FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jim Estes
LDR Programs Manager
(317) 713-4661
Team USA Marathon Squad Set for IAAF World Championships in Osaka
INDIANAPOLIS - (May 15, 2007) - USA Track & Field announced Tuesday the
Team USA marathon squad for the 11th IAAF World Championships in Athletics,
to be held in Osaka, Japan August 24 - September 2.
Leading the men's team will be 2005-06 USA Marathon Champion Mbarak Hussein
(Albuquerque, N.M.). Hussein, who has a lifetime best of 2 hours, 8
minutes, 10 seconds, won the U.S. title for the second time last October at
the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon in Minneapolis, running 2:13:52.
Joining Hussein on the Osaka team will be his training partner and the
runner-up from the USA Marathon Championships, Simon Sawe (Albuquerque,
N.M.). Sawe has a personal best of 2:13:33.
Rounding out the five man squad will be the 25K U.S. record holder Fernando
Cabada (Bristol, Va.) and Hansons-Brooks Distance Project teammates Mike
Morgan (Rochester Hills, Mich.) and Kyle O'Brien (Rochester Hills, Mich.).
Cabada made the Osaka team by virtue of his marathon debut at the Fukuoka
International Marathon in Fukuoka, Japan last December, where he ran
2:12:27.
Morgan and O'Brien were named to the team based on their performances at
the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon last fall, where they finished in 2:15:11
and 2:15:13 respectively.
The women's team will be led by the experience of Mary Akor (Gardena,
Calif.), who competed for Team USA in the marathon at the 2005 World
Championships, where she finished 50th. Akor was the runner-up at the USA
Marathon Championships in Minneapolis last fall with a personal best of
2:33:50, and she finished fourth at the 2008 USA Women's Marathon
Championships, hosted by the Boston Marathon in April.
Also qualifying for the women's team at the 2006 national championship is
Zoila Gomez (Alamosa, Colo.). The former Adams State All-American finished
fourth in Minneapolis with a personal best 2:35:26. Joining Akor and Gomez
in Osaka will be Ann Alyanak (Bellbrook, Ohio), Kristin Price (Raleigh,
N.C.) and Samia Akbar (Hendon, Va.)
Alyanak and Price were named to the team after finishing second and third,
respectively, at the USA Marathon Championship in Boston, Alyanak having
improved her personal best by over nine minutes, running 2:38:55, while
Price broke her best by more than five minutes with a 2:38:57.
A former All-American at American University, Akbar's debut performance of
2:34:14 at the 2006 ING New York City Marathon confirmed her place on the
marathon team.
The 2007 squad will look to continue the U.S. team's progress at the World
Championships Marathon following a fourth-place men's team finish and
sixth-place women's team finish at the 2005 World Championships in
Helsinki, Finland. Brian Sell (Rochester Hills, Mich.) led the men's team
with a ninth place finish while Turena Johnson Lane led the women,
finishing 26th overall.
For more information on the IAAF World Championships, visit: www.USATF.org.
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