THE WRAP: UW alum Kieran Lumb wins Canadian cross country title...

Recent University of Washington alum Kieran Lumb (Mundo Sports Images via Athletics Canada) won his first Canadian senior cross country title over the weekend in Ottawa, running the 10k course in 29:18.

Competing against a field of 106 runners at the Terry Fox Athletic Facility in Ottawa Saturday (November 25), the Vancouver native had enough to hold off the challenge of Philippe Moreau-Cartier to earn the two second victory.

In 2023, he finished fourth in that epic one mile run at the Dempsey Indoor that saw eight Huskies break four minutes in the same race. He helped the Huskies to a fourth place finish in the distance medley relay at the NCAA indoor championships in Albuquerque, and finished eighth in the 3000 at the same meet to close off his Washington career.

During the outdoor season, Lumb won the Canadian title at 1500 meters, and ran at the world championships in Budapest.  He broke the Canadian national record in the 3000 twice in a span of four days, running 7:38.92 in Rovereto, Italy on September 6th, then lowered it to 7:36.46 on September 10th in Zagreb, Croatia.

Lumb finished fifth in the mile at the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Riga, Latvia on October 1st.

His 2023 campaign isn't quite over yet, as he's entered in Saturday's Sharon Colyear-Danvile indoor season opening meet at Boston University.

Results of the Canadian Cross Country Championships are available here.

SHARON COLYEAR-DANVILE SEASON OPENER SATURDAY IN BOSTON...

With many of the country's top collegiate distance runners having just completed the NCAA cross country championships on November 18th, some are wanting to test themselves on the track before heading home for the holidays.

The qualifying period for the 2023-24 NCAA indoor track and field season officially opens up this weekend, and for most of the top collegiate distance runners, Boston University's hyper-fast track is THE place to go for an early mark to March's NCAA indoor track and field championships across town at the TRACK at new balance.

The march to the NCAA indoor championships begins in Boston for Saturday's Sharon Colyear-Danvile indoor season opening meet hosted by Boston University at the Boston University Track & Tennis Center.

In addition to Lumb, Washington alum Sam Ellis (mile) along with Washington State alum Paul Ryan (3000) are the pros with state ties entered in the meet.

Both Gonzaga and Washington will send small groups to Boston. The Zags will be led by cross country All-American Rosina Machu, who is entered in the women's 5000.

Gonzaga is also sending Kristen Garcia in the mile, along with Alicia Anderson, and Jessica Frydenlumb in the 3000, while Sadie Tuckwood joins Machu in the 5000.

On the men's side, Bryce Cerkowniak and Drew Kolodge are entered in the 5000.

Washington's group includes Eric Gibson and Samantha Friborg (she'll compete unattached) in the mile; Julia David-Smith, Chloe Foerster, and Ronan McMahon-Staggs in the 3000; and Perri Bockrath, Haley Herberg and India Weir in the 5000.

Other notable entries with Washington ties include All-Americans Olivia Markezich of Notre Dame and Kaylee Mitchell of Oregon State in the 3000; and All-Americans Andrea Markezich of Notre Dame and Taylor Roe of Oklahoma State in the 5000.

Most of the other Washington schools will open the season next weekend at the Spokane Invitational at The Podium on December 9th.

The list of accepted entries to Saturday's Sharon Colyear-Danvile indoor season opening meet are available here.

HANA MOLL NAMED TRACK & FIELD NEWS' 2023 GIRLS' HS ATHLETE OF THE YEAR...

Track & Field News has named Capital HS of Olympia's Hana Moll (Paul Merca photo) as its national high school girls' athlete of the year for the 2023 season.

After a high school season that saw her win the Washington 3A title and become the second high schooler to clear 15 feet behind twin sister Amanda, Hana made headlines by finishing third at the Toyota USATF outdoor championships in Eugene, then had to sweat out a few weeks after the meet to find out whether she would be going to the world championships in Budapest based on her World Athletics ranking.

At the world championships, Moll raised the national high school record to 15-3 (4.65m) in the qualifying round to make the finals, where she finished ninth at 14-9 (4.50m).

You can read the interview here.

NOTE: Athletics Canada, Track & Field News and Boston University contributed to this report.

paulmerca.blogspot.com may receive a commission for any purchases made from links clicked. Please support this site and our sponsors by clicking on the links. You can also support the site by clicking the yellow "Buy Me A Coffee" link below.