USATF Club Cross Country Championships

RESULTS

Men’s 40 and up 10 Km

Men’s 60 and up 8 Km

Women’s 6 Km

12/09/2023 Tallahassee, FL

Under blue skies with temperatures rising from the low 60’s to mid-70’s at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, 500 Masters athletes contested the national championships. Those who are sensitive to humidity had a tough day last Saturday. But it was perfect for spectators! They enjoyed the competitive Masters races at the Club Cross Country Championships and could anticipate returning in 2026 to catch the World Cross Country Championships at this venue. Three Masters races were held: Masters Women 9 AM, Men 60 and Up 10 AM, Men 40 and Up 11 AM. As usual, these championships featured the deepest and most competitive fields of the year in the Masters Grand Prix.  Scoring for the first two races is based on up to 5 declared athletes with the top 3 finishers scoring for each team; the final race has up to 9 declared, with top 5 scoring. Add up the scoring places for each team, the lower the score the better.

TEAMS WOMEN 40+ The tight race anticipated between two Oregon-based teams did not disappoint. Carrie Dimoff led her Bowerman Track Club team with a 1^st place finish, but Renee Metivier, who finished 2^nd for Team Red Lizard had a stronger supporting cast. Red Lizard R Metivier, C J Heineck, K Shaw totaled 23 points from their 2-7-14 places. Bowerman C Dimoff, K Rohde, L Bloomer totaled 31 points and had to be satisfied with 2^nd place. The Cal Coast Track Club E Camy, L Osman, M Shearer moved up from 11th last year to 3^rd this year on a solid team effort. 50+ The Central Park Track Club J Harvey, R Kennedy, E Basile did not enter Clubs last year; this year they took the title with a 3-5-8 for 16 points. Central Park edged the Garden State Track Club H Aliaga, K Aspholm, G Panepinto by just 4 points; Garden State enjoyed their 2^nd consecutive Team silver medals. Sirius Athletic Club R Hopkins, M Landers-Potts, L Johnson matched their third-place finish from last year.  60+ The Shore Athletic Club S La Burt, N Cary, D Capko, who did not compete in San Francisco, took 1^st and 3^rd place. But then the Impala Racing Team S Cordes, E Brennan-Erler, C Keller claimed 4^th, 6^th and 9^th, to apply pressure. Shore needed its third scoring runner to finish 14^th or higher for the win. That is precisely what she did; Shore won 18-19! The Liberty Athletic Club M Cass, A King, V Bok earned their 2^nd consecutive set of bronze medals at Club Cross with 23 points, 70+ Team Red Lizard J Groesz, S Gerl, C Olsen took their 3^rd consecutive Club Cross win in this division. Finishing 1^st, 2^nd and 5^th, they claimed the division title over the Atlanta Track Club, 8 to 17. Atlanta’s‘A’ team N Hudnall, T Ozell, K Allen came in three points ahead of their ‘B’ squad C Lucking, A McCarter, M Barnett to take second. Red Lizard enjoyed two Team Golds in the Women’s Race!

MEN 60+ Shore Athletic Club M Zamek , R Lee, H Notaro, out of the Jersey Shore, finished 6^th last year. Zamek, who turned 60 this year, led the way; Shore surged into first with 1-5-10 for 16 points and a solid 13-point win. The Genesee Valley Harriers A Evans, J Mora, M Gardella, from upstate New York, had a similar surge, finishing 5^th last year and vaulting into 2^nd this year with 29 points. They had to beat back stern challenges from the third-place club, the TC Running Company J Van Danacker, P Billig, A Bohlke, out of the Twin Cities, who were just two points back and 4^th place Atlanta only 4 points behind TC. 70+ The Boulder Road Runners B Kirschner, G Ostwald, D Bell claimed all the marbles two years ago, dropped to 5^th last year and came roaring back to win again this year with a tight 4-5-6 finish and 15 -points. The Jamul Toads R Pfeiffer, R Wells, D Dunbar, winners last year, put up a good fight, succumbing by just 3 points. The Syracuse Track Club J Foster, D Wood, T Larison, with 36 points, climbed up to the podium from 4^th last year. 80+ The Atlanta 80’s team continues to show up and inspire. They finished 2^nd at Lehigh in 2019, won at Tallahassee in 2021 and finished 2^nd in San Francisco last year. This year, they claimed first again, with 6 points from a 1-2-3, as no other teams entered.

