Former Stanford star Tai Dinger took first in the men’s open division Saturday at the USATF National Club Cross Country Championships.
But so what.
Dinger’s wining time of 30 minutes, 48 seconds over the 10-kilometer (6.2 miles) course in Tallahassee, Florida, only helped his club — Wisconsin Runner Racing Team — to a third-place finish.
The club champion was San Diego Track Club — giving a local team a national crown for the first time since 1976, when the Bob Larsen-coached Jamul Toads took the title at Fairmount Park in Philadelphia.
The difference between San Diego and Wisconsin?
The local track club took top honors by finishing ninth, 10th and 11th, plus 22nd and 30th for a lowest-score wins 73 points. Wisconsin’s top five were first, 22nd, 25th, 30th and 39th for 117 points.
(Minnesota Distance Elite was second out of 25 clubs with 103 points.)
San Diego’s top three, running close together, were Steven Martinez, 29; Jacob Mitchum, 26; and Spencer Bossi-Johnson, 28. They finished in 31:43.3, 31:46.7 and 31:49.2, respectively.
All seven SDTC entries live in San Diego.*
Fourth and fifth for San Diego in the 186-man field were Lucas Stalnaker, 28, at 32:08.1 and Dillon Breen, 31, at 32:28.7. Nonscoring finishers for San Diego TC were Dylan Marx, 31, at 33:01.9 in 48th place and Charles Gamble, 35, at 35:31.2 in 113th place.
Paul Greer, who’s coached the SDTC for 38 years, wasn’t in Florida on Saturday. (He announced the results at the San Diego State University Red & Black All-Comers Track Meet.)
Greer said he was “extremely excited, happy and proud of this incredible achievement.” And he credited Thom Hunt, a former national-class runner who coaches many of the SDTC team’s members.
“This is a great day for the San Diego running community and we all should take great pride in this exceptional accomplishment,” said Greer, also president of the USATF San Diego-Imperial Association.
He likened the current team’s victory to the 1976 crown won by the Jamul Toads coached by Hall of Famer Larsen. Members of that storied squad were Terry Cotton, who took second; Kirk Pfeffer (fourth); Ed Mendoza (ninth); Dave Harper (15th); and Tom Lux (23rd).
“Both teams consisted of members who lived and were brought up in San Diego,” Greer said. “This was a true authentic San Diego running team unlike other teams where they might have transplants from other cities that end up winning XC Championships.”
He said three club members are set to represent San Diego at the 2024 Olympic Marathon Trials in February in Orlando.
On Instagram, the club cheered: “After years of consistent training together every morning before work, this group managed to come together to take home the gold in Tallahassee. … We’re fired up and ready to take this momentum into 2024! ?”
A total of $38,000 in prize money was awarded to winning runners and teams at Apalachee Regional Park.
San Diego leader Martinez is a former CSU Chico track star out of San Diego Mesa College.
In 2022, a cold, rainy day at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, a similar San Diego Track Club team took fifth in the open division.
Martinez took eighth, Jacob Mitchem 27th and Stalnaker 31st.
Meriah Earle won the W40 race last year, leading her San Diego Track Club teammates Natasha Bliss, Eva Lozano, Victoria Barana and Kimberly Mueller to the 40-44 age group national title at 6 kilometers.
Five runners over 70 for the Jamul Toads — Greg Wilson, Rick Pfeiffer, David Dunbar, Ronald Wells and Daniel Diehr — won the 2022 national club title at 8 kilometers in their age group.
*An earlier version of this story, based on official results, said Martinez lived in Chula Vista.
