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2008 World Cross Country Trials Preview

Published by
ross   Feb 13th 2008, 2:32pm
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2/13/08 - By Max King
Saturday February 16 2008 will play host to the second installment of the Men’s and Women’s USA Cross Country Championships competing over only one distance, 12km for the men at 2:00pm and 8km for the women at 1:15pm. The race will be held in San Diego’s Mission Bay Park utilizing a 2km loop course right on the water. From the course description, it should be a fast race with a firm grass surface and several sharp corners but few hills.  Unfortunately, both defending champions (Alan Culpepper and Deena Kastor) have opted out of this years race but you can bet there will be plenty of national and world class competition.

Also being contested will be the USA Junior XC Championships, Masters Championships, and a community 4km race at 9am. Look for a highlight video, interviews with athletes, and other race news at Runnerspace.com.

On the men’s side, the best of the best will be competing. Already selected to represent the US team in Beijing, Ryan Hall and Dathan Ritzenhein will most likely be battling up in front for the crown. News reports say that Dathan is in sub-prime shape due
to a recent injury from competing in a XC race in Scotland several weeks ago, but I’ll believe it when I see it.  Trying their best to hang on to these two will probably be a pack of 4-5 other runners including Dan Browne, James Carney, Ed Moran, Jason Lehmkuhle, Jorge Torres.  Of course, predicting XC is impossible so with that I can throw in another 15 names of people who could break into the top five and definitely be in the top 10. I’m obviously leaving out the few who will inevitably break into the top 10 who are not on the radar. A few others to watch for will be Sean Graham, could be deadly over a flat fast course, more of a track runner but he’s strong and in shape. James Carney and Steve Sundell, the former recently won the USA Half Marathon Champs and the latter had a huge PR at the same distance. Jason Lehmkuhle is always a strong consistent runner, probably a darkhorse for 2nd or 3rd. Josh Eberly has been recently making strides at a strong comeback. Josh Rohatinsky recently finished 9th at the Olympic Trials Marathon and is an all around good runner. And Ryan Bak has been looking very strong in workouts and with consistent training in the last 6 months could be a contender. The rest of the names to look out for are listed at the bottom. Don’t count any of them out for making the World Cross Team.

On the women’s side Shalane Flanagan is the clear favorite with her runner-up performance last year in Boulder and American record last spring. After that it is shaping up to be similar to the men’s race, no clear order of finish just a strong deep field.

Although I would place a bet on Lauren Fleshman in a second place slot, inside information has it that she will sit out XC for indoors the next week. So, the other favorites vying for the coveted team slots will be Blake Russell, the 2006 8k XC course champion. Colleen De Reuck can be counted on to be in contention with strong finishes or wins in every XC Championship race since 2001. Another perennial top finisher is Renee Metivier, with a 3rd in 2006 and 5th in 2007. Delilah DeCrescenzo looked good in her win at the Club XC Champs and now the crowd will have something to sing to her about, which might just inspire her race. Also keep an eye out for Cack Ferrell, claiming the top American spot at last years World XC race in Kenya and so far having a great year and looking very strong and confident. Others to watch out for will be Sara Slattery, Katherine Newberry, and Molly Huddle, along with the others listed below.

Fans who follow the sport will quickly realize that XC is a difficult event to predict and every year some of the favorites have an off day while just as many “no names” have a race where all the pieces come together better than jigsaw puzzle. It just happens that way. That’s the beauty of cross country. Those who know how to prepare for it usually walk away satisfied. This sport doesn’t reward the track athlete that can run a rabbited even paced 5km or a highly tactical 1500m that closes with a 51 sec last quarter. This is a sport for runners, tough runners.

Scott Bauhs
Fasil Bizuneh
Dan Browne
Fernando Cabada
James Carney
Josh Eberly
Matt Gabrielson
Sean Graham
Ryan Hall
Ryan Kirkpatrick
Rod Koborsi
Jason Lehmkuhle
Lucas Meyer
Ed Moran
Brian Olinger
Dathan Ritzenhein
Josh Rohatinsky
Steve Sundell
Patrick Tarpy
Jorge Torres
Ed Torres
Ryan Warrenburg

Kathryn Andersen
Colleen De Reuck
Delilah DiCrescenzo
Catherine Ferrell
Shalane Flanagan
Lauren Fleshman
Lisa Galaviz
Amy Hastings
Molly Huddle
Katie McGregor
Renee Metivier
Stephanie Rothstein
Blake Russell
Sara Slattery
Katherine Newberry
Nicole Aish
Stephanie Bylander

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