Lund wins gold in women’s 40-44 division, with Bruce taking silver in men’s competition after the Americans teamed to finish second in mixed 2x2-kilometer relay in Australia

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

After joining forces Saturday to capture a mixed 2x2-kilometer relay silver medal for the United States at the World Masters Athletics Short Course Cross Country Championships, April Lund and Ben Bruce both secured their own individual podium finishes Sunday at Mount Panorama in Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia.

Lund, representing Get You Sum Track Club in North Dakota, won the women’s 40-44 division gold medal by covering the 6-kilometer layout in 23 minutes, 53 seconds, prevailing by a 37-second margin against Somaya Bousaid of Tunisia.

Lund, 40, achieved the third-fastest 6-kilometer time overall for female competitors, regardless of age group, adding to her victories in July in the 8-kilometer cross country race and Half Marathon at the World Masters Athletics Outdoor Championships in Finland.

Bruce, representing HOKA Northern Arizona Elite, earned another silver in the men’s 40-44 race, running 20:30 to finish behind Australian athlete Shane Grund, who triumphed in the 6-kilometer competition in 20:18, with the athletes producing the top two times across all divisions.

It marked the first international Masters appearance for Bruce, 40, after he represented the U.S. at the 2016 World Half Marathon Championships Cardiff, Wales.

Bruce and Lund clocked 14:11 in the 35-and-over division 2x2-kilometer relay on the opening day of competition to place second behind Olga Firsova and Stephen Stewart of Australia in 13:50.

The showcase of Masters competition in Bathurst marked the first time in the history of the global cross country event that the athletes were part of the schedule at the same site with the Senior and Under-20 races, as well as the mixed 4x2-kilometer relay.

The podium finishes achieved by Bruce and Lund were the only individual medals achieved by any American athletes in Australia, as both Under-20 men’s and women’s lineups captured bronze medals in the team competitions.

The U.S. was also fifth in the Senior women’s team competition and sixth in the men’s race. The Americans added another fifth-place finish in the mixed 4x2-kilometer relay.