BEND, Oregon – Iowa State freshman Thomas Pollard will be wearing the colors of Red White and Blue next month after he won the USA Track and Field (USATF) Men’s Junior Cross Country Championship Saturday at Rivers Edge Golf Course in Bend, Oregon. The win means Pollard, who is currently redshirting the indoor track season, will represent Team USA in the junior division at the Association of Panamerican Athletics (APA) Panamerican Cross Country Cup on March 5 in Caraballeda, Venezuela.
Saturday’s competition, which consisted of four laps around the Rivers Edge Golf Course to complete an 8 kilometer race, saw Pollard let the field do the dirty work early on, as he settled into the main pack while one runner went out ahead of the field. The lead group, which had dwindled down to 11, eventually caught the lead runner as they crossed the halfway mark. Pollard had to make his move when Boise State’s Miler Haller pulled away from the lead pack. Pollard caught up to Haller right after the final lap begun, climbing well to get right on his foe’s heels. With 1K to go, Pollard looped past Haller at the top of the highest climb and took advantage of a downward hill to build a lead and pull away. Pollard was able to create a gap to comfortably cross the line first in 26:11.
Pollard, who also redshirted the 2015 Iowa State cross country season, completed one of the most decorated prep running careers in the state of Iowa. A three-time Gatorade Athlete of the Year, twice for cross country and once in track, Pollard was previously a two-time Foot Locker National High School Cross Country All-American and the 2014 Iowa Class 3A state champion.
