CHAMPIONS INTERNATIONAL: TEAM Takes Top Spots on Long Island

Yesterday on Long Island, New York, eight of our TEAM members competed at the USA World Racewalk Cup Trials. We had perfect weather conditions and the event held by Gary Westerfield was very well done as always. The whole TEAM did very well despite the poor race course conditions. To say the course was tough is an understatement but instead of racing for time the TEAM was racing for top placings.

In the junior men's race we had Trevor Barron and Tyler Sorensen vying for a spot on the US team that will be competing in Mexico at the World Racewalk Cup next month. Both athletes represented the TEAM well as they placed 1st and 2nd. While Trevor was well off of what he is capable of walking, he still managed to break the US Junior 10km Road Record! Tyler still managed to set a personal best time by 20 seconds on the rough course.

In the senior men's race we had only one competitor from the TEAM, Coach Tim Seaman. While Tim still placed 2nd, he was concentrated on all of the TEAM members that he became more of a spectator/coach in the race. While Tim has qualified for the US team, he has chosen to decline his position due to obligations with his job.

In the junior girl's race we had Nicolette Sorensen and Molly Josephs. Nicolette was a little bit off of what she would have liked to have walked but she walked away with 2 red cards. In the end she managed to finish 2nd and was the youngest girl in the field. Molly walked very strong against a great group of girls. She placed 5th in her second best time ever. These results show a lot of promise to qualify for the USA vs. Canada that will take place in Toronto in August.

In the U-23 women's race we had Lauren Forgues and Katie Burnett. Lauren had a goal of improving on her time from 4 weeks ago that she walked in Huntington Beach. After a really good block of training in San Diego she was ready for a big drop in her PB. With the tough course conditions, Lauren managed to walk a good enough time to put her at the top, finishing in 1st place. Katie however had a different goal in mind, qualifying for her first Outdoor Nationals that will be held in her home state. Katie walked a very smart race and came so close to her goal of 54:00 minutes and finished just shy of qualifying for Nationals with a time of 54:19, good enough for 3rd place. She will have other opportunities this spring to qualify for Nationals and we are sure that she will be able to achieve her goal as yesterday was only her first 10km ever.

In the senior women's race we had Rachel Seaman and Maria Michta. Both hoping to make big improvements in their PBs ended up struggling with the course as well. Both were off to a good start through the first 8km's then the course started to put a big toll on their bodies. Rachel went into the lead of the race after only 4km's and raced alone from there. She managed to hold onto the leave and come away as the winner. Maria made her way through the field and walked along for most of the race as well. Maria finished 4th overall but took top American honors. Maria will not be attending the World Cup in order to attend a race where she will have a greater opportunity to walk a fast time instead of race in the heat and altitude in Mexico. Sometimes a personal goal is more important than representing your country.

You can view the full results here.

Here are some pictures of our TEAM members from the race yesterday courtesy of Courtney Williams of the Maine Racewalkers :)