Rotorua runner Hannah Gapes is among a talented team of debutants and experienced World Cross Country campaigners who will line up in Tallahassee this weekend, with global cross-country glory in their sights.

A final team of 23 have assembled in Tallahassee, Florida, in the United States for the 46th edition of the biennial global cross country championships.

The US last hosted the championships in New York in 1992.

Will Little is the sole returning senior man from the 2024 edition of the championships.

He’s joined on the start line by Toby Gualter, who’s fresh off an electric 2025 in which he collected national titles across mountains, roads and track. Gaulter is in sharp form, clocking a 13m 41.90s 5000m at the 2025 Night of 5s.

The senior men’s team is rounded out by 2021 NZ cross country champion Oli Chignell, 2025 NZ cross country champion Connor Melton, Mac Rowe and Taonga Mbambo.

Gapes has been an athlete on the rise over the past two years.

Running division one track and field for NC State in the US’ NCAA system, Gapes has etched a number of quality times and results next to her name.

Notably, her fifth-place finish at the 2025 NCAA D1 Cross Country Championships last year was an improvement from eighth at the 2024 edition.

Back in New Zealand, Gapes delivered a formidable display of cross-country racing to win the 2025 China Southern Airlines NZ Cross Country Championships by more than two minutes from her nearest rival.

Gapes is joined in the black singlet by the now UK-based Sophie Hicks and Auckland’s Katrina Andrew.

Sam Ruthe (left) and Caleb Wagener. Photo / Rob Rickerby / ACA Athletics

In the men’s under-20 grade, Caleb Wagener will line up off the back of a massive 2025.

The young Aucklander won the 2025 NZSSAA Cross Country Championships in Whangārei in a tight battle with teen sensation, Sam Ruthe.

Wagener also claimed the world U19 duathlon title in Spain in 2025.

Wagener will line up alongside 2025 NZSSAA 3000m champion George Wylie, Corban Holmes, Redd Scampion and Bede Colbourne.

A strong contingent of under-20 Kiwi women are ready to race over their 6km distance.

Scarett Robb lines up off the back of a headline-grabbing series of results.

Robb earned double national honours at the 2025 NZSSAA Track and Field Championships, winning both the 1500m and 3000m titles.

Brynne Gordon, the silver medallist in the 1500m and 3000m, also joins Robb in the U20 contingent.

Robb also flew home for a photo-finish victory at the Zatopek:10 meeting in Melbourne, winning the Ondieki U20 3000m in December.

Denika Clooney, Eleanor Pugh and Poppy Healey round out the women’s under-20 contingent.

The World Cross Country Championships also feature the compelling mixed 4x2km relay. The New Zealand team of David Lee, Tillie Hollyer, Christian De Vaal, and Boh Ritchie will be lining up in the mixed gender format.

Ritchie is fresh off breaking Lorraine Moller’s 1974 U20 and U19 800m records in Australia, and will be looking to convert that track form into a fast lap in Tallahassee. Ritchie is joined by Christian De Vaal, with both athletes having raced at the 2023 World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst in the under-20 grades.

They are joined by the Whippets duo, David Lee and Tillie Hollyer.

The course

Fans and athletes are in for a treat in Tallahassee, with the dedicated cross-country course at Apalachee Regional Park being the venue.

The course has played host to significant local and national-level racing in recent years, including the NCAA D1 Cross Country Championships.

The course is a dedicated and purpose-built cross-country facility, featuring a 2km loop, with a small variation on lap one.

Some special features have been added to the course, as has become tradition at world cross country events.

Aarhus in 2019 had a “Viking tunnel” that athletes ran through, while at Bathurst in 2023 athletes had to navigate a “crocodile mud pit” and a “tyre chicane”.

There are five special course elements in Tallahassee:

The Roller Coaster challenge is an elevated boardwalk section of the course that will lead the runners more than 3.5m off the ground.

Spectators will also be able to cross under the roller coaster. The Beach Party section features a sandy section of running celebrating Florida’s famous shorelines.

The water pit challenge is along the northern portion of the course.

This challenge features a series of two small hills with a water pit located in the trough between.

The Gator Logs will involve a section of four pine trees in parallel on the northern edge of the track, and the mud pit will be a classic cross-country addition.

NZ team (name, club, coach)

Women (10km)

Katrina Andrews (Night Ninjas, Greg Darbyshire)

Sophie Hicks (Whippets, Sam McLean)

Hannah Gapes (Lake City, Laurie Henes)

Men (10km)

Will Little (Whippets, Sam Mclean)

Taonga Mbambo (UC, Craig Motley)

MacCallum Rowe (Egmont Athletics, Brandon Bonsey)

Toby Gualter (Olympic, Alastair Leslie)

Oli Chignell (Hill City, Adam Didkt)

Connor Melton (Whippets, Sam Mclean)

Under 20 Men (8km)

Corban Holmes (Athletics Tauranga, Craig Kirkwood)

George Wyllie (Athletics Tauranga, Craig Kirkwood)

Redd Scampion (ACA, Nick Codyre)

Bede Colbourne (UC, Craig Motley)

Caleb Wagener (Pakuranga, Chris Oates)

Under 20 Women (6km)

Denika Clooney (TTT Runners, Lisa Cross)

Brynne Gordon (Port Hills, James Ansell)

Eleanor Pugh (Tauranga Ramblers, Craig Kirkwood)

Poppy Healey (Whippets, Evan Cooper)

Scarlett Robb (ACA, Graeme Holden)

Mixed 4x2km Relay

Boh Ritchie (Hamilton City Hawkes, Angela Russek)

Tillie Hollyer (Whippets, Sam Mclean)

David Lee (Whippets, Sam Mclean)

Christian De Vaal (Pakuranga, Michael Byrne)