| January 2002 Newsletter |
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USA TRACK & FIELD NEWS
Maybe it isn't such a small world after all, when it comes to our sport of running. There's so much going on day-to-day, that even the monthly "fluff" magazines can't keep up with it all.
USA Track & Field, the governing body of our sport, sends me press releases at a rapid pace of two or three a week. Here is some breaking news -- even some names you might recognize.
Foot Locker Nationals
Tim Moore of Novi, Mich., and Amber Trotter of Ukiah, Calif., won their respective divisions of the Foot Locker Cross Country (High School) National Championships, Saturday in Orlando, Fla.
Competing in the 3.1-mile race held on the Oak Trail Golf Course -- part of the Disney Resort, Moore edged Virginia's Bobby Lockhart 14:50.4 to 14:51.5 for the boys' title. Six boys broke the 15-minute barrier.
Girls' champion Trotter blazed through the one-mile split in 5:04, en route to a course record 16:24.07. Erika Odlaug of Bannockburn, Ill., placed second in 17:04, and Natasha Roetter of Lexington, Mass., was third in 17:05.1.
Of importance to local high school harriers, Section IV's Molly Huddle, of Elmira Notre Dame, finished fourth in a personal-best time of 17:19.59.
Huddle's championship season, which included 12 course records during a 12-meet winning streak on Central New York turf; a New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class D title; and the New York State Federation title., can now add first-team All-American honors to the list for finishing in the top five at nationals.
Huddle, a senior, is just the second girl from Section IV to compete in the cross country national championships. Can you name the other girl? It was Suzanne Girard from the Southern Tier, almost two decades ago.
Representing New York's Section III at the Foot Locker nationals, Tracey Brauksieck, of Homer, finished 13th in 17:51.8, and Fayetteville-Manlius' Laurel Burdick placed 22nd in 18:03.3.
New York State champion Peter Meindl, of Orchard Park, placed 8th in the boys' race in 15:04.
Runners of the Year
Two world/national-class female runners, who set American records in Ithaca this season, have been named the 2001 Outstanding Masters Athlete in their respective age divisions by USA Track & Field.
Margret Betz, of Conklin, turned 65 in September, then proceeded to shatter four single-age F65 American records. Here are the races and the American marks she posted: the Ithaca 5 & 10 5-miler (35:00); Syracuse Festival of Races 5K (21:16); the Octoberfast 10K (45:11); and the Stockade-athon 15K (1:09:15).
Carolyn Smith Hanna, of Pittsford, has earned three USATF top honors in the women's 50-54 age category: long-distance running, track and cross country.*P
At last January's Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile, held at Cornell's Barton Hall, Smith Hanna set a pending F50 American and world record in the mile of 5:27:33. She also held the American record in the 1,500 meters (5:05.2).
2004 Olympic Marathon Trial Sites Selected
Birmingham, Ala. will host the 2004 Men's Olympic Marathon Team Trials, USA Track & Field officials announced Nov. 30 at their annual convention.
The Alabama Sports Foundation and Birmingham Marathon, Inc., organizers of the Mercedes Marathon, joined forces to win the bid, which will provide $350,000 in prize money and developmental funds for the Olympic Trials and men's long distance running.
The trials will be held Feb. 7, 2004, with the Olympic Games to follow in August in Athens, Greece. Birmingham also has been selected as the site for the 2003 U.S. Men's Marathon Championships.
All male athletes who qualify with a U.S. Olympic trials "A" standard of 2:20:00 or faster will have all travel and accommodation fees paid. Runners qualifying with an Olympic "B" standard time of 2:20:01-2:22:00 may compete, but will not receive funding.
The U.S. Marathon National Championships, held within the New York City Marathon in November, opened the qualifying window of opportunity. Five American men met the A standard at the New York City race.
Birmingham beat out competing bids for the trials from New York City, St. Louis and Washington, D.C., in the selection process conducted by the USATF men's long distance running committee.
The men's trials will be run for the first time on a criterium (repeat laps) course in downtown Birmingham. The regular Birmingham "peoples'" marathon will be run on the morning following the trials, to enhance spectator support.
St. Louis will host the 2004 Olympic Marathon Team Trials for women, and the 2003 U.S. Women's Marathon Championships, USATF officials also announced at their annual convention.
The women's marathon trials will be held on April 4, 2004.
The St. Louis Sports Commission, Spirit of St. Louis Marathon and St. Louis 2004 won the bid by highlighting the marathon as a "cornerstone to the region's yearlong civic celebration marking the centennial of the 1904 Olympics and World's Fair, the bicentennial of the Louisiana Purchase treaty signing and the Lewis and Clark Expedition."
The women's bid package, which beat out New York City, Washington, D.C., and Birmingham, offered a $250,000 prize purse, a fast criterium, four-lap course in Forest Park and a trials marathon held separately from the community marathon. The Spirit of St. Louis Marathon will be held the same day, but on a different course.
The USATF women's long-distance running committee polleded marathoners to determine what characteristics athletes desired for their Olympic Trials. In order of importance, the results indicated prize money, a separate start if the marathon was to be held in a mixed-gender race, a moderate (translation: fast) course and television coverage.
Women who achieve the Olympic "A" qualifying standard of 2:39:59 or faster will have their lodging and travel expenses paid in full. Those who meet the "B" standard of 2:48:00-2:40:00 can compete if they pay their own way to St. Louis.
The qualifying window for women also briefly opened Nov. 4 at the New York City Marathon. Officially, men and women marathons can qualify betweeen Jan. 1, 2002 and March 2004.
Charity Begins at Home
The New York Road Runners (NYRR) president and CEO Allan Steinfeld presented New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani with a check for $250,000 for the Twin Towers and Sept. 11 Funds at the inaugural United We Run 4-Miler race in Central Park Dec. 2.
The money was raised in last month's New York City Marathon from individual donations by runners, by running clubs and races around the world, and New York City Marathon sponsors. The NYRR contributed $50,000.
-- Diane Sherrer
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