Standing Between Rachel and the Olympics is Only 3 Seconds!!!

Check out this newspaper article from Rachel's hometown of Peterborough, Canada in the Peterborough Examiner. You can view the article here.

Big year to come and hopefully more than 3 seconds will come off of her time and she will be on the Olympic team.

Stay tuned!

TEAM

Maria 9th at Pan Am Games

Yesterday at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, the TEAM was represented by Maria and Lauren competing for the USA. After training in Colorado Springs for 2 weeks, the girls were ready to tackle the race at the altitude.

The startlist showed that it was going to be a stiff competition with 6 girls with seasons bests of 1:33 and under. Maria and Lauren were excited to take on the challenge and see how high they could place.

When the gun went off the two Guatemalan girls shot right into the lead and set a blistering pace of 8:46 for the first 2km lap. Maria and Lauren were smart and started off conservatively so that they wouldnt get carried away by the group. As the race progressed, several girls continued to push the pace and Maria kept watching her pace and hoped that she could pick off some of the girls that couldnt handle the pace. Maria ended up holding her place throughout the race and finished in a strong 9th place out of 17 starters in a time of 1:38:47. A great time for her first time racing 20km's at altitude.

The race went a little differently for Lauren. She was struggling with some knee pain fairly early in the race and after getting several cautions for bent knee, she decided to drop out of the race at 12km's as a precaution so that she wouldnt injure her knee. This was a very smart decision as the Olympic year is almost upon us and she needs to make sure that she is injury free heading into this all important year.

You can view their post race comments on USATF's website here.

Also, a post race interview with Maria on the USOC's website here.

Up next for the TEAM is the USA 30km RW Championships this Sunday in Congers, NY. Competing for the TEAM is Yandy and Coach Tim racing the 30km and continuing on to the 50km. In the 20km race we have Little Rachel, Katie, Bruno and Nick. Its going to be an exciting weekend!

Stay tuned!

TEAM

The TEAM Welcomes Miranda Melville

The TEAM would like to welcome new TEAMmate, Miranda Melville. Miranda is from Rochester, New York but has lived in Kenosha, Wisconsin for the last 4 years where she attended the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.

Miranda was a USA Junior National Champion and competed on several Junior USA teams before moving up to the Senior ranks. Since Miranda has become a 20km walker she has excelled. This year at the USA Track and Field Championships she finished 4th place, her highest finish at the Senior Championships in a huge PR of 1:38:01. An agonizing ONE second off of the Olympic B standard.

Miranda has made the move to San Diego to train with TEAMmates Rachel, Lauren and Coach Tim. She is extremely talented and we know that she will make huge jumps this year as she works towards her goal of making the 2012 Olympic Team. We wish her all the best!

Up next for the team is the Pan American Games this weekend in Guadalajara, Mexico where Maria and Lauren will be representing the USA against the western hemisphere! Good luck ladies!

Stay tuned!

TEAM

Another Canadian Record for Rachel

On September 24th, Rachel traveled to Naumburg, Germany to compete in her last race of the season. She was eager to take revenge on her poor performance at the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea three weeks earlier.

She walked the whole race alone and got a little too eager at the beginning of the race and it resulted in her first 10km's of the race being too fast in 46:11. She was still feeling good through 15km's and then she started to hit the wall a bit. She calculated what she thought she had to walk the last 5km's in in order to walk the Olympic A standard of 1:33:30 but unfortunately she calculated wrong and with a KM to go in the race, she knew it was going to be close. She gave it all she had but she came up short with 3 seconds off the standard, walking a time of 1:33:33. This was still a 10 second PR and a new Canadian Record, her 3rd time breaking the record this year. She also managed to come 3rd in the race behind two women who are ranked in the top 15 in the world.

She was very happy with the performance and it was a great way for her to end the season. Now she will take time off and then get ready for the Olympic year.

Stay tuned!

TEAM

Difficult Days in Daegu

At the end of August the IAAF World Track and Field Championships took place in Daegu, South Korea. Three TEAM members achieved the qualifying times to compete, Trevor and Maria for the USA and Rachel for Canada. All three were excited to have a good showing towards the end of the season and see how they could fair against the worlds best.

First up was Trevor in the men's 20km on August 28th. Trevor was the youngest in the field and was going to be going up against of a lot of his heroes. In his last year as a Junior, Trevor is one of the best not only for his age but overall in the Western Hemisphere. The gun went off on the hot and humid day and Trevor stayed at the back of the very big pack and tried to settle in there. Once the pace picked up a bit Trevor was trying to hang on as long as he could. Eventually the pace was too much and Trevor found his own groove. He finished in 23rd place in a time of 1:24:33. He did a fantastic job at his first International senior event.

Next up was Maria and Rachel on August 31st. On a day that was even more hot and humid than it was for the men a few days earlier, the girls were ready and excited to fight against their competitors. For Maria, she started off very conservative staying behind the big pack. She slowly tried to move her way up during the race and she raced very smart. In the end she finished with a respectable time of 1:38:54 for 30th place. For Rachel, it was a much different story. She was having breathing problems a few days before the race but was still hoping for the race. She started off the race at the back of the pack and was going a pace that should not have been very difficult for her but the problems she was having before the race were not gone and she struggled more and more from 8km's and after. She finished the race in a very disappointing 37th place with a time of 1:43:31 and collapsed at the finish.

They all had such a great time and experience in Daegu and learnt a lot for next years Olympics in London. Less than a year to go!

Stay tuned!

TEAM

USA beats Canada at Dual Meet

On August 14th in Boston, Mass. four TEAM members raced during the Canada vs. USA Dual Meet. Bruno and Molly competed on their respective National teams and Maria and Lauren raced in the open 10km's. It was a cool but extremely humid day in Boston and it made for a really tough race for all.

This was Molly's second time competing at the USA vs. Canada Dual Meet and she was very excited. She was having a great summer training in Maine and was ready to finish off her season strong. Molly struggled in the tough conditions but still put together a good showing for the USA team finishing 7th overall in a time of 28:37 for 5k.

In the open women's 10km race Maria was doing a tune up for the upcoming World Championships in Korea and Lauren was testing out her fitness. Both girls started out a bit ambitious for the weather but after a few km's settled into a good pace. With the tough weather both girls, just like everyone else, walked a bit lower than they hoped but they toughed it out and finished in 48:49 and 50:14 respectively.


For the men, the sole male on the team competing was Bruno with the Canadian jersey. After taking a break after the Canadian Championships at the end of June, he was just happy to be back racing. He had been training well and was ready to give all he could. Bruno started the race off smart and with the tough conditions and worked his way up in the rankings. He finished a very strong 2nd place with a time of 49:30 for 10k.

Up next for the team is the World Track and Field Championships in Daegu, South Korea where TEAM members Trevor, Maria and Rachel will compete in the end of August.

Stay tuned!

TEAM