INDIANAPOLIS - Team USA will toe the line Sunday at the 26th World Mountain Running Championships in Kamnik, Slovenia, where a record number of countries are expected to participate, with approximately 360 athletes representing 41 countries competing for the World title.
Expected to be strong this year are the traditional uphill scoring teams - Italy, Uganda, Eritrea and Turkey for the men; Austria, Czech Republic, and Russia for the women. USA is considered one of the favorites to medal in both the senior women and junior women categories, but don't count out the senior men and junior men who also have their sights set on the podium.
Team USA arrived in Kamnick on Thursday and previewed the course on Friday. There will be three course distances. The junior women will run approximately 4 kilometers, the junior men and senior women will run approximately 8 kilometers, and the senior men will run approximately 12 kilometers. The courses are uphill-only as opposed to odd-numbered years when the courses are up/down in nature. The terrain will include tarmac (for the senior men's course), gravel road, single-track trail, open meadows and lots of climbing.
Representing Team USA will be Eric Blake, 31, New Haven, Conn., Joe Gray, 26, Lakewood, Wash., Rickey Gates, 29, Aspen, Colo., Max King, 28, Bend, Ore., Tommy Manning, 34, Colorado Springs, Colo., and Chris Lundstrom, 34, Minneapolis, Minn., will compete for the senior men; Kristin Price, 28, Raleigh, N.C., Brandy Erholtz, 33, Bailey, Colo., Nicole Hunt, 40, Deer Lodge, Mont., and Megan Lund, 26, Basalt, Colo., will compete for the senior women. The junior men's team includes Chase Caulkins, 18, Ketchum, Idaho, Paul Petersen, 18, Broomfield, Colo., Cody Wells, 18, Snowflake, Ariz., and Chris York, 19, White Post, Va.. The junior women's team includes Laura Beresford, 18, Dana Point, Calif., Hannah Jumper, 17, Chattanooga, Tenn., and Hannah Valenzuela, 17, Apple Valley, Calif.
To follow the team on Twitter, visit Twitter.com.
About USA Track & Field
USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track and field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, some of the most-watched events of Olympic broadcasts, the #1 high school and junior high school participatory sport and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States.
For more information on USATF, visit USATF.org.
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