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R-L: Andrea Leva, Catherine Brew, and Marie Grabinski. |
Marie Grabinski is a sophomore at Northwestern University. |
Carrie Tollefson made a strong move on the second lap and pulled away from Lauren Fleshman and Sara Bei to win in 12:32. |
After missing this meet last year after having hernia surgery, this must have been a satisfying comeback for Tollefson. |
This was Tollefson's first USA Cross Country title, which she adds to her 1997 NCAA Cross Country title. |
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Lauren Fleshman later mentioned that because of the cold, it was tough to get her legs moving when Carrie Tollefson made her move. |
Fleshman led the U.S. to a bronze medal in this event at last year's World Cross Country Championships, where she finished 11th. |
Fleshman finished second here in 12:37, five seconds behind Tollefson. |
Blake Russell, the winner of the previous day's 8K, doubled back well to finish third in 12:39. |
Amy Mortiner (#25), Sara Hall (#538) battled for spots on the team, with the top six automatically qualifying. |
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Bei ran with Lauren Fleshman until the homestretch, when she began to fade. She held on to finish sixth (12:51) and make the team. She will join her husband, Ryan, in Fukuoka. |
Amy Mortimer of West Roxbury, Massachusetts, finished fourth in 12:47 and qualified for the World Cross Country team. |
The IAAF World Cross Country Championships will take place April 1-2 in Fukuoka, Japan. |
Mortimer is an assistant coach at Boston College. |
Sara Hall, formerly Sara Bei, qualified for her first senior World Cross Country team. |
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Sarah Schwald of the newly-formed Boulder Performance Training Group finished fifth in 12:49 and qualified for the team. |
Kara Goucher (seventh, 12:51) barely missed making the team, but she will be the first alternate should someone decide not to go or get injured. |
Rebecca Donaghue's performance (eighth, 12:55) was one of the bigger surprises of the day. The State College, Pennsylvania resident... |
...and former UMass star finished eighth in 12:55. |
One day after finishing seventh in the 8K, Nicole Aish finished ninth in the 4K (12:57). |
