By Charlie Mahler
Running USA wire
Running USA wire #27-03-02- World Cross Day 1
DUBLIN, Ireland - (March 23, 2002) - Irish eyes smiled on the Americans
here today at the World Cross Country Championships. The USA Senior
Women's 8K team grabbed silver medals and Deena Drossin and Colleen De
Reuck both left footprints on the individual awards podium with impressive
second and third place finishes, respectively.
The second place team placing ties the highest American women's finish
since 1992 and two individual medals for U.S. women has not occurred since
before the IAAF assumed control of the event in 1973. Additionally, the
USA Senior men's short-course and Junior women each finished 5th overall.
Jorge Torres was the first American 4K runner home in 11th place. Erika
Odlaug paced the Junior effort finishing 17th.
Drossin, a 2000 Olympian and member of Team USA California, had American
hearts racing midway through the event as she ran a half-step in front of
personal heroine and eventual winner Paula Radcliffe. Radcliffe made her
move at the start of the final lap. The defending champion's 9 second win
- 26:55 to 27:04 - was not exactly comfortable as Drossin, 29, fought the
Brit to the finish hoping the gradual, rutted, windy climb could help here
close the gap.
"I respect Paula and everything she's done in the sport," said Drossin of
Mammoth Lakes, Calif. "But when the gun goes off, she's also my
competitor. I was trying to push the pace, and trying to set it on my own
terms. Her move was more gradual, and coming uphill towards the finish, I
felt like I was gaining on her."
De Reuck, as well, used the course's deceptively tough stretch, to seal
her medal bid. It took a hard, rough sprint for the Boulder, Colo.
resident to nail down the bronze against five close contenders.
"I didn't want a sprint finish, but that's what I had," the three-time
South Africa Olympian-turned U.S. citizen said. "It was to my advantage
because it was in the rough section and into the wind so strength came
into play. I didn't want to lose any positions since I knew it was also a
team event and I didn't want to be the one who caused the team to sputter.
It was a great inspiration to me to look up and see Deena in second and I
just wanted to hold third place."
The team silver medal, though greeted with joy by the American traveling
party, was still a step short of the team's ultimate goal of winning the
team event outright - something they thought they could do on a great day.
Ethiopia, considered by some the weaker of the two East African powers,
rallied for the win with 28 points by placing four runners in the top 10.
The USA tallied 38 points, while the Kenyans, champions in 2001, scored
41.
The USA women's team got their noses into the event from the start. Four
minutes into the race, all six runners were positioned within the top-25.
Drossin and De Reuck ran in the top 10 from the beginning. Early on, it
looked like Elva Dryer would be key to American success, but she faded on
the second lap. Team USA California teammates Jen Rhines and Milena Glusac,
however, ran well-paced races that brought them to strong scoring
positions for the U.S. Rhines finished a career-high 12th place as the
USA's third runner and Glusac crossed the finish line 23rd in her maiden
run on World Cross turf. Dryer ended 28th and Amy Rudolph, who started
near Rhines and Glusac and finished supporting Dryer, was 31st.
"It was really the team race that got me going," said Rhines, a 2000
Olympian. "The last lap was tough, but I figured that I had to at least
get the two Kenyans. I didn't want to lose a medal and have it placed on
my head. I just tried to run as hard as I could."
In the 4K men's race, teen sensation Kenenisa Bekele, 19, of Ethiopia
ended the Kenyan four year winner's stranglehold as he powered to a
convincing win in 12:11. Kenya's Luke Kipskosgei was second in 12:18.
Scoring for the USA in the 4K behind Torres for the 5th place men's team
were Matt Lane, 18th in 12:42, USA Fall Cross Country Champion Jared
Cordes, 40th in 12:53 and former NCAA Division III harrier champion Dave
Davis 64th in 13:04. Tony Cosey, 83rd in 13:18 and Jonathan Riley, 97th in
13:28 rounding out the team.
