Posted: May 11, 2007

Athletics (RWire): Cabada Set to Defend USA Men's 25K Title at Fifth Third River Bank Run

McGregor leads women's field at USARC event INDIANAPOLIS - (May 8, 2007) - Fernando Cabada (Bristol, Va.) returns to the USA 25K Championships this Saturday in Grand Rapids, Mich. to defend the crown he won last year on his way to a national record of one hour, 14 minutes, 21 seconds, while Katie McGregor (Minneapolis, Minn.) will make her debut at that distance in the women's race. The USA 25K Championships will be held in conjunction with the 30th Fifth Third River Bank Run for the 14th time since its inception. Though Cabada dominated the 2006 field, he will face stiff competition this year from 2005 national 25K champion and in-state favorites Brian Sell (Rochester Hills, Mich.) and two-time USA Half Marathon champion (2003-04) Ryan Shay (East Jordan, Mich.). Sell comes into the 25K having only raced the USA Half Marathon Championships in January's Aramco Houston Half Marathon where he finished sixth in 1:03:10. Shay heads into the race gaining momentum as he progresses through the 2007 season after making the U.S. team for the World Cross Country Championships and recently running a personal best of 28:03 for 10,000 meters at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational. Also contending for the women's title will be 2003 NCAA 10,000 meter champion Alicia Craig (Woodside, Calif.); Michelle Lilienthal (Philadelphia, Pa.), third-place at the 2007 USA Half Marathon Championships in Houston and fourth at the 2006 USA Marathon Championships last October at the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon and Jeanne Hennessy, the 2002 USA 25K champion. For more information on the 2007 USA 25K Championship and the USARC, visit: USATF.org. Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Director (805) 696-6232; Fax = (805) 659-0016 Ryan@RunningUSA.org www.RunningUSA.org. Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest