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The NCAA announced the Division I and Division III national qualifiers earlier today. The Division III national championships, hosted by Wilmington College, will take place in West Chester, Ohio on Saturday, November 18. The Division I national championships, hosted by Indiana State, will take place in Terre Haute, Indiana on Monday, November 20. We plan to provide coverage of both races.
Update: The final Division I and Division III national polls are now available.
Posted by Alison Wade at 9:00 p.m. | Tags: Rankings and Polls, Event Previews | Comments (2)
The latest NCAA Division I, Division II, and Division III cross country polls are now available.
Mike Scott has also updated his analysis of the women's DI cross country poll.
The top-ranked teams are:
Division I: Stanford women, Wisconsin men
Division II: Grand Valley State women, Adams State men
Division III: SUNY Geneseo women, Calvin men
Posted by Alison Wade at 12:36 p.m. | Tags: Rankings and Polls | Comments (0)
The latest NCAA Division I, Division II, and Division III cross country polls are now available.
Mike Scott has also released his analysis of the women's DI cross country poll.
The top-ranked teams are:
Division I: Stanford women, Wisconsin men
Division II: Grand Valley State women, Adams State men
Division III: SUNY Geneseo women, Calvin men
Posted by Alison Wade at 8:36 a.m. | Tags: Rankings and Polls | Comments (0)
The latest NCAA Division I, Division II, and Division III cross country polls are now available.
Top-ranked teams:
Division I: Stanford women, Wisconsin men
Division II: Grand Valley State women, Adams State men
Division III: SUNY Geneseo women, Calvin men
Posted by Alison Wade at 1:29 p.m. | Tags: Rankings and Polls | Comments (1)
The latest NCAA Division I, Division II, and Division III cross country polls are now available.
Posted by Alison Wade at 3:33 p.m. | Tags: Rankings and Polls | Comments (0)
The latest NCAA Division I, Division II, and Division III cross country polls are now available.
Posted by Alison Wade at 8:03 a.m. | Tags: Rankings and Polls | Comments (0)
[Press release provided by the World Marathon Majors, photo courtesy of WMM/Victah Sailer.]
BERLIN : Haile Gebrselassie, the most famous name in long distance running joins the head of the World Marathon Majors (WMM) leaderboard following his victory in the real,- Berlin Marathon in 2:05:56 on Sunday morning. The WMM - a union of the top five global marathons - is three races through the first year of its inaugural two year series, and multi-world record holder and Olympic and world titleist Gebrselassie joins Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot and Felix Limo, winners of the Boston Marathon and Flora London Marathon earlier this year. The Ethiopian star and the two Kenyans all have 25 points, going into the final two races this year, The LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon on October 22, and the ING New York City Marathon on November 5.
Another famous Ethiopian, Gete Wami, won the Berlin women’s race. Wami, the world 10,000 metres champion from Seville ’97, and Olympic silver medalist from Sydney clocked 2:21:34, and dominated the women’s section in the German capital as easily as her compatriot had done in the men’s race. Wami too now has 25 points, and joins the Boston and London winners, Rita Jeptoo of Kenya and Deena Kastor of the USA at the top of the WMM leader board.
The IAAF World Championships in Osaka 2007 will also count towards the inaugural WMM titles, and the two leaders (one woman, one man) at the end of next year will win an extra US$500,000, in addition to their individual race purses. In Berlin, Gebrselassie and Wami won 50,000 euros each ($64,000), with Gebrselassie taking a bonus of 30,000 euros ($38,000) for breaking 2.06.30. His time makes him the fifth fastest man in history, with the equal seventh fastest time.
“My time was fine,” said Gebrselassie. The newly crowned real, BERLIN MARATHON champ. “Of course, you always try to run faster, but I know that I join the leader board and there will be other chances for records in future races.”
For a very long time, it looked as if Gebrselassie had launched a successful assault on his great rival Paul Tergat’s world record of 2:04:55, set in this same race in 2003. But the tiny Ethiopian’s challenge evaporated in the closing kilometres, and he eventually finished one minute and one second behind the Kenyan’s time, with 2:05:56. The race was run in bright sunshine throughout, with temperatures rising from 16C (59F) at the 9:00 a.m. start, to 20C (68F) at the finish.
Any chance of breaking the record was lost between 35 and 40k. Going into the last seven kilometres, Gebrselassie was 22 seconds up on Tergat’s time, but with two kilometres to go, he was 22 seconds down. It was impossible to recoup the deficit. In any case, he was suffering, and when he finished, lifted a left foot in some discomfort. “I knew at halfway that the record was within reach”, he said. “But after 35k, it became very difficult for me to push. The last 5k really hurt.”
