Five track meets are set for beginning of January to get
your indoor season going. Saturday, the Boston U All-comers
meets have sections for all abilities in the 3000 / 400 /
mile / 200 / 800. Races begin at 10:00 a.m.
Saturday afternoon at 5pm, the RCC Tiger Invite, a more
complete meet with field events, runs at the Reggie Lewis
Center. Again, all abilities welcome. Register at
DirectAthletics.com.
A new field-event-only meet is set for Holy Cross College
in Worcester on Tuesday, January 6; events include the PV,
LJ, TJ, WT, and SP. 4PM start, open and masters invited.
Finally, the Needham TC Youth Invite takes place at the
Reggie Lewis Center on Sunday, January 11. It's for ages
5-16, with a pretty complete schedule. See
NeedhamTrack.org.
And, the 40th annual Dartmouth Relays spans Jan 9-11; most
events are closed at this time, but masters can still enter
their events on Friday 1/9; details are at
lancertiming.com.
More details can be found at www.usatfne.org/track/.
USATF-NE Managing Director Steve Vaitones was named an
IAAF Level B Road Race Course Measurer. He joins New
Englanders Ray Nelson and Justin Kuo among the 50 measurers
in the United States at either the B or A level. There are
just 15 measurers with an "A" level in the USA, Jim Gerweck
(CT, A) and David Katz (NY, A) being the only two A's in
NE/NY. (Wayne Nicoll of New Hampshire, now retired from
measuring courses, is an Emeritus A.) Worldwide, there are
just 65 A and 111 B measurers.
One team champion and three other team medalists
highlighted the National Junior Olympic Cross Country
Championship in Virginia on Saturday. Led by Jack
Collopy, Granite State Flash scored a convincing
win in the Youth Boys (age 13-14) race. Collopy, fifth
overall, was the highest finishing New England association
athlete on the day.
Two other teams earned silver medals in the ten age group
races. Waltham Track Club Midget Girls (age 11-12,
Olja Rapaic 19) and Nitehawks Sports Club Midget Boys
(Max Lachance, 13) matched that place in their respective
races. Final team medal winners were the Nashual PAL
(Conor Canfield, 14) third in the Bantam Boys (age 10 and
Under) race. Team RUN just missed a podium appearance
in the Youth Girls race. In their first appearance at
Nationals, they tied for third on points, but were edged on
the tie-breaker (team with best fifth runner). With a number
of other top 10 placings, it was the best JO showing for
local clubs in a number of years.
14 runners finished in the top 25, earning "all American"
honors.
Full results can be found at the USATF Website.
Rebecca Donoghue (New Balance Boston) battled
strong fields and brutal conditions to win the USA Fall
National / Club Cross Country Championships at Spokane,
Washington on Saturday. An overnight snowstorm created a
rough course, and while the air was clear by race time,
decreasing temperatures and gale force winds made it the
toughest race ever run for much of the field. Donoghue, an
Olympic Trials qualifier at 5000 meters who also placed well
in both the USA 5K and 10K road championships this fall, won
her first ever USA Championship by 8 seconds in 21:38;
teammate Jenn Donovan, NE Champ, was fifth as only
five runners broke 21:00 for the 6K circuit. The pair, plus
Erin Dromgoole in 6th, led New Balance Boston to a
repeat their runner-up spot, this time behind Boulder Running
Company (69-100) with three time US champion Boston Athletic
Association, led by Kasie Enman (9), third at 128. Also
placing in the 21 team field was the Greater Boston TC (13,
Sara Donahue, 34th).
Men's teams were represented by Greater Boston TC, 30th
among 40 clubs, with top local individuals Justin Lutz
(43) and Mark Miller (55) among 314 finishers.
Masters races had a local flavor with Greater Lowell RR
teammates Patty Foltz and division runner of the year
Bill Dixon taking the age 60+ wins. Maine's Bob
Winn topped the 50+ division in his first race in that
age group (with John Barbour of GLRR 6th). NE champ Dan
Franek (Dirigo RC) raced in second in the M40 division,
heading up a 4th place finish for the club among 18
scorers.
Full results can be found at the USATF Website.
