By Chris Chavez
November 30, 2023
NAZ Elite’s Adriaan Wildschutt and Katie Wasserman claimed individual titles in the men’s and women’s 8K at the 2023 Cross Champs in Austin, Texas on Thursday morning.
Here’s what you need to know:
– Despite running off the course in the closing stages of the race, Wasserman was able to get back on track to cross the finish line in 26:49.40 – just two seconds ahead of Katie Izzo for the women’s individual title.
Kevin Morris / @KevMoFoto
– NAZ Elite went 1-3-4-9 with Wasserman, Mercy Chelangat (3rd in 26:54.50), Abby Nichols (4th in 27:08.50) and Krissy Gear (9th in 27:48.20) to win with a 14-point total over Idaho Afoot, who finished second with 34 points.
– Wildschutt pulled away from a slew of former NCAA champions to win in 22:07.40 as he took down ‘22 Cross Champs winner and 2019 NCAA cross country champion Edwin Kurgat (2nd in 22:11.40).
Kevin Morris / KevMoFoto
– NAZ Elite went 1-3-5-6 with Wildschutt, Wesley Kiptoo (3rd in 22:14:20), Ahmed Muhumed (22:26.50) and Olin Hacker (22.58.10) for a 10-point total to win over Under Armour Mission Run Baltimore, which finished with 29 points.
– Athletes were able to score some points toward their cross country world ranking but need to run three World Athletics Cross Country Tour events to have it count toward qualifying for the Paris Olympics. The 2024 Olympic standard on the track for 10,000m is 27:00 for the men and 30:40 for the women.
Chris Chavez
Chris Chavez launched CITIUS MAG in 2016 as a passion project while working full-time for Sports Illustrated. He covered the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and grew his humble blog into a multi-pronged media company. He completed all six World Marathon Majors and is an aspiring sub-five-minute miler.
