Running Shorts Several triathletes with Colorado ties
Photo by Victor Sailor/www.photorun.net
made the U.S. Olympic team by placing well in a series of races. Hunter Kemper of Colorado Springs qualified for the team by finishing as the first American, second overall, in the Race to Athens in Honolulu. Also training in Colorado Springs, Andy Potts qualified for the 2004 Games by finishing 11th overall at the ITU Triathlon World Championships in Portugal. Susan Williams of Littleton made her first Olympic team by grabbing the spot as second American in the Race to Athens. And it’s no surprise that Alta, Wyoming’s Barb Lindquist made the Olympic team after being ranked number one in the world since March, 2003.
Liberty High School graduate Ashley Owens
of Colorado Springs sprinted for gold at the IAAF World Junior Track and Field Championships in Grosseto, Italy on July 14th. UNLV-bound Owens ran a wind-legal personal best time of 11.13 to earn the title of the world’s fastest junior. Owen’s time was the second fastest at a World Junior Championship. “This is really cool actually to win my first world championship after finishing fourth at Pan Am Juniors last year,” Owens said. “At the start, I focused on my cue which was all I could think about. After that everything felt natural as it always happens. This was a good closure to my high school career.” Owens also won the USA Junior Championships 100 meter race on June 26th. In other high school news, at the Golden West High School meet in Sacramento, Katelyn Kaltenbach placed second in the mile in 4:45.97 and Morgan Schultz was fifth in the 3200 meter run in 10:34.84.
Ashley Owens, shown in bib 740, wins the World Junior 100.
Boulder’s Dave Mackey debuted in the 100 mile
distance at the Western States Endurance Run on June 27th. Mackey finished second in 16 hours, 30 minutes and 17 seconds. Parker’s Hal Koerner placed third in 17:17:16 and Lakewood’s Joe Kulak raced to a fifth place finish in 17:39:36. In fifteenth, Todd Holmes of Lakewood finished in 19:09:13. Scott Jurek of Seattle won the race in a course record time of 15 hours, 36 minutes and 27 seconds. The Western States Endurance Run begins in Squaw Valley, California and runners climb 2,550’ in the first four miles. Runners climb another 15,540’ and descend 22,970’ before finishing in Auburn, California 100 miles later.
Justin
Chaston
of
Colorado
Springs
Photo by Brian J. Meyers/www.photorun.net
qualified for the British Olympic Team in the steeplechase. Chaston flew to Britain for the meet and it paid off handsomely when he qualified for his third Olympic games. The Cardiff-born veteran, who had come out of retirement after a move to the U.S. gave him a new lease of life, beat off competition from rivals 14 years his junior to finish first in the 3000 meter steeplechase. “This is what I came back to do and I’m absolutely thrilled to have done it,” said 35-year-old Chaston, who is a real estate agent in Colorado Springs.
At the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon
Charlie Gruber wins the 1500 at the Prefontaine Classic.
on June 19th, Mullen High School grad Charlie Gruber won the men’s 1500 with Colorado native Jason Lunn finishing fourth in 3:37.79, Boulder’s Adam Goucher placed ninth and CU grad Jorge Torres got tenth. Also, Boulder’s Steve Slattery became the 259th sub-four minute miler in the U.S. with his seventh place finish of 3:59.78. Layfayette’s Shayne Culpepper placed fifth in the 1500 in 4:07.01, Janet Trujillo of Superior was eighth and Kara Goucher, a former three time NCAA champion at CU, captured thirteenth. www.coloradorunnermag.com