Monday, June 11, 2012

Racing Recap till Now!

I know, I know, we have been terrible at updating the blog. We sincerely apologize! SO here is a quick recap of everything that has happened in the last few months. We promise to try and keep this up to date leading up to the Olympics. So here it goes! In March, one of our promising junior's, Molly Joseph, had the biggest race of her high school career at the New York State High School Indoor Track and Field Championships. There are a lot of upcoming girls in New York State and so Molly had some tough competition but she pulled through and won the race by a lean in a time of 7:04.08. It was such a great start to the big season ahead. Next up on April 1st was the USA World Racewalk Cup Trials in Eugene, Oregon. The whole TEAM was looking forward to this race as a good opportunity to walk some fast times. It has been known as a fast course but unfortunately in April, Eugene comes with some fall like weather. The cool temperatures didnt seem to bother the men as all of our men walked great times. Trevor had some good company with some top Colombian and Ecuadorian's in the race. They pushed him to first first A standard with a time of 1:22:13, a PR by over a minute. Coach Tim was next in a best time in 5 years of 1:25:58 making yet another USA team. Next for the TEAM was rookie Nick Christie walking a superb time of 1:31:33, a new PR by around 3 minutes. Our lone junior boy was Michael Nemeth walking to make his first National team in a time of 46:35. On the women's side, Maria came back after her indoor win to win again in a time of 1:35:57 over a fast closing Erin Gray who finished only 11 seconds behind. Next was Lauren Forgues in her first 20k of the season in a time of 1:39:13. Having a tough day was Miranda finishing in 6th, just missing the World Cup team. She finished in a disappointing 1:42:10. Lone junior girl was Molly who finished 3rd in a new PR of 54:56 but missed out on the team for Russia by not hitting the time standard. The TEAM had 9 representatives going to Russia to compete at the IAAF World Racewalk Cup including the two Canadians in Rachel and Bruno. Three weeks later after a few TEAM members headed to Europe to get some training and racing in before the World Cup. Rachel, Miranda and Lauren headed to Naumburg, Germany to race at the German National Championships to try and set of PRs. In great racing conditions, Rachel headed out with the goal of walking the Olympic A standard and she did just that finishing in a time of 1:33:05 to set another Canadian Record and the Olympic A standard by 25 seconds. She is the first TEAM member to solidify her spot for the Olympics. Next up was Lauren finishing in a season's best time of 1:38:04. Even though she was hoping for more, it was a strong effort with much more to come this season. Miranda had a tough day and decided to stop at 15km's and save it for another race. Three weeks later, it was finally the first major competition of the season, the IAAF World Racewalk Cup. The weather made it tough for another to set any PRs but the TEAM was looking to push for as high of a finish as they could. First up was Michael Nemeth at his first international event. He raced smart and finished in 49th place with a time of 46:48. Next were the men and even though it was a 6pm race, weather was still pretty warm. Trevor headed off the TEAM with a 40th place finish in a time of 1:24:54 for his first race as a senior at the World Cup. The other men were not so fortunate. Coach Tim was unfortunately DQ'd after 12km's into the race. Nick and Bruno really struggled at their first major international event finishing in 101st and 102nd respectively. It was a big struggle but they finished the race honorably. For the women, Rachel was the top finisher for the TEAM finishing in 46th place with a time of 1:38:44 for her best finish ever at an international competition. Not too far behind was Miranda (she took Maria's place on the USA team after Maria had to stay home to nurse an injury), who finished in 49th place with a time of 1:39:14. Struggling in the hottest temperatures of the weekend was Lauren who finished in 72nd place with a time of 1:44:31. It was a great experience for everyone and everyone had a lot of fun! We look forward to the next IAAF World Racewalk Cup in China in 2014. After returning from Russia, some of the TEAM members headed to Riverside to support the USA 15km RW National Championship. Everyone was very tired from the trip still so it was a struggle to say the least. The most positive result from the race was that Coach Tim won his 44th National Championship, his first in 2 years. Miranda also won her first ever National Championship and Rachel was first overall. Nick was also in the race coming 2nd to Tim in the National Championship, his first National medal. Rookie racewalker Mike Gorney competed in his first racewalk race ever racing 5km's. He finished in a time of 26:XX. On Saturday, the San Diego TEAM members competed in their last race before the USA Olympic Trials in 3 weeks which was held at the USA Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista. Coach Tim, Nick and Tyler all competed in the 10km's looking for some fast times. Coach Tim walked the fastest time in the USA since 2004 winning the race in 41:18. Nick and Tyler started off together but Nick pushed off the second half to finish in a 2 minute PR of 43:37 with Tyler coming in not too far off of him in a time of 44:11. Tyler achieved the World Junior qualifying time after being plagued with some injuries this season. The women competed over 5km's looking for some big PRs. Miranda and Lauren pushed eachother to try and break 23 minutes for the first time. They smashed that barrier walking 22:42 and 22:49 respectively. After a heavy week of training, Katie Burnett walked a bit off of her PR but she fought to walk 24:23. Nicolette was back to racing after a little break and she finished the 5k in 27:47. The lone male in the 5k was Mike Gorney, walking away with almost a 2 minute PR of 24:54! SO now that we are all up to date, here is what is coming up next! This coming weekend, June 17th, we have Tyler, Michael, Molly and Nicolette all competing at the USA Junior Track and Field Championships in Indiana. They will all be trying to qualify for a USA team for either the World Junior Championships in Barcelona, Spain or the USA vs. Canada Dual Meet in Toronto, Canada. For the seniors, they all have the Olympic trials coming up in 3 weeks. For the American's they will be racing in Eugene, Oregon on the track and will be looking to earn a spot on the Olympic team. In the men's race we have Coach Tim, Trevor, Nick and Tyler and on the women's side we have Maria, Lauren, Miranda, Katie and Little Rachel. In Calgary, Canada on the same weekend we have Rachel and Bruno competing at the Canadian Olympic Trials. Rachel will be looking to win her 6th title in a row to confirm her spot on the Olympic team. Ok, thanks for reading! Stay tuned! TEAM