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Americans Battle Heat, Show Grit At World Cross Country Championships
- Cory Mull
- 13m
- 6 min read
The men’s under-20 squad was the only podium finisher on the day, while Parker Wolfe and Ednah Kurgat were the top men's and women's finishers on Saturday.
Written by Cory Mull
TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Parker Wolfe kept it simple describing his effort on Saturday at the World Cross Country Championships.
“I was just gonna hang tough, man," he said.
With temperatures rising steadily heading into the final race of the day just after noon local time, navigating the distance, the obstacles and the heat became a three-pronged approach for athletes at Apalachee Regional Park.
And with that said, the American men walked away with an admirable result, finishing fourth overall behind winners Ethiopia (30), Kenya (34) and Uganda (39).
The U.S. men, racing on home soil in a world championship for the first time since 1992, were seventh in Belgrade, Serbia and sixth in Bathurst, Australia — the last two world competitions held in 2024 and 2023, respectively.
The American's result on Saturday, then, was among their best in quite some time. Just over 7,500 fans showed up to watch, with many sporting costumes and waving flags bearing the distinction of their nations. According to Visit Tallahassee, around $5 million in economic impact is expected to drive from the event itself.
Nearing 80 degrees and almost 100-degree humidity, the 22-year-old Wolfe and the 26-year-old Wesley Kiptoo spurred the U.S.contingent, claiming 12th- and 14th-place performances, while Graham Blanks was 19th and Nico Young was 39th. Ahmed Muhumed was 46th.
“I thought I could be top 20, top 15 maybe on a good day,” Wolfe said. “I was so close to top 10, I was so close to that top 10. I heard people saying it. I just had nothing left. Proud of the effort, for sure.”
Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, the winner of the last two world cross country championship races in 2023 and 2024, earned his trifecta on Saturday with a final time of 28 minutes and 18 seconds (solidifying his place as an all-timer in the format). Meanwhile, Berihu Aregawi led the Ethiopian men in the team results, claiming a second-place nod just 18 seconds later. Frenchmen Yann Schrub was the first European across the line in 11th.
What preceded the American finishes, however, was some unfortunate news. The U.S. was dealt a blow less than 24 hours before race time when Wake Forest athlete Rocky Hansen, who finished second at the U.S. Championships in December, opted against competing after picking up an undisclosed ailment. The decision prevented the U.S. from bringing in a replacement and meant that the team raced with just five men on the line.
As for the conditions, Wolfe relayed that the race, which saw athletes traverse mud, water, sand, hurdles and a 14-foot ramp, became increasingly difficult with each passing lap on the 2,000-meter course. “It got really hard. It was hot. It was one of the hardest efforts I’ve ever had,” he said.
Wolfe arrived in the northwestern Florida city from Flagstaff, Arizona, where he said the temperatures were “30 degrees.” Save for a couple days in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he trained for a short stint, he said the day harkened back to his NCAA Championship in 2023 in Charlottesville, Virginia, when temperatures also played a difference.
Elsewhere, the championship spurred reflection from Blanks, a former NCAA champion and Olympian. He left feeling a bit bittersweet about his outcome. “I feel like I’m at a point in my career where I’m at the bottom of the food chain,” he said.
“I’m having a hard time dealing with that because I go into every race with the intention to win. When you have that mentality and you’re not on that level to do so — my mentality is not matching reality right now. I guess it’s a good problem to have.”
A Return To Tallahassee, And Good Vibes
On the early morning bus ride to Apalachee Regional Park, Linden Hall was deep in her feelings. Deep in nostalgia. Deep in past memories. She opened her iPhone and searched for a newly-created race day mix, then hit play.
Out came Katy Perry’s “Roar” and Ke$ha’s “Tik Tok” – songs released over a decade earlier in 2013 and 2009.
The familiarity didn’t go unnoticed, because for Hall, a three-time Olympian who raced at Florida State from 2011-2014, it reminded her quite fondly of a college career that provided her so much success. “I felt like I had a thousand dress rehearsals,” she said of the ARP course. “Even though it was 10 years ago, it came right back. It was nice.”
Those positive vibrations remained in the mixed relay, where Hall combined with Oli Hoare, Jack Anstey and Jessica Hull to secure Australia the victory in 22:23, giving the Aussies a three-second cushion over France.
Two years earlier, Australia didn’t even field a team.
Turns out, there’s a story behind that, too. Hall spent months advocating the Australian athletics federation to send a team to Tallahassee. “Every time I would see the right person, I would say, ‘Tallahassee, Tallahassee. We’ve got to send a team. I gotta go. I have to be there.’ Maybe they listened. Or maybe it’s the fact that we have such great depth – men’s and women’s, 1,500m, 5k, 800m as well. Having the numbers, it was stupid not to send a team. We rallied off each other.”
Elsewhere, the U.S. foursome of Ethan Strand, Sage Hurta-Klecker, Wes Porter and Gracie Morris were fifth.
The U.S. women, meanwhile, scored two top 20 finishes on their way to a fourth-place finish, led by Ednah Kurgat, who finished 10th overall. “I just wanted to run my own race, start off conservative and try to catch up in the end,” she said.
Kurgat’s strategy worked perfectly. After navigating her first lap in 19th, she steadily picked off runners, moving up to 12th by the 6k mark and finishing inside the top 10.
Karissa Schweizer was 17th and Katie Izzo was 24th while NC State’s Grace Hartman rounded out the scoring in 32nd. Weini Kelati, a top 10 finisher in Serbia in 2024, struggled over the final 2,000 meters and finished 40th.
Like Kurgat, Schweizer’s experience paid off. Seven years earlier, in her last trip to world cross country, she was 56th in Aarhus, Denmark. On Saturday, she knew to be patient.
“Everyone just went for it and you’re just like, ‘OK,’” she said. “You kind of find yourself in no man’s for a little bit. I knew myself and I couldn’t go right out of the back. They’ll come back to me. I fought for every spot.”
The U.S. Under-20 Squad Bags Podium At The World Cross Country Championships
One of the worst possible situations befell Tyler Daillak on lap two of the men’s under-20 race. His shoe, already untied from the previous water pit, now was fully off after traversing through the mud. “I was like, ‘uh oh,’” he said.
But Daillak, a Cal Poly freshman who ran unattached in 2025, didn’t panic. He kept racing. Kept his head in the zone.
“My coach told me what to do,” said Daillak, who qualified for Foot Locker XC National Championships as a high school senior for San Luis Obispo Paso Robles in 2024. “(He said), ‘Expect a good result, but plan – mentally be prepared and envision the race before going bad. You want to stay calm.’”
Daillak was 31st after the first kilometer, then worked his way up to 20th by the end of the first lap. He didn’t lose ground at any point afterward – despite, you know, having only one shoe on for the remaining 4,000 meters – and finished 16th overall, the top American finisher.
His performance highlighted a U.S. foursome that finished 34 seconds apart and produced the only podium finish of the day. Two-time national champion Jackson Spencer was 18th in 25:00 while Daniel Skandera was 19th (25:02) and Aidan Torres was 22nd (25:20).
In the women’s under-20 6,000-meter race, Nike Cross Nationals runner-up Blair Bartlett – a first-year runner from The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey – was the top finisher, crossing the line in 20:36. “My strategy was just to get out there and race,” she said.
