Kenya's Edwin Kurgat bagged a silver medal at the World Athletics Cross Country Tour Gold meeting – in Austin, Texas, on Thursday.
Kurgat, who was defending his title, clocked a time of 22:12, four seconds behind eventual winner Adriaan Wildschutt of South Africa who cut the tape at 22:08.
Wesley Kiptoo (22:15) was third while Great Britain's Charles Hicks (22:15) came fourth.
USA quartet of Ahmed Muhumed (22:27), Olin Hacker (22:59), Alec Basten (23:18) and Casey Comber (23:2) were fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth respectively.
Kiptoo went out hard from the start of the men’s race, forcing the field to string out.
A breakaway group of six ran single file before regrouping, with Kiptoo to the fore as the first mile was covered in 4:25. David Ribich held on to the back of the pack but when he was dropped that lead group was down to five, with Kiptoo, Kurgat and Wildschutt joined by Hicks and Ahmed Muhumed.
Racing on a mile loop course, the second circuit was covered in 4:26 before Kiptoo moved to the back of the pack midway through the third lap, with Wildschutt pushing the pace.
From there, Wildschutt, the 2021 NCAA Cross Country Championships runner-up who placed 14th in Austin last year, maintained the momentum and led through the three-mile mark in 13:12 after a 4:20 lap. The group covered the penultimate mile in 4:22, with Wildschutt, Kurgat, Hicks and Kiptoo all still in contention.
Then Wildschutt and Kurgat made a break and they were engaged in battle as the clock showed 20 minutes, while Kiptoo overtook Hicks to move into third place.
Looking determined, Wildschutt kicked again and glanced over his shoulder but there was no major threat and he crossed the line unchallenged to win in 22:08, four seconds ahead of Kurgat.
