USATF 20 km Championships – News

Mantz Seeks Repeat, Sisson Ready to Race at the USATF 20 km Championships

USATF Release

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut – Conner Mantz eyes a repeat performance of his winning effort in 2022, while Emily Sisson is poised to guide an incredible women’s field along the streets of New Haven, Connecticut on Monday morning at the USATF 20 km Championships.

The USATF 20 km Championships, hosted by Faxon Law New Haven Road Race, are the tenth stop on the 2023 USATF Running Circuit. The race will be shown live on USATF.TV, available with a +PLUS subscription beginning at 8:20am ET.

At the 2022 USATF 20 km Championships, Mantz edged a terrific field, besting runner-up finisher Leonard Korir by five seconds. Mantz built on his effort in New Haven to finish seventh at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon in 2:08:16, the top time run by an American in 2022.

This year, Mantz is having a fantastic racing campaign. At the USATF Outdoor Championships in July, Mantz placed sixth in the 10,000m and tenth in the 5000m. He followed that up with a runner-up performance last month at the TD Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race. He now seeks a repeat in New Haven in his build up to this year’s Bank of America Chicago Marathon.

Korir, who gave Mantz his strongest challenge for the win in 2022, once again seeks a title at the USATF 20 km Championships. Korir has won three USATF 20 km titles, earning victory in 2019, 2018, and 2016. He’s won the USATF 25 km Championships this USATF Running Circuit season, earned two runner-up finishes at the USATF Half Marathon and USATF 15 km Championships, and most recently placed fourth at the USATF 7 Mile Championships.

Sam Chelanga (3rd), Abbabiya Simbassa (5th), Futsum Zienasellassie (6th), Clayton Young (8th), and Nick Randazzo (9th), are all top ten returnees from the 2022 USATF 20 km Championships, giving the race seven of the top ten finishers returning for a chance to win on Monday.

For Simbassa, Monday’s race offers another chance to finally claim victory in New Haven. While he placed fifth in 2022, Simbassa narrowly lost to Ben True at the 2021 USATF 20 km Championships. He’s showing tremendous fitness heading into Monday’s contest after winning the USATF 7 Mile Championship title just over a month ago, to go along with his runner-up effort at the USATF 10 Mile Championships earlier in the year.

Meanwhile, Zienasellassie continues to build fitness as he prepares to race at the TCS New York City Marathon in early November….