Posted: May 8, 2006

Athletics: Women's Team USA Set to Defend Its BolderBOULDER International Team Challenge Crown

BOULDER, Colo. - (May 7, 2006) - The 2006 BolderBOULDER Women's Team USA has been assembled for the 9th International Team Challenge as part of the 28th BolderBOULDER on Memorial Day, May 29. The three-member U.S. team below is set to race against top teams from Ethiopia (runner-up team in 2005), Kenya and Mexico. U.S. women have won three of the last four Challenge titles (2002, 2003, 2005).

Sara Slattery, 24, of Boulder, CO, will be making her professional debut at BolderBOULDER this year. On April 30 in the Kim McDonald 10,000m at Stanford, Slattery finished second in 32:21.64 - a personal record. She also placed 26th at the recent IAAF World Cross Country 8K Championship and 4th at the USA 15K Champs, the USA Indoor T&F Championships 3000m and the USA Cross Country 8K Championships. She placed 3rd at the Boston Indoor Games 5000m with a time of 15:37.68. Slattery is a University of Colorado graduate and won the 2005 NCAA 10,000m title. Sara, sponsored by adidas, is married to steeplechaser Steve Slattery.

Elva Dryer, 34, Albuquerque, NM, is the BolderBOULDER defending champion (2005 - 32:51). Elva is a two-time U.S. Olympian (2000 / 2004), 2001 & 2003 USA 10K Champion, 1997 USA 5K Champion and 2002 USA 15K Runner-Up. She took 2nd place and set a big PR at the 2003 Kim McDonald 10,000 meters at the Stanford Cardinal Invitational with a time of 31:26. Her 10,000m PR is 31:21.92 (2005). Elva is sponsored by Nike and is coached by her husband Russ Dryer and works with coaching legend Joe Vigil.

Jen Rhines, 30, of Mammoth Lakes, CA, is a BolderBOULDER veteran as the two-time Olympian is making her third appearance here. In 2002 and last year, the Team Running USA athlete finished 4th and 3rd respectively to help Team USA win the BolderBOULDER Team Challenge. A five-time NCAA champion at Villanova, Rhines recently finished 4th at the Rome Marathon in 2:29:32, a personal record, and was the USA 15K national runner-up at the Gate River Run in March. The three-time USA Champion (15K-twice and 10,000m) sports a 10,000m PR of 31:26.66 (2005). Rhines, sponsored by adidas, is married to Terrence Mahon, also her coach.

BolderBOULDER officials anticipate strong performances again as the best road runners in the world compete over a criterium course at the International Team Challenge. Other teams competing this year include Ethiopia, Great Britain, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Mexico, Morocco, Poland, Romania, Russia and Team Colorado (developmental team).

Professional Athlete Coordinator Rich Castro spoke about this year's women's Team USA, "This is a talented and experienced team. The U.S. women have proven they can win here and being led by two athletes that have experienced great success in Boulder in Dryer and Rhines will give them the chance to repeat as champions in 2006. They will face the deepest field ever assembled with all the major international distance powers represented in Ethiopia, Kenya, Morocco, Mexico, Romania, Russian and Japan. History tells us the Africans will provide the stiffest challenge for the Americans, but Mexico and Romania both return with past champions as their team leaders. Whatever happens on the floor of Folsom Field on Memorial Day it will be a race to watch."

The International Team Challenge, started in 1998, is the largest international road racing team competition held annually in the United States. International teams are made up of three runners per gender. The teams compete for the largest non-marathon prize purse in the world. Monies are awarded in the team and individual categories. Teams are scored cross-country style with points awarded on the basis of finishing place. The team with the lowest score for all three runners is the winner. Ties are broken by the position of the third-place finishers. The 2006 guaranteed prize purse, before bonuses, is $110,600.

At last year's ITC, Elva Dryer became the fourth U.S. woman in five years to win the BolderBOULDER professional race, pulling away from Ethiopia's Merima Hashim over the last third of the race to win in 32 minutes, 51 seconds. That is the fifth fastest time posted by a woman in the race's history, trailing only Delillah Asiago (32:13, 1995), Lidia Simon (32:30, 1999), Anne Audain (32:38, 1982) and Asha Gigi (32:47, 1999). It was the fastest time in the criterium with lap format. The 26-second margin of victory matched that of Deena (Drossin) Kastor in '03, and thus tied for the largest winning margin by an American.

About BolderBOULDER
The Celestial Seasonings BolderBOULDER 10K, a Running USA Founding Member, is the 2nd largest running race in the USA and the 6th largest in the world. The race attracts up to 50,000 runners, walkers and wheelchair racers and draws professional racing teams from all over the world to compete for the largest non-marathon prize purse in road racing. The 28th BolderBOULDER will be held on Memorial Day, May 29, 2006. For more information, go to BolderBOULDER.com.

Source: Cliff Bosley, Race Director

Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Director
(805) 696-6232; Fax = (805) 659-0016
Ryan@RunningUSA.org
www.RunningUSA.org.

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