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USATF New England
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November 20, 2002
Contacts: | Nancy Hobbs USATF MUT Sport Council PO Box 9454 Colorado Springs, CO 80932 (719) 573-4405/fax (719) 573-4408 Trlrunner@aol.com | Dave Dunham USATF MUT Sport Council. 108 Ferry Rd Bradford, MA 01835 (978) 373-9118 phone/fax dave.dunham@verizon.net |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: USATF Mountain Runners of the Year 2002
On Saturday, December 7, the 2002 USATF Mountain Runner of the Year awards will be presented Hyatt Regency in Kansas City, Missouri during a breakfast banquet as part of the USATF annual convention. For the first time masters athletes will be honored in the mountain running discipline as well as open athletes
The USATF Mountain Runner of the Year award recipients in the open category are Paul Low, Amherst, MA and Anita Ortiz, Eagle, CO and Craig Fram, Plaistow, NH and Kari DiStefano, Telluride, CO in the masters category.
Paul Low, 28, Amherst, MA was a member of the Teva US Mountain Running
Team earning his spot on the team with a second-place finish at the Vail Hill
Climb (Central regional selection race) and a fourth-place finish at the Mt
Washington Hill Climb (East regional selection race). Low was the top US finisher
at international events including the World Mountain Running Trophy in Innsbruck,
Austria (32nd overall), the WMRA Grand Prix race in Susa, Italy, and Sierre-Zinal
Mountain Race in Sierre, Switzerland. Additional top finishes in 2002 included
a win at Colorado's Barr Trail Mountain Race, a course record-win at the 7-Sisters
Mountain Race in Massachusetts, third place at Pack Monadnock (third race in
the USATF New England mountain circuit), and fourth place in the USATF New England
10K Championships (30:41). Low was also a US team member in 1999 and 2000 (second
and fifth US finisher respectively). Low was born and raised in Mount Pleasant,
Michigan where he graduated from Central Michigan University in 1999 with a
B.S. in Biology and Geology. He is a graduate student at UMass Amherst in Geoscience
studying igneous petrology and tectonics and represents the Central Massachusetts
Striders.
Anita Ortiz, 38, Eagle, CO was virtually unbeatable in the mountains
in 2002. Ortiz traveled to all three of the mountain running team selection
races winning both the Vail Hill Climb and Wolverine Hill Climb and finishing
second at Mount Washington (first US finisher) to earn her spot on the Teva
US Mountain Running Team. Her exceptional 11th place finish at the World Mountain
Running Trophy was the best finish by a US woman since 1995, the first year
the US sent a women's team to the Worlds. Says Teva teammate Julie Bryan, "Anita
performs to top standards while being a school teacher, wife, and mother of
four young children. She does what it takes to be the best in many areas of
her life." Adds training partner Ellen Miller, "I participated in
many snowshoe races with Anita this past winter, and not only does she win all
the races, but she exhibits great sportsmanship, and a cheerful attitude at
the events. At the races, she often waits at the finish line for some of us
slower women to finish!" Ortiz was the North American Snowshoe Champion
and US National Snowshoe Champion in 2002. She is a graduate of Colorado State
University and received her Master in Education at Florida State with an impressive
4.0 average. Ortiz teaches kindergarten at Eagle Valley Elementary and has four
children all under the age of 10.
Craig Fram, 44, Plaistow, NH , is among the top master runners in the
country on the track, on the road, and in the mountains. In 2002 Fram won the
masters divisions at Mount Washington (third overall), and at the Wachusett
Mountain Race (second overall) with a time ranking as the third fastest ever
run at Wachusett. Fram's overall victory at Pack Monadnock, the third USATF
NE Mountain circuit race, was exceptional as he beat 2002 Teva US Mountain Running
Team members Paul Low, Richard Bolt, Eric Morse, and Dave Dunham. Fram was a
member of the 1995 US Mountain Running Team, but declined a berth on the 2002
Teva US Mountain Running Team due to work-related travel commitments. He may
try for a spot on the 2003 Teva US Mountain Running Team. "I like to run
2 or 3 of the USATF NE circuit races," noted Fram, "They make a nice
switch from road racing and can be an extreme challenge." Presently Fram
has his sites set on bettering the 5,000 meter indoor track record and his own
US record for 3,000 meters (8:32.5). Fram is the Managing Director of Product
Development for Puma.
Kari DiStefano, 43, Telluride, CO, last year's USATF Mountain Runner
of the Year, earned a spot on the Teva US Mountain Running Team after her second-place
finish at the Vail Hill Climb and was the third US finisher at the World Mountain
Running Trophy. The week after the Trophy Race DiStefano earned a silver medal
in the 40-44 year age division at the second annual WMRA World Masters Mountain
Running Championships shaving more than one minute off her finish time from
the week before (same course). DiStefano was victorious in the inaugural running
of the Telluride 360 Hill Climb edging out former US Mountain Running Team members
Lisa Goldsmith (1997) and Rene Frazee (2000). Equally impressive on the roads,
Distefano set the course record in the hilly Rim Rock 37KM last November with
a time of 2:28:07. DiStefano has three children and works as a mapper for San
Miguel County.
This is the fourth year for the USATF Mountain Runner of the Year awards. Past
winners include Colorado athletes Danelle Ballengee, Matt Carpenter, and Kari
DiStefano, Cindy O'Neill, Dave Dunham, MA, and Eric Morse, VT.
Criteria for this year's selection included top results in US mountain/trail competitions and international competitions during 2002, current USATF membership, and serving as an ambassador for the sport.
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