2001 USA Track & Field One & Two Hour Racewalk Championships
Alumni Field
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Worcester, MA
Sunday, October 7, 2001
Results from the 2001 USA Track & Field One & Two Hour Racewalk Championships
A rough set of results is listed below. Please let Justin Kuo know of any corrections.
I added photos taken by my son, Tolya. Click here to view.
Finally, be sure to leave a comment in the guestbook guestbook (below) and let us know how we can improve this event. Thank you. -- Justin
USATF News & Notes
Volume 2, Number 93 October 12, 2001Albert & Dow win race walk titles
Sean Albert and Joanne Dow earned U.S. titles Sunday at the National 1 hour/2 hour Race Walk Championships in Worcester, Massachusetts. Instead of competing for the fastest time at these Championships, the order of finish was determined by how much distance each athlete covered in the time allotted: two hours for men, one hour for women.
Albert broke away from all men's challengers about midway through the race to win by covering 27,031 meters. Dow led the women's contest from beginning to end, covering 12,891 meters during the hour-long competition.
Two-time Olympian Curt Clausen finished second in the men's race by covering 26,396 meters, with Al Heppner third (25,878m).
Dow easily outclassed the field in the women's competition, winning by more than 1,300 meters. She was followed by Cheryl Rellinger (2nd-11,528 meters) and two-time Olympian Victoria Herazo (3rd-11,477m).
The USA Junior One Hour Championships were also held in Worcester, with 17-year-old Adam Staier of Farmington, Maine winning the men's competition by walking 12,440 meters. In earning his first national title, Staier also set a new meet record with a performance that fell just 100 meters short of Curt Clausen's U.S. Junior record set in 1986.
Mallory Delaney of Farmingdale, N.Y., who placed 5th in the women's open division, grabbed the Junior women's title by covering 10,148 meters in one hour. Overall masters (age 40+) one-hour winners were Reynaldo Carrazana of Ravena, N.Y. (11,763 meters) and Victoria Herazo of Las Vegas, Nev., (11,477m).
Media contact: Al Heppner
North American Racewalking Foundation
Phone: 619-410-1181
October 8, 2001
For immediate releaseAlbert breaks through with win; Dow also victorious
Unseasonably cool temperatures did little to slow down Sean Albert and Joanne Dow as they each rolled to wins at the National 1 hour/2 hour Racewalk Championships in Worcester, Massachusetts yesterday. Albert was able to get away from his training partners on the Worcester Polytech Institute track midway through the race and covered 27,031 meters in the two-hour time frame. Dow led the entire way, covering 12,891 meters in the women's one hour competition.
In these unique championships, competitors covered as much distance as they could in two hours (men) or one hour (women).
With the temperature barely over 40 degrees and moderate winds at the men's two hour start, Albert set the pace immediately with two-time Olympian Curt Clausen and the Army's Al Heppner in tow. The trio hit the 5 km and 10 km marks in 22:30 and 45:18, respectively.
"I wanted to make this an honest race," Albert, representing New Balance North Jersey, said of his decision to lead.
At the 11 km mark, the New York Athletic Club's Clausen made his move. He overtook Albert, but could not pull away from him or Heppner. When Clausen slowed less than a mile later, Albert took over the wind-breaking duties once again.
After 13 km, Albert surged and only Heppner went with him. But Albert continued to drop the pace from the 4:30's to 4:20 per kilometer. Heppner's sixteenth kilometer was his fastest (4:20), but wasn't nearly enough to stay with Albert, who walked 4:10. Albert steadily pulled away from Heppner, crossing 20 km in 1:29:12. Heppner passed through in 1:30:08, with Clausen 120 meters behind.
Soon after, Albert lapped Clausen, who went with the leader and quickly caught a tiring Heppner with about 20 minutes left in the race. Albert cruised on to victory, keeping his 1 km splits under 4:20. Clausen was second (26,396 meters), with Heppner (25,878) third, and the Army's John Nunn fourth (23,762).
Albert, who liked his chances coming in, didn't count on a victory until he lapped Clausen.
"By then it was late in the race and I still felt pretty good walking 4:20's (per kilometer)," the 27-year-old said of his first national championship this season and second overall. "Finally, it all came together. I've been training well and I finally raced well."
In the one hour championship, adidas' Joanne Dow easily outclassed the women's field, winning by over three laps. Runner-up Cheryl Rellinger (11,528 meters) edged Victoria Herazo by just 51 meters to avenge a loss to Herazo at the National 5 km Championships just two weeks ago in Kingsport. Cambridge Sports Union's Marcia Gutsche, the local favorite, was surprisingly close; just 114 meters behind Herazo to claim fourth.
In the non-championship men's one-hour, 17-year-old Adam Staier missed Curt Clausen's national junior (under 20) record set back in 1986 by just 100 meters. However, it was still far enough for the victory (12,440 meters) and the meet record for juniors.
