World Cross Country Preview: Flag’s Kelati, Muhumed, Nichols and Knevelbaard to Compete

Word is that the temperature on Saturday at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, is expected to be a sizzling 80-degrees.

There are four Flagstaff-based runners representing Team USA in the races, and all have done their training prep in our fair winter wonderland. In other words, it’s doubtful that UA Dark Sky Distance’s Weini Kelati and Kasey Knevelbaard, and Hoka NAZ Elite’s Ahmed Muhumed and Abby Nichols are exactly heat-trained for such conditions.

They might melt in that environment.

Then again, they might welcome warmth.

Kelati and Nichols will be competing in the women’s 10K race, Muhumed in the men’s 10K, and Knevelbaard in the mixed relay.

Of the four, Kelati appears to be the best position for the highest finish, not only among the Flagstaff contingent but all Americans. Though a podium spot seems unlikely for Kelati, she is capable of cracking the East African strangehold on the top 10 in the women’s race. No American woman has achieved top-10 status since Shalane Flanagan finished third in 2011 — when Kelati was 13 and still living in Eritrea.

The women’s race goes off first at 4:45 a.m. (Pacific time) and will be carried live on CNBC.

Kelati told Flagstaff Running News that she has not trained specifically for World Cross the past couple of months. Her focus had been on achieving the Olympic standard in the 10,000 meters, which she did on March 16 at The Ten in California. Kelati finished 21st last year at World Cross in Australia, but that was an unusually poor race for her. She miscounted laps and fell at one point.

But her current fitness level has never been higher, as shown in her strong performance at The Ten, as well as her dominant victory in the U.S. Cross Country Championships in Virgina in January, coming six days after setting the U.S. Half Marathon record (1:06:25) in Houston.

Nichols said she hopes for a strong showing, perhaps a top 25 finish. The U.S. women’s team is stronger but, frankly, not on the level of the Kenyan and Ugandan teams.

Same holds for the men. Muhumed finished a strong third in the U.S. Cross Country Championships, two spots behind Anthony Rotich, but both face a field including Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo, the defending champion, plus runner-up Berihu Aregawi and world half marathon champion Sabastian Sawe of Kenya.

The U.S. also has a daunting task in the mixed relay. Kenya, Ethiopia and Morocco are too deep, but the American team of Knevelbaard, Ella Donaghu, Katie Izzo and John Reniewicki will make a challenge.

The complete U.S. teams:

Senior women: Katie Camarena, Emma Grace Hurley, Weini Kelati, Cailie Logue, Abby Nichols, Allie Ostrander
Senior men: Christian Allen, Emmanuel Bor, Reid Buchanan, Anthony Camerieri, Ahmed Muhumed, Anthony Rotich

U20 women: Mary Bonner Dalton, Maddie Gardiner, Zariel Macchia, Jolena Quarzo, Ellie Shea, Allie Zealand
U20 men: Noah Breker, Birhanu Harriman, Aidan Jones, Kole Mathison, Berkley Nance, Kevin Sanchez

Mixed relay: Ella Donaghu, Katie Izzo, Kasey Knevelbaard, John Reniewicki

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