Five New Englanders ran solid races in the 30th annual
Footlocker Scholastic Cross Country Championship in San Diego
on Saturday.
The Girls Race featured three past champions, ensuring an
honest pace and keen competition. Down to the final quarter
mile, the race was true to form as all three past winners
were in the mix. A kick by 2006 winner Jordan Hasay of
California carried her to the lead in the final 100 meters
and to the win, only the sixth runner to win two titles in
this feature event (two are from New England). Three time
qualifier Emily Jones (Bromfield, Harvard MA) closed
her high school XC career with a thirteenth place finish,
with Mass. Division I champ Kristin Kasper (North
Andover) 31st.
Boys race was dominated by Virginia's Solomon Haile, who
was unchallenged afer a mile, with Alaska's first FL
finalist, Trevor Dunbar second (check out his snowstorm mile
time trial in YouTube video). Top New Englander Mike
Moverman (North Easton MA) in 17th, was followed by
Andrew Springer (Westerly RI, 24th) and Phil
Galebach (Medford MA, 32nd), all running well in the
elite 40 runner field.
Detailed stories and full results are, as usual, at
dyestat.com, and at footlockercc.com (with some video.)
For those interested in the meet's history, a listing of
all Footlocker finalists from New England can be found at
usatfne.org/cross.
In international racing over the weekend, Ireland's
Mary Cullen, runaway winner this fall in both the
Mayor's Cup and NE Championships, placed fourth at the
European Championships in Brussels Belgium. Currently
training in Providence, the meet found several other placers
with RI connections representing the Emerals Isle; PC grad
Martin Fagan paced the Open Men in 24th, and Providence
resident Mark Carroll was 42nd. Providence College runner
David McCarthy was tops in green in the Under-23 race, 24th,
with teammate Richard Yeates in 33rd. Also representing
Ireland was BU grad Rosemary Ryan in the women's open,
41st.
Laurie Boemker receieved the Presidents award at the 2008 USATF Annual Meeting.
Photo: Justin Kuo
A steady stream of New England states representative were
announced for their athletic endeavors and contributions at
the USATF convention awards presentation breakfast.
In the high performance division, Olympian Joanne
Dow (Manchester NH) was the Ron Zinn award winner as
outstanding Female Race Walker for 2009, with Theron
Kissinger (Waterbury VT, CTRW) the RW Grand Prix
winner.
Most awards came back to the region from the Masters Long
Distance Running Committee. The Masters Performers of the
Year were Maine's Joan Samuelson and Utah's Dennis
Simonaitis whose NE connections are many - graduate of
Xaverian Brothers HS (Westwood MA), UMass-Lowell, and the HFC
Striders. Tops in Age Divisions included Samuelson (50-54)
for women, and Simonaitis (45-49), Norm Larson (50-54,
VT / Green Mt.AA), Bill Dixon (60-64, Brattleboro VT /
Gr.Lowell Roadrunners), Bill Riley (70-74, Marstons
Mills MA / Cape Cod AC) for men.
Masters Track & Field recognized several Athletes of
the Year in two broad age divisions. Included among Men age
60+ was Bob Matteson (Bennington VT, age 90-94), while
fellow Vermonter Barbara Jordan (South Burlington VT)
was one of just six women in the same age division given
notice.
The Masters T&F Hall of Fame elected Roger Pierce, age
64 of Essex, MA. Roger's accomplishments include more than 20
individual first place titles in U.S. Masters Championships
and 12 medals (8 of them golds) at the outdoor World Masters
Athletic Championships, including 2 golds and a silver in the
400 - his best individual event. He also medalled in the WMA
Indoor Champs at Linz, Austria in 2006, winning both a silver
medal in the M60 400 and a gold medal on the world-record
setting M60 4 x 200 relay there.
New Englanders were also among Contributors brought to the
front of the meeting. The H. Browning Ross Merit Award for
lifelong service to Men's Long Distance Running went to
Bob Sevene, Waltham MA native and coach for several NE
clubs, colleges , and world class athletes over four decades
who now resides (and coaches) in California. The Scott
Hamilton Memorial Award for LDR contributions on the local
association level went to Richard Bolt, past NE
Mountain/Ultra/Trail chair who started similar programs after
moving to Oregon three years ago.
