the podium. Their team scorers were Tamara Pelletier (4th W45-49, 25:46), Deelyn Robinson (3rd W55-59, 27:17), and Megan Schulze (17th W40-44).

Mindy Mammen finished sixth in the W40-44 division running 22:30; an age graded score of 81.1% which was the second best for the Virginia women. Only Snagg scored higher (83.6%).