Kelati Dominates, Teare Kicks to Win at the USATF Cross Country Championships

USATF Release

RICHMOND, Va. – Weini Kelati left nothing to chance Saturday at the USATF Cross Country Championships, dominating the field in the back half of the 10 km contest, while Cooper Teare used his superior track speed to pull away from the men’s pack, both athletes winning USATF titles in Richmond, Virginia, as spots on Team USATF for the World Athletics Cross Country Championships were up for grabs.

The USATF Cross Country Championships are the first stop on the 2024 USATF Running Circuit. Fans can relive the excitement of Saturday’s races on USATF.TV with a USATF.TV +PLUS subscription.

It’s still only January, but Kelati is having a season to remember already. A week after running the fastest half marathon performance in United States history (ratification pending), Kelati doubled back to dominate the women’s open race in Richmond. 

From the start, a large group led by Kelati packed together and moved through the first 2 km stride for stride. The field slowly started to string out as 3 km neared, with Katrina Spratford-Sterling and Kelati sharing the pacing duties up front.

It wasn’t until 4 km that Kelati started to push the pace, shifting gears with only Katie Camarena keeping with her. A strong chase pack formed led by Emma Hurley, Katie Izzo, Claire Green, and Abby Nichols.

By the half way point, Kelati was running alone, 6.5 seconds ahead of Camarena, with Hurley two seconds back from Camarena in third and starting to drop the chase pack. Kelati would extend her lead to 30 seconds over the next 3 km.

Kelati would maintain her relaxed and powerful form over the next 2 km, finally easing up at the finish line, arms raised, winning in 32:58.6, just over 37 seconds ahead of Emma Hurley, who used a strong last 1 km to pull away from Camarena to claim second in 33:35.9.

Camarena finished her stellar performance claiming third in 33:40.3, well ahead of the next group of women. Allie Ostrander used a fierce back half of the race to charge to a fourth place finish, just edging out Callie Logue, who placed fifth. Ostrander ran 33:52.5, while Logue’s time was 33:52.7.

Nichols ran by herself for much of the late stages of the race, taking home sixth overall in 34:09.4. A large gap of more than 20 seconds extended back to Spratford-Sterling, who claimed seventh place in 34:31.7. Izzo, Kasandra Parker, and Green rounded out the top ten, with Izzo crossing the finish in 34:41.0, Parker in 34:47.1, and Green in 34:59.4.

While Kelati dominated the women’s race by the half way point in the 10 km contest, Teare used a tremendous last 1 km to claim victory in the men’s open race.

From the gun, the men’s field formed a tight pack up front, with 20 men running together during the early stages of the race. Hillary Bor, Emmanuel Bor, Morgan Pearson, Anthony Rotich, and Teare all took turns up front through the first 5 km of the race, making sure the pace was honest.

As the lead pack came through the half way mark in 14:45, 14 men remained in contention. The pace started to heat up as HOKA Northern Arizona Elite’s Ahmed Muhumed took over the lead, with Pearson and Emmanuel Bor running right off his shoulder. 

Nearing 8 km, Pearson jumped to the lead and really started to push the pace. Pearson opened up a small lead, with Teare in tow, and Muhumed and Rotich right behind them. Pearson tried valiantly to break the field between 8 km and 9 km, but couldn’t put sizable space between himself and the other top contenders. 

With 1 km to go, Teare put his head down and started a furious kick to the finish. Pearson, Rotich, and Muhumed were all a stride or two behind, but over the final kilometer Teare put a sizeable gap on his competition to claim the men’s USATF Cross Country Championship title in 29:06.5.

Rotich, who placed third at the 2023 USATF Cross Country Championships, held off Muhumed and Pearson over the final portion of the race to earn second in 29:11.6. Muhumed continued to show why he’s one of the rising stars in American distance running with a 29:12.6 third place effort, while Pearson, a professional triathlete, showed his tremendous fitness with a fourth place time of 29:15.5.

Defending champion Emmanuel Bor couldn’t maintain the pace with 2 km to go, dropping all the way back to fifth in 29:26.5. He held off late challenges by Christian Allen and Reid Buchanan, who crossed the finish line in sixth and seventh, running 29:27.0 and 27:28.1, respectively.

Anthony Camerieri placed eighth overall in 29:34.8, while Andrew Hunter and Ryan Ford rounded out the top ten in ninth and tenth with marks of 29:37.2 and 29:39.8.

The next stop on the 2024 USATF Running Circuit takes place on March 2, as the USATF 15 km Championships get underway in Jacksonville, Florida, hosted by the Gate River Run.

About the USATF Running Circuit

The USATF Running Circuit is a USATF road series featuring USATF championships from one mile through the marathon and consistently attracts the best American distance runners with more than $500,000 to be awarded in total prize money. A total of $26,200 in prize money will be awarded at the 2024 USATF Cross Country Championships.

The first ten U.S. runners earn points at each USATF Running Circuit race. For the USATF Cross Country Championships, scoring is set as 15 for first, 12 for second, 10 for third, 7 ,6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1, with those earning the most points receiving prize money at the end of the series.

The mission of the USATF Running Circuit is to showcase, support and promote U.S. runners. Since its inception in 1995, the USATF Running Circuit and its races have provided over $7 million to U.S. distance runners.

Contributed by Scott Bush