Posted: February 2, 2004

Athletics: Team USA Monterey Bay Athletes Strong In Season Indoor Debuts

MONTEREY, Calif. - (January 31, 2004) - A trio of Team USA Monterey Bay distance runners recorded solid performances in indoor track and field competition on Saturday in Boston. At the Boston University Invitational/Terrier Classic, James Carney, 25, easily won the men's 5000 meter race and Fasil Bizuneh, 23, placed third in the men's 3000 meter event. Also, at the adidas Boston Indoor Games, held concurrently at Reggie Lewis Center, Ryan Bak, 22, garnered sixth place, and second American, in a very competitive men's mile race.

All three athletes live and train under the wing of head coach Bob Sevene at Team USA Monterey Bay's distance running training center on the campus of California State University, Monterey Bay.

Carney's winning 5000m time of 14:06.53 was under USA Track & Field's qualifying standard for the USA Indoor Track and Field Championships set for February 27-29 in Boston. Bizuneh's 3000m time of 8:04.05 was just five-100ths of a second short of an automatic qualifying berth, but the mark allows him to petition to compete in the national championships.

Bak, who was last year's NCAA Division II Indoor Athlete of the Year as a senior at Connecticut's Trinity College, recorded a time of 4:03.07 in the mile race. The adidas Boston Indoor Games was the first event on USATF's Indoor Golden Spike Tour.

Next weekend, the Team USA Monterey Bay threesome will compete in the USA Cross Country Championships in Indianapolis. The event selects the U.S. teams for the 2004 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Brussels, Belgium.

Full results of the adidas Boston Indoor Games are available on the web at: .

For results of the Boston University Invitational/Terrier Classic, go to: www.bu.edu/track/Indoor/Terrier/index.htm.

Team USA Monterey Bay, Inc. a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public benefit organization, operates a year-round training center at California State University, Monterey Bay to develop, support and promote U.S. distance runners capable of winning medals in Olympic and World Championship competition. The organization is also committed to creating role models for the general community who promote physical fitness and a positive and productive lifestyle for people of all ages.