U.S. Men Take Silver At World Cross Country

Ben True leads the way with 6th-place finish. U.S. women place fourth amongst teams. 

Battling frigid temperatures and challenging course conditions, the United States (52 points) placed two runners amongst the top-10 finishers in the senior men’s race to take the team silver medal behind champion Ethiopia (38 points) at the World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland on Sunday. Powerhouse Kenya finished third with 54 points.

Ben True of Hanover, N.H., led the way for the U.S. with a 6th-place finish in 33:11, while U.S. cross country champion Chris Derrick of Portland, Ore., finished tenth in 33:23. Kenyan Japhet Korir, 19 years old, became the youngest winner of the World Championships, breaking the tape in 32:45, six seconds ahead of Imane Merga of Ethiopia.

Behind Derrick came Ryan Vail of Portland, Ore., who finished 17th in 33:42, and Bobby Mack of Raleigh, N.C., in 19th at 33:49 to round out Team USA’s scorers. Elliott Heath of Portland, Ore., was 30th in 34:11 and James Strang of Colorado Springs, Colo., finished in 37th place in 34:20.

In the women’s senior race, Neely Spence-Gracey finished 13th in 25:08 to place as top non-African and lead the U.S. team (90 points) to a fourth-place finish.

Kenya’s Emily Chebet, 27, enjoyed an impressive return to the top of the medals podium in winning her second global title. Chebet led the Kenyan team to emphatic gold medal-winning display, with 19 points to second-place Ethiopia’s 48. Bahrain was third with 73 points.

Behind Gracey were Emily Infeld of Portland, Ore., and Mattie Suver of Boulder, Colo., who finished 21st and 26th, respectively, with times of 25:27 and 25:41. Olympian Kim Conley of West Sacramento, Calif., was 30th to round out the U.S. scorers with a time of 25:45.

Deena Kastor of Mammoth Lakes, Calif., the 2004 Olympic marathon bronze medalist, competing in her tenth career world cross country championships one week after finishing third at the L.A. Marathon, finished 34th in 25:52, and Delilah DiCrescenzo of New York, N.Y., was 47th in 26:05.

For More: USATF