His time was nonetheless a personal best for the 33 year old, beating the 2:06:20, set in similar circumstances in Amsterdam a year ago. In the Netherlands, he was also well up on Tergat’s record until the closing stages. Here in Berlin, there were two factors militating against Gebrselassie. Like Amsterdam, he was on his own for the last 14 kilometres, whereas Tergat was first headed until 41k, then chased right to line by Sammy Korir three years ago. Gebrselassie also had to cope with a fluctuating wind. Korir, incidentally dropped out this year at 26k.
Gebrselassie had resolutely refused pre-race to discuss any attempt on the world record, and he was equally downbeat afterwards. “It was OK, not bad. If I could break the world record, it would be fantastic, but this was fantastic too. The temperature was fine, but the wind was a bit of a problem, it was coming from different directions. But it was fantastic, I’m happy. It’s true there was no one to push me, but I will break the world record one day, I’m sure”. Contacted in Kenya by telephone, Tergat, who is due to run in New York said, “Going for the world record is not easy, it’s always tough. Absolutely, I congratulate Haile for a great run.”
Korir, 34, had been widely tipped to challenge the Ethiopian for victory, and the second fastest man in history, with his 2:04:56 behind Tergat in 2003, began well. He traded strides with Gebrselassie throughout the opening 15 kilometres, but then started to falter. He dropped back at 19 kilometres, had a brief rally shortly afterwards, but when Gebrselassie disappeared with the pacers, he succombed to a hamstring pull, and dropped out at 26 kilometres. The crunch began for Gebrselassie when his Kenyan pace-makers, Jason Mbote and James Kwambai dropped out at 25 and 28 kilometres respectively.
So, with two years to go until his predicted retirement following the Beijing Olympics, Gebreselassie remains on 21 world records broken, compared to the 23 by the immortal Paavo Nurmi, the "Flying Finn." But it was a measure of the conditions in Berlin that the runners-up finished way behind the Ethiopian star. His colleague, Gudisa Shentema was second in 2:10:43, with Kurao Umeki of Japan third in 2:13:43.
Terefe Yae, of Ethiopia, fourth place and Ahmed Ezzobayry, of France, also earn points in the World Marathon Majors Series with their finishes at Berlin.
Just like in the men’s race, the predicted Ethiopan-Kenyan duel in the women’s race evaporated at 19 kilometres, when Salina Kosgei dropped back, and left the field to Wami. The former 10,000 metres world champion from 1997, profited from the pace-making of Kenyan, Christopher Kandie, who had been instrumental in helping Paula Radcliffe to the world record of 2:15:25 in London 2003. Wami was never going to challenge that time, but the Ethiopian won as easily as her compatriot, finishing in 2:21:34, also breaking her personal best of 2:22:19, set in her winning debut in Amsterdam in 2002. It was again a measure of the adverse conditions that Wami briefly received medical attention, suffering with dehydration. Kosgei was second in 2:23:22, also a new personal best, bettering her 2:24:32, which was also a winning debut in Paris 2004. Third was Monica Drybulski of Poland, in 2:30:12.
“It was a wonderful race”, said Wami. “I've always wished to run and win in Berlin and from 30k onward I knew that I would win this race. The weather was good, the air was clear and the atmosphere was strong. I already know that I would like to be back here in a future year to try to set my personal best at this race.”
Ashi Gigi, of Ethiopia, and Marcia Narlock, of Brazil, who where fourth and fifth respectively at Berlin, are now on the leader board, as well.
WORLD MARATHON MAJORS POINTS STANDINGS
MEN:
1. | Haile Gebrselassie | Ethiopia | 25 points | BER |
2. | Gudisa Shentema | Ethiopia | 15 | BER |
3. | Kurao Umeki | Japan | 10 | BER |
4. | Terefe Yae | Ethiopia | 5 | BER |
5. | Ahmed Ezzobayry | France | 1 | BER |
WOMEN:
1. | Gete Wami | Ethiopia | 25 points | BER |
2. | Salina Kosgei | Kenya | 15 | BER |
3. | Monica Drybulska | Poland | 10 | BER |
4. | Asha Gigi | Ethiopia | 5 | BER |
5. | Marcia Narlock | Brazil | 1 | BER |
Posted by Alison Wade at 8:58 p.m. | Tags: Race Reports, Press Releases, Rankings and Polls | Comments (0)
Last year's NCAA cross country team champions - the Stanford women and Wisconsin men - are, not surprisingly, ranked #1 in the preseason polls, released today by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. The complete polls, which include the top 30 ranked teams, are available on the USTFCCCA web site.
Posted by Alison Wade at 12:39 p.m. | Tags: Rankings and Polls | Comments (0)
Both the Adams State men and women are ranked #1 in the NCAA Division II preseason cross country poll, while the Calvin College men and the SUNY-Geneseo women sit atop the Division III preseason poll. The rankings were released September 5th by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, and are based on the votes of head coaches in each division. The Division I preseason cross country poll has not yet been released.
Complete DII rankings
Complete DIII rankings
Posted by Alison Wade at 11:20 a.m. | Tags: Rankings and Polls | Comments (0)