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Bekele Double Repeats; Keflezighi Finishes a Career-Best 11th at World Cross

By Charlie Mahler, Running USA wire

AVENCHES, Switzerland - (March 30, 2003) - Meb Keflezighi put himself in the thick of the lead pack in the men's 12K race at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships on Sunday. By the time he crossed the finish line in 11th place, the Team USA California star had recorded his best-ever finish at the event, but witnessed the gulf that still separates him from the very best on the planet.

The other USA runners and teams in action today looked across the same chasm, though in a more pronounced way, in the final day of competition at the Championships. The USA junior men began the day with an 8th place finish, the senior women's 4K team finished 13th and Keflezighi's senior men's 12K team placed 7th. Yesterday's senior women's 8K team bronze and Deena Drossin's
individual silver would be the only precious metal objects taken home from this former ancient Roman town.

Keflezighi's best World Cross finish - he had finished 13th and 14th previously - came after surviving the aftermath of the tactics the Kenyan team employed to win its 18th consecutive 12K title and had devised to try to break the grip young Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia has on the individual crowns. Charging surges through the race by Abraham Cherono, Sammy Kipketer, Paul Koech and Patrick Ivuti unglued the lead group, forced Keflezighi to forge on amid the file of dropped challengers, but left Bekele unfazed. He sped away from his final pursuer before the bell lap of the demanding 2K circuit to win in 35:56. The 20-year-old duplicated his unprecedented 4K/12K
double of last year and now owns five World Cross golds (he won the junior men's title in 2001). Keflezighi of Mammoth Lakes, Calif. clocked 37:16.

"I felt really good, but I went out a little bit too fast," the Eritrean-born, 2000 U.S. Olympian said. "The team plan was to get out fast
and hold our position, and the more I'm out front, the better the team score's going to be. It was tough during the middle of the race. I wished there was someone there that could've helped pull me along."

Following Keflezighi through the chute were Abdi Abdirahman 35th in 38:54, Edwardo Torres 51st in 39:25, Chad Johnson 58th in 39:56, Dave Cullum 71st in 40:24, and Nick Rogers 79th in 41:01. The team scored 112 points. Kenya won with 17 points, Ethiopia followed with 23 and Morocco earned the team bronze with 51.

The junior boys team followed the pace of World Cross veterans Bill Nelson and Tim Moore for their 8th place finish. 2003 USA Junior Cross Country Champion Nelson placed 26th in 24:52 while Moore, the 2002 USA Champion, finished 34th in 25:25. A tightly packed trio completed the scoring - Brett Gotcher finished 44th in 25:48, Andy Weilacher 45th in 25:49, James Hower was 46th in 25:50. Brett Schoolmeester finished 63rd in 26:17.

"The good teams always try to run together and that's what we tried to do," Weilacher explained. "Our group of three - Brett (Gotcher), Fleet (James Hower) and I - we weren't up as far as we wanted to be, but we ran together and that's what we wanted to do."

Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya won the individual title in the event in 22:47. His Kenyan team won the team gold as well, with 15 points. Ethiopia was second with 28 points and Uganda finished third with 48. The USA tallied 121 points.

The senior women's 4K squad was the snake-bitten unit of the USA's World Cross effort this year. Before the event, Olympian Amy Rudolph of Team USA California withdrew from the squad due to injury. In the race itself, only Collette Liss got involved near the front of the field, until she faded in the late going. In the end, the team hobbled home in 13th place.

Sarah Toland lead the five-member squad with a 39th place finish in 13:44, Heather Sagan was 54th in 13:52, Anne Marie Brooks was 56th in 13:54, Liss was 70th in 14:11, and Molly Austin was 77th in 14:26.

"I was fine for most of the race," Liss, the runner-up at the USA Championship this year, said, "then in the last kilometer, I started fading
badly to the point that I felt like I was blacking out. Until that point I was executing what I planned to do. I don't think the warm weather affected me."

Edith Masai defended her individual title in the race by out-kicking yesterday's 8K champ Werknesh Kidane of Ethiopia. Masai clocked 12:43. Kenya, with 18 points, won the team gold in this event as well - part of a team trifecta for the East African endurance powerhouse - followed by Ethiopia in second with 24 points and Morocco in third with 61 points.

IAAF World Cross Country Championships: Day 2 Lausanne-Avenches, Switzerland, Saturday, March 30, 2003

MEN'S 12K
1. Kenenisa Bekele, ETH, 35:56
2. Patrick Ivuti, KEN, 36:09
3. Gebregziabher Gebremariam, ETH, 36:17
4. Richard Limo, KEN, 36:39
5. Paul Koech, KEN, 36:42
6. John Cheruiyot Korir, KEN, 36:50
7. Sileshi Sihine, ETH, 37:03
8. Hicham Chatt, MAR, 37:07
9. Zersenay Tadesse, ERI, 37:10
10. Khalid El Amri, MAR, 37:12

USA Finishers: 11. Meb Keflezighi 37:16; 35. Abdi Abdirahman 38:54; 51. Edwardo Torres 39:25; 58. Chad Johnson 39:56; 71. Dave Cullum 40:24; 79. Nick Rogers 41:01

TEAM
1. Kenya, 17; 2. Ethiopia, 23; 3. Morocco, 51; 4. Spain 68; 5. Portugal 85 United States finished 7th with 112 points.

WOMEN'S 4K
1. Edith Masai, KEN, 12:43
2. Werknesh Kidane, ETH, 12:44
3. Jane Gakunyi, KEN, 12:46
4. Isabella Ochichi, KEN, 12:48
5. Benita Johnson, AUS, 12:48
6. Merima Denboba, ETH, 12:52
7. Tirunesh Dibaba, ETH, 12:54
8. Alla Zhilyayeva, RUS, 12:56
9. Ejagayehu Dibaba, ETH, 12:59
10. Eyerusalem Kuma, ETH, 12:59

USA Finishers: 39. Sarah Toland 13:44; 54. Heather Sagan 13:52; 56. Anne Marie Brooks 13:54; 70. Collette Liss 14:11; 77. Molly Austin 14:26

TEAM
1. Kenya, 18; 2. Ethiopia, 24; 3. Morocco, 61; 4. Russia 79; 5. Australia 96 United States finished 13th with 175 points.

JUNIOR MEN'S 8K
1. Eliud Kipchoge, KEN, 22:47
2. Boniface Kiprop, UGA, 22:49
3. Solomon Bushendich, KEN, 22:51
4. Augustine Choge, KEN, 22:55
5. Girma Assefa, ETH, 22:58
6. Getachew Dinku, ETH, 23:10
7. Moses Mosop, KEN, 23:17
8. Tessema Absher, ETH, 23:22
9. Solomon Molla, ETH, 23:27
10. Barnaba Kosgei, KEN, 23:45

USA Finishers: 26. Billy Nelson 24:52; 34. Tim Moore 25:25; 44. Brett Gotcher
25:48; 45. Andrew Weilacher 25:49; 46. James Hower 25:50; 63. Bret
Schoolmeester 26:17

TEAM
1. Kenya, 15; 2. Ethiopia, 28; 3. Uganda, 48; 4. Morocco 63; 5. Eritrea 72 United States finished 8th with 121 points.

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

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