US cross country gets boost

Distance running in the US got a huge boost when high school senior Dathan Ritzenhein finished third at the Junior World Cross County Championships in Ostend, Belgium to lead the US team to fourth place overall. Matt Tegenkamp a freshman at Wisconsin was fifth.

The last time a US runner medalled at the World Cross Country Championship was 1981 when Craig Virgin won the title and Keith Brantley was the third Junior. The Men’s Senior team, lead by Bob Kennedy, finished third in the long race. In the short race Brad Hauser led the men’s team to a fourth place finish. The women’s teams did not finish eighth (long race), eleventh (juniors) and tenth (short).

Full details at http://www.iaaf.org/WXC01/index.asp.