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Browne,
Glusac Ready to Defend USA 20K Titles at New Haven (From Running USA Wire) NEW HAVEN, Conn. - (August 29, 2002) - The USA Men's and Women's 20K Championships return to the New Haven Road Race on Labor Day, Monday, September 2. As the race celebrates its 25th edition, top American fields including the defending champions Dan Browne and Milena Glusac and ten past national champions and four Olympians are expected to compete for U.S. 20K titles and $26,000 in USA Championship money. For ten consecutive years for the men and for two straight years for the women, New Haven has hosted the national 20K road championships. As a USA Championship, the New Haven 20K is also part of the USA Running Circuit (USARC), a USA Track & Field road series. Many of the top contenders for the $25,000 USARC Grand Prix will be at the race including the top three women - Colleen De Reuck, Jeanne Hennessy and Libbie Hickman and male contenders - Jim Jurcevich (#3), Peter DeLaCerda (#4), David Morris (#6) and Browne (#8). The top ten U.S. finishers will earn important Circuit points. "We are very excited about this year's national championship, particularly with both defending champions Dan Browne and Milena Glusac returning to face formidable fields. We expect the racing to be intense and highly competitive," said John Bysiewicz, Race Director. Last year, over the final miles, Browne pulled away from Morris for the U.S. title in 1:00:10 with Morris second (1:00:25), while Glusac led from the start and went unchallenged to the women's crown in 1:07:49 (the 4th fastest American woman all-time) with Christine Clifton second (1:08:25). Browne, 27, of Portland, Ore. is a favorite to claim his second consecutive U.S. 20K road crown. The 2001 USARC Grand Prix co-champion - who is coached by American legend Alberto Salazar - has excellent finishing speed as evidenced by his 10,000 meter personal record of 27:47.04 set in May and his five 1998 USA titles (5K, 10K, 10,000m, 3000m indoor and 4K cross country). Browne's
likely challengers at New Haven should be: 2) David Morris, 31, (Albuquerque, NM), 2002 USA 25K champion (River Bank) and World Half-Marathon Championships team; former U.S. marathon record holder (2:09:32 at 1999 LaSalle Banks Chicago); 1997 USA Half-Marathon champion 3) Jim Jurcevich, 26, (Columbus, OH), 2002 USA Half-Marathon Championships runner-up (UMKC Hospital Hill), third USA 25K Championships (River Bank) and World Half-Marathon Championships team; 6th 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials 10,000m 4) Scott Larson, 32, (Boulder, CO), 2001 USARC Grand Prix co-champion with Dan Browne and USA Marathon champion (2:15:26, New York City); 2001-2 World Half-Marathon Championships team; 4th 2000 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials (Pittsburgh) 5) Keith Dowling, 33, (Reston, VA), top American at the 2002 Boston Marathon (2:13:28, 15th overall); 2001 USA Half-Marathon Championships runner-up (1:03:59, Parkersburg) Other top U.S. men expected at New Haven include: Jeff Campbell (Rochester Hills, MI); Kevin Collins (Craryville, NY); Tony Cosey (Knoxville, TN), 2000 Olympian steeplechase; Darrell General (Mitchellville, MD); Teddy Mitchell (Boulder, CO); Todd Reeser (Canandaigua, NY), 2000 USA 20K champion (New Haven); Matt Thull (Wauwatosa, WI); Clint Verran (Rochester Hills, MI), 2001 USA Marathon Championships runner-up (New York City) and Chris Wehrman (Chicago, IL) In the women's race, Milena Glusac, 26, of Fallbrook, Calif. will need another stellar New Haven performance to repeat as U.S. champion because her competition includes 1998 New Haven champion Colleen De Reuck who set the 20K world record (1:05:11) that year, 2000 Olympian Libbie Hickman and Team USA California teammate Jeanne Hennessy, and they are fit. Glusac - the 2001 USARC Grand Prix champion - is also race ready as she recently finished 3rd at the SBLI Falmouth Road Race against a top international field (where De Reuck finished 4th, Hickman 8th and Hennessy 13th). In June, the Oregon graduate finished second at the USA 10,000 meter championships in a personal record, 32:15.09. Last year, she won three U.S. road titles (20K, half-marathon and 25K). Glusac's main challengers should be: 1) Colleen
