Feb. 10, 2007
BOULDER, Colo. - The 2007 USA Cross Country Championships were held in Boulder, Colo., Saturday morning with three current and two former members of the Arizona State University cross country program competing in the national event. Two of those runners, Kari Hardt and Fasil Bizuneh, each placed high enough to earn a place on the U.S. team that will compete at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships on March 24 in Mombasa, Kenya.
Current Sun Devil Hardt placed third in the junior women's 6k race in 22:04 to earn a berth on the world team, making her the second woman in program history to do so along with Amy Hastings, who was the top American finisher on the 2004 squad. In the men's junior 8K race, Mikias Gelagle placed 23rd overall in 27:22 while teammate Patrick Milloy did not finish the race.
In the open division, Fasil Bizuneh clocked a time of 38:24 in the 12K event to place seventh overall and earn a berth on the men's world team, making him the first Sun Devil male to do so in program history. In the women's open 8K race, Mary Duerbeck clocked a 29:20 to finish 13th overall.