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CITIUS MAG
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Making it easier (& way more fun) to be a track and field fan. Stories and commentary about your favorite sport. https://citiusmag.com/
Shooting their shot ☄️

Team USA takes a crack at the podium in the men’s senior race at 2026 World XC & comes up just short, finishing 4th with 81 points.

U.S. XC champ Parker Wolfe led the team with a 12th place 29:28 finish, as Wesley Kiptoo, Graham Blanks, & Nico Young rounded out the scorers.
January 10, 2026 at 6:38 PM
It’s a sweep!! 🧹🧹

Ethiopia wins both the men’s and women’s team titles in the senior races at 2026 World XC. The men scored 30 points with three runners in the top six, led by silver medalist Berihu Aregawi, to claim their first title since 2017.
January 10, 2026 at 6:37 PM
Completing the trifecta 🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️

Daniel Ebenyo finishes third at the 2026 World XC championships to claim his third global medal, following a World silver over 10,000m on the track in 2023 and a silver in the half at the 2023 World Road Running Championships.
January 10, 2026 at 6:36 PM
Déjà vu all over again 🔁

For the third straight World XC championships, the top two finishers in the men’s senior race are the same as Jacob Kiplimo threepeats and Berihu Aregawi picks up his third straight silver medal.

That’s the fifth global silver for Aregawi in his career.
January 10, 2026 at 6:36 PM
ONE OF THE GREATS 👑

Just three months after winning the Chicago Marathon, Jacob Kiplimo returns to the grass to win his THIRD STRAIGHT World XC title in dominant fashion, making a huge move in the last 2km to claim a 28:18 win over 10km.
January 10, 2026 at 6:35 PM
So close and yet so far 😩

Team USA finishes fourth in the women’s senior race at World XC, going out hard but not quite getting onto the podium.

Ednah Kurgat leads the scorers with a 10th place finish in 33:28 as she, Karissa Schweizer, Katie Izzo, and Grace Hartman put up 83 team points.
January 10, 2026 at 6:34 PM
Depth does the job 🇪🇹

Ethiopia’s top runner Senayet Getachew finishes third, but the team’s 3-4-5-7 finish puts them well ahead of Kenya and Uganda to reclaim the team title at World XC for the first time since 2019.
January 10, 2026 at 6:33 PM
Racing in America is really working for Senayet Getachew 👋

The 20-year-old Ethiopian adds a World XC bronze in Tallahassee to her impressive resume that also includes wins at last year’s Houston Half Marathon and Sunset Tour 10,000m, as well as an Ethiopian junior record in the 5000m at BU in 2024.
January 10, 2026 at 6:33 PM
Uganda believe it!! 🇺🇬

Joy Cheptoyek secures the first global medal of her career with a second-place finish at the 2026 World XC championships in 33:10.

After finishing 17th at World XC in 2024 and 7th in the 10,000m on the track, the 23-year-old Ugandan gets onto her first podium in Tallahassee.
January 10, 2026 at 6:32 PM
She can truly do it all!! 🌍

Kenyan Agnes Ngetich shows she can make it work on the roads, track, AND grass as she picks up the win in the senior race at the World XC champs with a dominant 31:28 10km.

Ngetich took the lead early & never looked back, ending up with a 42-sec margin of victory.
January 10, 2026 at 6:32 PM
FIRST U.S. MEDAL OF THE DAY!! 🇺🇸

Team USA picks up its first medal of 2026 World XC in Tallahassee with a bronze in the men’s U20 race, thanks to a tight pack of finishers with all four scorers between 16th-22nd.

Tyler Daillak, a freshman at Cal Poly, leads the scorers — with only one shoe!
January 10, 2026 at 5:36 PM
DOMINANCE 🇰🇪

Frankline Kibet leads a Kenyan 1-2-3-4 sweep of the World XC U20 race, covering 8km in 23:18 just two seconds ahead of teammate Emmanuel Kiprono.

When all was said and done, Kenya put all six finishers in the top eight of the race 🤯
January 10, 2026 at 4:55 PM
Getting pretty good at this whole cross country thing 😅

New Jersey’s Blair Bartlett finishes 16th in the U20 race at World XC in Tallahassee, leading Team USA to a fourth place finish with a 20:36 6km.

Bartlett only just started running XC this fall and took 2nd at NXN while still a HS junior.
January 10, 2026 at 4:50 PM
Back ✌️ back!! 🇪🇹

Marta Alemayo of Ethiopia defends her World XC U20 title in 18:52 for 6km, a huge 26 seconds ahead of her teammate Wosane Asefa in second.

At 17 years old, Alemayo joins a small illustrious group of double U20 champs that includes Faith Kipyegon, Letesenbet Gidey, & Genzebe Dibaba.
January 10, 2026 at 4:05 PM
Getting in the reps 💪

A medal was not to be today, but Team USA still cracks the top five in the mixed 4x2km relay at World XC in Tallahassee with a 22:43 run by a speedy squad of Ethan Strand, Sage Hurta-Klecker, Wes Porter, and Gracie Morris.
January 10, 2026 at 4:04 PM
Making the podium their home!! 🏠

Ethiopia picks up the bronze in the World XC 4x2km mixed relay in 22:34, with a young squad anchored by 3:56 1500m runner Hirut Meshesha.

Since the event’s introduction in 2017, Ethiopia is the only nation to medal in every single mixed relay at World XC.
January 10, 2026 at 4:04 PM
Vive l’Agathe!! 🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷

1500m star Agathe Guillemot anchors the French mixed relay team to its first World XC medal in the event, crossing the line in 22:26 for 4x2km just three seconds behind Australia in first.
January 10, 2026 at 4:03 PM
Sending the stars pays off!! 💰

Australia wins its first ever World XC relay gold thanks to a stacked quartet of Olli Hoare, Linden Hall, Jack Antsey, and Jessica Hull.

Hull picks up her fourth career global medal with a stellar anchor leg as the team clocks 22:23 for 4x2km over the French in 2nd.
January 10, 2026 at 4:03 PM
The sprint MASTER 😤

All year, Arkansas’s Jordan Anthony showed he could do it all in the sprints, winning the NCAA title over 60m indoors and 100m outdoors, sweeping the SEC 100m/200m titles, and running 9.75w, the 3rd fastest all-conditions 100m in U.S. history.
December 19, 2025 at 2:18 AM
A perfect end to a pretty darn perfect year 👏

Alabama’s Doris Lemngole wins the 2025 Bowerman, capping off a 2024-2025 season where she won NCAA titles in XC, indoors, & outdoors, becoming the first — so far only — collegiate steeplechaser in history to break 9 minutes with her record 8:58.15 run.
December 19, 2025 at 1:50 AM
Grand Slam Track, the high-profile track & field startup league that promised to revolutionize the sport with a record-setting $12.6 million prize pool and major backing, has officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
December 11, 2025 at 3:13 PM
The field for the 2028 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials just got a little bit bigger thanks to the California International Marathon.

55 women ran under the qualifying standard of 2:37:00‼️
December 7, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Timing it JUST right ⏱️

Futsum Zienasellassie wins his second California International Marathon with a flawlessly-executed race, reeling in early leader Joey Whelan to pick up his second U.S. marathon title in 2:09:29, a 65:12-64:17 negative split.
December 7, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Bringing her A game no matter where 💪

Weini Kelati wraps up a long and varied year of racing with a win at the 2025 U.S. XC Championships, running 33:45.4 for 10km to beat runner-up Katie Izzo by 15 seconds.

Kelati was the 2024 champ as well as Team USA’s top finisher at World XC that year.
December 6, 2025 at 10:45 PM
Turns out the lethal kick works on any surface 💥

Ethan Strand powers his way to a 5:25.8 victory over 2km at the U.S. XC champs, securing a spot on Team USA for the second time this year as a member of the World XC relay.
December 6, 2025 at 10:23 PM