Korir, Heath lead Team USATF at 2018 Great Edinburgh XCountry Challenge – USA Track & Field – News
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2017 USA XC Championships Bend, Oregon Febuary 4, 2017 Photo: Victah Sailer@PhotoRun Victah1111@aol.com 631-291-3409 www.photorun.NET

Korir, Heath lead Team USATF at 2018 Great Edinburgh XCountry Challenge – USA Track & Field – News

By GRR 0

INDIANAPOLIS — Team USATF will have a talent-laden roster January 13, 2018 as it returns to Scotland to take on the world at the 2018 Great Edinburgh XCountry Challenge at Holyrood Park.

At last year's event, the U.S. took top honors for the second time in three years with 149 points, beating out Team Europe (152 points) and Team Great Britain (208 points) for the title.

Defending men's champion Leonard Korir and three-time winner Garrett Heath lead a squad that also features USATF Club Cross Country champion Ian La Mere and 2013 IAAF World Outdoor Championships team member Chris Derrick. Korir, a 2016 Olympian at 10,000m, outkicked Britain's Callum Hawkins last year to win in 24:03 and help the U.S. to the team title.

2016 Olympic marathon seventh-placer Desi Linden drops down in distance to lead the American women, and she will be joined by 2015 NCAA cross country champion Molly Seidel and reigning USATF Half Marathon champion Natosha Rogers, who finished 23rd at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in March. Team USATF tied for second in the women's point standings in 2017.

Looking to defend their team title, the junior women will have California state champion Claudia Lane, who also won the Foot Locker national meet on December 9, along with NXN Nike Cross Nationals runner-up Kelsey Chmiel. Katelynne Hart was the runner-up to Lane at Foot Locker, while Iowa State's Cailie Logue was fourth at the Big Ten championships.

Team USATF's junior men also took home top team honors last time out, and Foot Locker champion Dylan Jacobs will help defend that title. Texas 5A state champion Graydon Morris, runner-up at Foot Locker, and Illinois state champion Danny Kilrea, who was fifth at the NXN Nike Cross Nationals and third at Foot Locker, add quality depth

The popular co-ed 4x1K relay will see sub-13:20 5,000m performer Will Geoghegan and steeplechaser Travis Mahoney team up with 2017 NCAA 1500m sixth-placer Rebecca Mehra and Ayla Granados to try and move up one spot atop the podium after a second-place finish in 2017.

The 2018 Great Edinburgh XCountry International Challenge will be available live on USATF.TV+PLUS.

Follow the action on Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook using the hashtag #GEXC2018.

Team USATF Roster – 2018 Great Edinburgh XCountry Challenge

ATHLETE                               HOMETOWN                                    USATF ASSOCIATION
8k Senior Men
Emmanuel Bor                       Colorado Springs, Colorado                 Colorado
Chris Derrick                          Portland, Oregon                                Oregon
Trevor Dunbar                       Boulder, Colorado                               Colorado
Garrett Heath                        Seattle, Washington                            Pacific Northwest
Leonard Korir                         Colorado Springs, Colorado                 Colorado
Ian La Mere                           Green Bay, Wisconsin                         Wisconsin
Ryan Mahalsky                       Rochester, Michigan                           Michigan
Morgan Pearson                     Boulder, Colorado                               Colorado
Abbabiya Simbassa                Colorado Springs, Colorado                 Colorado

6km Senior Women

Chelsea Blaase                       Rochester Hills, Michigan                   Michigan
Anne-Marie Blaney                 Rochester Hills, Michigan                    Michigan
Desiree Linden                       Washington Township, Michigan        Michigan
Rosa Moriello                          Brighton, Massachusetts                    New England
Olivia Pratt                             Rochester Hills, Michigan                    Michigan
Natosha Rogers                     Litton, Colorado                                  New England
Molly Seidel                            Watertown, Massachusetts                 New England
Makenna Smith                      Rancho Santa Margarita, California      Southern California
Katrina Spratford                   Woonsocket, Rhode Island                 New England

6km Junior Women

Kelsey Chmiel                         Greenfield Center, New York               Adirondack
Maggie Farrell                        Battle Creek, Michigan                        Michigan
Katelynne Hart                       Glen Ellyn, Illinois                               Illinois
Claudia Lane                          Malibu, California                                Southern California
Cailie Logue                            Erie, Kansas                                       Kansas
Emily Venters                        Lawrence, Kansas                              Kansas

6km Junior Men
Drew Bosley                           Thiensville, Wisconsin                         Wisconsin
Dustin Horter                        Liberty Township, Ohio                         Ohio
Dylan Jacobs                          Orland Park, Illinois                            Illinois
Danny Kilrea                          LaGrange, Illinois                               Illinois
Clayton Mendez                     Chicago, Illinois                                  Illinois
Graydon Morris                      Aledo, Texas                                      Southwestern

4x1km Senior Relay

Will Geoghegan                      Brunswick, Maine                               Maine
Travis Mahoney                      Old Bridge, New Jersey                       New York
Ayla Granados                        Castro Valley, California                     Pacific
Rebecca Mehra                      Palos Verdes Estates, California           Pacific

USA Track & Field – News 

author: GRR