Posted: April 3, 2005

Athletics: De La Ossa, Mockenhaupt Win European Cup 10,000M Titles

From David Monti

(c) 2004 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

By Bob Ramsak

Juan Carlos de la Ossa of Spain and Sabrina Mockenhaupt of Germany raced to comfortable victories at the European Cup 10,000 meters today in Barakaldo, Spain, running world-leading performances in the process.

De la Ossa, silver medallist at last December's SPAR European Cross Country Championships, won handily in 27:27.80, knocking nearly 40 seconds from his previous personal best of 28:07.19 set at this event in 2003. The 24-year-old Mockenhaupt won by a wide margin as well, clocking 31:21.28, eclipsing her own personal best by just over two seconds.

Carles Castillejo, another Spaniard, finished second in the men's race in 28:06.88. Fernanda Ribeiro of Portugal, a two-time winner of the event and the 1996 Olympic champion, was second in 32:02.33.

Both races were paced; Bouza El Mastati from Morocco and Cuthbert Nyasango of Zimbabwe paced the men while Tanzanian Ruhana Shauri and Alemayehu Mersha from Ethiopia paced the women.

Look for complete results in Monday's RRW.