2 X USA National Champions

On Sunday, May 15th in Riverside, CA, four TEAM members competed in the USA 15km RW Championships. In a cloudy and rainy day the racewalkers completed 8.75 laps of 1.709km per lap to finish the 15km distance. This is an odd distance for them to race since they usually compete over 20km's but it was a good indicator as to what kind of fitness they are in leading up to the National Championships in just over a month.

In the men's race we had returning 15km Champion, Coach Tim, and his Junior prodigy, Trevor. They started the race off together for 2 laps until Trevor took off and pounded the laps and finished in a great time of 1:03:37 which is a new USA Junior Record by 8.5 minutes, incredible. Coach Tim struggled through the rest of the race with some knee pain that he has been having for a few months now. He still finished 2nd in a time of 1:09:15. Trevor took his 2nd USA National Title.
On the women's side we had Rachel and Lauren. The plan was for Rachel to pace Lauren through a sub-1:15:00 15km. They started off on a good pace and continued to get stronger. In the last 5km's Lauren started to fade a bit but still finished up in a great time of 1:14:15, a huge PR. Rachel stayed with Lauren throughout the whole race until the last lap when she took off and finished in a time of 1:14:02 to finish slightly ahead. This was Lauren's first USA National Championships title. Big things to come for her in Eugene at the USA Track and Field Championships in a month. You can listen to an interview from Racewalk Planet Radio on both girls here.

Next up for the TEAM is the NAIA Championships in a week. We have Chris, Katie and Janelle competing over 5000m's. All three are NAIA Indoor Championship medalists and they hope to get on the podium once again. Best of luck!

Stay tuned!

TEAM

(Photos Courtesy of Yvonne Grudzina-Glaser, Thanks!!!)

Many Personal Bests and a Record to Report

Sorry that I have been neglecting the blog! It is definitely time for a major update. Here is everything in chronological order.

Rachel started her racing in Europe in Podebrady, CZE with a disappointing race getting DQ'd just before 11km's in the lead. This was her first time ever being DQ'd. She then made a spur of the moment decision and went to Hungary with some people she just met so that she could compete in Bekescsaba at the Hungarian National Championships the following weekend, April 17th. She had a great week of training with new friends and was ready to race. She felt great and did a great job pacing herself, racing the whole thing alone. She finished in another huge 39 second PR of 1:33:43 and she won the race. This was another Canadian Record for her, her 2nd in a month. It was a nice way for her to comeback after the disappointment in Podebrady. You can read about her experiences in her blog here.

Next up for the TEAM was Bruno, Katie and Molly at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, PA on April 30th. Bruno was the first to toe the line in the 10,000m race. Bruno has been training so well and was ready for a good race. He raced smart staying off the lead group and did his own race. He finally had a huge breakthrough race and walked over a minute and 30 second PR for a time of 47:57 to win the Junior division. Next up was Katie and Molly who were trying to follow in Bruno's footsteps to big PRs over 5,000m's. Katie followed Bruno in race plan and did her own thing. She walked a really strong race after being sick the days prior to the race and finished in 5th place in 24:34, a 15 second PR. Molly started off really strong trying to keep up with some of her fellow Junior competitors. She fought hard but struggled in the end to a 5th place finish in the Junior division in a time of 27:13. Great job done by all!

Yesterday in San Diego we had Coach Tim, Lauren, Tyler, Nicolette and Yandy competing in the San Diego Invite on the track at UCSD over 3 different distances held at the same time. Lauren made the trip back out west from Maine to try and get a qualifying time for Outdoor Nationals in the 20k. She had a very solid 10k in 50:09 after stomach problems had already set in and forced her to drop out of the race. This was a very strong start for Lauren who has had some time off after knee surgery in February. In the 10k was Coach Tim, Tyler and Nicolette. Coach Tim and Tyler were planning on walking together to try and pace Tyler to a qualifying time for this year's IAAF World Youth Championships in July. They walked together till 8k when Coach Tim took off and finished in a time of 44:12, good after a break in training due to knee pain. Tyler finished not long after in a time of 44:35 which should be good enough to qualify for Team USA. He has also struggled with some injuries over the last few months and so this is a great comeback race for him. His sister Nicolette jumped into the 10k after taking a break from racewalking to focus on running track and finished in a great 57:XX. Last but not least was Yandy who just focused on the 5k to qualify for Outdoor Nationals. He walked just over 23 minutes, good enough to beat the 23:30 qualifying standard.

Next up for the TEAM will be the USA 15km National Championships on May 15th in Riverside, California. We will have Coach Tim, Trevor, Tyler, Lauren and Rachel all competing.

Stay tuned!

TEAM