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King Leads XO With Commanding Performance
Published by
Feb 20th 2006, 12:10am
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Van Cortlandt Park - New York City - N.Y. - February 18-19 2006 - There is no better place than on ESPN to bust onto the national elite
running scene in America. Max King used his opportunity and did just
that at Sunday’s U.S. National Cross Country 12k Championships. On a
cold clear day that claimed several under-prepared runners, King showed
his strength on the famed hills of the Bronx’s Van Cordtland Park in
New York City.
Having run in a pack of
five for the early stages of the race that included such luminaries as
Nike’s Dathan Ritzenhein and Abdi Abdirahman, Reebok’s Jorge Torres,
and Asics’s Ryan Hall, King alternately took leading duties and tucked
into the rear of the pack as he held pace with the nation’s best. Hall
made a surge midway through the race that opened a gap and the race was
on with Torres chasing, King hot on his heels and the rest of the pack
falling inevitably behind. “I felt Ritz[enhein] falling back and was
feeling pretty good at that point (late in the race) so I knew I could
hold my position,” said the Cornell graduate who was cheered on by many
family and friends. Ultimately, the order of runners didn’t change late
in the race as Hall, Torres, King, and Ritzenhein crossed in order,
followed by Jason Hartmann and Matt Gabrielson rounding out the top six
spots earning each a trip to the World Championships.
Modest
as usual, Max King strode into the media tent, brow sweaty and shoes
muddy, an American flag wrapped around him and an easy smile across his
face where he was surrounded by cameras, microphones and questions
about making the U.S. Team that will travel to Fukuoka, Japan for the
World Cross Country Championships.
“It
will be my first international race outside of the U.S.,” beamed King,
“I’m very excited.” King plans on running the NACAC Championships in
which he finished third last year as the first American finisher. He
will then travel with Team USA to Worlds at the beginning of April.
The
next runner in for XO was Masters 8k champ Rick Fuller (38:11) who was
chased by XO newcomer Dylan Mason (38:44), training partner of Max
King. “I was really pretty happy about my race,” said Mason who is
looking forward to running the Oregon Road Championship Series as well
as hitting the track for the occasional 5k.
Tim
Julian (39:52) rounding out XO as well as the top nine club finishers
comprised of only Team XO and Hansons-Brooks Distance Project. “I
wasn’t in the best shape coming in, but it wasn’t that bad for my
current fitness level,” remarked Julian, who like Fuller has been
involved with XO since the cross country team’s inception. “I’m looking
forward to the track races this spring, but this race was fun.”
Pleased
with another second place team finish at the Winter National meet, team
director Ross Krempley added, “This weekend was huge for XO starting
off with Rick and his first U.S. Masters title. With Max leading the
team to another second place finish and qualifying for the world
championships team in impressive style, XO seems well on its way to
achieving many of the goals we set out for ourselves this year. The
past three years have been focused on this year to be the one where we
show the nation what Team XO is all about. Placing third at Club
Nationals, our impressive showing at Winter Nationals, getting another
runner on the World Championships team were all goals of ours as we
head into the Indoor National Championships where we can showcase some
of our fine field event athletes. During the outdoor track season we
now have thirty to forty elite athletes competing at the University of
Oregon meets, which are our home meets. We will compete several times
with a full track team, something we have only shown sparingly thus
far. Throw in the elite high school meet, the XO Invite which is now a
nationally featured meet on the elite high school statistical website
dyestat.com, and we present a solid argument that we are one of the
premier track and field team in the nation.”
The
next opportunity for success will be the USA Track and Field Indoor
National Championships in Boston, Massachusetts on February 24-26. XO
athletes attending will be Leonidas Watson (Long Jump), Simidele
Adeagbo (Triple Jump), Kyley Johnson (High Jump), Cari Soong (Weight
Throw), and Niki McEwen (Pole Vault).