Torres' finish is the best by an American in the short-course since Marc
Davis' 7th at Marrakech, Morocco in 1997
"It was windy in the beginning, but I was able to get out fast any way,"
the 21 year-old Colorado Buffalo said. "I was around 30th early on, but I
just kept pushing it and with about a kilometer left to go I was around
the 15th or 16th spot. From there I tried to catch as many people as I
could."
"It was a race that was really technical and the results were not that
bad," Torres continued. "I was trying to shoot for the top 10, but this is
not that bad. There were some ruts in the course that would cause your
foot to move left and right. It was definitely a strength course, and for
the track runners it was tougher."
For the Junior women, 2001 Foot Locker National High School runner-up
Odlaug's 17th place finish is the best for an American Junior woman since
Pam Hunt's 15th place run in the snow in Boston in 1992. The team improved
hugely on its 11th place effort from 2001 in Ostend, Belgium. Team USA's
finish was the best by a junior women's squad since 1996 when the squad
also finished 5th in Cape Town, South Africa.
Powering the effort along with Odlaug were: Maria Cicero, 29th in 21:59,
Valerie Lauver, 36th in 22:06, Nicole Lee, 40th, 22:10, Sara Bei, 43rd,
22:12 and Kathryn Anderson, 47th, 22:16.
"The race was great; I did what I wanted to do: I started out patiently,
and each lap I wanted to keep moving up and moving up," Odlaug explained.
"I was on my own for a little bit, then I heard someone yell that I was
18th and that gave me a lift."
World Championship racing resumes tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. local time with
the Men's Junior Race, followed by the Women's 4K at 1:20 p.m. and
concluding with the Men's 12K Championship at 2:00 p.m.
IAAF World Cross Country Championships
Dublin, Ireland, Saturday, March 23, 2002
WOMEN 8K (Long Course)
1) Paula Radcliffe, GBR, 26:55, $30,000
2) Deena Drossin, Mammoth Lakes, CA, 27:04, $15,000
3) Colleen De Reuck, Boulder, CO, 27:17, $10,000
4) Miwako Yamanaka, JPN, 27:19, $7000
5) Eyerusalem Kuma, ETH, 27:19, $5000
6) Merima Denboba, ETH, 27:21, $3000
7) Leila Aman, ETH, 27:25
8) Rose Cheruiyot, KEN, 27:28
9) Pamela Chepchumba, KEN, 27:30
10) Teyeba Erkesso, ETH, 27:32
Other Top U.S.
12) Jen Rhines, St. Davids, PA, 27:43
23) Milena Glusac, Fallbrook, CA, 28:18
28) Elva Dryer, Gunnison, CO, 28:27
31) Amy Rudolph, Providence, RI, 28:37
TEAM
1) Ethiopia, 28, $20,000
2) USA, 38, $16,000
3) Kenya, 41, $12,000
4) Japan, 67, $10,000
5) Great Britain, 69, $8000
MEN 4.2K (Short Course)
1) Kenenisa Bekele, ETH, 12:11, $30,000
2) Luke Kipkosgei, KEN, 12:18, $15,000
3) Hailu Mekonnen, ETH, 12:20, $10,000
4) Sammy Kipketer, KEN, 12:26, $7000
5) Craig Mottram, AUS, 12:27, $5000
6) Julius Nyamu, KEN, 12:30, $3000
7) Antonio Jimenez, ESP, 12:30
8) Joseph Kosgei, KEN, 12:32
9) Khalid El Amri, MOR, 12:33
10) Driss Maazouzi, FRA, 12:34
Top U.S.
11) Jorge Torres, Boulder, CO, 12:35
18) Matt Lane, Palo Alto, CA, 12:42
40) Jared Cordes, Madison, WI, 12:53
64) Dave Davis, Portland, OR, 13:04
83) Tony Cosey, Knoxville, TN, 13:18
97) Jonathon Riley, Palo Alto, CA, 13:28
TEAM
1) Kenya, 20, $20,000
2) Ethiopia, 32, $16,000
3) Spain, 57, $12,000
4) Morocco, 78, $10,000
5) USA, 113, $8000
For complete results and more, go to the IAAF website:
http://www.iaaf.org/wxc02/
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