Teare's cross country win earns him USATF Athlete of the Week honors

INDIANAPOLIS — Winning the men's individual title at the USATF Cross Country Championships, Cooper Teare (Blacksburg, Virginia/USATF Virginia) earned recognition as the 2nd USATF Athlete of the Week award winner for 2024.

A 2022 World Athletics Championships qualifier in the 1500 for Team USATF, Teare took to the trails in Pole Green Park in Richmond, Virginia, and came away with a five-second win over steeplechaser Anthony Rotich. Teare covered the 10K course in 29:06.2 to earn his second national title, adding to the 1500 crown he won in 2022.

Teare was in a large pack through 2K, going past in eighth in 5:58.1, and then moved up to fifth at 4K, passing in 11:51.5, less than a second adrift of the leader. He stayed in contention as the field went by 6K, holding seventh in 17:46.8, and at 8K he was only a couple steps behind leader Morgan Pearson in 23:33. Teare took over the lead in the next kilometer and went by 9K in 26:23.9 before easing farther ahead and closing with a 2:42.3 last kilometer.
 
Other top performances from last week:

• Nick Christie was the men's winner at the USATF Marathon Race Walk Mixed Relay, covering his 22.195K portions of the race in 1:33:13, the fastest man by more than eight minutes. He and Miranda Melville captured the team title in 3:13:27.
• Nora Cary, 68, was the masters women's age grade winner at the USATF Cross Country Championships, scoring 91.3% with her 27:06.8 for 6K.
• Forest Braden, 40, was the overall winner of the men's masters 8K race at the USATF Cross Country Championships, clocking 25:34.4 to win by almost 17 seconds.
• Robyn Stevens was the fastest overall woman at the USATF Marathon Race Walk Mixed Relay, covering her 20K portion in 1:39:27, 48 seconds faster than her nearest challenger.
• Weini Kelati was the women's open champion at the USATF Cross Country Championships, covering the 10K course in 32:58.6 to win by 37 seconds.
• Kevin Sanchez won the men's U20 title at the USATF Cross Country Championships by 11 seconds in 24:07.1 for 8K.
• Zarriel Macchia outkicked Allie Zealand for the U20 women's crown at the USATF Cross Country Championships, winning by less than a second in 20:31 for 6K.

Now in its 23rd year, USATF’s Athlete of the Week program is designed to recognize outstanding performers at all levels of the sport. USATF names a new honoree each week when there are high-level competitions and features the athlete on USATF.org. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week.

2024 Winners: January 17, Weini Kelati; January 24, Cooper Teare.

We welcome your nominations!

To nominate an athlete for USATF Athlete of the Week, please send a detailed email about their performance to communications@usatf.org.

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