 |
|  Kennedy Wins U.S. Long Course Title February 9, 2004 Courtesy of USATF
INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana - Two-time Olympian and former
Indiana University standout Bob Kennedy won his second
U.S. open men's 12 km title Sunday at the 2004 USA Cross
Country Championships at the Fall Creek and 16th Street
Park in Indianapolis. Shalane Flanagan won her first U.S. open title in the
women's 4 km race defeating runner-up Carrie Tollefson by
two seconds, and in Junior Men's competition, the
University of Colorado's Pete Janson defeated runner-up
and future teammate Ryan Deak by a 10-second margin. The top six finishers at the USA Cross Country
Championships qualify for the 2004 IAAF World Cross
Country Championships, March 20-21 in Brussels,
Belgium. The USA Championships follows the same format
as the upcoming World Championships, with six races over
a two-day span. The following is a listing of the top 15 finishers in Sunday's
races, along with quotes from selected athletes and a race
in review for each contest. Complete results may be found
on the USATF Web site at www.usatf.org . OPEN MEN - 12,000 Meters 1. Bob Kennedy (Nike), 35:03
2. Robert Gary (adidas), 35:07
3. Jorge Torres (Reebok), 35:15
4. Alan Webb (Nike), 35:21
5. Abdi Abdirahman (Nike), 35:37
6. Nolan Swanson (Asics), 35:39
7. Dave Davis (Nike), 35:46
8. Chris Graff (Farm Team), 35:56
9. Joshua Eberly (Unattached), 36:00
10. Richard Brinker (Hanson-Brooks), 36:10
11. David Cullum (Farm Team) 36:15
12. Ryan Kirkpatrick (U.S. Army), 36:17
13. Bill Nelson (Univ. of Colorado), 36:18
14. Martin Rosendahl (Hansons-Brooks), 36:24
15. Chris Siemers (Unattached), 36:26 Kennedy Notes: In 1992, Kennedy won the NCAA and
USA cross country crowns, becoming the first runner since
Al Lawrence to accomplish that feat in 32 years. A two-time
Olympian, Kennedy placed sixth in the 5,000m at the 1996
Olympics in Atlanta. He is also a four-time U.S. Outdoor
5,000m champion (95', 96', '97, '01) and a four-time NCAA
champion. Kennedy won NCAA cross country titles in his
freshman and senior seasons at Indiana University. RACE IN REVIEW: The final championship race saw
105 athletes in a huge pack dash through the snowy course
for six loops. At 2 km (5:47): Abdi Abdirahman, Bob
Kennedy, Jorge Torres and Alan Webb ran together. At 4 km
(11:42) Abdirahman, Robert Gary, Kennedy, Torres and
Webb formed the lead pack. At 6 km (17:33) Abdirahman,
Gary, Kennedy, Torres and Webb were ahead of the rest of
the field. At 8 km (23:22) Kennedy held the lead followed by
Torres, Abdirahman, Webb and Gary. At 10 km (29:12)
Kennedy led Torres by seven seconds followed by Gary,
Abdirahman and Webb. Kennedy maintained his lead all the
way to the finish, with Gary taking second, followed by
Torres, Webb, and Abdirahman. Men's 12 km quotes: Bob Kennedy, Nike (1st place)--It was exciting. The
weather was challenging today, but I knew I was fit. I was
hoping to go at 6 kilometers, but I waited until 8K to go.
Before I broke at 8K, it was barely an effort. I give a lot of
credit to Robert (Gary) and Jorge (Torres). They fought hard
the whole way. It's good to be back and to train hard again. When you've
had some bumps in the road like I have the past few years,
you become more appreciative of the good times when you
have the ability to train again, and the success that comes
from that. When I was struggling, you start to question
yourself. I don't know how much the altitude (he's trained in Colorado
for the past few weeks) helped, but it helps you focus at a
level that you can't at home. The main thing is that I am
healthy and I'm able to train hard like I used to train, and for
the last 2 years, I wasn't able to do that because of
injuries and illnesses and it feels good to be able to work
hard again. There's a lot of friends and fans who were out here today
who have never had the opportunity to see me run, and it's
great to win in front of the home crowd. I live about a mile
and a half away, so I'll walk home. Robert Gary, adidas (2nd place)--I wanted to make sure I
could go as hard as I could at the end. If I were five years
younger, I'd think that I could pass Bob (Kennedy). I plan to run the 4K at world championships. I feel stronger
than I ever have been, and that's a good sign. Usually 12K
is hit or miss for me. I felt (yesterday's 4K race) first thing in the morning in the
hamstrings. After four or five cups of coffee I was ready to
go. Jorge Torres, Reebok (3rd place)--This was my first race of
the season, but I knew that I'd be contending for the title. It's
just that Bob Kennedy had a good race, and it's his home
town. He went out, put a couple of surges in there, and I
couldn't respond to his big surge. Other than that, I tried to
hang in there...hung in second place, then Robert Gary
pulled up beside me. He sat back and was able to pull
away. He had a little bit more strength than I had in the end. Going into Brussels, I'll have one race behind me, and I've
got the rust out of me. I'll be able to get a five-week block of
training. I feel that I have a real good shot of running well at
world championships. I think we have the makeup for a nice, powerful team.
There's a good mix of experience with Bob Kennedy, and
Abdi, and a bunch of young guys who are hungry and are
willing to lay it on the line. Alan Webb, Nike (4th place)--It wasn't a big surprise to me
today that I could run long. Yesterday, I wasn't wearing long
enough spikes, and with it being such a short race like that,
and with the ground the way it was, the race was over after
200 meters. You really couldn't move, even though I was
only behind by 15 meters or so. I got a much better start today, put longer spikes in. It was a
slower pace, so I could get into a better rhythm. My confidence was really, really good at the beginning of the
race. Guys started making moves after the first couple of
laps. They might have thought that it was slow when they
saw me up front, so they started picking it up, then I started
hurting after that. It was sort of hang on mode from there.
