Sacramento Running News

Garrett Heath wins! (Photo courtesy of Erik Aguilar at www.painani.org)

San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park was the site of the this year’s USATF 2015 National Club Cross Country Championships, and it was action packed!

More than 1,700 of the nation’s best adult cross country runners converged on the park for several intensely competitive races on a hilly course, that wound through the park and finished on the broad track above the polo field.

Although the day was dry, recent rains left mud and standing water throughout the course. I’ve run several cross country races over the years, but I’ve never seen anything like the quality and quantity of runners out there on Saturday.

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Ashley Carroll powers to the win at the Willow Hills XC Open (SRN photo)

Did you run cross country in high school and now miss the sport? Or did you never run cross country but wonder what it would be like?

Even if the rosy glow of youth is long behind you, you can still get in on the fun at some fast, local races. Prices are low, so don’t expect bands or swag bags, just good times and fierce competition.

Folsom was the place for the 5th Annual Willow Hill Cross Country Open, this past Saturday. This race is ably hosted by the Buffalo Chips Running Club and is part of the PAUSATF Cross Country Grand Prix, so top runners throughout Northern California were out in force and winning times on the hilly 5 Km were fast.

The women’s race was first to run, and the Impalas’ Ashley Carroll, 32, ran away from SRA’s Lea Wallace, 26, in the last mile to win in a time of 18:09. Wallace finished second in 18:19. Ibet Allan, 38, running for West Valley Track Club, was third with an 18:40 finish.

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Fiona O’Keeffe’s commanding win at Saturday’s Sac-Joaquin cross country sectional championships wasn’t quite enough to get the Davis girls the championship, but it was fast enough to set a new course record of 16:57.

The Bella Vista girls took top honors, followed by Davis, and then St. Francis.

Of the Div I one boys, it was Jesuit’s Sean Kurdy with the win in 15:43.

For the team results, it was Davis, Granite Bay and Jesuit finishing 1, 2, and 3.

The top three girls teams and the top two boys teams will converge on Clovis November 29th for the State Championships. It should be exciting!

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Davis High School’s Fiona O’Keeffe is absolutely dominant in the Team Sweepstakes event at Mt. Sac, where she joins a very small club of sub 16:30 finishers. (FYI, the audio is dorked up in this video. It’s not your computer.)

Watch more videos on Flotrack

Tim Tollefson powers up the hill for the win. (Photo by www.painani.org)

The Pacific Association’s cross country series started last weekend in Santa Cruz, but the first local race of the season was at Ancil Hoffman on Saturday.

Runners at the 4th Annual Rebels XC Challenge–hosted by the River City Rebels–enjoyed picture-perfect weather and a classic turf and trail course through the rolling hills around Ancil Hoffman Park.

As usual, the PA series event included three races: women, masters men (40+), and open men.

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Looks like the Blue Devils girl’s cross country team is on its way to Oregon for the National Championships.

Anchored by the speedy Fiona O’Keeffe’s, the Blue Devils came in 2nd in the State Championships in Fresno leading to an at-large invite to the Nike Cross Nationals.

O’Keeffe’s time of 16:58 was good enough for the overall win, and fastest ever sophomore time.

The Davis Enterprise has the story.

Flotrack has the video:

Watch more video of Fiona O’Keeffe on flotrack.org

Big news in XC!

In addition to the big track meet coming to Sacramento next June, there is also the NCAA Div I West Regional Cross Country Championships happening on Friday, November 15th, at Haggin Oaks Golf Course.

The event is hosted by CSUS.

In addition to CSUS, NCAA West Region teams also include include Oregon, Stanford, Colorado, Washington, Arizona, UCLA, Cal Poly, and UC Davis, among others.

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Iain Mickle (#241) leads the Masters Men’s race. (Photo courtesy of Sean Dulany/Freeplay Magazine)

In Saturday’s first Pacific Association race–the women’s 5K–Lindsay Tollefson made it three years in a row with her win at Rebel’s XC Challenge, at Granite Park.

Tollefson, 28, of Roseville, took first with a 17:34 over Tanya Ferreira, 24, of Watsonville, who finished second in 17:58.

The third woman finisher was Madeline Kramer, 26, of Oakland, who brought it home in 18:00.

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Kim Conley leading the field. at this year’s XC Nationals (Photo by Clay Shaw)

By John Schumacher

Olympian Kim Conley, who runs for the Sacramento Running Association’s Elite Team, earned a spot in the World Cross Country Championships with a second-place finish Saturday in the U.S. Cross Country Championships in St. Louis.

Conley, a former UC Davis standout, ran with winner Shalane Flanagan for six kilometers in the 8k race before Flanagan pulled ahead in the final 2,000 meters. Flanagan finished in 25 minutes and 49 seconds, with Conley crossing the line in 26:06 and Deena Kastor grabbing third in 26:41.

“It was very fun to race Shalane for as long as I did as she is someone I have looked up to for many years,” said Conley, who joins the U.S. team heading to Bydgoszcz, Poland for the world championships on March 24.

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Now to Portland!

The St. Francis Girls took second place at the Division I State Cross Country meet (and was scored 2nd place in California Power Merge).

The team’s top finisher was Junior Lauren Larocco, who came in 16th with a 18:10.

St. Francis has been invited to race at Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Oregon, and we’ve heard that they’ve accepted the invitation.

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