Roots Running Project and Boulder RR Win Titles at National Club Championships in Washington

Colorado Results Scoreboard 

On Saturday (14-Dec) 40 athletes and six (6) teams from Colorado competed in the USATF National Club Cross Country Championships at Chambers Creek Regional Park in University Place, Washington. A total of 1416 athletes and 205 teams competed in the five championship races (Open Men 10 km, Open Women 10 km, Masters Women 6 km, Masters Men 40+ 10 km; Masters Men 60+ 8 km). 

It was a gray day, with winds gusting in off the Puget Sound up to 40 miles per hour. Temperatures were in the upper 40s with rain holding off until afternoon.
 
The Colorado highlights were:

OPEN MEN 
In the open men's race 411 athletes and 51 teams toed the line. When the dust had settled it was Colorado-based Roots Running Project that won the team title as they scored an impressive 66 points to defeat the Minnesota Distance Elite (98 points) and Hanson Brooks Distance Project (124 points). Leading the Roots squad with top-ten finishes were Aidan Reed (2nd, 31:38), Austen Dalquist (5th, 32:00), and Ares Reading (6th, 32:02). Not far behind and rounding out the scoring for the team were Elias Lindgren (23rd, 32:35), and Ben Garner (41st, 33:02).

The Fort Collins Running Club finished 31st with 871 points. Taylor Stack finished 103rd to lead the team effort.

OPEN WOMEN

Running in her first cross country race in six years, Emma Bates (Aspics) finished fifth overall running 20:38 over the 6 km course. In the team competition the Front Range Elite squad, who won the 2024 USATF Colorado Grand Prix, finished 15th in a field of 35 teams. The team scorers were Rachael Rudel (27th, 21:40), Sophie Seward (57th, 22:24), Ann Kirkpatrick (101st, 23:11), Taylor Bacon (117th, 23:24), and Courtney Bouchet (175th, 24:26).
 

MASTERS

For the second straight year, the Boulder Road Runners men's 70+ squad won the team title. Competing against 12 other teams they scored 23 points to beat Club Northwest by 6 points. The team's scoring athletes were Jack Pottle (5th; 70-74), Gary Ostwald (1st, 75-79), and Douglas Chesnut (12th, 70-74). 

In the men's 60+ team scoring Daniel King won the individual 65-69 title to lead the Athletics Boulder team to an eighth place finish. The team scored 86 points with Jay Littlepage (8th, 65-69) and Rick Bruess (18th, 65-69) rounding out the scoring.

The Boulder Road Runners 50+ team, led by Frank Zoldak's 2nd place finish in the 50-54 division, finished fifth with 135 points. The other team scorers were Michael Mallon (6th, 55-59), and Todd Stockford (17th, 50-54).

In the  men's 40-44 division Neil McDonagh (Square State Striders) finished second running 33:45 on the 10 km course. 

The Colorado Results Scoreboard and link to the full championship results can be found here.

The 2025 championships will be held in Tallahassee, Fl on January 11, 2026. The championships will be held the day after the World Cross Country Championships.