Meyers ready to roll in St. Louis at USA Cross Country Championships...

CLAYTON, Missouri--Spoke briefly with University of Washington freshman Maddie Meyers (left/photo by Paul Merca) along with Husky assistant coach Lauren Denfeld at the USA Cross Country Championships press conference.

According to Denfeld, Meyers is looking at Saturday's USA Junior Championships as a great opportunity, and a "win-win" situation as her charge goes against some of the top 19-under distance runners over a 6k distance.

Should Meyers finish in the top six and make the USA national team that competes at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, it will be the second straight championship meet that a University of Washington runner will be on the team, as Katie Flood was on the squad two years ago in Punta Umbria, Spain.

Denfeld was mildly surprised at Meyers' 4:43 1600 meter split in the distance medley relay at last week's UW Invitational in Seattle, as she thought that going into the race, that she'd run 4:45.

Nonetheless, the coach is confident about her chances, noting that Meyers has run in big meets before, including the adidas Jim Ryun Dream Mile and the IAAF World Youth Championships, where she set a national high school record in the 2000 meter championships.

"It would be so cool to make the world championship team" said Meyers.

The USA Cross Country Championships get underway at St. Louis' Forest Park beginning with the masters' women's 6k race at 9:15 local time (7:15 am on the West Coast), with the junior women's 6k starting at 11:30 am (9:30 am).

The complete schedule is available here.

Media partner RunnerSpace.com will provide live streaming video of the USA Cross Country Championships via this link.

Courtesy of RunnerSpace.com, here's a video interview with Maddie: