Ritzenhein, Flanagan dominate at USA Cross Country Championships

Contact:
Jim Estes
USA Track & Field
Associate Director of LDR & Marketing
317-713-4661; Jim.Estes@usatf.org


Ritzenhein, Flanagan dominate at USA Cross Country Championships

SPOKANE - American record holders Dathan Ritzenhein (Portland, Ore.) and Shalane Flanagan (Pittsboro, N.C.) dominated the open men's and women's fields at the 2010 USA Cross Country Championships Saturday at Plantes Ferry Recreation Park in Spokane, Wash. Running 34 minutes 34 seconds for the open men's 12- kilometer race, Ritzenhein won his third U.S. Cross Country title. Flanagan's 25 minutes 10 seconds for the open women's 8-kilometer was good for her fourth national cross country crown.

In addition to the national titles, the top-six open men and women and junior men and women qualified to represent Team USA at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships on March 28 in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

Flanagan cruises to women's title

Flanagan took control of the open women's 8 km from the gun with two-time USA Women's 10 km Champion Molly Huddle (Providence, R.I.) the only one that tried to keep pace. By the end of the first 2-kilometer loop, Flanagan held a five second lead over Huddle. Over the final six kilometers Flanagan extended her lead to go to a 51-second victory. Huddle held off a late charge by Amy Hastings (Flagstaff, Ariz.) to hold on for second, running 26:01. Hastings was timed in 26:09 while Magdalena Lewy Boulet took fourth in 26:09.

Renee Metivier Baillie (Boulder, Colo.) and Sara Hall (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.) rounded out the Team USA qualifiers, finishing fifth and sixth in 26:26 and 26:37 respectively.

Patience pays off for Ritzenhein in open men's championship

In the open men's 12 km, Ritzenhein was content to let Patrick Smyth (Minneapolis, Minn.) and Scott Bauhs (Chico, Calif.) take the pace for the first four laps of the six lap course before making his move at 9-kilometers.

While Ritzenhein's lead grew to 18-seconds over the final lap, Smyth continued to battle with Bauhs for second before pulling away to claim the runner-up position, running 34:52. Bauhs was timed in 35:01 while Ben Bruce (Eugene, Ore.), Bobby Curtis (Ardmore, Pa.) and Ryan Vail (Gresham, Ore.) completed the qualifiers for the U.S. team, running 35:16, 35:22 and 35:25 respectively.

Greany takes junior women's title

In the junior women's race, Providence College freshman Shelby Greany (Providence, Rhode Island) broke away from pack of four runners to secure the victory on the final lap of the 6-kilometer race.

Greany ran 20:27 to finish five seconds clear of high school senior Emily Sisson (Chesterfield, Missouri), who ran 20:32.

Gaining the final four spots to Poland were Juliet Bottorff (Newark, Del.) of Duke who ran 20:32, followed by Georgetown freshman Emily Jones (Harvard, Mass.) at 20:33. Laura Tremblay (Loveland, Colorado) was fifth in 20:46, followed by Sophia Ziemian (Lewisburg, Pa.) at 20:49.

Dunbar dominates junior men's field

Trevor Dunbar (Kodiak, Alaska) ran away with the junior men's 8-kilometer championship, building up an early lead that extended to 17 seconds at the halfway mark, before cruising to a six-second win in 24:04.

Walter Schafer (Centennial, Colo.) finished second in 24:10, followed by Andrew Colley (Williamsburg, Va.) of North Carolina State who ran 24:16.

Local favorite Andrew Kimpel of Spokane, a freshman at Washington State University, gave the home crowd something to cheer about, as he nabbed the fourth position, running 24:19. Michael Lynch (Columbia, Md.) finished fifth in 24;24, and Ammar Moussa (Arcadia, Calif.) earned the final junior spot in 24:28.

Masters Championships

Opening the day of racing at Plantes Ferry was the masters men's and women's 8 km championships, as former Olympian Colleen De Reuck (Boulder, Colo.) won the women's title in 27:27, and Tracy Lokken (Marquette, Mich.), a former masters national champion, won the men's race in 25:39.

For more information on the 2010 USA Cross Country Championships visit www.usatf.org.