Santa Barbara’s Dani Moreno finished 21st in the women’s division and 124th overall in her debut with Team USA at the 14th World Long Distance Mountain Running Championships in Premana, Italy on Sunday.
Running in intermittent rain, Moreno finished the 32-kilometer course in the Italian Alps in 4 hours, 31 minutes, 12 seconds. She was the fourth U.S. women’s team finisher. The Americans, led by runner-up Kasie Enman (3:57.30), earned the team silver medal. Enman, the 2011 World Mountain Running champion, owns the course record.
Individual champion Silvia Rampazzo (3:56.45), led Italy to the team gold, while Romania took the bronze behind Denisa Dragomir’s third-place finish (3:59.34).
Italy also won the men’s team gold, the U.S. took the silver and Czech Republic claimed the bronze. The overall winner was Petro Mamu of the African country Eritrea in 3:12.52, Italy’s Francesco Puppi (3:14.37) was second and Pascal Egli (3:18.13) of Switzerland took third. The top American was Tayte Pollman in fourth in 3:24.46.
After Enman, the U.S. women’s team finishers were Addie Bracy (6th in 4:07.20), Kristi Spravzoff (20th, 4:28.11), Moreno and Anita Ortiz (26th, 4:40.35).
Moreno, 24, ran cross country and track for UCSB. She turned to trail running after graduating in 2015 and has flourished in the sport, recording top finishes and setting course records.
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.