De Reuck, 38, (Boulder, CO), 2002 World Cross Country Championships
bronze medal, USA 7 Mile champion (Bix 7), USA 5K Championships runner-up
(Freihofer's), current USARC leader (34 points) and Steamboat Classic
4 Mile winner (19:59); 2001 USA 8K champion (Carolina); became U.S.
2) Libbie Hickman, 37, (Ft. Collins, CO), returning to competition after 2001 maternity leave; 3rd 2002 USA 7 Mile Championship (Bix 7); 2000 USA 5K champion and 10,000m Olympian; 1999-2000 USARC Grand Prix champion; 1998-2000 USA 10K champion; 1999 10 Mile champion and 1998/2000 Half-Marathon champion 3) Jeanne Hennessy, 24, (Mahopac, NY), 2002 USA 25K champion (River Bank) and currently second in the USARC standings (23 points); 5th 2001 USA Marathon Championships (2:39:58, PR); former soccer goalie at Villanova; Team USA California Other top American women at New Haven include: Gordon Bakoulis (New York, NY), top master and 1993 New Haven winner; Faith Byrum (Boulder, CO); Christine Clifton (Auburn, WA), 2001 USA 20K Championships runner-up (New Haven); Machelle Cochran (Rochester, NY); Nicole Hunt (Deer Lodge, MT); Judy Johnson (Marietta, GA); Beth Old (Douglasville, GA), 2002 USA 25K Championships runner-up (River Bank); Michelle Simonaitis (Salt Lake City, UT); Linda Somers Smith (San Luis Obispo, CA), top master and 1996 Olympic marathoner and Molly Taber (Boxford, MA) The $30,100 total prize purse includes $26,000 for the USA Championship ($5000, $3000, $1500, $1250, $1000, $500, $300, $200, $150 and $100 for 10th). In addition, the first runner to break the course record (57:37 for men and 1:05:11 for women) will earn an extra $1000 bonus. The New Haven 20K is home of four Open records (women's world, men's and women's U.S. All-Comers and U.S. women's). 20K Road
Records Compiled and verified by USATF Road Running Information Center (805) 696-6232; USATFRRIC@aol.com; www.usaldr.org The flat, fast loop course starts and finishes at the New Haven Green. Over 5,000 participants in the 20K and accompanying 5K and 1/2 mile children's runs are expected at the 25th annual Labor Day race, the fourth largest 20K in the country (2,072 finishers in 2001). The New Haven Road Race is sponsored by New Haven Savings Bank, Bayer Corporation and the City of New Haven. For more information, visit the race website at http://www.newhavenroadrace.org. Recent
Men's USA 20K Champions ------------- Two
More Athletes Join Team USA Minnesota Roster (From Running USA Wire) MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - (August 27, 2002) - Team USA Minnesota has selected two more athletes - Mike Wisniewski and Sara Wells - to join the post collegiate distance training center based in Minneapolis/St. Paul and also announced upcoming road race competitions through Sept. 21. Wisniewski is a 2002 graduate of the University of Michigan, where the All-American was the Big Ten champion in the 10,000 in both 2000 and 2001 and has personal bests of 14:05 in the 5000 and 28:55 in the 10,000. He also achieved All-America honors at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in 1999 and 2001, finishing as high as 18th overall. In addition, Wisniewski competed at the U.S. Outdoor Nationals in the 10,000 in June this year. Wells graduated from Oklahoma State University in December 2001, where she was an All-American in cross country and track. She was 4th in the 10,000 at the 2001 NCAA Outdoor Track Championships and competed at the USA Outdoor Nationals in the 10,000 in 2001. Last February, she was 10th in the USATF Cross Country Nationals 8K. Her best times include a 16:24 in the 5K, 33:46 in the 10,000 and 1:14 in the half-marathon. The Team USA Minnesota athletes now include females Carrie Tollefson, Katie McGregor, Kristen Nicolini and Wells; along with male runners Chris Lundstrom, Kurt Keiser, Jason Lehmkuhle, Matt Gabrielson and Wisniewski. Through mid-September, the male athletes are scheduled to compete in the following road races: Park
Forest Scenic 10 Mile Run - Sept. 2 CVS/pharmacy
Downtown 5K - Sept. 15 Great
Cow Harbor 10K - Sept. 21 Team USA Minnesota is based in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Now in its second year, it is the fourth distance training center designated by Team USA Distance Running, a partnership between USA Track & Field, the governing body of the sport and Running USA, a national trade organization of road races and industry representatives. Team USA Minnesota is a coordinated effort to bring local resources together to improve post-collegiate American distance running and develop future Olympians. Since 2001, along with their 21 national titles, Team USA Distance Running athletes have earned World Cross Country Championship medals, set one world road record, five national records and numerous personal records and added to the U.S. all-time lists. Team
