There's no clear favorite in this one, which could lead to an exciting race on Saturday. Olympian Courtney Frerichs, 2015 champ Laura Thweatt, Aliphine Tuliamuk, Sarah Pagano and Kellyn Taylor are the biggest names entered.

Derrick battled a series of injuries during the last Olympic cycle, but he ran 27:38 on the track in November and has been logging 100+ "Jerry" miles in Flagstaff this winter. Healthy once again, he's hoping to regain his title at Saturday's USA XC Champs, a race he won three times from 2013 to 2015. The bad news is Jerry may not let him run World XC.