At 3,600 feet elevation in the snow of Bend, Oregon, the USATF Cross Country Championships are set to host a battle over one of the toughest cross country courses in the country. By Saturday, runners will face off for the six coveted spots on Team USA headed to the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Uganda in March. 

Men's Race 

The men's race will be a showdown between returning Olympians and proven cross country talents, highlighted by a projected showdown between recent Great Edinburgh champion Leonard Korir and returning U.S. cross country champion Chris Derrick. 

Korir made his first U.S. Olympic team last summer by finishing third in the 10K at the Olympic Trials. He went on to place 14th in Rio and has since carried the momentum by capturing two nail-biter victories this year. The first victory took place with a lethal kick at the Great Edinburgh cross country race, where Korir beat Great Britain's Callum Hawkins and notable opponents Mo Farah and defending champion Garrett Heath. 

Just one week later, Korir displayed his kick once again at the Houston Half Marathon by running down Olympic silver medalist Feyisa Lilesa to establish a world lead. As seen from his proven strength at the end of a race, few competitors could stand a chance if Korir is behind them. 

What a finish to the men's half marathon! @houstonmarathon pic.twitter.com/Uzi1AgDVzV

— ABC13 Houston (@abc13houston) January 15, 2017

After three national titles and two world cross country championship appearances, Derrick has established himself as this generation's face of U.S. cross country. Derrick won his first senior U.S. cross country title in 2013 and went on to place 10th for Team USA at the championship in Poland. In 2014, Derrick repeated as national champion at the meet in Boulder, Colorado. In 2015, Derrick took home the national title once again and went on to place 24th at the world championships in China. 

Although Derrick has struggled with injuries, he showed great fitness in November when he notched a season's best of 27:38 in the 10K. The performance is just seven seconds shy of Derrick's personal best and marks his fastest 10K performance since 2012. With a cross country hat trick and consistent fitness under his belt, Derrick can always be counted on as a threat for the title. 

Along with a national title battle between Korir and Derrick, the men's race has a number of contenders capable of battling for a top six finish, notably Olympians Shadrack Kipchirchir and Hillary Bor, Sam Chelanga, Stanley Kebenei, and NAZ Elite's Scott Fauble and Martin Hehir. 

Chelanga, Kebenei, Bor, and Hehir are returning from a tough battle at Great Edinburgh where Korir claimed the overall title and all four team members finished within the top 13--Chelanga finished fourth, Kebenei closed for fifth, Bor finished 10th and Hehir finished 13th. 

Kipchirchir is returning from a breakthrough season that included making the Olympic team in the 10K and finishing 19th in Rio. And Fauble enters the race after a year that included personal bests in nearly every distance as well as top seven finishes at two cross country championships--Great Edinburgh (third) and USATF Club Cross Country Championships (seventh). 

Women's Race

The women's race will be highlighted by the return of cross country great Laura Thweatt. The Boulder Track Club standout made headlines in 2015 when she claimed the U.S. cross country title and went on to place 29th at the championships in China. Later that year, Thweatt showed her versatility and strength by making her marathon debut in New York City. She finished seventh overall as the top American woman in a blazing time of 2:28:23. After her performance in New York, Thweatt returned to the cross country course by finishing second to Amy Van Alstine at the USATF Club Cross Country Championships in December 2015. 

Last year, Thweatt finished a narrow fifth in the 10K at the U.S. Olympic Trials after setting a personal best of 31:52 in the distance at the Stanford Invitational. 

Thweatt will have company in the lead pack with Bowerman Track Club's Courtney Frerichs, Olympic Trials finalist Aliphine Tuliamuk Bolton, and NAZ Elite's talented duo of Amy Van Alstine and Kellyn Taylor. 

Frerichs' 2015-16 season was a breakthrough in nearly every event she competed in. While running for New Mexico, Frerichs finished fourth overall to help her team earn the NCAA cross country team title. In her final collegiate track season, Frerichs won the NCAA outdoor championship and set the collegiate record in the steeplechase. She went on to place third at the U.S. Olympic Trials and earn a spot on the Olympic team, finishing 11th in Rio. 



Bolton dominated the roads in 2016, notably with three victories in the USATF road running circuit. She is returning from a seventh-place finish at the Houston Half Marathon. 

Van Alstine is returning from a 19th-place finish at the Great Edinburgh race and established an eighth-place finish at the club cross country championships in December. She has proven to be a threat to Thweatt in the past, as seen from her kick to victory at the 2015 club championships. Her teammate Taylor recently finished 13th at the Houston Half Marathon and established herself as a competitive force at the national championship level with a sixth-place finish in the marathon Trials and a fourth-place finish in the 10K at the outdoor track Trials.

There's your winner. #clubxcnats @usatf pic.twitter.com/O218fNYgP4

— Louis Cinquino (@LouisCinquino) December 12, 2015

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