Pro Results: Haileselassie of McKirdy Trained 2nd, NAZ Elite’s Chelangat 3rd in Twin Cities 10 Mile; Tewelde of McKirdy 2nd in Marathon; Bruce Wins San Jose Half

It was a busy Sunday morning for pro road racers, especially if you represented two Flagstaff-based teams — McKirdy Trained and Hoka NAZ Elite.

First, in Minneapolis, at the Twin Cities 10 Mile, McKirdy runner Yemane Haileselassie battled it out with Olympian Conner Mantz and wound up finishing second in 45:22, nine seconds back of Mantz.

Haileselassie, a former Eritrean Olympic steeplechaser turned road runner based in Flagstaff, posted his highest result since finishing second at the BolderBoulder 10K in May. He and Mantz broke away from the pack fairly early on and it became a two-man race.

His McKirdy Trained teammate Tsegay Weldlibanos finished fourth behind Olympian Clayton Youngin 46:15.

NAZ Elite’s highest men’s finisher was Matt Baxter in 10th in 47:16. Teammate Tyler Day, participating in his first real race since 2021 due to injury, csame in at 47:43.

In the women’s race, NAZ Elite’s Mercy Chelangat hovererd in the top three throughout and finished in third in 53:07, in a race won by Natosha Rogers in 52:29. McKirdy Trained’s Julia Paternain was fifth in 52:26 and NAZ Elite’s Paige Wood seventh in 53:58.

Later, in the Twin Cities Marathon, McKirdy Trained’s Tesfu Tewelde, 27 and an Eritrean, had a huge day, finishing second to Shadrack Kimining in 2:10:21, a 10-minute personal best. Last March, at the Los Angeles Marathon, Tewelde ran 2:20:18 to place fifth, so Sunday was a big jump.

Even later in the morning, at the Rock n Roll San Jose Half Marathon, NAZ Elite’s Stephanie Bruce won the half marathon in 1:12:45.