DECKERT WINS WOMEN’S 6-KILOMETER RACE TO END CANADIAN STRANGLEHOLD AT SEATTLE OPEN CROSS COUNTRY CLASSIC
(SEATTLE, WA, 23 Jan 05)—2004 Pacific Northwest Association champion Alysun Deckert ended a six year stranglehold by Canadian women in becoming the first American to win the women’s six-kilometer race at the Seattle Open Cross Country Classic.
Deckert, representing the Seattle Running Company, was unpressed, cruising through the 3.74 mile Lincoln Park course, winning in a time of 22:53. Portland’s Kelly Kruell finished in the runner-up spot in a time of 25:30.
In the men’s eight kilometer (4.97 miles) race, Brent Corbitt of Coquitlam, BC emerged victorious, winning in a time of 25:48. Seattle’s David Messenheimer placed second in 27:37.
Deckert, a 2004 US Olympic Marathon Trials participant, plans to compete in the USA Cross Country Championships three weeks later in Vancouver, Wash., while Corbitt used today’s race in preparation for the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in France.
In the men’s and women’s 4-kilometer race, a pair of teenagers ran away with victories, led by men’s champion Colin Longmuir of Woodinville, Wash., in a time of 13:55. Renton’s Katie Pellitteri was the women’s winner in 19:36.
Like Deckert, Longmuir, a freshman at the University of Portland, plans to compete in Vancouver three weeks later at the USA national championships.
For more information on the Seattle Open, please contact Merca at 206/499-4329, or visit Club Ballard's web site at www.clubballard.com.
WOMEN’S 6-KILOMETER RACE TO HIGHLIGHT SEATTLE OPEN CROSS COUNTRY CLASSIC ON JANUARY 23RD AT LINCOLN PARK
(21 January 2005)--The women’s six-kilometer race at Sunday’s Seattle Open Cross Country Classic at Lincoln Park in West Seattle will be the feature race of the four-race schedule.
The women’s six-kilometer race will have a distinctively Pacific Northwest feel, with 2004 US Olympic marathon trials competitors Karen Steen (Club Northwest) of Olympia, and Alysun Deckert of Seattle (Seattle Running Co.) the top two seeds for Sunday’s race.
Steen, a former collegiate 400-meter hurdler, is building upon her success last month, where she won the women’s 40-44 age division at the USA Track & Field national club cross country championships in Portland, Oregon.
At last year’s Olympic Marathon Trials in St. Louis, MO., Steen finished in a time of 2:47:51, while Deckert crossed the line in 2:50:27.
The Seattle Open Cross Country Classic, presented by the Pacific Northwest Association of USA Track & Field, and Active.com, is one of the final high performance cross country races in the country designed to help prepare runners for the USA Cross Country Championships in Vancouver, Washington on February 12-13th and the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in March.
Merca anticipates that the two men’s events, a four-kilometer, and a eight-kilometer race, will be wide-open contests, with several of the Northwest’s top harriers expected to run in preparation for the USA national championships three weeks later in Vancouver, Washington.
The men's and women's 4-kilometer races kick off the program at 11 am, followed by the men's 10-k and women's 6-k races, which start simultaneously at 11:45 am. All races are on a spectator-friendly 2-kilometer loop course, which starts and finishes adjacent to the soccer field on the north end of Lincoln Park.
Runners who wish to enter the Seattle Open may sign up for the races beginning at 9:30 am in front of picnic shelter #5 for a $20 entry fee.
For more information on the Seattle Open, please contact Merca at 206/499-4329, or visit Club Ballard's web site at www.clubballard.com.
NOTES: Complete race results from the Seattle Open will be posted on the Club Ballard web site at www.clubballard.com no later than 6 PM on Sunday evening, barring any technical difficulties. Media wishing to receive results before 6 PM are asked to contact Merca at 206/499-4329.
CLUB BALLARD TO HOST SEATTLE OPEN CROSS COUNTRY CLASSIC ON SUNDAY JANUARY 23RD AT LINCOLN PARK
Club Ballard Athletics announced that the Seattle-based track and field club will stage the Seattle Open Cross Country Classic on Sunday, January 23, 2005 at Lincoln Park in Seattle.