On the Women's Long Distance Running side, the Contributor
of the Year Award, named for our own late Marja Bakker, was
presented to BAA past president and board member Frank
Porter for his work with the Women's Olympic Marathon
Trials.
Officials chair Laurie Boemkerand husband (and
USATF-NE past president) Ron Boemker were recipients
of the Officials' Committee John Davis Award for community
activities and leadership in addition to officiating. Laurie
was also called up for one of a dozen President's Awards for
her long term contributions to USATF.
Three NE delegates were elected or appointed to key
committee positions. Gary Snyder (Gr.Boston TC/Boston
MA) was re-elected as chairman of the Masters Track &
Field Committee, which oversees activities in that
discipline, and will be involved as the World Masters
Championships comes to the US (Sacramento CA) in 2011.
Kathy Nary (Newbury MA) will serve as vice-chair of
Women's Long Distance (Road) Running for the next four years
and Steve Vaitones (Waltham MA) will have the
equivalent position in the Race Walking Committee. Steve was
also re-appointed to USATF's Rules Committee.
Find the full awards lists at www.usatf.org
USA Track & Field began the new Olympiad with
elections, restructuring, and positive words at the
federation's 28th Annual Meeting in Reno, Nevada last week.
The New England association had 15 elected delegates and
several additional representatives at the sessions that
covered all aspects and age groups of the competitive and
administrative aspects of the sport.
Restructuring of the top level of the organization passed
overwhelmingly in the first general session; it will reduce
the National board of directors from 31 to 15, and while some
groups lose a direct representative, they will at minimum
share a spot at the table.
National Director Doug Logan, noted in his first address
to the body how this "remodeling" of the organization's house
will lead to more work toward the organization's common goals
and to less fragmentation. On the job since July, Logan's
keynote address in Sunday's closing session was well
presented and well received. While commenting on the elite
needs of the sport, he also noted the needs at the base level
including uniform standards, statistics and rankings,
increased safety and proficiency in the management of events,
application of newer technologies and creating more
compelling reasons for more in the sport to be members of
USATF. You can read his complete address here.
National championships in most sports committees were
awarded through 2010 (and some beyond that), with several
continuing in or returning the New England venues. Find
meeting summaries and full awards lists at www.usatf.org
Two Massachusetts team had creditable finishes in the Nike
Cross Nationals December 6 final in Portland OR. Yet again,
positions switched between friendly league rivals as Newton
Centre Athletics (Newton South), led by Kelsey Karys (37th),
placed sixth (204 points) in the 22 team field, with Mercury
TC (Lincoln Sudbury) twelfth; MTC top individual was Andrea
Keklak in 67th. Manlius NY was a solid winner with 66 points.
Individual Abby Levene (Phillips Andover) placed 57th.
The boys' race was won by North Spokane (WA) with Danbury
CT 21st; Francis Hernandez (Nashua NH, 63rd) and Aaron
Watanabe (Norwich VT, 90th) raced the final, which saw
the top 72 cross the finish line within a minute of each
other.
Results and stories are at Dyestat.com.
The two major post-season events for high schoolers held their qualifying races on Saturday, and both finals will have strong representation from New England.
The Nike Cross Nationals in Wappingers Falls NY hosted runners from 8 states bid to fill just 2 team and 5 indiviual spots for the December 6 final in Portland OR. Massachusetts teams led the charge in the girls race, as a season long rivalry added to the battle. Mercury TC (Lincoln-Sudbury) turned the tables on Newton Centre Athletics (Newton South) from state championships with a 3 point margin, but the important result was that both sevens will head to Oregon as the 1-2 places. Mercury had a 63-66 edge over NCA, as all but one of the scorers from both were in the top 20; Glastonbury CT (93) and Phillips Andover (119) are in the running for an at-large berth. Overall winner was Kelsey Karys (Newton MA), and Heidi Caldwell (3, Lyme NH) and Abby Levene (4, Phillips Andover) advance as individuals.
