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Women's team defends gold; Laura Haefeli earns bronze medal
By Dave Dunham
OVRONNAZ, Switzerland - (September 15, 2007) - At the World Mountain Running Trophy, for the first time in its history, the U.S. team took home two team medals as the women's Senior team repeated with a gold medal performance and the women's Junior team scored silver. In addition, Laura Haefeli took home the first ever U.S. women's individual medal with her third place finish (bronze).
The Junior women's raced commenced the day of racing over the 4K course with 1,000 feet of climb and descent. The field of 53 of the best mountain runners under the age of 20 sprinted out of the sport stadium in the mountain town of Ovronnaz. The Teva U.S. team was led by Anna Lieb who took fourth place in 21 minutes, 23 seconds, missing silver by just 17 seconds. The race was won by Lara Tamsett of Australia in 20:48. Maria Dalzot ran 21:48 to place eighth, while Kathryn Helmerick took 30th in 23:45 which featured runners from 22 countries.
In the Junior women's competition, the top two runners scored. The team took second place with 12 points. The field of 17 full teams was led by Australia with 4 points. The women were excited to be the first U.S. Junior team to medal. Dalzot was happy with her result and noted "I'm looking forward to 2010, I want to come back on the Senior women's team."
The second race of the day under brightening skies and rising temperatures (between low 60s to mid-70s) was the Junior boys which consisted of the same 4K loop run twice. The team was led by Christian Thompson in 17th place, running 38:25. The winner was Geoffrey Kusuro (Uganda) who led the field of 76 runners representing 24 countries. Jonny Stevens was the second U.S. finisher, 44th in 41:19. Alex Jodidio was 59th (43:06) and Zach Rivers took 63rd (44:20). The team scored 120 points (three athletes score) to place 11th in the field of 16 complete teams.
The third race to be contested was the Senior women's which also consisted of two laps of the 4K course. Laura Haefeli led the U.S. team taking third in 41:20. Anna Pichrtova of the Czech Republic was the world champion in 39:12. Chris Lundy finished 8th in 42:24 followed closely by Rachael Cuellar in 12th place in 42:41. Anita Ortiz finished 31st in 44:30 in the field of 86 runners representing 30 countries. The U.S. team bested 19 other full teams to take the gold with 23 points (three score) and for the second consecutive year, edged the Czech Republic by one point.
The final race of the day was the Senior men's, which featured three grueling laps of the 4K course with a total of 3,000 feet climb and descent. 145 runners from 34 countries toed the line. Italian Marco De Gasperi, a former world champion as a Junior and Senior runner, was again victorious and a crowd favorite as his fan club was out in full force. De Gasperi ran the three loops in an amazing 51:50. Six-time world champion Jonathan Wyatt who was not competing while recovering from a recent injury called the course "very tough".
The Teva U.S. team was led by Payton Batliner who placed 25th in 56:14. Shiloh Mielke was 37th in 57:11. Rickey Gates and Clint Wells closed out the team scoring in 57th and 58th respectively, 58:43 and 58:44. Simon Gutierrez was 65th in 59:04 and Paul Low was 118th place in 1:04:36. The men's team placed 9th in the field of 25 complete teams. Although Italy and Eritrea scored 30 points each, Team Italy won the world title because its 4th runner finished higher (12th to 15th).
23rd World Mountain Running Trophy - Ovronnaz, SUI, Saturday, September 15
12K
MEN
1) Marco De Gasperi (ITA), 51:50, gold
2) Tesfaye Yohannes (ERI), 52:20, silver
3) Ermias Tesfazghi (ERI), 53:03, bronze
4) Joseph Symonds (SCO), 53:03
5) Adam Grice (ENG), 53:11
U.S.
25) Payton Batliner (USA), 56:14
37) Shiloh Mielke (USA), 57:11
57) Rickey Gates (USA), 58:43
58) Clint Wells (USA), 58:44
TEAM (top four athletes, cross country scoring)
1) Italy, 30 points (4th runner 12th place)
2) Eritrea, 30 (4th runner 15th place)
3) Switzerland, 61
9) USA, 177
(25 teams)
8K
WOMEN
1) Anna Pichrtova (CZE), 39:12, gold
2) Andrea Mayr (AUT), 39:53, silver
3) Laura Haefeli (USA), 41:20, bronze
4) Dlisa Desco (ITA), 41:26
5) Maria Eugenia Rodriguez (COL), 41:39
Other U.S.
8) Chris Lundy (USA), 42:24
12) Rachael Cuellar (USA), 42:41
31) Anita Ortiz (USA), 44:30
TEAM (top three runners, cross country scoring):
1) USA, 23 points
2) Czech Republic, 24
3) Italy, 29
(20 teams)
Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Director
(805) 696-6232; Fax = (805) 659-0016
Ryan@RunningUSA.org
www.RunningUSA.org.
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