Withrow Leads U.S. Men at World Cross Country
March 23, 2005 | Men's Track & Field
Matt Withrow, a redshirt freshman on the University of Wisconsin men's cross country and track and field teams, led the United States men's senior team to a 13th-place finish at the 2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships this past Sunday.
The Tinley Park, Ill., native finished 60th in the 12,000-meter race in 38 minutes, 41 seconds as the top American finisher. Former Stanford All-American Ian Dobson finished 61st in 38:45 while 2004 U.S. champion Dathan Ritzenehein was 62nd in 38:46.
'I competed as hard as I could today. I just didn't have it, ' said Withrow after the race. 'They fly you over here you can't give up, you gotta keep competing.'
The U.S. scored 262 points in the men's senior long race, only three points behind France. Ethiopia, led by individual champion Kenenisa Bekele, won the team title with 24 points. Bekele covered the course in 35:06.
In the junior men's race, redshirt freshman Stuart Eagon was the second American finisher. The Portland, Oregon, native covered the 8.1 kilometer course in 25:57, good for 38th place. Galen Rupp was the top American finisher, coming in 20th in 25:05.
The U.S. junior team finished seventh with 154 points. Kenya swept the top four individual places to win the championship with a perfect 10 points. Augustine Kiprono Choge won the individual junior title in 23:59.
As a prep, Withrow was the 2003 Foot Locker Cross Country champion and a two-time Illinois state cross country champion. He was the youngest athlete on the U.S. senior team being born six days too early to run on the junior team.
Eagon finished eighth in the 2003 Foot Locker Cross Country Championships. As a senior, he finished second in the 3000 meters and third in the 1500 meters at the 2004 Oregon State 4A Championships.
