FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Torres Holds Off Carlson to Take USA 8K Title
Flanagan convincingly wins Central Park Challenge
By Jim Gerweck, Running USA wire
NEW YORK - (March 15, 2008) - Alan Webb's toughest opponent at the USA
Men's 8K Championship on a cool Saturday morning turned out to be not Jorge
Torres or Andrew Carlson, but the turkey sandwich the 2004 Olympian ate at
Thursday's press conference. The turkey won, and as a result, on race day,
Webb didn't, as the food poisoning he contracted Thursday evening sapped
him of the strength he needed to compete with the nation's best distance
runners over 8000 meters (or just under 5 miles).
Webb looked fine through 5K, even dipping at the imaginary line to edge
Christian Hesch and put himself in line for the $1500 prime awarded to the
first man to cross the timing mat there. But shortly thereafter, it all
fell apart, and quickly, for the U.S. record holder in the mile, making his
2008 competitive debut here as he begins his push for the Beijing Olympics.
"I've never felt like that in a race before," said Webb, who actually had
to stop for a few seconds to regain enough composure to finish, well back
in 16th place. "I was light-headed and kind of dizzy. It's frustrating,
because I felt good until then. I was in the mix, and ready to start making
some moves toward the finish."
Instead, Webb quickly fell out of contention, leaving the quintet of
Torres, Carlson, fresh off his first U.S. title at the Gate River 15K last
Saturday, Jason Hartmann, James Carney and Fasil Bizuneh. As the pack
climbed Central Park's Cat Hill, Bizuneh and then Carney dropped back, and
Hartmann, who had run well on these same roads at last November's Olympic
Marathon Trials, took the lead as the road leveled out behind the
Metropolitan Museum.
Carlson quickly responded, opening a gap of a few meters, and seemed on his
way to winning his second national title in as many weekends, but Torres,
who won this national championship in 2005 when it was held on Randall's
Island, soon joined him up front, leaving Hartmann behind.
With 400 meters to go, Torres, 27, began to drive for the finish, pulling
ahead by a meter or two, but Carlson of Team USA Minnesota had one more
bullet left in his arsenal. In the end, he closed the gap to seven-tenths
of a second, but Torres came away with the win, however narrow. Both were
given the same 22:42 time, with Hartmann six seconds back.
"My training's been going really well, and my confidence has been strong,"
said the U.S. champion, noting that he's received a lot of advice from
former marathon world record holder and fellow Boulder resident Steve
Jones. "This gives me a good race before World Cross Country [March 30] and
then I'll come back and start training for the Olympic Trials and hopefully
a top three finish."
As national champion, Torres took home $10,000.
The women's Central Park Challenge, which followed the men's race by 40
minutes, wasn't a national championship, but proved to be a coronation
march for 2004 Olympian Shalane Flanagan, who caught a milder dose of the
stomach problems that afflicted Webb as well.
Taking the lead from the start, Flanagan simply cruised to a 25 minute, 40
second win, with Katie McGregor, duplicating her Team USA Minnesota
teammate's runner-up finish, 16 seconds back. Molly Huddle finished third
in 26:07.
Flanagan, 26, who handily won last month's USA Cross Country Championships,
will switch venues once again for her next competition, pointing for a fast
10,000 meter track time at Stanford in May. "I think racing in Scotland
[the site of the World Cross meet] could take a lot of recovery time, and
in an Olympic year, I just want to be extra careful."
Indeed, as Beijing draws closer and becomes more of a tangible reality, the
athletes who showed their stuff on the roads of Central Park on Saturday
showed that they're on track to continue the strong showing American
distance runners had in Osaka at the World Championships last year.
Central Park Challenge 8K: USA Men's Championship
New York, NY, Saturday, March 15, 2008
MEN
1) Jorge Torres (CO), 22:42, $10,000
2) Andrew Carlson (MN), 22:42, $7000
3) Jason Hartmann (OR), 22:48, $5000
4) James Carney (CO), 22:53, $3500
5) Fasil Bizuneh (AZ), 23:03, $2500
6) Christian Hesch (CA), 23:04, $3000*
7) Tim Nelson (WI), 23:05, $1250
8) Josh Moen (IA), 23:14, $900
9) Ryan Kirkpatrick (CO), 23:21, $800
10) Macharia Yuot (PA), 23:21, $700
11) Paul Jellema (MI), 23:21, $600
12) Jonathan Pierce (NC), 23:22, $500
13) Ryan Sheehan (MI), 23:24, $400
14) Mike Hanlon (AZ), 23:27, $200
15) Brad Lowery (MN), 23:31, $150
*includes $1500 5K prime
WOMEN
1) Shalane Flanagan (NC), 25:40, $11,500*
2) Katie McGregor (MN), 25:56, $7000
3) Molly Huddle (RI), 26:07, $5000
4) Amy Rudolph (RI), 26:25, $3500
5) Carmen Douma-Hussar (CAN), 26:28, $2500
6) Erin Donohue (NC), 26:28, $1500
7) Firehiwot Tesfaye (ETH), 26:32, $1250
8) Liliya Shobukhova (RUS), 26:34, $900
9) Aziza Aliyu (ETH), 26:44, $800
10) Julia Lucas (CA), 26:46, $700
11) Melissa Cook (TX), 26:47, $600
12) Lyudmila Biktasheva (RUS), 26:48, $500
13) Cack Ferrell (OR), 26:49, $400
14) Carrie Tollefson (MN), 26:54, $200
15) Carrie Messner-Vickers (CO), 27:14, $150
*includes $1500 5K prime
Complete results and race photos at: NYRR.org
###
|