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Kevin Ullman 800 meter specialist XO Press Director |
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Race Day Photos
U.S. World Trials Results
Team Finish Place Place Bib# Finisher Time City, State Affiliation
1 16 Ryan Hall, 23 34:38 Woodside, CA Asics 2 13 Jorge Torres, 25 35:05 Boulder, CO Reebok 3 1 607 Max King, 25 35:20 Bend, OR Team XO 4 11 Dathan Ritzenhein, 23 35:27 Boulder, CO Nike 5 648 Jason Hartmann, 24 35:39 Boulder, CO Nike 6 640 Matthew Gabrielson, 27 35:39 Apple Valley, MN Team USA Minnesota/Reebok 7 662 Brandon Leslie, 29 35:42 Albuquerque, NM Sports Warrier Track/Brooks 8 633 Eugene Dennis, 31 35:42 Fond du lac, WI Wisconsin Runner RT 9 642 Patrick Gildea, 26 35:45 Knoxville, TN New York Athletic Cl 10 656 Ryan Kirkpatrick, 27 35:47 Colorado Springs U.S. Army 11 659 Travis Laird, 24 35:55 Flagstaff, AZ 12 621 Andrew Carlson, 23 35:55 Apple Valley, MN Team USA Minnesota 13 612 Ryan Bak, 24 35:58 Marina, CA Big Sur Distance Pro 14 681 Celedonio Rodriguez, 25 35:59 Alamosa, CO Reebok 15 619 Fernando Cabada, 23 36:18 Bristol, VA Virginia Intermont C 16 613 Kyle Baker, 30 36:24 Westfield, IN 17 654 Peter Julian, 34 36:26 Boulder, CO adidas 18 686 Jason Sandfort, 23 36:27 Fayetteville, AR 19 643 Brian Godsey, 25 36:28 Baltimore, MD 20 2 600 Josh Eberly, 25 36:36 Rochester, MI Hansons-Brooks Dista 21 3 602 Chad Johnson, 29 36:39 Rochester Hills, Hansons-Brooks Dista 22 615 Fasil Bizuneh, 25 36:41 Marina, CA Big Sur Distance Pro 23 4 603 Josh Moen, 23 36:45 Rochester Hills, Hansons-Brooks Dista 24 5 604 Ryan Sheehan, 22 36:46 Rochester, MI Hansons-Brooks Dista 25 6 601 Jeffrey Gaudette, 23 36:46 Rochester, MI Hansons-Brooks Dista 26 690 Josh Simpson, 21 36:47 Peekskill, NY Westchester TC 27 673 Corey Nowitzke, 21 36:53 Monroe, MI Eastern Michigan Uni 28 653 Gabriel Jennings, 27 36:57 Mendocino, CA 29 672 Sean Nesbitt, 31 37:00 Boulder, CO Boulder Express 30 644 Kyle Goklish, 25 37:05 Whiteriver, AZ Sports Warrier Track 31 20 Robert Gary, 32 37:08 Westerville, OH Reebok 32 652 Teren Jameson, 28 37:10 Taylorsville, UT New Balance 33 624 Jedidiah Chappell, 25 37:13 Scottsdale, AZ 34 661 Nelson Laux, 27 37:17 Arvada, CO Boulder Running Comp 35 682 Ben Rosario, 26 37:21 St. Louis, MO Brooks 36 697 Jay Wassell, 28 37:26 Elm, NJ Philadelphia Track C 37 664 Chris Lundstrom, 29 37:27 Minneapolis, MN Team USA Minnesota 38 631 Scott Defilippis, 26 37:33 Normandy Beach, Mizuno Runner's High 39 670 Lucas Meyer, 22 37:35 Redwood City, CA The Farm Team, Inc. 40 660 Steve Laurie, 25 37:50 Eugene, OR Team Eugene 41 669 John Mentzer, 29 37:54 Monterey, CA U.S. Navy 42 678 Joshua Perrin, 20 37:58 Hillsdale, MI Eastern Michigan Uni 43 626 Jonathan Clemens, 31 37:59 San Diego, CA U.S. Navy 44 693 John Supsic, 27 38:03 Boulder, CO Boulder Express 45 7 605 Patrick Fuller, 40 38:11 Eugene, OR Team XO 46 680 Oscar Ponce, 28 38:12 Boston, MA Boston Athletic Asso 47 691 Nick Stanko, 25 38:27 Ann Arbor, MI 48 679 Chase Pizzonia, 19 38:34 New Rochelle, NY Iona College 49 637 Adam Fitzgerald, 24 38:36 Carlisle, MA 50 625 Luke