Edwin Kurgat wins in Auston (© Kevin Morris)
Olympic finalist Edwin Kurgat of Kenya and Emily Venters took the top honours at the Cross Champs – a World Athletics Cross Country Tour Gold meeting – in Austin, Texas, on Thursday (21).
Kurgat came from behind in the final few kilometres to overtake early leader Athanas Kioko and open up a comfortable winning margin of five seconds. Venters, meanwhile, dominated from the outset and crossed the line 24 seconds ahead of her nearest challenger.
Kioko went straight into the lead of the men’s 8km race, completing the first one-mile circuit in 4:42 while Kurgat and Bradley Makuvire followed six seconds later with a larger chase pack just a few strides behind.
Kioko’s lead grew slightly to seven seconds by the end of the second lap, but Kurgat – now running five seconds ahead of the chasers – still had the leader in his sights. The margin between the Kenyan duo shrunk to just four seconds by the end of the third lap, Kurgat having covered that circuit in 4:27 – the fastest split of the race up until that point.
A couple of minutes later, Kurgat passed a tiring Kioko and never looked back. He extended his lead in the closing stages and crossed the line in 22:51 with Kioko taking second place in 22:56. Mexican 1500m record-holder Eduard Herrera emerged from the chase pack to take third place in 23:14.
In the women’s race, Venters darted into the lead and had built up an eight-second margin at the end of the first lap. Her lead continued to grow with each passing lap, while further back Mercy Chelangat and Katie Izzo ran side by side for much of the race.
There was no catching Venters, who went on to win in 26:03. Chelangat, meanwhile, shook off the challenge from Izzo to take the runner-up spot in 26:27 with Izzo finishing third (26:32).
Leading results
Women
1 Emily Venters (USA) 26:03
2 Mercy Chelangat (KEN) 26:27
3 Katie Izzo (USA) 26:32
4 Amy Cashin (AUS) 26:41
5 Everlyn Kemboi (KEN) 26:47
Men
1 Edwin Kurgat (KEN) 22:51
2 Athanas Kioko (KEN) 22:56
3 Eduard Herrera (MEX) 23:14
4 Cruz Gomez (USA) 23:19
5 Damien Dilcher (USA) 23:20
