AMMAN, Jordan - In preparation for Saturday's IAAF World Cross Country Championships, Team USA Members selected team captains for the 2009 squad that will compete at Bisharat Golf Course in Amman, Jordan.

Leading the junior men's 8 km team will be two-time USA junior champion at 8 km German Fernandez (Stillwater, Okla.), a freshman at Oklahoma State University who finished 25^th at the 2008 edition of this event. Shippensburg University freshman and USA Junior Cross Country champion Neely Spence (Shippensburg, Pa.) was selected to lead the junior women's 6 km team.

Five-time U.S. Cross Country team member Kathy Newberry (Williamsburg, Va.) will lead the senior women's 8 km squad, while the duo of Edwardo Torres (Boulder, Colo.) and Max King (Bend, Ore.) were selected as team co-captains for the senior men's 12 km. Both Torres and King are three-time U.S. Cross Country squad members.

The 37^th IAAF World Cross Country Championships will be available on-demand on universalsports.com and will feature a total prize purse of $140,000 for individuals placing in the top-six in both the men's and women's senior races with $30,000 going to the champions. An additional $140,000 is on the line for the top-six teams in the senior divisions with the top men's and women's teams receiving $20,000.

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