The junior men's 8k race is scheduled to begin at 10:00 am Sunday February 14th. Race
Recap will be posted ASAP following the conclusion of the race.
1999 USA CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
LAKE SPANAWAY GOLF COURSE - TACOMA, WA SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1999
JUNIOR MEN - 7865 METERS
1. Luke Watson Notre Dame 23:36
2. Steve Slattery Boulder, CO 23:38
3. Isaiah Festa Arizona State Univ. 23:42
4. Fasil Bizuneh Arizona State Univ. 23:43
5. Jorge Torres Wheeling, IL 23:45
6. Adam Tenforde Richland, WA 23:51
7. Matt Adams Heber City, UT 23:59
8. Justin Wood Flagstaff, AZ 24:06
9. Adam Wallace Dartmouth College 24:16
10. Daniel Lincoln Fayetteville, AR 24:19
11. Vincent Sherry UNC-Charlotte 24:20
12. Daniel Parris Unattached 24:21
13. Edwardo Torres Wheeling, IL 24:24
14. Mike Smith James Madison Univ. 24:25
15. Wesley Stockard Princeton Univ. 24:30
RACE CONDITIONS: Cloudy with light fog - temp: 39 degrees. Race course mostly flat with good footing.
RACE IN REVIEW: A field of 55 toed the line for this race in 39 degree foggy weather. Adam Wallace (Dartmouth) was the early pacesetter, leading at both one mile (4:57) and 2km (6:00), with a large pack only two steps behind. At 4km (12:12) 16 runners still formed a tight lead pack. By 5500 meters, this pack had separated into two groups of 7, with Adam Tenforde and Fasil Bizuneh pushing the pace. The energy absorbing qualities of the soft grass took their toll on the final lap as the pace slowed slightly. With 500 meters to go, it was six competitors clearly in the lead. Luke Watson, Fasil Bizuneh, and Steve Slattery made a strong surge, hoping to secure the top spots among this lead group. The final 300 meters saw an all out sprint to the finish. Watson proved the stronger of this good quality team bound for Belfast.
NOTES 'N' QUOTES: Luke Watson, "Surprised a little, but I was confident the way I ran today. I wasn't expecting to win but to mainly make the team. I knew if the was the type of race that it ended up being, I knew I could win it, because it went out nice and slow and played right into my foot speed. I was getting a little nervous at the end, because no one had put the big move in, but I also knew no matter how late the move, I could still cover it. The person I was worried about the most was Steve Slattery from Colorado, he's been training with a great group out there and at altitude. I knew it would come down to him, myself, Jorge Torres. Next week I'm coming back to the Big East Championships in Syracuse, and after that take a few weeks off and get some training looking ahead to the steeple." Watson's PRs are 1:52, 8:20 FOR 3,000, 4:12 FOR 1,600. Watson hails from Stillwater Minn. (Stillwater HS '98), freshman at Notre Dame, 5-time Minnesota state champion, runner-up in USAT&F Junior steeplechase last year, and was on the third-place 4x800 at prep nationals last spring.
Steve Slattery, "(In the kick) I thought I would have enough speed that I could outkick anyone in the race, but Luke came on and had more today. It was a good race, but I'm going to Ireland and I'll give it a shot. Coming in I've been running good and I ran a fast 5K last week, so I was hoping I could win. Thought with 1000 meters I might be able to pull away, I guess I'll have to go home and get some training in. Even though there was a pack up front for most of the race, I wasn't worried about it. I've been training with Adam Goucher and Alan Culpepper out in Boulder, so I felt confident being with a group of fast runners and able to handle anything they could throw at me. I'm still more of a mile type and will run that our conference this weekend, but that doesn't mean you can't run cross country. I was hoping if I could wait until late in the race, I could turn it into a mile race." Slattery is a freshman at the University of Colorado, and a 1998 graduate of Mount Olive HS, NJ.
