Stanford junior Ky Robinson was named to the Australian national team this week for the World Cross Country Championships on his home soil.
Robinson is among six on the Aussie senior men's team to race over 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) on February 18 at Mount Panorama in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia.
In addition, three future Cardinal compete for under-20 titles: Amy Bunnage of Australia and recently-crowned U.S. champions Irene Riggs and Leo Young. The U20 men run 8K (4.97 miles) and the women run 6K (3.73 miles).
Ky Robinson. Photo by Bob Drebin/ISIphotos.com.
Robinson, 20, established himself on the Aussie senior squad in 2022, competing in the World Outdoor Track and Field Championships and Commonwealth Games. He placed 19th overall in the 5,000 at Worlds in Eugene, Oregon, and sixth in the 10,000 at the Commonwealths in Birmingham, England.
Since then, Robinson placed 10th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in November, ran the third-fastest indoor 5,000 in collegiate history (13:11.53) in December, and a personal-best mile of 3:55.87 in January. He is a five-time All-American at Stanford and holds school records in the steeplechase and 5,000.
Amy Bunnage.
Bunnage, 17, is the Australian under-18 3,000-meter record-holder (9:00.60) on the track. Bunnage has won four national titles and is the reigning Aussie U20 champion in the 3,000 and in U18 cross country. She also captured U17 national titles in the 1,500 and 3,000 in 2021. Bunnage wore the national colors while placing third in the 1,500 at the U20 Oceania Invitational in 2021.
On January 21, Riggs and Young won the USATF U20 cross country championship races at Pole Creek Park in Richmond, Virginia. Riggs captured the 6K women's race in 19:44.3 and Young was the men's 8K winner in 23:46.8.
Irene Riggs (left) and Leo Young win U.S. U20 titles. Photos by Kirby Lee/Image of Sport.
Riggs, 18, of Morgantown High School in Morgantown, West Virginia, was named the 2022-23 Gatorade National Girls Cross Country Player of the Year on January 25. She won Nike Cross Nationals by 14 seconds and captured the Nike Cross Southeast Regional in 16:02.10 over 5K (3.1 miles) for the second-fastest time in high school cross country history. She is a seven-time state champ and the fifth-fastest high school two-miler ever (9:50.72).
Young, 17, was among the national top-10 at three track distances in 2022 – second in the 1,600 (3:59.32), third in the 3,200 (8:39.57), and 10th in the mile (4:00.77). He and his twin brother Lex, also coming to Stanford, helped Newbury Park to victory at the 2022 Nike Cross Nationals. In 2021, Leo clocked 13:38.1 for the fastest three-mile high school cross country time in history. And at the 2021 RunningLane Cross Country Nationals, Leo was second in 14:05.1, the second-fastest cross-country 5K of all-time.