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Lead Stories: Friday, September 5, 2008

Remembering Ryan Shay

Posted November 11th, 2007 at 9:45 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Columns, SPOTLIGHT

Today in East Jordan, Mich., a funeral was held for Ryan Shay, the 2003 USA marathon champion who collapsed and died at the USA Olympic Team Trials - Men’s Marathon on Nov. 3, in New York City. He was 28 years-old and had been married only for four months to the former Alicia Craig, the Stanford University star who won the NCAA 10,000m title in 2003 and 2004.

The exact cause of Ryan’s death is still unknown, but it is clear that his heart abruptly stopped at about the 9 km mark of the Trials and, despite heroic and immediate medical intervention, he died before reaching Lennox Hill Hospital on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

I knew Ryan both through my role as a journalist and a race organizer. It would be a stretch to say were close, but we were certainly friendly and shared a passion for the sport. I recruited Ryan to run the 2004 ING New York City Marathon where he set his personal best time of 2:14:08, cracking the top-10 in ninth place. It didn’t surprise me that Ryan would run his best marathon in New York, despite the difficulty of the course. He was so strong and so tough, the kind of runner who was well suited to the hills of the Five Borough Classic. Ryan really had heart.
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Kastor wins USA Women’s
10 km Championship

Posted October 8th, 2007 at 6:16 PM by Martin Kennedy

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

2004 Olympic marathon bronze medalist Deena Kastor (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.) cruised to victory at the 2007 USA Women’s 10 km Championship, running 32:01 today at the Tufts Health Plan 10K for Women in Boston.

Kastor and two-time defending women’s 10 km champion Katie McGregor (Minneapolis, Minn.), pulled away from the field during the opening 800 meters and by the first mile mark, Kastor passed in 5:00 with a five-second lead over McGregor.

A second 5:00 mile propelled Kastor to a 15-second lead. As she continued her tour of Memorial Drive, Kastor steadily built her lead, reaching the finish 40 seconds ahead of McGregor, who finished in 32:41.

The race for third saw 2007 USA Half-Marathon champion Elva Dryer (Gunnison, Colo.), outrun 2007 USA 20 km champion Alicia Shay (Flagstaff, Ariz.), and Rebecca Donaghue (State College, Pa.), Dryer was timed in 32:53 with Shay and Donaghue finishing in 33:05 and 33:09, respectively.
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Star-studded field set for USA Women’s 10 km Championship on Monday in Boston, MA

Posted October 5th, 2007 at 12:28 PM by Jamal Walker

Section: News & Results

2004 Olympic marathon bronze medalist Deena Kastor (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.); two- time defending women’s 10 km champion Katie McGregor (Minneapolis, Minn.); and defending U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Women’s Marathon champion Colleen De Reuck (Boulder, Colo.) will lead the field for Monday’s USA Women’s 10 km Championship in Boston, Mass. The Championship will be hosted for the 13th time by the Tufts Health Plan 10K for Women.

As McGregor looks to win her third consecutive 10 km road title she will face challenges from Kastor, and De Reuck, but the trio also will see competition from a 2007 USA Half-Marathon champion Elva Dryer (Gunnison, Colo.) and 2007 USA 20 km champion Alicia Craig (Flagstaff, Ariz.).

The USA Women’s 10 km Championships is the final race on the women’s 2007 USA Running Circuit (USARC). The USARC is a USA Track & Field road series, featuring USA Championships from 5 km to the marathon and attracts the best U.S. distance runners. The thirteenth edition for the men and twelfth for the women, the 2007 circuit has nine events for men and seven for women.
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Browne claims third win at USA 20 km Championships; Alicia Shay takes women’s title

Posted September 4th, 2007 at 8:32 AM by Jeanie Rebb

Section: News & Results

2004 Olympian Dan Browne (Portland, Ore.) returned to New Haven for the first time since 2003 to lead the men’s field at the 2007 USA 20 km Championships, winning his third title (2001, 2002) at that distance today in 59:15. Two-time NCAA 10,000 meter champion Alicia Shay, formerly Craig (Flagstaff, Ariz.), claimed her first USA women’s title in 1:06:56. The race was hosted by the 30th annual Stratton Faxon New Haven 20K.

A group of about 12 men cruised through the first 10 km in 30:10 before Browne, Jason Lehmkuhle (Minneapolis, Minn.), James Carney (Boulder, Colo.) and Ryan Sheehan (Rochester Hills, Mich.) made their break from the pack with a 4:31 mile.

Shortly after eight miles, Sheehan fell off the pace while Browne, Carney and Lehmkuhle each took their shot at breaking away. As the trio passed 11 miles, Browne made one more move, covering the 12th mile in 4:31 and bringing him to the finish 19 seconds up on Carney (59:38). Lehmkuhle finished third in 59:42, with Sheehan and Ryan Shay (Flagstaff, Ariz.) rounding out the top five in 1:00:33 and 1:01:21 respectively.
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USA Sets Pan Am Games Team

Posted July 2nd, 2007 at 2:30 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

USA Track & Field released their athlete roster for the Pan Am Games scheduled for Rio de Janeiro later this month. A team of 48 men and 46 women will compete from July 22 - 29. They qualified by virtue of their rank-order of finish at the recent AT&T USA Outdoor Championships.

In the middle and long distance events, the athletes best-positioned to win a medal are the recently crowned U.S. 800m champions, Khadevis Robinson (1:43.68 PB) and Alysia Johnson (1:59.29 PB).

The complete middle & long distance roster is below.

MEN -
800m:
Khadevis Robinson (Dallas, Texas)
Duane Solomon (Lompoc, Calif.)

1500m:
Andrew McClary (Shelton, Wash.)
Said Ahmed (Jamaica Plain, Mass.)

3000m S/C:
Joshua McAdams (Broadview Heights, Ohio)
Thomas Brooks (Glenview, Ill.)
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U.S. Javelin record for Greer in Indianapolis, 9.98 for Gay in Opening Round

Posted June 22nd, 2007 at 5:29 PM by Bob Ramsak

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

The AT&T USA Outdoor Championships got off with a bang in Indianapolis yesterday when Breaux Greer extended his own national record in the javelin throw to 91.29m [299-6].

“I didn’t hit it hard but I hit it clean,” said Greer, whose massive effort eclipsed the 90.71 [297-7] mark he set at last month’s adidas Track Classic in Carson, Calif. It was the fourth national record for the 30-year-old, and the performance extended his own 2007 world lead in the event.
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AT&T USA Outdoor T&F Champs: Veterans Abdi Abdirahman & Deena Kastor win 10,000m titles

Posted June 22nd, 2007 at 11:33 AM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

There were two familiar faces in the winner’s circle tonight as the first finals were contested at the AT&T USA Outdoor Championships at the Michael A. Carroll Stadium at Indiana University-Purdue University here.

Abdi Abdirahman of Tucson, Ariz., and Deena Kastor of Mammoth Lakes, Calif., won their third and sixth U.S. 10,000m titles, respectively, in dramatically different fashion.

For Abdirahman, 30, who won the same title in 2001 and 2005, he had the challenge of maintaining control of a stacked field of contenders, including defending champion Jorge Torres, two-time champion Alan Culpepper, national half-marathon record holder Ryan Hall, U.S. 10,000m list leader Galen Rupp, and 2005 U.S. 12-K cross country champion Dathan Ritzenhein.
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