USA Minnesota athlete accomplishments to date in national championships
include: ------------ Top
Fields to Help Celebrate 25th Park Forest Scenic 10 Mile (From Running USA Wire) PARK FOREST, Ill. - (August 27, 2002) - Labor Day, Monday, September 2 will mark the 25th Running of the Park Forest Scenic 10 Mile and once again deep fields - including defending champions Patrick Nthiwa and Naomi Wangui and 2000 champion David Njuguna - are expected to compete for over $20,000 in prize money and other awards. Race time is 8am sharp on Main Street, a new start area. Park Forest located just south of Chicago. Five men - James Barry, Dennis Lane, Andrew Praxmarer, James Stedt and David Wilson - will be running their 25th Park Forest Scenic 10. Here is
the list of top athletes and local heroes for the Labor Day tradition. WOMEN Visit the race website at: http://www.villageofparkforest.com ----------- RECORD-SETTER, CHAMPIONS AND DEBUTANTES HEADLINE USA CHAMPIONSHIP FIELDS AT TWIN CITIES MARATHON (From Running USA Wire) MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - (August 23, 2002) - A former American record-holder in the marathon, two recent U.S. Marathon Champions, veterans of the U.S. marathoning scene and some intriguing marathon debutantes headline the men's and women's USA Marathon Championship fields at the 2002 Twin Cities Marathon set for Sunday, September 29. Twin Cities Marathon will host USA Championships for Open male and female and Masters male and female runners - only the second event in history to do so. Former American Record-holder David Morris of Albuquerque, New Mexico headlines the U.S. Open Men's field with his 2:09:32 personal best set in Chicago in 1999 which set the American Record at the time. He'll face stiff competition from 2000 Olympic Marathon Trials runner-up and 2002 USA Half-Marathon Champion Peter DeLaCerda of Alamosa, Colo. Also entered are intriguing first-time marathoners, Brad Hauser of Palo Alto, Calif. and Dan Browne of Portland, Ore. Hauser, a Stanford graduate, was a 2000 Olympian at 5000 meters. Browne, who ran a personal best of 27:47 for 10,000 meters on the track this spring, is an eight-time U.S. Champion across road, track and cross country disciplines. Team USA Minnesota's Chris Lundstrom, third in the 2001 USA Marathon Championship, will also contend for a top place. The U.S. Women's field boasts two recent USA Marathon Champions, Julia Kirtland of Harpswell, Maine, a Macalester College graduate who won the 1997 national title in Columbia, SC, and Kim Pawelek of Jacksonville, Fla. who won the 1999 U.S. crown at the 1999 Twin Cities Marathon. They'll be joined by Susannah Beck of Eugene, Ore., fourth in the 2000 Olympic Marathon Trials, Christine Clifton who currently resides in Milan, Italy, who ran 2:32:47 at Chicago in 2000, and Magdelena Lewy of Berkeley, Calif. who finished second at the UPMC/City of Pittsburgh Marathon this May in 2:36:48. "America is coming to Minneapolis/St. Paul this year," says Dan Finanger TCM Executive Director. "Top U.S. runners will be docking for position to be recognized as being the Best in the U.S. in 2002. What an exciting time for the Twin Cities." Twin Cities Marathon will announce its international and masters fields in early September. Complete information on the elite fields at Twin Cities Marathon will be available in the weeks immediately prior to the race. Prize money will be awarded 10 deep in the men's and women's open divisions ($43,500 each for men and women) and 5 deep in the masters ($10,500 each for men and women), with additional masters age group awards. The complete prize purse structure is available at www.twincitiesmarathon.org. The 2002 TCM weekend is September 27-29. TCM, a Running USA Founding Member, hosts the 2002 USA Men's, Women's and Masters Marathon Championships. The three-day weekend celebration of fitness includes a 5K fun run/walk, children's fun runs, a pasta dinner, a two-day health and fitness expo, and a 10-mile race in addition to the marathon. Major corporate sponsors for the marathon are Cub Foods, Calhoun Beach Club and Seagate Technology. The major media sponsors are KARE 11 and Cities 97. Twin Cities Marathon, Inc. is a non-profit organization that directs the TCM weekend as a community service for the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. Visit us at www.twincitiesmarathon.org. |