San Diego USATF Long Distance Running Events


Successful USA XC Championships at Mission Bay

San Diego, February 5, 2011 -- Shalane Flanagan and Aisling Cuffe continued to make themselves right at home in San Diego at the 2011 USA Cross Country Championships.
Flanagan won her second USA Cross Country Championship in two tries on San Diego's grassy Mission Bay Park course when she again dominated America's best distance runners to take the 2011 Women's title in 25 minutes, 47 seconds.  The time of the U.S. 10,000-meter record holder from Portland was slightly slower than her winning 8K effort of 25:26 here in 2008, but the result was the same -- a dominating victory, this time by 44 seconds over second-place Molly Huddle.

Meanwhile, Cuffe, a high school senior from Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York, also found her way back to San Diego after running off with the Foot Locker Cross Country Championship in Balboa Park in December.  Just as she did in December, Cuffe opened up a substantial gap on the talented field early, and was never challenged.  She came home in 21:13, some 26 seconds ahead of surprising runner-up Molly Grabill of Poway.

The two victories highlighted a beautiful day of racing that attracted hundreds of runners and thousands of spectators to the 2-kilometer course at Mission Bay

Joining Flanagan as the Open Men's champion for 2011 was Brent Vaughn of Black Hawk, Colo.  His victory was not nearly as decisive as Flanagan's, but every bit as heart-felt.

Racing 12K, the men stayed in a large pack until the midway point.  Then, Vaughn went to the front.  The 26-year-old opened a lead and held it, celebrating in the closing yards what was to be a six-second victory in 35:46.

To read the complete race day story, click here. For complete results of all 6 races, go to usatf.org.


Meet Photos:   Race Director, Thom Hunt, has put together a fantastic photo spread of Bobby Bettancourt photos all six of the USA Cross Country Championships and the Community Race.  Click the link, USA Cross Country Meet Photos, to view.

Meet Program Available On-line:   The official USA Cross Country Championships Program is now available for download.

Did you know?  History of National XC in San Diego:   The National Cross Country Championships have been held in San Diego twice before this year.  In 1971 the San Diego Track Club hosted the National AAU Cross Country Championships.  It was big news in those days.  Read the Sports Illustrated Article on the race.  Or better yet, check out the San Diego Track Club Newsletter for the complete results and lots of other interesting items of the day (be patient - it's a big file) or see 1971 XC Championships Race Results.  The 2008 USA Cross Country Championships was hosted by the San Diego USATF; see the results of these championship races here.

Road Runner Sports Community Race:   Complete results here.

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