Race director and Club Ballard team manager Paul Merca states that the meet will offer many of the athletes from the Pacific Northwest a final competitive opportunity before the USA Cross Country Championships in Vancouver, WA., on February 12-13.
“As USA Track & Field has moved the national championships to February from its traditional late November/early December window in order to conform with the international calendar, the competitive opportunities for athletes wishing to run cross country races domestically after December is very limited.”
“Club Ballard is happy to provide the distance runners of this area a chance to see where they are before the national championships, and we’re delighted to stage this meet”, Merca said. “We anticipate the participation of many of the Pacific Northwest’s elite distance runners in both the short-cross (4K) and the long races, including several runners who have competed at the international level of the sport.”
In the 2004 edition of the Seattle Open, Lauren Fleshman of Palo Alto, California, won the women’s 4-kilometer (2.46 miles) short cross race in a course record time of 13:51, breaking the course record by 75 seconds.
Fleshman took charge of the race shortly after the 2000-meter mark, hotly pursued by her former Stanford teammate and 2004 Canadian Olympian Malindi Elmore from Calgary, AB.
As the pair ran towards the south end of the park, Fleshman began pulling away from Elmore, stretching her lead to 13 seconds over the final lap of the Lincoln Park course. Elmore also finished the race under the course record, running a time of 14: 04. In fact, third place finisher Tracy Robertson-Frack, a former University of Arkansas standout, also ducked under the previous course record time of 15:06 set by Club Northwest’s Mindy Leffler in 2001, running 15:00.
Three-time Seattle Open women’s 6-kilometer champion Tina Connelly of Port Coquitlam, B.C., added a fourth title to her resume, easily winning the race in a time of 20:46. Connelly, a 2000 Canadian Olympian at 10000 meters was pleased with the victory, but was disappointed that she did not regain her Seattle Open course record time of 20:29 that she lost to fellow countrywoman Emilie Mondor in 2003.
Former University of Puget Sound All-American Dave Davis, easily won the men’s 8-kilometer race, cruising to victory in a time of 24:41, while University of Portland freshman Michael Kilburg from Sammamish, a graduate of Seattle’s O’Dea High, won the men’s 4-kilometer race in a time of 13:31.
The Seattle Open will consist of a men’s and women’s 4-kilometer race and community run at 11:00 AM; a women’s 6-kilometer race; and a men’s 8-kilometer competition, both of which starts at 11:45 AM. The men’s 8-kilometer race is a change from previous Seattle Open races, in which the longer 10-k distance was contested.
All races will be contested over a European-style 2-kilometer loop course going through the north and central portions of Lincoln Park. This course was originally designed for the 1999 USA Women’s World Cross Country Team Trials.
Individual awards will be presented to the top finishers in each of the four races on the schedule.
Runners are strongly encouraged to enter the Seattle Open through its online partner, Active.com. Telephone inquiries for the race may be directed to Paul Merca at 206/499-4329. You may also send email inquiries to clubalrd@earthlink.net, or visit the club’s web site at http://www.clubballard.com.
Race flyers will be available at most Seattle area running shops, including Super Jock ‘n Jill in Green Lake; Seattle Running Company on Capitol Hill; Foot Zone in Bellevue and in Issaquah; and Sound Sports in Downtown Seattle.
The entry fee for the event is $10.00, before January 21st. There will be day-of-race registration; however, the entry fee on race day is $20.00.
2004 Seattle Open Champions:
Men's 4k--Michael Kilburg, Univ. of Portland (13:31)
Women's 4k--Lauren Fleshman, NIKE (13:51, course record)
Women's 6k--Tina Connelly, NIKE/Canada (20:29, course record)
Men's 8k--Dave Davis, NIKE (24:41, new event at Seattle Open)
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Paul Merca, Race Director
E-MAIL: clubalrd@earthlink.net
ON THE WEB: http://www.clubballard.com
RACE HOTLINE: (206) 499-4329
