Cooper Teare & Weini Kelati Win 2024 USATF Cross Country Titles

Weini Kelati and Cooper Teare earned convincing victories at the 2024 USATF Cross Country Championships, held on Saturday at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, Va. Running just six days after setting an American record in the half marathon in Houston, Kelati took off just after 4k and destroyed the field, running 32:58.6 for the 10k course to win by 37.3 seconds — the largest margin of victory since Aliphine Tuliamuk‘s 48.2 in 2017.

Teare took a different approach, staying patient as former University of Colorado runner turned Olympic triathlete Morgan Pearson pushed the pace during the second half of the race. Teare was the only one to go with Pearson’s move at 8k and made a strong move of his own at 9k that allowed him to cruise to victory in 29:06.5. 2020 champion Anthony Rotich of the US Army was 2nd in 29:11.6 as Pearson hung on for 4th. Teare’s training partner Cole Hocker was 12th in 29:52.3.

The top six finishers in each raced earned the right to represent Team USA at the World Cross Country Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, on March 30. Kelati’s coach/agent Stephen Haas told LetsRun last week that Kelati plans to run there while Teare’s agent Isaya Okwiya said Teare’s plans are still TBD.

High school junior Zariel Macchia of Shirley, N.Y., won the women’s U20 race in 20:31.0 for the 6k course; Macchia previously won the title as a freshman in 2022. Notre Dame freshman Kevin Sanchez won the men’s U20 title in 24:07.1 for the 8k course.

Below, six thoughts on Saturday’s races.

*Full results

Men’s senior top 10

Women’s senior top 10

1) Cooper Teare shows his range with impressive victory

Kevin Morris photo

Teare was the 2021 NCAA 5,000m champion at the University of Oregon and has shown that his range extends both up and down the distance spectrum. Teare is the NCAA mile record holder at 3:50.39 and was the 2022 US champion at 1500 and now he is the US cross country champion. That sort of range has become increasingly common on the international level but in the US, it’s rare for a 1500 guy to run USA XC, let alone win it. Teare is the first man to win US titles at both 1500 meters and cross country since John Mason in 1968, and even that comes with a caveat as the US championships were separate from the Olympic Trials back then. Before Mason, the last guy to win both was Abel Kiviat (cross country in 1913, US mile title in 1914). You all remember him.

On the women’s side, Shelby Houlihan, since banned for a doping violation, won USA XC and the US 1500 title back in 2019.

Teare’s coach Ben Thomas told Carrie Tollefson, who was calling the race for USATF.TV, that the aim of this race was just to see where his fitness was at against a top field. Clearly, it’s very good. In his first race since leaving the Bowerman Track Club after the 2023 season, Teare, wearing a bright pink undershirt beneath his Nike singlet, ran with the lead pack until Morgan Pearson began to string things out just before entering the final 2k loop. As opposed to Pearson, who was giving it all he could to drop the field, Teare looked relaxed and in control, and at 9k he eased past Pearson into the lead before dropping the hammer to win comfortably. It was a smart run and an impressive display of fitness.

Teare may also have slayed some demons from his last cross country race in 2021, when he crawled across the finish line in the final meters. Now he’s gone from 247th at NCAA XC to a national champion.

Teare’s plans for the rest of the winter are up in the air. He will run in a stacked 2-mile at Millrose on February 11 against the likes of Grant Fisher and Josh Kerr before competing at USA Indoors a week later. World Indoors could be an option if he makes the team — as could World XC, if he wants it. No matter what he chooses, Saturday’s run was a great way for Teare to kick off the Olympic year.

2) Weini Kelati demolishes the competition

Kevin Morris photo

On paper, Kelati, who runs for Under Armour’s Dark Sky Distance team in Flagstaff, was the class of this field. The only question was whether she would be recovered from racing hard at last weekend’s Houston Half Marathon, where she set the American record of 66:25. The answer was a definitive “yes” as Kelati, after running with the leaders for the first 4k, dropped a 3:05 5th kilometer to break open the field. From there, her lead would only grow to the finish line as she won by a massive 37.3 seconds over runner-up Emma Hurley.

