Posted: March 27, 2005

Athletics: Torres, Kastor Win USA 8K Titles in New York City

Kastor Sets USA Championship Record - Just Misses U.S. Record

By Jim Gerweck, Running USA wire

NEW YORK - (March 26, 2005) - As the holder of a slew of American distance running records, Deena Kastor of Mammoth Lakes, Calif. would be the last person one would suspect of having a crisis of confidence. But that's just how she felt as she toed the line for the USA 8K Championship on the track of the brand new Icahn Stadium in New York on Saturday morning.

"The New York Road Runners had assembled an awesome field, with at least four Olympians," she said. "Believe me, I was running scared."

Fear proved a great motivator as Kastor, last seen in these parts stepping off the course at the 16 mile point of last November's ING New York City Marathon, came within three ticks of Lynn Jennings' 14-year-old U.S. record of 25:02. For most, to come so close and fall agonizingly short might prove disappointing, but Kastor, 32, is not like most, in her outlook or her talent.

"I wanted to come out and run hard and aggressively," the Team Running USA athlete said. "I had it in my mind from the start to go for the record, but it was a great way to open the year."

But for a tentative 81-second opening 400 on the track and a noticeable headwind over the final 2K, Kastor might well have annexed the 8K AR to go with her 5K, 10,000m, 15K and marathon marks. Flirting with record pace after the first kilometer, she came through 5K in 15:26, 12 seconds ahead. But the course's single climb and the persistent headwind slowed her enough that in spite of the screaming crowd of 2,000 urging her on over the final 500 on the track, the AR and accompanying $25,000 bonus just slipped away, but Kastor did set a USA Championship record (bettering Leann Warren's 25:15 from 1989). Her time is the second fastest ever run by an American for the distance and the Arkansas grad also earned her 18th USA title.

Left in Kastor's wake was Team Running USA teammate and fellow Olympic marathoner Jen Rhines, who was second in 25:54, and 1998-99 USA 8K champion Amy Rudolph, who outkicked Team USA Minnesota's Katie McGregor on the track by one second to take third in 26:02. With her 27:45 (18th overall), Carmen Troncoso, 45, from Austin, Texas, set a pending U.S. 45-49 age group record.

If that race simply provided more proof of Kastor's pre-eminence among American women, the men's event that followed may have given a hint of a new force in that arena. Running his first road race since "some dinky turkey trot when I was in seventh grade," Jorge Torres of Boulder, Colo. outlegged an equally impressive field to make his record one-for-one in professional road races and national road championships. Perhaps as a result, Torres feels, "I have good future in road racing, and in the marathon."

The men's event was more of a race than a time trial like the women, as a large pack stuck together through the first quarter of the race. Torres, Abdi Abdirahman and Anthony Famiglietti separated themselves when the course reentered the stadium for a lap at two miles, and Abdirahman briefly took the lead as they came back on the roads. That move seemed to energize Torres, 24, who dropped the pace and began to open daylight, with only steepler Famiglietti, who lives just across the river in Manhattan, giving chase. His efforts to stay with Torres into the wind ultimately cost him second place, as Abdirahman reeled him in over the final stadium circuit. Torres, a Colorado grad, finished in 22:47, well off Alberto Salazar's 1981 record of 22:04, with 2004 Olympians Abdirahman nine seconds behind and Famiglietti back six more.

As national champions, Kastor and Torres took home $6500 and $5500 respectively including time bonuses.

This marked the fourth year the NYRR has hosted the men's race, and the first time for the women, as well as the first time the men's and women's USA 8K Championships have ever been held in the same location on the same day. Normally contested in Central Park, the conflict with Easter forced a change of venue, and to christen the new IAAF Class-I facility was moved to Randall's Island. The 5,000 seat stadium was almost half full of fans and runners who had competed in an open 5K race an hour before the national championship.

As part of the 2005 USA Running Circuit, a USATF grand prix series, the top 10 U.S. runners scored Circuit points at the national championship. With her national runner-up performance (worth 12 points), Jen Rhines sits atop the women's USARC standings with 27 points and Deena Kastor is second with 15 points. Two-time defending men's USARC champion Ryan Shay moved into first place (22 points) with his fourth place performance (7 points) here and Abdi Abdirahman - also national runner-up - is second overall (18 points).

NYRR 8000: USA Men's and Women's Championship - New York, NY, Saturday, March 26, 2005

MEN
1) Jorge Torres, CO, 22:47, $5500
2) Abdi Abdirahman, AZ, 22:56, $4000
3) Anthony Famiglietti, NY, 23:02, $3000
4) Ryan Shay, MI, 23:05, $2000
5) Max King, OR, 23:07, $1250
6) Matt Gabrielson, MN, 23:08, $1000
7) Bolota Asmerom, CA, 23:09, $800
8) Peter Julian, CO, 23:12, $700
9) Jonathon Riley, CA, 23:12, $600
10) Ian Connor, NC, 23:13, $500
11) James Carney, CA, 23:14, $400
12) Grant Robison, MI, 23:17, $300
13) Patrick Gildea, TN, 23:23, $200
14) Matt Downin, NJ, 23:24, $150
15) Paul Kezes, OR, 23:25, $100

WOMEN
1) Deena Kastor, CA, 25:05+, $6500
2) Jen Rhines, PA, 25:54, $4000
3) Amy Rudolph, RI, 26:02, $3000
4) Katie McGregor, MN, 26:03, $2000
5) Jenny Crain, WI, 26:24, $1250
6) Carrie Tollefson, MN, 26:31, $1000
7) Laura O'Neill, CT, 26:35, $800
8) Christin Wurth-Thomas, AR, 26:37, $700
9) Amy Mortimer, MA, 26:41, $600
10) Nicole Aish, CO, 26:49, $500
11) Amy Begley, NM, 26:59, $400
12) Collette Liss, IN, 27:25, $300
13) Nicole Hunt, MT, 27:34, $200
14) Lucinda Hull, NC, 27:37, $150
15) Melissa Cook, TX, 27:41, $100

+USA Championship record (previous record, 25:15, Leann Warren, 1989 City of Alhambra Moonlight Run, CA)

For deeper results, race photos and more, visit the race website at: NYRR.org.

Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Services Director
385 Oak View Lane
Santa Barbara, CA 93111

(805) 696-6232, fax (805) 967-5958
Ryan@RunningUSA.org
www.runningusa.org.