New Jersey teams swept the boys races with Danbury CT 4th and Bishop Guertin (NH) Cardinals seventh. A pair of locals will head west as individuals; Aaron Watanabe (5, Norwich VT) and Francis Hernandez (7, BGuertin NH) made the cut among the top 5 non-advancing-team finishers.
At the same time further south in the Empire State, the long running Footlocker XC Championship Regional qualifier at Van Cortlandt Park, New York - the "individual" championships - found two Bay Staters were among the ten girls advancing to the December 13 final in San Diego. Massachusetts Division II state champ Emily Jones (Harvard MA) made her third straight Footlocker final, winning the race in 17:31, the fastest time in the Northeast qualifier since before 1999. Joining her will be MA Divison I winner Kristin Kasper (North Andover), who finished seventh in 18:10.
The boys' race did one better with three qualifiers from the NE association; Andrew Springer (Westerly RI, 4th, 15:39), Michael Moverman (North Easton MA 6th, 15:48), and Philip Galebach (Medford MA, 7th, 15:49).
Full results and detailed stories on both meets can be found at Dyestat.com.
Jack Collopy (Granite State Flash) has won both the NE and Region I Youth Boys races
The t-shirts say it all for Team Run - National Qualifier. The club placed 2nd and advances to Nationals in their first year at JO.
New England Association runners dominated the team results at the Region I Junior Olympic Cross Country championships on Sunday in New York City, and will be line up with qualifiers from around the country at the National JO Meet in two weeks.
The top 3 teams, and other individuals finishing in the top 20 qualified for the Nationals on December 13 in Virginia. New England runners again made up the largest percentage of all fields in the 10 races contested against the five other associations of Region I.
Cool temperatures and light winds made for good racing weather at the fabled Van Cortlandt Park course, where ten races in five age groups were contested. Two of the day's individual winners were from New England. Jack Collopy won the Youth Boys race, and not only led his Granite State Flash A Youth Boys (born 1994-95) team to a strong win, but the Flash B team raced to second, and thus will have two squads in the Nationals. Haley Gray of Vermont was the gold medalist in the Young Women's (born 1990-91) race.
Top three finishes were recorded by nine New England runners beyond the two winners. Conor Canfield (PAL, BB), Molly McCabe (GateCity, MG), Emma Hulburd (YW), and Mitch Leveille (SentinelStr, YM) were silver medalists, and Brendan Kennedy (GSF,BB), Madeline Berkson (ProvC, MG), Kaitlin McGahie (CMS, IG), Kelly Halligan (IG), Caroline Capuano (SS, YW) won bronze.
The Midget Girls (born 1996-97) race was a New England team sweep, as Waltham TC (MA), Gate City Striders (NH), and Sentinel Striders (RI) went 1-2-3, with six more New Englanders going as individuals in that group. NE's Nitehawks Sports Club (MA) dominated the challenging Midget Boys race, and Nashua PAL's Bantam Boys (born 1998+) scored the fourth team win for the association. Granite State Flash will have five teams heading south, with PAL and Sentinels both with three teams. The final squad in Virginia will be Team RUN, placing third in the Youth Girls in their first appearance in the JO program. In total, New England will represent with 15 of the 27 teams from Region I heading to Nationals.
The full results, along with results from other Regions, are available on the National site, and info on National meet is at the USATF JO Page.
Topped by a Divsion III win by Middlebury, local colleges were well represented at the three NCAA Division Cross Country Championships held on November 22 and 24.
Divison III action was centered in Hanover Indiana, where the Vermont scored the school's fifth XC title. Led by senior Alexandra Krieg (via Wellesley MA HS) in sixth, they were the first of five New England schools in the results. Williams made the awards podium as well placing third, with M.I.T. 10th in their first ever trip to Nationals. Colby (17th) and Amherst (28th) were in the 32 team field. New England qualifying race winner Elise Tropiano of Amherst was the individual silver medalist.
In the men's race, the men from Purple Valley matched their women's team placing of third behind Cortland (NY) State; they were led by NE qualifier winner Edgar Kosgey (Eldoret Kenya) in 10th. Trinity (CT) was seventh, with Brandeis (20th) and Amherst (24th) also in the chase.
