Team USA and Canada split a pair of competitions Sunday
at the 2007 Junior Race Walk Match in Hauppauge, Long
Island, New York. The 19th annual competition was held in
conjunction with the NACAC Cup. Three athletes scored per country, with places scoring
7-5-4-3-2-1.
Led by Wisconsin Parkside freshman Le'erin Voss of
Nashotah, Wisc., Team USA's women's squad continued a
winning streak that began prior to 2000. Voss, who placed
fourth in this event in 2006, led a U.S. sweep of the first four
places as Team USA cruised to a 16-6 victory. The top U.S.
finishers were Voss (1st-26 minutes 9 seconds), Diana
Rado (2nd-26:27), Jenna Monahan (3rd-26:41) and
Christina Peters (4th-26:46).
The Canadian men's team defeated the Americans for the
third time in five years by the identical 16-6 score. The
Canadians grabbed the first three individual places led by
Inaki Gomez, who captured individual honors with his time
of 46:54.
Top-finishing Americans were Robert Vergara (4th-50:08),
Ricardo Vergara (6th-52:28), Matthew Forgues (8th-56:01)
and Evan Crowdus (9th-61:18).
The combined team point total produced a 22-22 tie for the
first time in the history of the event. The match was held as
part of the second biennial NACAC Race Walk Cup. Team
USA was victorious in totaling the several team age group
scoring divisions in that competition to repeat as winners of
the Amadeo Francis Championship trophy (USA 48,
Canada 31, Puerto Rico 25).