Two-time Olympian Dathan Ritzenhein of Eugene, OR and top U.S. finisher at last year's World Cross Country Championships Emily Brown Minneapolis, MN have entered the 2009 USA Cross Country Championships, USA Track & Field announced Thursday. The championships will be hosted by the Montgomery Country Road Runners Club at the Agriculture Farm Park in Derwood, Maryland on February 7, 2009.

In addition to the national titles up for grabs in Derwood, open and junior men and women will qualify to represent Team USA at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships March 28 in Amman, Jordan.

The runner-up at last weekend's USA Half Marathon Championships, Ritzenhein will be seeking his third USA Cross Country title. He will face competition from fellow Beijing Olympians Jorge Torres of Boulder, CO and Anthony Famiglietti of Knoxville, TN.

Also vying for men's team positions will be 2008 NCAA 5,000 meter champion Bobby Curtis of Ardmore, PA, along with 2007 NCAA Cross Country All-Americans Brent Vaughan of Boulder, CO from the University of Colorado and Sean Quigley of Philadelphia, PA from LaSalle University.

Brown, who finished third at the 2008 championships and was 18th at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in leading the U.S. women to a fourth-place team finish, will join 2008 Olympian at 10,000 meters Amy Yoder-Begley of Portland, OR and training mate Katie McGregor of St. Louis Park, MN in the race for the women's title.

Highlights of the 2009 USA Cross Country Championships will be televised on February 15, 2009 during ESPN coverage of the Tyson Invitational. The championships will consist of six cross country championship races for men's and women's categories with national titles on the line for junior, masters and open divisions. The nation's premier cross country event, the Championships will feature $47,000 in prize money.

For more information on the 2009 USA Cross Country Championships visit www.usatf.org.

About USA Track & Field

USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track and field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, some of the most-watched events of Olympic broadcasts, the #1 high school and junior high school participatory sport and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States.

See www.nationalcapitalregion2009.com for registration details and hotel info for both the USATF and Community 4K.