MEN 40+ a three-peat is tough. The Indiana Elite Athletic Club won in 2021 and 2022. The West Valley Track Club finished 2^nd both times, losing by a single point in 2021 but by 27 points in 2022. West Valley caught the bug in 2015 in San Francisco when the Bay Area club finished 2^nd. Since that time, they have been on the podium each year at the Club Cross Country 40+ Championship. They came determined to retake the title they had won in 2017 and 2019. West Valley M Richards, D Cisewski, N Davey, B Koss, K Pool delivered, totaled 36 points from 1-3-9-11-12. Indiana J Davis, B Lindsay, M Guyer, M Jackson, M Haschell battled them all the way but had to give way with 59 points, fifteen ahead of the Tracksmith Boston Hares E Baker, D Smith, M Taylor, J Reilly, N Davis in their first Masters outing at clubs. 50+ In this division, West Valley has been the big dog since 2021.They took first that year, in Tallahassee, at 29 points with a 33-point margin over Garden State. In 2022 West Valley repeated with a 39-70 win over those same New Jersey rivals. The threepeat was successful, by a thin 3-point margin. West Valley T Rose, M Yuen, M Callon, J Backstrom, I Lieben finished with 3, 6, 11, 16, 20 for 56 points with the Boulder Road Runners F Zoldak, C Grauch, F DeSimone, G Mays, M Mallon at 59. Boulder drew first blood with 1^st and 2^nd place, but their 3^rd through 5^th runners were more spread out than West Valley’s. That gave West Valley the edge, 56 to 59. The Central Mass Striders G Putnam, S Brightman, T Callaghan, J Shairs, S Grandfield matched their 3^rd place finish from 2021 with 78 points.

INDIVIDUAL RACES-OVERALL

In the Women’s 6K race, Metivier was glued to Dimoff for the first 3K. Shortly thereafter, Dimoff made a decisive move that Metivier could not answer. Dimoff pulled away gradually from there to win in 21:18 with Metivier 2^nd at 21:41. Katie Sherron, who won here two years ago, finished in 3^rd at 22:06. In the Men’s 8K race, Nat Larson also pushed from the front, with Mark Zamek right on his heels through the first 3K loop. Over the next kilometer, Larson opened a 5 second lead and added to it over the final 5K. Larson enjoyed the win at 29:34, with Zamek 19 seconds back. John Van Danacker held off Kevin Ostenberg and Steve Schmidt to claim third in 30:26. The Men’s 10K race was expected to come down to a battle between the top two returning finishers from last year, Malcolm Richards and Jesse Davis. Davis controlled the race from the front when he won here in 2021. This year it was Richards’s turn to do the same. Richards tested his main rivals a couple of times in the first 2K and then made a decisive move to open a 3-second gap by the bottom of the last hill on the first loop. By the time they began the 2nd loop the lead was up to 5 seconds. Richards was not threatened the rest of the way, winning in 32:09 with Davis 35 seconds back in 2^nd. David Cisewski claimed third in 32:58.

Top Age Graded athletes included Nora Cary 68 26:30 in the Women’s 6K race; her 93.44% eclipsed marathoner, Jeannie Rice 75 29:32 92.71 and Mary Cass 62 25:45 88.87 who finished 2^nd and 3^rd in age grading. In the 8K race it was Rick Becker 69 31:22 at 89.53% who prevailed over Nat Larson 61 29:34 88.06% and Kevin Ostenberg 60 29:54 87.76%. The 10 K race featured Frank Zoldak 57 34:53 achieving a 90.52% to edge Jaime Heilpern 53 34:50 87.51% and the overall M40+ winner, Richards 41 32:09 85.88%.

INDIVIDUAL AGE DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIPS

Women 40-44 Dimoff 45-49 Jill Braley 22:49 50-54 Karolyn Bowley 24:01 55-59 Rachel Hopkins 24:41 60-64 Suzanne La Burt 25:20 65-69 Cary 70-74 Jeanette Groesz 30:44 75-79 Rice 80-84 Myrna Barnett 46:45 MEN 40-44 Richards 45-49 Neville Davey 34:50 50-54 Heilpern 55-59 Zoldak 60-64 Larson 65-69 Becker 70-74 Robert Qualls 75-79 Gary Ostwald 37:38 80-84 Ed Bligh 49:01

This event kicked off the 2024 USATF Masters National Grand Prix. Next up are the USATF Cross Country Championships in Richmond, VA on Saturday, January 20, 2024. Masters Women’s and Men’s races will be held along with U20 and Open. Check out the details here.

Submitted By

Paul Carlin
Consultant to USATF Masters LDR
www.runningprof.com