Courtesy: USATF

More World Cross Country Champs recap

Three-time Olympian Suzy Favor Hamilton (pictured), competing in her first ever World Cross Country Championships, surged to the front of the field at the start and ran a gutsy race to claim fifth place Sunday in the Senior Women's 4K race at the 30th IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Dublin, Ireland. On a damp and cloudy day with calm winds and temperatures in the low 50s, Favor Hamilton's performance is the best ever by an American at the short-course distance.

Hamilton (13:47) and U.S. runner-up Carrie Tollefson (14:05), who passed 7 people in the final furlong to claim 11th, led the Team USA senior women's 4K squad to a 6th-place finish - a mere 5 points behind 3rd- place Ireland - the best for a U.S. women's team in the short course race since the 1997 squad claimed the bronze medal at the inaugural event in Marrakech, Morocco. Sarah Toland (32nd, 14:27) and Janet Trujillo (52nd, 14:42) each moved up ten places over the second circuit to contribute to the team effort. Mary-Jayne Harrelson (63rd, 14:50) and Sarah Hann (66th, 14:52) rounded out the scorers for the Team USA squad.

U.S. 10,000-meter champion Abdi Abdirahman and two-time U.S. 12k cross country champion Meb Keflezighi led the U.S. senior men's long course squad to a 5th-place finish. Abdirahman (36:03), who actually led the field during the first circuit, and Keflezighi (36:09) claimed top-15 finishes for the second consecutive year, placing 11th and 14th respectively. Abdirahman's 11th-place effort is the best finish by an American at the 12k distance since Todd Williams claimed 9th in 1995 in Durham, England.

Finishing among the top-25 runners in his first outing in the senior men's 12k world championship race, last year's World junior bronze medalist Dathan Ritzenhein (36:31) ran as high as 20th mid-race before claiming 24th. However, despite the heroics of Abdirahman, Keflezighi, and Ritzenhein, the Team USA senior men's 12k squad was unable to repeat their medal- winning ways from last year when they surprised the world with a strong third-place finish at Ostend, Belgium. Clint Wells (38:08) finished 87th to round out the U.S. scorers, while Greg Jimmerson (38:22) placed 94th. 2000 U.S. Fall Cross Country champion Matt Downin was unable to finish when a bad blister developed on the back of his right heel.

Former Texas 5A cross country champion Rob Koborsi and prep standout Bill Nelson led the Team USA Junior men's squad to a 7th-place finish. Koborsi (25:14), a freshman at Georgetown University, and Nelson (25:18), 9th at last fall's Foot Locker High School Championship, worked together much of the race to finish 30th and 33rd respectively. Foot Locker runner up Bobby Lockhart (25:26) finished 39th and Foot Locker finalist Yong- Sung Leal (25:30) placed 41st to round out the U.S. team's scorers, with U.S. national champion Tim Moore (25:47) finishing 54th and Zach Sabatino (28:26) 81st.

All six squads forming the 2002 U.S. team finished in the top seven against the world's best, with four teams finishing among the top five. The senior women's 8K team won the silver medal while the junior women's team and both senior men's team claimed fifth place in their respective races. The senior women's 4K squad claimed sixth, while the junior men finished seventh.

Highlighting one of the most successful World Cross Country Championships ever by Team USA, the team took home $66,000 in team and individual prize money from a total purse of $560,000. This is three times the amount that Team USA took home from last year's event in Belgium.

Senior Men 12K
1. Kenenisa Bekele (ETH), 34:52
2. John Yuda (TAN), 34:58
3. Wilberforce Talel (KEN), 35:20
4. Richard Limo (KEN), 35:26
5. Charles Kamathi (KEN), 35:29

Team USA
11. Abdi Abdirahman - 36:03
14. Meb Keflezighi - 36:09
24. Dathan Ritzenhein - 36:31
87. Clint Wells - 38:08
94. Greg Jimmerson - 38:22
dnf: Matt Downin

Team Scoring
1. Kenya - 18 points
2. Ethiopia - 43
3. Morocco - 58
4. France - 71
5. United States - 107

Senior Women 4K
1. Edith Masai (KEN), 13:30
2. Werknesh Kidane (ETH), 13:36
3. Isabella Ochichi (KEN), 13:39
4. Benita Johnson (AUS), 13:42
5. Suzy Favor Hamilton (USA), 13:47

Team USA
5. Favor Hamilton - 13:47
11. Carrie Tollefson - 14:05
32. Sarah Tolan - 14:27
52. Janet Trujillo - 14:42
63. Mary Jayne Harrelson - 14:50
66. Sarah Hann - 14:52

Team Scoring
1. Ethiopia - 32 points
2. Kenya - 34
3. Ireland - 85
4. Russia - 86
5. Australia - 86
Team USA finished 6th with 90 points

Junior Men 8K
1. Gebre-egziab Gebremariam (ETH), 23:18
2. Abel Cheruiyot (KEN), 23:19
3. Boniface Kiprop (UGA), 23:28
4. Thomas Kiplitan (KEN), 23:33
5. Eliud Kipchoge (KEN), 23:29

Team USA
30. Rod Koborsi - 25:14
33. William Nelson - 25:18
39. Bobby Lockhart - 25:26
41. Yong-Sung Leal - 25:30
54. Tim Moore - 25:47
81. Zach Sabatino - 26:26

Team Scoring
1. Kenya - 18 points
2. Ethiopia - 24
3. Uganda - 37
4. Japan - 77
5. Morocco - 89
Team USA finished 7th with 113 points.