Mekonen, Smith Win in Thrilling Finishes at the USATF 15 km Championships

USATF Release

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It was a battle to the finish in both the men’s and women’s races Saturday morning in Jacksonville, Florida, as Teshome Mekonen and Rachel Smith came away victorious at the USATF 15 km Championships.

The USATF 15 km Championships, hosted by the Gate River Run, are the third stop on the 2024 USATF Running Circuit. Race videos and coverage are available and can be viewed with a +PLUS subscription on USATF.TV.

As the men’s race got underway in Jacksonville, an experienced pack formed at the front, with Mekonen, defending champion Hillary Bor, veterans Abbabiya Simbassa, Sam Chelanga, and Diego Estrada, and Daniel Mesfun leading the charge.

The pack of six took turns leading the early stages of the race, passing through 5 km in 14:25. However, just past four miles, Mekonen and Bor would grab the lead and start to push the pace, stringing out the pack and ultimately losing everyone but Simbassa. 

The trio would run together for the next mile, until Mekonen and Bor were able to work their way away from Simbassa, coming through the 10 km mark in 28:38.

Mekonen and Bor would run next to each other for the next mile, each runner checking on the other, while peeking over their shoulders to see where the competition was. 

With just over a mile to go, as Mekonen and Bor charged up the final, long hill, Mekonen started to put a gap on Bor. He built a lead of 4-5 seconds with a half mile to go, but Bor wasn’t finished. As the runners came downhill and into the homestretch, Bor started to close the gap on Mekonen, getting with a couple strides.

However, as the course flattened out, Mekonen was able to put in one final surge, one Bor couldn’t cover, running away to his first USATF title in 42:50. Bor finished second in 42:54.

Well behind the two-man battle up front, Estrada was able to pull away late from Simbassa, claiming an impressive third place finish in 43:24, with Simbassa taking fourth in 43:29.

Mesfun ran mostly by himself over the late stages of the race in Jacksonville to earn a fifth-place finish in 44:26. Jacob Thomson and Shadrack Kipchirchir battled the final miles of the race, with Thomson finishing just ahead in sixth with a time of 44:45, with Kipchirchir taking home seventh in 44:49.

Chelanga finished eighth in 44:57, Robert Miranda was ninth in 45:12, and Eduardo Garcia rounded out the top 10 crossing the line in 45:14.

Two weeks after earning a pair of top five finishes at the USATF Indoor Championships, Smith was back in action, this time testing herself on the roads. From the gun, Smith, Keira D’Amato, Emily Durgin, Emma Grace Hurley, and Annie Frisbie packed together up front and pushed a moderate early pace. 

Shortly after the first 5 km, which the lead pack came through in 16:08, D’Amato and Durgin started to pull away from the other three. The duo opened up a lead just past the four-mile mark and would extend it to 13 seconds over Smith, who was running alone in third, passing through 10 km in 32:15. Smith came through in 32:28, 20 seconds ahead of fourth place Frisbie.

D'Amato and Durgin would continue to battle up front, with D’Amato pulling ahead by three seconds as the two runners came through the seven-mile mark. D’Amato continued to push the pace, trying to put more space between herself and Durgin, but Durgin continued to hang on. 

As D’Amato came through the eight-mile mark, she had a five second lead on Durgin as she started to crest the final hill. Behind her, Smith overtook Durgin and started to close the gap on D’Amato. It wasn’t until the two were charging down the hill towards the finish that Smith would catch up to D’Amato and the two pros ran stride for stride, until Smith put in one more surge to the finish. 

With a quarter mile to go, and the course leveling off, Smith used her track speed to her advantage, pulling away from D’Amato. Smith crossed the line, arms raised, winning the USATF 15 km title in 48:26. D’Amato charged home for a runner-up finish in 48:30.

Durgin’s effort throughout the entire race paid off with a third-place finish, crossing the line in 48:44, while Frisbie and Hurley would take home fourth- and fifth-place finishes in 49:28 and 49:52.

Well back from the lead five, Allie Kieffer came home in sixth place with a 51:20 effort. Sydney Devore earned a seventh-place finish for the second consecutive year with her finishing time of 52:31, as Angie Nickerson took eighth in 54:05. Rachel Kennedy improved one spot from a year prior, taking home ninth in 54:32, as Amanda Beach finished 10th in 54:44.

The fourth stop on the USATF Running Circuit takes place on April 7, when some of the nation’s top runners compete at the USATF 10 Mile Championships, hosted by the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run in Washington, D.C..

About the USATF Running Circuit

The USATF Running Circuit is a USATF road series featuring USATF championships from one mile through the marathon and consistently attracts the best American distance runners with more than $500,000 to be awarded in total prize money. A total of $53,000 in prize money will be awarded at the USATF 15 km Championships.

The first 10 U.S. runners earn points at each USATF Running Circuit race. For the USATF 15 km Championships, scoring is set as 15 for first, 12 for second, 10 for third, 7 ,6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1, with those earning the most points receiving prize money at the end of the series.

The mission of the USATF Running Circuit is to showcase, support and promote U.S. runners. Since its inception in 1995, the USATF Running Circuit and its races have provided over $7 million to U.S. distance runners.

Contributed by Scott Bush