Kelati was not at her best heading into last year’s World XC in Australia as she had missed some time in the buildup due to injury. She still managed to finish a respectable 21st overall. Her aims will be much higher for this year’s edition in Belgrade.

Kelati also made some history with her win today. She’s the first woman to win Foot Locker, NCAA, and USA cross country titles.

3) Morgan Pearson takes it to the running specialists

Pearson is best-known for his triathlon exploits, as he was an Olympic silver medalist in the relay in 2021 and has already qualified for the US triathlon team for Paris later this year. But he has some impressive running credentials too, finishing 17th at NCAA XC in 2013 as part of Colorado’s national title team, winning 2019 USATF Club Cross, and running a 61:47 half marathon in 2021. Still, Pearson hadn’t done many running races since then — though he did run a 4:07 mile/8:13 3000m double at altitude in Boulder last weekend.

The 30-year-old showed no fear on Saturday, dramatically throwing his gloves off at 6k as he took the lead. By keeping his foot pressed to the gas pedal, Pearson broke most of the field but he would fade a little late as Teare, Rotich, and HOKA NAZ Elite’s Ahmed Muhumed passed him before the finish line. Pearson truly earned his spot on Team USA today and it would be fun to see him in Serbia.

4) Allie Ostrander is back!

Ostrander has had a number of highs and lows over her last decade in the sport. Ostrander was a three-time NCAA steeplechase champion at Boise State and made the US Worlds team in 2019 but in 2021 revealed she had admitted herself to an eating disorder recovery program. Ostrander has been open with her struggles since then, developing a popular YouTube channel, but has raced sparingly and did not compete at USAs on the track in 2022 or 2023. Last year, she served a four-month suspension from USADA after testing positive for the banned substance canrenone, which Ostrander said stemmed from an acne medication for which she failed to obtain a Therapeutic Use Exemption.

Finishing 4th today, then, represents a breakthrough for Ostrander, who now gets the chance to represent her country again should she choose. Cross country has always been a strong spot for Ostrander — she was an NXN champion in high school and was 2nd at NCAA XC in 2015 as a true freshman — and she showed her strength again on Saturday.

5) Here are your prospective Team USA squads for World XC

Kevin Morris photo

Men: Cooper Teare, Anthony Rotich, Ahmed Muhumed, Morgan Pearson, Emmanuel Bor, Christian Allen

Rotich and Bor were both on the team last year while Teare and Muhumed (who ran the World Road Running Champs last year) have both represented Team USA before at a global championship. Pearson has as well, but only in the triathlon. It’s the first team for Allen, a 25-year-old who did not run cross country for BYU last fall but is still on the track team for 2023-24.

Women: Weini Kelati, Emma Hurley, Katie Camarena, Allie Ostrander, Cailie Logue, Abby Nichols

Kelati is the only woman who was on the World XC team last year and Ostrander is the only other woman to have represented the US at a global championship.

If anyone from the top six declines their space, USATF will select replacements based on the order of finish of today’s race.

6) The U20 women’s team should be strong again but there were a few key DNSs

Zariel Macchia, who was 10th at Foot Lockers last month, prevailed in a sprint finish over Foot Locker runner-up Allie Zealand of Virginia to win the U20 women’s race and both will be on the team for World XC, as will Foot Locker 14th-placer Ellie Shea. Both Machia (19th) and Shea (10th) were part of the scoring lineup at World XC last year when the US earned its first U20 women’s team medal ever.

However, Karrie Baloga, who was 13th at World XC last year, was entered at USA XC but did not run; neither did NC State freshman star Leah Stephens, who was 43rd at NCAA XC. Another medal at Worlds in 2024 just got more difficult.

Discuss this meet on the LetsRun messageboard:

MB: 2024 USATF Cross Country Champs – Hocker, Teare, Kelati and more!!
MB: Allie O finished 4th at US XC