Dow, the 1999 Pan American Racewalk Cup Champion, will lead the US team to Cuenca, Ecuador for the 2001 edition of the competition in three weeks. In Miami two years ago, Dow shocked the western hemisphere by capturing America's first individual title ever at the meet and led the US team to a stunning upset over heavily favored Mexico. Clausen, who finished a US-best seventh at this year's world championships, is looking to bring home the first men's gold in the 50 km in Cuenca. Albert, Heppner, and Nunn will compete in the 20 km.
Men's Two Hour Racewalk 1 Sean Albert (27) Chula Vista, CA 27031 2 Curt Clausen (33) Chula Vista, CA 26396 3 Al Heppner (27) Chula Vista, CA 25878 4 John Nunn (23) Chula Vista, CA 24162 5 Bill Vayo (37) White Plains, NY 22893 Racewalk judges included Mary Helen Baldwin, Harry Brooks, Diana Gladden, Gary Westerfield and Maryanne Torrellas as chief.
Men's One Hour Racewalk 1 Adam Staier (17) Farmington, ME 12440 2 Reynaldo A Carrazana (43) Ravena, NY 11763 3 Robert H Keating (54) Nashua, NH 11669 4 Leon J Jasionowski (57) Shelby Twp., MI 11560 5 John Chasse (18) Readfield, ME 11411 6 Richard M McElvery (44) Hollis, NH 10950 7 Joseph R Trapani (15) Lake Grove, NY 10885 8 Shawn L Frederick (48) Palisades, NY 10752 9 Paul R. Johnson (64) Fort Smith, AR 10673 10 Joe W. Light (54) Westerly, RI 10604 11 Stanley C. Sosnowski (51) West Kingston, RI 10435 12 Vladimir Telnov (28) Rocky Hill, CT 10381 13 Bob E Barrett (67) Smallwood, NY 10290 14 Bill Harriman (54) Tewksbury, MA 10237 15 John D. Costello (46) Sherborne, MA 10225 16 James J McGrath (64) Medford, NY 10128 17 Daniel L Pendergast (19) Gorham, ME 10124 18 Robert N Ullman (52) Nashua, NH 10078 19 Thomas Knatt (61) Concord, MA 10016 20 Wilson Crone (41) Troy, NY 9793 21 Stephen C. McCullough (40) Rocky Hill, CT 9757 22 Mark R. Dennet (16) Winthrop, ME 9755 23 Aaron J Whitten (15) Farmington, ME 9691 24 Jack Starr (73) Newark, DE 9548 25 Yuri J. Kuo (16) Brookline, MA 8912 26 Bernie Finch (61) Pepin, WI 8831 27 Bill J. McCann (72) Longmeadow, MA 8718 28 Louis J. Free (71) Uncasville, CT 8499 29 Edward J Gawinski (74) Wilmington, DE 8270 30 Thomas P Fitzgerald (60) Niskayuna, NY 7721 31 Richard V Huie (66) Branford, CT 7544 32 David P Baldwin (58) Harrington, ME DQ 33 George Curti (65) Cranston, RI DQ 34 Gus S. Longo (58) Methuen, MA DQ Racewalk judges included Mary Helen Baldwin, Harry Brooks, Diana Gladden, Gary Westerfield and Maryanne Torrellas as chief.
Women's One Hour Racewalk 1 Joanne D Dow (37) Manchester, NH 12891 2 Cheryl Rellinger (35) Cohoes, NY 11528 3 Victoria S. Herazo (42) Las Vegas, NV 11477 4 Marcia A Gutsche (40) Newton, MA 11362 5 Mallory K Delaney (16) Farmingdale, NY 10148 6 Moneta A Roberts (42) Mobile, AL 10127 7 Jasmine Brooks (16) Peru, ME 9916 8 Ann T Percival (43) New Britiain, CT 9619 9 Holly Wenninger (37) Malden, MA 9345 10 Ginger M Armstrong (39) Taftville, CT 9239 11 Joanne M Harriman (58) Tewksbury, MA 9146 12 Madelyn M O'Brien (15) Winthrop, ME 9097 13 Patricia L Godfrey (55) Winthrop, MA 8675 14 Eileen Druckenmiller (39) Emmaus, PA 8660 15 Nadya E Dimitrov (51) Smithtown, NY 8614 16 Annie Montgomery (54) Concord, MA 8455 17 Sheila S. Sosnowski (50) Mystic, CT 8420 18 Jessica Compton (18) Farmington, ME 7822 19 Mary Helen Baldwin (52) Harrington, ME 7376 Racewalk judges included David Baldwin, Tom Knatt, Diana Gladden, Gary Westerfield, Maryanne Torrellas and Harry Brooks as chief.
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