Chrusciel, 20 38:41 Grandville, MI Eastern Michigan Uni 51 8 608 Dylan Mason, 32 38:44 Bend, OR Team XO 52 620 Judson Cake, 28 39:00 Blowing Rock, NC ZAP Fitness 53 702 Joey Zins, 26 39:05 Tallahassee, FL 54 683 Frederick Rountree, 28 39:10 Williston, VT 55 689 Levi Severson, 25 39:17 Belmont, MA U.S. Air Force 56 641 Jonathan Gibson, 24 39:23 Woodinville, WA 57 646 Eric Hamner, 24 39:23 Pataskala, OH 58 671 Teddy Mitchell, 33 39:26 Albuquerque, NM U.S. Army 59 666 Carlos Martins, 36 39:28 Kearny, NJ 60 677 Nathan Pennington, 29 39:31 Apo, AE U.S. Army 61 635 Billy Edwards, 28 39:39 Virginia Beach, U.S. Marine Corps 62 617 Andrew Boone, 24 39:44 Cambridge, MA U.S. Air Force 63 623 Louis Chapa, 26 39:50 San Benito, TX U.S. Army 64 9 606 Tim Julian, 35 39:52 Ashland, OR Team XO 65 694 Davidson Taveras, 22 39:55 Milton, FL U.S. Navy 66 657 Jeffrey Klemmer, 35 39:59 Fpo, AP U.S. Marine Corps 67 10 610 Andrew Ames, 43 40:03 Boulder, CO Fleet Feet Boulder 68 629 Mark Cucuzzella, 39 40:08 Shepherdstown, W U.S. Air Force 69 684 Kurt Russell, 23 40:10 Milton, FL U.S. Marine Corps 70 630 Russ Curley, 34 40:18 Titusville, NJ 71 11 632 Lance Denning, 44 40:33 Boulder, CO Fleet Feet Boulder 72 628 Liam Collins, 35 40:41 Alexandria, VA U.S. Army 73 663 Matthew Lowe, 25 40:43 Arlington, VA U.S. Air Force 74 614 John Beyer, 22 41:11 West Seneca, NY 75 12 688 Jeremy Schwartz, 31 41:35 Boulder, CO Fleet Feet Boulder 76 655 Kevin Kemmerle, 19 41:37 Dover, DE 77 675 Michael Owens, 32 41:44 West Wardsboro, 78 638 Nathan Flores, 26 41:47 Jacksonville, NC U.S. Marine Corps 79 650 Alexander Hetherington, 38 41:53 Stafford, VA U.S. Marine Corps 80 698 Mike Wasson, 40 42:06 Monument, CO U.S. Air Force 81 668 Joe McVeigh, 42 42:18 Convent Station, New York Athletic Cl 82 13 1009 Hans Funke, 45 42:25 Boulder, CO Fleet Feet Boulder 83 627 Richard Cochrane, 32 42:31 Norfolk, VA U.S. Navy 84 611 Vincent Augelli, 35 42:34 San Diego, CA U.S. Navy 85 645 Mitchell Hall, 33 42:55 San diego, CA U.S. Navy 86 616 Thomas Blackwell, 35 43:19 Jacksonville, NC U.S. Marine Corps 87 649 Jerome Henry, 38 43:32 San Francisco, C 88 665 Michael Mann, 37 43:41 Hampton, VA U.S. Air Force 90 685 John Sabatino, 39 47:21 Morris Plains, N Sneaker Factory Road 91 647 David Harding, 45 50:49 Lake Oswego, OR Team Red Lizard 92 651 Dr. Brian Hickey, 37 52:19 Tallahassee, FL
Team Results
Team Finish Place Place Bib# Finisher Time
1 Hansons-Brooks Distance Proj. Score = 14 2 600 Josh Eberly, 25, Rochester, MI 36:36 3 602 Chad Johnson, 29, Rochester Hills, MI 36:39 4 603 Josh Moen, 23, Rochester Hills, MI 36:45 5 604 Ryan Sheehan, 22, Rochester, MI 36:46 6 601 Jeffrey Gaudette, 23, Rochester, MI 36:46
2 Team XO Score = 25 1 607 Max King, 25, Bend, OR 35:20 7 605 Patrick Fuller, 40, Eugene, OR 38:11 8 608 Dylan Mason, 32, Bend, OR 38:44 9 606 Tim Julian, 35, Ashland, OR 39:52
3 Fleet Feet Boulder Score = 46 10 610 Andrew Ames, 43, Boulder, CO 40:03 11 632 Lance Denning, 44, Boulder, CO 40:33 12 688 Jeremy Schwartz, 31, Boulder, CO 41:35 13 1009 Hans Funke, 45, Boulder, CO 42:25
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