SPOKANE, Wash. - Much like Forrest Gump, once Scott Bauhs started running at a freshman at Chico State, he just kept going. Most recently, Bauhs ran his way to a third place finish at the USA Cross Country Championships last Sunday.

Bauhs finished third in the open men’s 12k on Valentine’s Day in Spokane, Wash., to further cement his solid transition from amateur to professional and earned a spot with Team USA at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships on March 28 in Bydgoszcz, Poland. The top six finishers - Bauhs, Dathan Ritzenhein, Patrick Smyth, Ben Bruce, Bobby Curtis, and Ryan Vall will comprise the six-runner team that Bauhs was also part of two seasons ago when he finished 52nd in the world in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Breaking the tape in 34:34 in the open men's 12- kilometer race, Ritzenhein won his third U.S. Cross Country title. He was content to let  Smyth and Bauhs take the pace for the first four laps of the six lap course before making his move at nine-kilometers. While Ritzenhein's lead grew to 18-seconds over the final lap, Smyth continued to battle with Bauhs for second before pulling away to claim the runner-up position, running 34:52. Bauhs was timed in 35:01 while Bruce, Curtis, and Vall completed the qualifiers for the U.S. team, running 35:16, 35:22 and 35:25 respectively.

Bauhs' run provides a further sign that he is beginning to make some serious strides as a professional. He finished just behind Olympian Galen Rupp at the University of Washington Invitational 3K - a very talented field - in 7:51 just two weeks prior to his run in Spokane.

Joining Bauhs in Spokane last weekend was his former Chico State coach, Gary Towne, who finished 15th in the men's master's 8K in 28:18.