Division II racing was at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania, where Adams State (Colorado) swept the team wins. The Northeast Region team reps in both races were U.Mass-Lowell and Stonehill. Top locals were UML senior Ruben Sanca in 45th, and Bentley University senior Melissa Nash (63rd). Men's team placings found Lowell 13th and Stonehill 19th, while the women's teams reversed order, with the SkyHawks 21st and the RiverHawks 22nd among 24 teams.
Monday, the Division I titles were on the line at Indiana State University, and the top ranked teams going in held true to form, as Washington's women and Oregon's men took the top step on the podium. Vermont's Andrew Wheating was 7th man (75th overall) for Oregon. Deeper in the men's race, Providence was the sole NE men's team in 20th spot, as sophomore David McCarthy led the way in 19th overall. Women's rankings had two NE squads, Providence, fronted by Danette Doetzel in 31st in a creditable 13th place, and Boston College in 27th in the 32 school field. First local finisher across the line was Andrea Walkonen of Boston University in 21st.
A number of other six-state high school products were competitor for squads making the big show, and full results for all three division races are at ncaachampionships.com .
The winning individuals and coaches of the top teams at
last weekend's NCAA Division III national qualifying meet at
Williams are among a select group receiving Regional Athlete
and Coach of the Year Awards from the U.S. Track & Field
and Cross Country Coaches Association today.
Men's race winner Edgar Kosgey (Williams) and
women's victor Elise Tropiano (Amherst) were runaway
champions who led their teams to a spot on the starting line
in this coming weekend's NCAA DIII championships.
Coaches of the top teams received regional honors as well,
with Pete Farwell completing a Williams sweep of the
men's awards, and Terry Aldrich, the coach of
Middlebury's top-ranked women's team. Williams' men have had
two wins and nine top-10 finishes since 1994 under Farwell's
tutelage, while Aldrich hopes to bring home Middlebury's
fifth national title Saturday in Hanover IN.
Junior Olympic XC Midget Girl's winner Molly McCabe (photo: Bill Spencer)
The USATF NE Junior Olympics raced at the Burrillville
Middle School in Rhode Island for the first time, and the
largest number of entries in several years - 550 - ran
competitive races to secure spots for next week's Region I
meet.
The midget girls race was a tight battle and may well be a
preview of how the Nationals (December 13 in Virginia) will
look at the front, as GCS Triad responded to the challenge of
several other clubs to win. Granite State Flash scored a
perfect 15 to win the Youth boys division, and qualified
their B team as well; 6 total Flash squads will race
regionals. Nitehawks Sports Club was almost as good, scoring
17 in the midget boys. Other clubs winning team titles
included Nashua PAL and the host Sentinel Striders.
The full results may be enjoyed at the NE cross
country page. The top 3 teams and individuals in the top
20 at Region I Van Cortlandt Park in New York on November 23
qualify for the Nationals.
One new event, several repeat races, and a pair of
returnees will highlight the 2009 USATF-New England Grand
Prix series. The seven Road Race Championships composing the
coming year's series were selected Monday evening at Brandeis
University.
Thirteen races were whittled down to the selected seven
through a number of close votes. The Lone Gull 10K in
Gloucester MA will be a first time championship, and the
Bedford Rotary 12K and DH Jones 10 Mile both return after a
few years out of the circuit. The events covers three of the
association's 4 states (no bids from Vermont races) and for
the most part, do not conflict with other USATF-NE series or
championship events.
The 2009 schedule:
Feb 22 - DH Jones 10 Mile, Amherst MA
Mar 15 - New Bedford Half-Marathon, New Bedford MA
May 16 - Bedford Rotary 12K, Bedford NH
June 7 - Rhody 5K, Lincoln RI
Sept 12 - Ollie 5 Mile, South Boston MA
Sept 20 - Lone Gull 10K, Gloucester MA
Oct 18 - Bay State Marathon, Lowell MA
Congratulations to those races, and thanks to those others
who submitted bids.
Final results of 2008 are posted on the GP
Page
Providence college grads and internationalists Mary
Cullen and Dylan Wykes put on one-runner shows in
winning the USATF-New England cross country championship
races at Franklin Park on Sunday.
