Emma Coburn to WORLD CROSS!

"Also announced were the four members of the mixed-relay team: Emma Coburn (New Balance), Heather MacLean (New Balance Boston), Jordan Mann (Ocean State AC), and Alec Basten (Under Armour Baltimore). Coburn, America's most decorated female steeplechaser who won the world title in 2017, will be competing at World Cross for the first time. The same for MacLean, a 2021 Olympian with a 3:58.76 1500m personal best; Mann, a 8:26.65 steeplechaser; and Basten, a 8:22.22 steeplechaser who finished second at the NCAA Championships in 2021."

Aw man, I was hoping that the US would be competitive against Australia in the mixed 4x2000m relay. While Emma and Heather are competitive against Jess Hull and Abbey Caldwell, Stewie and Olli will likely wipe the floor against Jordan Mann and Alec Basten.

Do they really carry batons for 2K?!

Glad to see Coburn and MacLean running world xc. Props to Mann and Basten for stepping up. I don't understand the hesitance on the elite US men's side to run a 2k world cross leg in Australia. Its also outdoor season is Aus. Why wouldn't a top 1500 or 5k guy run the 2k leg and then a few weeks later run one of the competitive outdoor races as well? That is what both Coburn and MacLean are doing.

Emma and Heather are Olympians and will likely make the US team outdoors for worlds, but aren't worried about a little jet lag in March effecting them in June. Sorry for the rant, but the lack of interesting racing the BTC and other US groups do is maddening as a fan of the sport.

The US men need to look at what someone like Jake Wightman did last winter. He raced XC, he raced over distance, he raced under distance and ended up world champion because he worked on his weaknesses in the winter rather than time trialing just twice a year.

Very cool. Any way on gods green earth I can tune into the mixed relay? Guessing ESPN wont be showing it. And If HM and EC can sign up why couldnt their male equivalents man up? I think we can all name 10 men that would fit the bill.

Some of you just like to complain for the sake of complaining. Id rather see Americans competing against each other at Millrose, instead of running a meaningless 4 x 2K relay that nobody is going to watch. Seriously, how is running this relay in a time zone 16 hours ahead better as an American fan of the sport than running at Millrose on primetime NBC.

Centro posted on his Instagram stories about the lack of criteria involved with the world cross relay team selection. Sounds like he was hoping to be involved, that would've been very cool to see

Will be interesting races with predicted temp of 95 degrees at race time.

She’ll actually be racing a 1500m there with MacLean as well!

worldathletics.org

Coburn and MacLean to challenge Australian stars in Melbourne 1500m | NEWS | World Athletics

Jessica Hull, Georgia Griffith and Abbey Caldwell will seek strong performances on home soil

Link:worldathletics.org/competitions/world-...

Meanwhile Africans are getting hard time being denied visas to Australia! Cross country should always be held in Africa!! Many top Europeans and Americans don’t even wanna go wtf!!

Pot, meet kettle 🙄

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This is why:

Mixed gender relays are just circus sideshows and of no real interest, so I can understand why none of the top American men would waste five days travelling to Australia for that. I'd much rather see them running the men's individual race, which is a world championship that is incredibly competitive, because it is much deeper than any other competition, with six person teams from Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Eritrea, and the rest, and also valuable for training for outdoor world's.

2K is 389 or so meters further than 1 mile. Have you ever run the 4 x 1 mile relay?

The selection criteria are clear. He just thinks he should be picked because he won gold 6 1/2 years ago. Given he hasn’t broken 4 in the mile since his ACL repair I don’t see why he thinks he deserves to bypass the selection and get a spot.

…because it’s 22 hours one way from the US to get to the venue.

I read that they carry a wristband (I am picturing one of those rubber wristbands like the old Livestrong bracelet) and hand it off in an exchange area.

Some of those teams, especially the African teams, are really stacked. Will be tough for USA to compete. 95 degree temps? Ugh!

Also, the course may be challenging. I can see why a track runner might not want to risk the hazards of this XC course. Both American men are steeplechasers, so they are used to barriers, but it's still not the same.