| Watch over 50 IAAF Events Live and On-Demand at WCSN.com |
Rundell, Wolski USA masters champions
From Jim Estes, USATF
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - (May 10, 2008) - Brian Sell (Rochester Hills, Mich.) defended his men's 25K national title running 1 hour, 15 minutes, 7 seconds, while Paige Higgins (Littleton, Colo.) won her first USA road title in 1:30:49 on Saturday at the USA Championships in Grand Rapids.
Sunny skies and ideal conditions of 42 degrees and calm winds met athletes for the 15th running of the national championships hosted by the 31st Fifth Third River Bank Run as Sell and 2006 U.S. champion and 25K U.S. record holder Fernando Cabada (Boulder, Colo.) led a lead pack of 11 men including Open division contenders Wellay Weldegiyorgis (ETH) and Reuben Chebii (KEN) through the first mile in 4:58.
By three mile, the field of contenders had narrowed to Sell, Cabada, Weldegiyorgis and Chebii, with each taking brief turns in the lead. At four miles, Weldegiyorgis and Chebii surged to a small lead over Sell and Cabada, but it was Weldegiyorgis who would extend the lead to nine seconds at five miles.
As Sell and Cabada continued to work together to pass Chebii before six miles, Weldegiyorgis' lead had extended to 15 seconds, but by eight miles Sell began to pull away from Cabada in an effort to close the gap. Approaching 9 miles, Cabada had fallen 15 seconds behind as Sell joined Weldegiyorgis in the lead.
Over the next two miles, Sell, 30, was clearly in control as Weldegiyorgis repeatedly looked back, apparently concerned about losing his hold on second. As the pair passed the 11th mile in 4:41 followed by a 4:51 uphill mile, Sell broke away from Weldegiyorgis and quickly opened a lead of more than 30 seconds by the time he passed the half-marathon in 1:03:29.
Sell's victory was his third USA 25K title and the Beijing bound Olympic marathoner earned a total of $8000 in Open ($4000) and national championship ($4000) prize money. Weldegiyorgis finished second overall in 1:16:06. For the U.S. men, Cabada held on as runner-up in the USA Championship division 1:17:01, while Sell's Hansons-Brooks teammates Todd Snyder and Mike Morgan (Rochester Hills, Mich.) took third and fourth in 1:17:15 and 1:17:20 respectively. Tommy Greenless (Walnut Creek, Calif.) took fifth in 1:18:25.
In the women's race, Higgins, 25, finished third overall behind Caroline Cheprkorir of Kenya and Firehiwot Tesraye of Ethiopia to claim the U.S. title. Cheprkorir was timed in 1:29:32 for the overall win, with Tesraye taking second in 1:30:12. Kristin Price (Raleigh N.C.) took fifth overall and second in the U.S. championship division in 1:32:04 and Annie Gasway (Gurnee, Ill.) was third American in 1:35:08 and Linsey Smith (Madison, Wis.) fourth in 1:35:27. Kalin Ritzenhein (Eugene, Ore.) rounded out the top five U.S. athletes in 1:35:31.
This year's event also hosted the USA Masters 25K Championships with Carl Rundell, 40, (Birmingham, Mich.) taking the overall masters title in 1:21:28 and Kathy Wolski, 42, (Knoxville, Tenn.) winning the women's title in 1:39:22. Rundell and Wolski each earned $1500 for the masters titles.
31st Fifth Third River Bank 25K: USA Championships - Grand Rapids, MI, Saturday, May 10, 2008
MEN
1) Brian Sell (MI), 1:15:07, $8000
2) Wellay Weldegiyorgis (ETH), 1:16:06, $2000
3) Reuben Chebii (KEN), 1:16:35, $1500
4) Fernando Cabada (CO), 1:17:01, $2000
5) Todd Snyder (MI), 1:17:15, $1500
6) Mike Morgan (MI), 1:17:20, $1000
7) Tommy Greenless (CA), 1:18:25, $600
8) Peter Gilmore (CA), 1:18:45, $500
9) Bret Schoolmeester (OR), 1:19:03, $400
10) Derek Kite (CO), 1:19:40, $300
11) John Lucas (OR), 1:20:14, $200
12) C Fred Joslyn (MI), 1:20:39, $100
WOMEN
1) Caroline Cheprkorir (KEN), 1:29:32, $4000
2) Firehiwot Tesraye (ETH), 1:30:12, $2000
3) Paige Higgins (CO), 1:30:49, $5500
4) Meseret Kotu (ETH), 1:31:54
5) Kristin Price (NC), 1:32:04, $2000
6) Annie Gasway (IL), 1:35:08, $1500
7) Linsey Smith (WI), 1:35:27, $1000
8) Kalin Ritzenhein (OR), 1:35:31, $600
9) Lori Stich (MI), 1:35:42, $500
10) Lauren Esposito (NY), 1:36:38, $400
11) Amber Moran (NC), 1:37:34, $300
12) Katie Nowak (MD), 1:38:02, $200
13) Natalie Stein (MI), 1:38:37
14) Alison Bryant (MI), 1:39:05, $100
USA Masters Championship (40 and older)
MEN
1) Carl Rundell, 40, MI, 1:21:28, $1500
2) Dennis Simonaitis, 45, UT, 1:22:10, $750
3) Paul Aufdemberge, 43, MI, 1:24:27, $500
WOMEN
1) Kathy Wolski, 42, TN, 1:39:22, $1500
2) Beth Moras, 49, NJ, 1:48:32, $750
3) Bonnie Sexton, 40, WI, 1:54:52, $500
Full results at: 53RiverBankRun.com
Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Director
(805) 696-6232; Fax = (805) 659-0016
Ryan@RunningUSA.org
www.RunningUSA.org.
Know someone else who's interested in running and triathlon?