Irish ace Cullen, training in Providence and who had set a
new Franklin Park 5K course record at the Mayor's Cup 2 weeks
ago, again ran from the front and recorded the third fastest
6K time ever - 19:39 - in winning her third NE race. Her
previous golds were in 2005 and 2006, the latter being the
old CR of 19:48. Joan Nesbitt set the circuit standard at
19:15 at the 1995 USA Nationals.
Wykes, who ran for the BAA for several years after college
before returning to his native Canada, dominate the men's
race passing the 8K mark in a time that would have been in
the money at the Mayor's Cup, and continued on to clock 30:04
for the 10K contest the fastest on the course since Keith
Kelly's win in 2003.
Jenn Donovan (New Balance Boston) and Harry
Norton (Lynx Elite) copped the New England titles; it was
the first NE championship of any type for both harriers.
Donovan's win and teammate Rolland Lavallee's 3rd place in
the men's summaries led their club to a pair of second place
finishes behind the B.A.A. (37-40 for women, 33-59 for
men).
Ageless Joan Samuelson ventured south from Maine to run
the course her two children had races at the NE college
championships in October, and proved that she could still run
varsity for just about every college in the 6 state region as
the 52 year old placed 11th overall in the open/masters
women's race in 21:56. Tops among 40-49 was Christine Reaser
(Dirigo), with Patty Foltz (GLRR) and Marlenna Yannetti (CSU)
took 60+ and 70+ titles, respetively. Liberty AC swept the
40+, 50+, and 60+ team titles.
Masters Men ran a separate 8K contest, with Dan
Franek (Dirigo) fastest over the four loops in 26:. Led
by Mike Nahom and Kent Lemme in second and third, Greater
Springfield Harriers held off the Dirigo group 37-44 for the
40+ plaque. Greater Lowell beat Green Mountain 21-35 in the
50+ scoring, and GCS Triad was the sole 60+ team, and hence
the winners.
Full results are at the XC page.
The NCAA Division II National Qualifier for the Northeast
Region followed the New England Championships, and the
competition was just as spirited as the earlier races. Meet
host U.Mass-Lowell and state rival Stonehill repeated as the
two team qualifying spots for the national meet at Slippery
Rock State (PA) in two weeks; the scores were 43-54 for the
men, and 46-56 for the women.
The winning Riverhawks also had the race winners; Ruben
Sanca ran to a convincing win in the men's race in 30:31, as
his time would have been second in the earlier NE
championship race, while teammate Christina DaLomba broke the
field in the final mile to lead the women's race.
The New England HS championships took to the challenging
traditional Derryfield Park course in Manchester NH. Mark
Feigen (East Greenwich RI) pulled a mild upset over state
champ and Brown Invite champ Andrew Westerly (Westerly RI) fo
the individual gold, while Danbury CT, Amity CT, and Hanover
NH went a close 1-2-3 in 129-137-143. Talk about a high
densiity finish; 200 runners finished between 16:00 and
17:59!
The girls race was headed by soph Abbey Leonardi
(Kennebunk ME) with Glastonbury CT, outdistancing Hanover NH
and LaSalle RI 8-150-188 among the teams . Results are at
lancertiming.com.
The Massachusetts schedule is 2 weeks behind the rest of
New England, so were contesting their divisional
championships on Saturday. Several notable performances were
registered in the eastern Mass. meet; first, senior Emily
Lanois of Hamilton-Wenham ran to her fourth straight Division
IV win. She led her H-W Generals to the lowest D-IV winning
score ever, 27 points. In Division I, pair of nationally
ranked squads duked it out, with Newton South bettering
Lincoln Sudbury 29-35; coach Steve McChesney's total was also
a new D-I record score. In Central MA, Emily Jones
(Bromfield/Harvard MA) was 1:15 better than any other girl on
the day for a repeat D2 win. Results for all Mass. divisional
meets are at Coolrunning.com.
The selection meeting for next year's USATF New England Road Race Grand Prix races will be held at 7PM on Monday, November 10, at Brandeis University in the Gosman Athletic Center (the same site at last year). All USATF-NE members as of October 1 have a vote in selecting the 7 race series. The order of selection is drawn randomly on meeting night, and events make presentations by race distance.
