Athletics New Zealand is pleased to announce the selection of a 24-strong team to compete at the 2026 World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, Florida, on the 10th of January 2026.

The 2026 team encompasses experienced world championship contenders and a slew of New Zealand team debutants, ready to make their mark on the world stage.

Today’s team selection completes our 24-strong complement of athletes, building on the talented eight earlier selected athletes, including the four athletes automatically selected at the 2025 China Southern Airlines New Zealand Cross Country Championships.

William Little and Katherine Camp return to the team from the 2024 edition of the championships held in Belgrade, Serbia, in the Park of Friendship.

Little dons the black singlet fresh off breaking 29 minutes over 10km at the Run Prix event in Melbourne. Little’s time of 28:47 saw him hold on to the win from fellow teammate, Toby Gualter, who finished in 2nd with 28:51.

“It’s awesome to be selected for the World Cross Country team, especially as part of such a large team packed with talent. The event in the US is going to be amazing to be a part of. It’s looking like some really quality athletes will be racing, so it’ll be exciting to be lining up against them.

We’ve got a nice 10-week stretch to get some quality base training in with David and Connor here in Christchurch, before we head over to the USA in the new year,” said Little.

Will Little in Belgrade, 2024. Photo: Justin Britton.

Camp heads to Tallahassee as one of the most versatile athletes on the team, previously winning national titles in the 800m before turning her attention to the longer distances. This will be Camp’s third time representing New Zealand at the World Cross Country Championships, having finished 67th in both the 2023 and 2024 editions of the event.

Alison Andrews-Paul, Tillie Hollyer, David Lee, and Christian De Vaal comprise the mixed 4x2km cross country relay team, an event first introduced at the 2023 edition of the championships.

2025 saw Andrews-Paul make her debut at the World Indoor Championships in March over 800m and lower her PB to 2:00.63 in June to move to 4th on the NZ all-time list. Originally from Wairarapa, Andrews-Paul has been based in Vancouver, Canada, with her coach, Brit Townsen,d since graduating from university. Christian De Vaal returns to the team after last lining up in the U20 race in 2023. De Vaal is currently running in the USA’s NCAA for the Wisconsin Badgers.

Notably in the team is the influence of two of New Zealand’s top distance coaches. The vastly experienced Sam McLean sees five of his athletes selected to the team, including two in the mixed relay. Well-known high-performance coach Craig Kirkwood also has a stable of five lining up in the USA.

The 2026 edition of the Championships will be held over the dedicated cross-country course at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee. The course is one of the world’s few sites specifically designed for cross-country running. Its pristine, multi-surface trail offers numerous course and distance options through rolling hills, lowlands, and pine forests, providing athletes a challenging and scenic experience.

Apalachee Regional Park hosted the NCAA D1 Cross Country National Championships in 2021, which saw Kiwi, Theo Quax, take out the national team title as part of his Northern Arizona University team.

The New Zealand team will line up in Tallahassee, Florida, on the 10th of January 2025. Broadcast information and results links will be shared when available.

Congratulations to the selected team.

The full selected New Zealand team.
Name (Club, Coach)

Senior Women’s (10km)
Katrina Andrews (Night Ninjas, Greg Darbyshire)
Sophie Hicks (Whippets, Sam McLean)
Katherine Camp (UC, Craig Kirkwood)
Rebekah Aitkenhead (Hill City, Craig Kirkwood)
Eva Pringle (Whippets, Craig Kirkwood)
Hannah Gapes (Lake City, Laurie Henes)

Senior Men’s (10km)
Will Little (Whippets, Sam Mclean)
Taonga Mbambo (UC, Craig Motley)
MacCallum Rowe (Egmont Athletics, Brandon Bonsey)
Toby Gualter (Olympic, Alastair Leslie)
Oli Chignell (Hill City, Adam Didkt)
Connor Melton (Whippets, Sam Mclean)

Non-Travelling Reserve
Craig Lautenslager (Nelson, Greg Lautenslager)

U20 Men (8km)
Corban Holmes (Athletics Tauranga, Brit Townsend)
George Wyllie (Athletics Tauranga, Craig Kirkwood)
Redd Scampion (ACA, Nick Codyre)
Bede Colbourne (UC, Craig Motley)
Caleb Wagener (Pakuranga, Chris Oates)

U20 Women (6km)
Denika Clooney (TTT Runners, Lisa Cross)
Brynne Gordon (Port Hills, James Ansell)
Eleanor Pugh (Tauranga Ramblers, Craig Kirkwood)
Poppy Healey (Whippets, Evan Cooper)
Sienna Mackley (Queenstown Athletics, Neville Britton)
Scarlett Robb (ACA, Graeme Holden)

Cross Country Mixed 4x2km Relay
Alison Andrews-Paul (Wairarapa, Brit Townsend)
Tillie Hollyer (Whippets, Sam Mclean)
David Lee (Whippets, Sam Mclean)
Christian De Vaal (Pakuranga, Michael Byrne)

Team Management
Craig Motley – Team Lead
Tessa Hunt – Team Operations Manager