| Running USA Wire 23, March 27, 2003 |
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Drossin Earns Another World Cross Silver Medal AVENCHES, Switzerland - (March 29, 2003) - Five minutes prior to the finish of the senior women's 8K race at the World Cross Country Championships held Saturday, event dignitaries carried the winner's gold medal on a platter toward the finish line. Out on the course, however, Deena Drossin, who had led from the first kilometer on, didn't seem to be getting herself any closer to the gold. Drossin, 30, whose hard pace had winnowed the lead pack to just herself and another runner, was so far unable to shake Ethiopia's Worknesh Kidane. In the end, when the medals, dignitaries and finish tape were all in place, Kidane sprinted away from Drossin to win her first world title in 25:53. Drossin of Mammoth Lakes, Calif. clocked 26:02 for second place. Drossin's performance, which matched her silver medal last year, was in step with the rest of the USA squads on a hit-and-miss first day of the event held under sunny skies with temperatures nearing the 70s. The Drossin-led senior women's squad, silver medalists in 2002, finished in the bronze medal position this year. The junior women's tied the country's best-ever finish with a 4th place showing - only 4 points away from third place, while the senior men's 4K team placed 10th. Team USA California's Drossin, who entered her race as the top returning runner from 2002, appeared to take the result in stride. "I am not really disappointed in my race today," Drossin, who will run the Flora London Marathon in two weeks, said. "I felt a little sluggish and a little tired in my legs from the weeks of high mileage. My body might have been in shock from not doing too much mileage, as I tapered a bit for this race." "I love cross country. It's my passion," the 2000 Olympian continued. "I want to keep coming back to this race until my legs give out on me. I'm not sure I want to keep running here when I'm 38 or 39 like Colleen (De Reuck). Hopefully by then, I'm running around chasing little ones then." Scoring for the team were De Reuck, last year's individual bronze medalist, who finished eighth in 26:49, Team USA Minnesota's Katie McGregor who was 16th in 27:36 and Team USA California's Elva Dryer who was 19th in 27:43. Also running for the USA were Team USA California's Milena Glusac, 27th in 27:57 and Team USA Minnesota's Sara Wells, 41st in 28:43. Ethiopia won the senior women's team competition with 18 points, Kenya was second with 27 and the USA scored 38. The women's 8K team bronze medal performance continued the recent U.S. distance running resurgence at a world class level as for the fourth straight year, the U.S. won a team medal. In 2000, the women's 8K earned a bronze medal; the 2001 men's 12K team bronze and the 2002 women's 8K team silver. Also, the 1998 women's 4K team won bronze medals. De Reuck of Boulder, Colo. shared Drossin's attitude about the her performance and the team's. "Last year I was third as an individual and this year I got 8th, but I feel just as happy to get back on the podium as a team." the South African Olympian turned U.S. citizen explained. "I thought if I had a good run I could be top-15 and a great run top-10, and I came out eighth, so I'm okay." In the men's 4K race, the USA was, perhaps fittingly in a time of war, led by the squad's two soldier-athletes. Sandu Rebenciuc, a sergeant in the U.S. Army and Dan Browne, a captain in the U.S. Army Reserve, finished 32nd and 38th, respectively. Rebenciuc clocked 11:47. Browne ran 11:49. The team finished 10th with 153 points. Luke Watson crossed the line 57th in 12:02 and Karl Savage was 60th in 12:03, to round out the scoring. Additionally, Dan Wilson finished 61st in 12:04 and Ian Connor finished 62nd in 12:04. "Where I was a quarter into the race is where I stayed," Rebenciuc said of his race over the snaking course that featured bridges and gullies and surfaces of grass and packed earth. "You can't pass! There were points where I was just jogging - there's no room to go anywhere - and there were points where it was really fast, just a sprint. It was back and forth back and forth." Kenya handily won the 4K team competition with 14 points. They were unable able, however, to team-up successfully against defending 4K (and 12K) champion Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia who sprinted away in the final quarter mile to win in 11:01. Ethiopia was the second place team with 31 points. Morocco was third with 44. The USA junior women's team, composed entirely of collegians, matched the fourth place finish of the 1995 squad at Durham, England for the best ever run by USA's women's 19-and-under contingent. The team scored 82 points. Ethiopia won with 14 points, Kenya was second with 22 and Morocco edged the USA out of medal with 78. Amy Hastings led the USA with a 20th place finish in 22:34 for the 6200 meter course. Rebecca Walter was 25th in 22:50, 2003 USA Cross Country Champion Clara Horowitz was 39th in 23:35 and Julia Lucas rounded out scorers with her 41st place 23:40 run. Angela Homan was 51st in 24:02 and Laura Hodgson was 58th in 24:08. Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia won the individual title in 20:21. Racing resumes on Sunday with the Junior Men's 8K at 1:30pm local time followed by the Senior Women's 4K at 2:20pm and the Senior Men's 12K at 3:00pm. IAAF World Cross Country Championships: Day 1 WOMEN'S 8K Additional USA Finishers: 16. Katie McGregor 27:36; 19. Elva Dryer 27:43; 27. Milena Glusac 27:57; 41. Sara Wells 28:43 TEAM USA Finishers: 32. Sandu Rebenciuc 11:47; 38. Dan Browne 11:49; 57. Luke Watson 12:02; 60. Karl Savage 12:03; 61. Dan Wilson 12:04; 62. Ian Connor 12:04 TEAM For News, Complete Team USA Roster, Schedule & Complete Results and more on the World Cross Country Championships, go to the USA Track & Field website at: http://www.usatf.org/events/2003/IAAFWorldXCChampionships/news.shtml
Contacts: Karen Sherman, Race Director, (502) 261-4987 Graff Wins USA Road Title at Papa John's 10 Miler
- Hellebuyck Sets U.S. Masters Record LOUISVILLE, Ky. - (March 29, 2003) - Chris Graff of Palo Alto, Calif. won his first USA Championship at the Papa John's 10 Miler held Saturday morning in Louisville, Kentucky. The 27-year-old St. John's graduate who led or shared the lead throughout the race set a national championship record with his 47:09 - a pace of 4:43 per mile. The final margin of victory was 32 seconds for the Nike Farm Team member who took a commanding lead at the 7 mile mark after scorching that mile in 4:26. 2000 USA 10K champion Scott Strand of Birmingham, Ala. who pressed the pace throughout the race finished second (47:41); also under the old championship record of 47:44 by Jimmy Hearld in 1998. Under partly cloudy skies and 40 degree temperatures,
a lead pack of a dozen
runners including pre-race favorite Nolan Swanson (5th place), Keith
Dowling
(6th), Eddy Hellebuyck (8th), Graff and Strand hit the 4 mile the mark
in
19:07 before Graff started his championship push. After back-to-back
4:41
miles in the hills of Iroquois Park, Graff pulled away from the pack.
Matt With his 48:20, the 42-year-old Hellebuyck, who resides in Albuquerque, NM and is a native of Belgium, shattered the U.S. 10 mile masters record of 49:34 previously held by Paul Pilkington of Utah. Papa John's, the country's 6th largest 10 miler, hosted its first national championship and a strong U.S. field including elite runners from 20 states contested the first USA 10 Mile Championship since 1999. Elite athlete coordinator Jim Estes was "ecstatic over the times of the top 5 athletes and very pleased with the turnout for a new national championship." As the third race on the 2003 Men's USA Running Circuit, a USA Track & Field road series that features USA Championships from the 5K to marathon, the top 10 at Papa John's earned important Circuit points (15 for first, 12 for second, 10 for third, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1). With his win, the U.S. 10 mile champion Graff vaulted from 10th to 4th (23 points), while Scott Strand moved from 6th to a tie for second with Kevin Collins (24 points). Team USA California's Ryan Shay, the 2003 USA Marathon champion, is the USARC leader with 33 points. The 2003 USARC - nine events for men and seven for
women - offers over
$340,000 in prize money and a $25,000 grand prix ($6000, $4000 and
$2500) for
the top three men and women. The next men's race is the USA 8K Championship
hosted by the New York Road Runners on April 5 in Central Park. The
women
return to action also April 5 for the Michelob Ultra USA Marathon Papa John's 10 Miler: USA Men's Championship MEN NOTE: James Mutuse of Kenya finished 6th place overall (48:08), but he was not eligible for the USA Championship. Mile Splits For complete results and more, go to the race website at: http://www.papajohns.com/louisville/index.htm 2003 USA Running Circuit Standings MEN after three races 2003 USARC Champions
MEN WOMEN Upcoming USARC Races: |
| Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Services USATF Road Running Information Center 5522 Camino Cerralvo Santa Barbara, CA 93111 (805) 696-6232, fax (805) 696-6252 |