First up after the World Junior Championships for the TEAM was the USA vs. Canada Dual Meet. We had two TEAM members competing this year, brother and sister duo Tyler and Nicolette Sorensen. Both were looking to capture the titles after their strong performances at Nationals.
First up was Tyler in the boys race. Since Tyler's best time was several minutes better than the rest of the field, the plan for him was to try and walk a 5km PR enroute to the 10km. He went out and pushed hard from the beginning and went through 5km's in 20:45. Unfortunately since he was pushing the limit, he picked up 2 red cards by 5km's and eventually got DQ'd by 6km's. It definitely was a risk to push so hard like that but this is how racewalking is. Sometimes you need to take a chance. Since Tyler was DQ'd, another American Josh Haertel won in 48:58.
Next up was Nicolette in the girls race. After she was the surprise winner at the US Junior Nationals, we knew that Nicolette would be really strong going into the Dual Meet. She started off in the lead pack and very quickly too the lead. She pushed maybe a little bit too early and ended up fading a bit. She did a very strong performance but unfortunately finished in 2nd with a time of 26:45. This was Nicolette's first time wearing the U.S.A on her chest. First place went to Maite Moscosa in a time of 26:36.
Earlier that morning was the Canadian Senior Championships 20km on the track. The TEAM had Coach Tim, Rachel and Maria competing. The plan for all three of them was for Coach Tim to pace Rachel to a 1:36:XX and for Maria to hold on to them for as long as possible. They started off really well and were looking good going through the first 5km's in 24:08. Maria fell off the pace around 6km's and from there she walked solo as Tim and Rachel continued to walk on goal pace. Tim and Rachel went through 10km's in 48:10 and were looking good through 12km's then Rachel started to have a lot of pain in her legs and from there on just couldnt maintain the pace anymore. She struggled to the finish in a disappointing 1:38:48 (a new Canadian Track Record) with Coach Tim finishing a few seconds before her. Maria pushed through to the end finishing in her 3rd best time ever in 1:40:29. 
This past weekend in Minneapolis, Katie competed in the US 15km Racewalk Championships. This was Katie's first time doing a 15km race and 2nd longest race ever. She finished in a very strong 4th place among some of the US's best racewalkers. She walked 1:22:23 and won $625. The winner was veteran Teresa Vail in a time of 1:11:47.Next up for the TEAM is Tyler at the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore on Sunday. He races at 7pm local time, 7am EST and 4am PST. He will walk a 10,000m on the track and is ranked 6th. You can see information about the games here.
Stay tuned!
TEAM
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