From the second lap on I was trying to stay focused on the
backs of Bob and Jorge and Abdi, and I survived. This and club nationals (Webb won the USATF national club
cross country championship in December) are really
confidence builders. I'll definitely go to Brussels. OPEN WOMEN - 4,000 Meters
Shalane Flanagan (University of North Carolina), 12:26 RACE IN REVIEW: 49 women took off as the gun
sounded for the short course race. After 1 km (2:57)
Shalane Flanagan and Lauren Fleshman were together in
the lead followed by Carrie Tollefson one second back. After
2 km (6:14): Flanagan and Fleshman were together with
Tollefson still one second behind. After 3 km (9:21)
Flanagan led Tollefson and Fleshman, who were both one
second behind. Flanagan kicked home to the victory,
followed by Tollefson two seconds later. Fleshman finished
10 seconds behind Tollefson. Women's 4 km quotes: Shalane Flanagan, Univ. of North Carolina (1st place)--This
was a very memorable win today. I'm really proud because
this was a real great field. The 4K team looks like it's really
stacked. This win is just a stepping stone to the big leaping board,
which is the Olympic Trials. These kind of races only give
me more confidence. One of the best assets that a
competitor can have is confidence. My coach was saying to get out and get position early. I
didn't want to start chopping my steps and getting pushed
around. From watching the other races, whoever got out
early pretty much maintained it. It helped to get out and get
into my own rhythm, instead of going off of someone else's
rhythm. Carrie Tollefson, adidas (2nd place)--I came and did my
job, and that's to make the team. I would've liked to have
won, but Shalane (Flanagan), and Lauren (Fleshman) are
both amazing runners, and they're young. During the race,
I'm thinking 'Who's gonna go?', and so I made a move. I
tried to go as hard as I could, but Shalane had another gear
today. We're going to have a great team this year at worlds. We're
going to have a real strong front pack. If Shalane, Lauren and Missy (Buttry, 4th place finisher) run
the way they did today, they'll be right up there at world
championships. At worlds, you can't let up...you just have to
fight the whole way. Last time I went to worlds, I let up for
just a moment, and all of a sudden, 15 girls passed me. Lauren Fleshman, Nike (3rd place)--The strategy was to
run this like a trial, make the world championship team, and
to feel good doing this. I got out faster than I expected to, so
I was up there in third place from the beginning, so I figured
there's no point slowing down, and the pace felt right. I just
hung with that pack and tried to stay relaxed. It certainly helped to get a cross country race under my belt
before nationals (she won the Seattle Open on January 25th
in 13:51 over 4.2K). It gave me the chance to get the
cobwebs out. It was good practice over cross country
terrain, so I felt really prepared going in to this meet. JUNIOR MEN - 8,000 Meters
Pete Janson (University of Colorado), 24:14 RACE IN REVIEW: The first race of the day began as
43 athletes began their adventure on the frozen tundra of
Fall Creek and 16th Street Park. At 2 km (6:04) a huge pack
was formed, with Pete Janson, Ryan Deak, Trent Hoerr,
Forrest Tahdooahnip, Joshua McDougal, Ian Burrell, Kal
Clark, Michael Kilburg, Ben Porter, and Glenn Collins all in
the mix. At 4 km (12:19) the same group continued to battle
as a pack. At 6 km (18:23): Janson, Deak, McDougal in the
lead, followed by Hoerr, Tahdooahnip, and Burrell one
second back. Over the last 2 km, the race changed
dramatically with Janson sprinting to the win, with Deak
edging out Hoerr for second, and Tahdooahnip, McDougal,
and Burrell claiming the last three spots to qualify for the
World Cross Country Championships team. Junior men's quotes: Pete Janson, Univ. of Colorado. (1st place)--I talked to
coach (Mark Wetmore) and Billy (Nelson, last year's national
junior champion from Colorado), and they both told me to
stay with the pack There really was no specific race plan,
just a set of general guidelines. Janson is a freshman attending the University of Colorado,
and graduated from Highland Park HS in Dallas, TX. He
was born January 25, 1985 in Bedford, MA. Ryan Deak, Smoky Hills HS, Aurora CO (2nd place)--It feels
awesome to be one of the few high schoolers on the
national team! All the hard work and training and dedication
makes going to world championships worthwhile. This will
be my first time going to Europe, and it will be an experience
of a lifetime. My plan was to stay with the leaders. I didn't want the pack
to get away and get stuck in 7th or 8th place. I'm amazed
that I felt this good today. Deak, a senior at Smoky Hills HS in Aurora, CO., was born
July 31, 1985 in Tallahassee, FL. Trent Hoerr, Univ. of Illinois (3rd place)--The plan was just
to go out. I wasn't going to go out and take the lead. My
intention was just to qualify for the team, stay with the pack
through the first three laps. The race felt slow through the first two laps, then McDougal
took off, and six of us went with him. With a lap to go, there
were still six of us, and then we started stringing out. Hoerr is a freshman at the University of Illinois, and was
born February 5, 1985 in Peoria, IL., and attended Morton
HS in Morton, IL. For complete results from the 2004 USA Cross Country
Championships, visit www.usatf.org .
About American Track & Field | About Running Network | Privacy Policy | Copyright | Contact Us | Advertise With Us |
|
|
