CALENDAR | RESULTS | HIGH SCHOOLS | COLLEGES | NEWS | LINKS | WEATHER
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CALENDAR | RESULTS | HIGH SCHOOLS | COLLEGES | NEWS | LINKS | WEATHER |
 USATF National Champ, & former Mich. resident TODD WILLIAMS.  Top Michigan Runner, Paul Aufdemberge  USATF Women's 25K National Champion, Christine McNamara of Boulder, Colorado. |
OLD KENT '99
Kenyan Kariuki Repeats in Men's 25K Former Michigan Resident Todd Williams Takes USATF Title McNamara Wins Women's USATF 25K Crown By Dave McCauley - RunMichigan.com! Grand Rapids, MI 5/8/99 For Joseph Kariuki, the 1998 Old Kent 25K was a springboard to a 7th place world ranking. In that race, the 29 year old Kenyan, who trains in Philadelphia, lead from the start and was never challenged on his way to the men's title and a 25K world record time of 1:13:55. This year, despite a vicous headwind resulting in a relatively slow 10:21 first two miles, Kariuki ended up pulling away from fellow countryman William Kiptum in the last 2 miles to finish in 1:14:09, a 4:47 per mile pace and only 14 seconds off his 1998 time. Kiptum, who spent most of the race struggling to hang on to Kariuki, but did so very effectively, finished second in 1:14:24. Daniel Kihara finished third in 1:17:14. For the women, another Kenyan also was victorious as Teresa Wanjiku won in 1:25:51. Old Kent is the site of the USATF 25K National Championships. That title was won for the men by former Olympian and former Monroe (MI) High School standout Todd Williams of Knoxville, Tennessee in 1:17:15. Williams, although hoping for the overall title had to make an early decision whether to shoot for the whole thing, or assure himself of the USATF crown. "My goal was basically to win the overall." When Kariuki put his foot down between 3 and 5 miles, Williams made the decision to stay put and settle for the USATF title. "Once I knew that there was no messing with those guys today for me, I basically just shut it down." Williams noted. Redford's Paul Aufdemberge, voted RunMichigan.com's 1998 Male Runner of the Year, was the first Michigan finisher on the day, running a good portion of the race side by side with Williams and ending up in fifth place overall with a time of 1:18:03. Aufdemberge, second in the USATF championship, agreed with Williams on the seriousness of the moves made by Kariuki in the early stages of the race. "One of the tougher parts of the race actually was around 4 or 5 miles." Aufdemberge stayed side by side with Williams until about a mile to go before settling back for fifth place. Aufdemberge will now focus his training toward Grandma's Marathon in June. For the women, it was another Kenyan top two sweep with Teresa Wanjiku taking top honors in 1:26:51, a 5:36 per mile pace. Second overall went to Margaret Kagiri in 1:27:38. Both runners currently train in Philadelphia and have been very impressive recently at all distances. Wanjiku was the #2 ranked woman in the world on the roads in 1998, with p.r.'s of 15:15 for 5K and 31:51 for 10K. In the women's 25K USATF National competition, the overall title went to Christine McNamara of Boulder, Colorado. McNamara finished in third place overall in 1:28:05. This was her first 25K race and her first Old Kent. However, she is definitely accustomed to the longer distances with a marathon p.r. of 2:28:18, which she ran at the London Marathon in 1997. Coming from Colorado, McNamara felt comfortable with the hills through the mid section of the race. "I think it was good to have those hills in there. It's probably to my advantage to have a few hills in the race." Shelly Steely, last year's USATF 25K champion finished in fourth place and second in the USATF race in 1:28:24. The next five places in the women's race went to Americans. Jacksonville Florida's Kim Pawelek took 5th in 1:29:27. Sixth place went to Joan Nesbit of Chapel Hill, North Carolina in 1:29:46. Betsy Kempter finished seventh in 1:31:33. Stacie Alboucrek of Fort Lauderdale, Florida was eighth in 1:32:44 and Josie Edwards-Scott of Santa Fe, New Mexico finished ninth. Michigan's top female finisher on the day was Laura Murphy of Rochester. Murphy, coming off her recent Detroit Race for the Cure 5K victory, proved she can be strong at more than one distance with a 14th place overall finish in 1:33:43. Murphy's plans are to run Grandmas' Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota in June. Right behind Murphy in 15th place was another Michigan resident, Ann Boyd-Stewart of Ann Arbor in 1:34:01. Other items of note... Farmington Hills resident and University of Detroit-Mercy head Track and Field/Cross Country Coach, Guy Murray turned in an impressive eighth place overall men's finish in 1:19:22. In the Master's Competition, Jim Hage of Lanham, Maryland took the men's title in 1:22:51. Fourty four year old Jane Welzel of Ft. Collins, Colorado won for the women in 1:32:47. Top Michigan Masters on the day were Jeff Martin of Huntington Woods in 1:26:53 and Robin Sarris-Hallop of Ann Arbor in 1:40:51. In the 5K race which began just after the 25K, Herb Lindsay of Fremont, Michigan won for the men in 15:42 with Rochester's Scott Grace taking second in 15:54. Former University of Michigan runner Karen Harvey of Ann Arbor dominated the women's field in a time of 16:35. A course record was set in the Para Wheelchair division as Saul Mendoza of Snellville, Georgia finished in 53:19. Jean Driscoll of Champaign, Illinois was the top female wheeler with a time of 1:06:14. |