Middaugh leads U.S. U18 Mountain Running Team with fourth place finish

Battle Mountain rising junior Porter Middaugh finished fourth overall — and was the top American — in the 15th annual International U18 Mountain Running Cup on Sunday, June 26, in Saluzzo, Italy, leading the boys’ team to a fourth place finish. Middaugh’s Battle Mountain teammate, soon-to-be senior Milaina Almonte was the third American in the girls’ race, finishing 20th. The U.S. girls’ team also finished just off the podium in fourth.

“The race started out pretty conservatively and I stuck mid-pack to try and keep a good position,” Middaugh told American Trail Running Association’s Richard Bolt.

Middaugh spent a large portion of the race in third, according to Bolt’s race report. There were 48 runners in the field.

“As soon as the climb started people started to fall back. I was trying to work my way up as best as I could and once we got to the grass section it got super tough,” Middaugh told Bolt.

“On the climb, I was probably in my best position of the whole race.”

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Middaugh said he fell back to fifth place entering the final section of the race.

“Leaving the castle I just tried to roll as fast as I could; I had two runners in sight which was a good motivator,” he said.

“Thankfully, I was able to catch one of them and finished fourth.” Poland’s Maciej Lachowsky won the 4.4-kilometer race in 16 minutes, 16 seconds. Italy’s Nicola Morosini (16:21) and Alessio Romano (16:40) rounded out the podium with Middaugh finishing in 16:43.

Williamstown High (Ohio) runner Alyssa Sauro won the girls race in 18:03, outsprinting England’s Rebecca Flaherty in the homestretch. Throughout the race, Almonte traded places with her American teammates Rosie Mucharsky-O’Boyle of Denver and Victoria Rodriguez of Seven Valleys, Pa. Mucharsky-O’Boyle finished in 18th (20:15), Almonte wound up 20th (20:17) and Rodriguez finished in 23rd (20:47)

“The starting pace was really intimidating and I started out towards the back,” Almonte told Bolt.

“I had a hard time keeping up with the starting pace but once I got to the hills I was able to run a lot faster than I expected through the steepest parts of the course without overthinking it.”