Corey Gorgas and Alex Comerford have been racing against each other since middle school.
Now, the two running standouts will be represent Team USA at the Pan American Cup in Victoria, British Columbia on Feb. 29, as members of the U-20 lineup.
Saugatuck graduate Gorgas and Otsego graduate Comerford were among the top six finishers in the 8,000-meter Men’s Junior race at the USATF Cross Country Championships in San Diego on Saturday, Jan. 18, thereby earning their places on Team USA.
Gorgas, a redshirt freshman at Northern Arizona University, turned in a time of 25 minutes, 44.8 seconds to take the top stop in the race. Comerford, a redshirt freshman at Syracuse, placed fourth at 26:40.7.
A third Michigan runner—East Grand Rapids senior Evan Bishop—placed second with a time of 26:21.6, meaning three of the six qualifiers in the Junior Division hail from the Great Lakes State.
“Those are guys that I have been really good friends and competitors with since middle school,” Gorgas told DyeStat.com. “I’ve known those guys for a long time, so it’s really fun to come out here, across the country, and get to compete with the same guys who helped me start out my running career early on.”
Gorgas and Comerford were both competing in their first cross country races in more than a year.
“I missed it,” Gorgas said. “Racing is such a great experience. It’s awesome to come out here and this is really just getting some early experience for next cross country season.”
The race also marked the first 8k for Comerford.
“I was very pleased with my performance,” he said. “It was my first 8k and was definitely a new experience being a lot longer than the typical 5k. The extra 3k is about another 10 minutes of running and doing at a whole new level with college athletes. I definitely like the new distance, but definitely have some things to work on and improve on.
“My main goal was to qualify for the team going in and am ecstatic to be able to represent team USA for the first time.”
Comerford joins sister Mallory in representing their country, as she has competed for the US swim team and hopes to make the 2020 Olympic team.
“In the upcoming weeks I will run a race in Boston for indoor just to be able to stay sharp and sort of a tune up for Pan American Games,” Comerford said. “I will just be going back to work for another month and hopefully add a decent amount of fitness to be able to represent our country as best as possible.”
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