And, if you know of a race that might want to bid to host a 2009 Championship, there is still time to submit a bid. Go to the Grand Prix page and download a bid form. They are due back in the office by Friday, November 8.
Contact the office if you have any questions.
The USA Track & Field Foundation and sponsors - Twin Cities Marathon, Chevron Houston Marathon and Marathonguide.com - announced the 2008 USA Distance Project Individual Athlete Grants. Among the five recipients receiving a $4,000 grant are New England runners Molly Huddle (Providence RI) and Nate Jenkins (Lowell MA). Huddle, part of the Run Providence initiative, represented the USA at the World Cross Country Championship in March and won the USA 10K Road Championship held at the Tufts 10K for Women race in Boston three weeks ago. Jenkins recorded a surprising 8th place finish at the 2008 Olympic Marathon Trials and has placed highly in other major US road events this year; he's an assistant coach at U.Mass-Lowell.
The USA Distance Project, dedicated to advancing elite distance running in America through support of group training centers and "up & coming" athletes, is a collaborative partnership between major distance running events, USA Track & Field, and the USA Track & Field Foundation.
For more information on the USA Track & Field Foundation, please visit usatffoundation.org.
Mayor's Cup women's winner Mary Cullen (photo courtesy the B.A.A)
A record field of more than 1,000 entrants and a
course-record run by Mary Cullen highlighted the 19th
edition of the Mayor's Cup Cross Country Races, presented by
the Boston Athletic Association and adidas, and directed by
USATF-New England and the Boston Centers for Youth &
Families. Overnight rains didn't discourage anyone from
making the trip to Boston's Franklin Park.
As more than 300 kids, ages 14 and under, took part in the
morning slate of youth events, the rain and clouds gave way
to sunny, blue skies. The winners of the age-group 1.1 mile
races were
10-and-under: Jeremy Taylor (Waltham TC) 6:56;
Girls: Leah Brams (Waltham TC) 7:18 11-12 Boys:
Jeremy Alley-Tarter (Nitehawks SC) 6:11; Girls:
Julia Kern (Waltham TC) 6:37 13-14 Boys: Daniel
Ewart (Granite State Flash) 5:44; Girls: Robin
Gross (Waltham TC) 6:30
The Franklin Park 5K, open to men and women of all ages
and ability levels boasted 280 finishers this year, up from
187 a year ago. Leading the charge was Jordan Hamm, a
high school senior from Buffalo, NY, ahead of Omar Aden and
Ahmed Ali, high school teammates from Charlestown, MA.
Brandeis grad Caitlin Malloy recorded a comfortable
37-second victory in the women's division.
In the Women's Championship 5K, two-time defending champ
Aziza Aliyu of the Westchester Track Club was looking to
become the first woman to win three straight Mayor's Cup
titles. Yet despite running faster than she had in either of
her victories, Ayilu found herself chasing former Providence
College star Cullen (Providence, RI) from the gun. Cullen,
the runner-up here in 2005, led the pack through one mile in
a brisk 5:07, and by two miles she was alone in front. By the
time she broke the finish tape in 16:08, Cullen was 28
seconds ahead of runner-up Ayilu, as well as 14 seconds under
the meet and course record set by Kathy Franey in 1997.
Cullen is preparing for the European Cross Country
Championships in Belgium, where she will represent her native
Ireland.
In the Men's Championship 8K a large pack, which included
2006 champ Stephen Chemlany (Westchester TC), passed through
one mile in 4:35 and two miles in 9:35. By four miles,
reached in 19:35, Jacob Korir (KEN / Richmond, KY) had
emerged at the front, and shortly after that he surged away
unopposed for the win. Breaking the tape in 23:54, he was 10
seconds ahead of runner-up Sean Burris. A three-time NCAA
All-American while at Eastern Kentucky University, Korir was
sixth in the 2007 NCAA cross country championship. He now
represents the RIADHA club out of New York.
The Westchester Track Club and New Balance Boston captured
the men's and women's team titles, respectively.
Full results and pictures are at coorunning.com, with more info at
baa.org.
(Story courtesy of the BAA)
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