PREVIEW FOR THE 2000 WXC IN PORTUGAL

by JOHN LOFRANCO

The Canadian women's 4k cross country team is "looks hot" according to women's 8k team leader, and Canadian women's senior cross country champion, Tina Connelly. Led by veteran Leah Pells, who is already in Portugal training for the world championships, and former Canadian univeristy champion, Sarah Dillabaugh, the team is looking to improve on last year's 8th place finish.

While the team will stuggle to replace the 4th place finish of Scot Kathy Butler, Pells should battle for a top ten position. Returning from last year will be Heather deGeest (47th at last year's WXC), Karen Harvey Sullivan (62nd) and Sarah Dupre (71st). Courtney Babcock was 82nd in last year's 8k race and will drop down to the 4k event this year.

Sarah Dupre, formerly of Providence College, is now back in her home town of Kingston, Ontario, studying Art History at Queen's University. She was 6th in the 8k at the national cross country championships in November, and competed for Canada in two Ekiden road races in Japan and China. Sarah ran 16:08 for the first (5k) leg of the Beijing Ekiden on February 20th, and 16:27 for the first (5k) leg of the Yokohama Ekiden in Japan on the 27th of February. She has also run 9:15 for 3000m indoors at Boston University on January 20th.

Also running the Yokohoma Ekiden were Sarah Dillabaugh and Karen Harvey Sullivan. Dupre was joined in Beijing by 4k teammate Heather deGeest, and 8k team members Sherri Smith and Stephanie Mills.

"The women's 4k team looks hot. All of those girls have worked very hard to get selected and they are all running fast times right now. I don't think we've had a team this fit going into the Worlds for awhile," says Tina Connelly of Port Coquitlam BC.

Connelly also ran the Yokohama Ekiden. Tina will lead the women's 8k team into battle this year at Vilamoura, Portugal. After finishing 77th in 1997, 55th in 1998, she made a leap to 17th last year. For the millenium edition of the world cross championships, Tina says she's in even better shape than last year, and she has high expectations for this year's race.

"I believe that I am fitter than I was this time last year but this is a different course and terrain, that could also change things. I'm aiming for top 15 and would be extremely happy if I placed top 10. However, cracking the top 10 at World Cross is a whole lot different than placing 17th. I guess I'll just have to trust my training, get a good rest beforehand and run aggressively."

That would make her only the third Canadian woman to finish in the top ten in the world in the 8k cross country race, and the first since Lynn Williams took the bronze medal in 1989. Junior Emilie Mondor was 10th in Morrocco in 1998 while Kathy Butler was fourth in last year's short course race, and Tina's 17th place was the best individual long course result for a Canadian woman since Williams' third place effort 11 years previous.

Tina competed in the Chiba International cross country meet in Japan in January and finished an impressive 9th but she was dissappointed with her effort:

"I was a little disappointed with my finish in Chiba Cross Country. I don't feel that I ran to my potential. I'm glad I did it though because I know what I need to work on mentally in preparation for the intensity of Worlds."

Working as a registered psychiatric nurse, Tina is no stranger to intensity.

"I worked full time shift work for seven years; four days on, two days off with day, afternoon and midnight shifts. I was always exhausted and getting time off for trips was very difficult. I started in a new hospital this September. I now work in an "oncall" position so I can work around my training and race schedule. I have the flexibility of working as much or as little as I want. I've finally been able to attend all of my training sessions for once, it's great. I can catch up on my sleep too."

Lisa Harvey, from Calgary, AB, is rounding back into shape after the birth of her first child. Connelly was excited to have the 1992 10,000m Olympian on the team.

"She's starting to get really fit again and she is so damn tough. Lisa has competed at World Cross many times as both junior and senior. I believe she was 6th as a junior one year. I have always looked up to her, hoping I could run as fast as she has. I imagine she'll have a really good year."

At the Seattle Open cross country meet on January 31, Harvey finished in the runner-up position in 22:11, to Tina's winning time of 20:35,and Judith LeRoy of Victoria finished third in 22:24.

Other 8k team members include Sherri Smith, Stephanie Mills and Deborah Buhlers, originally from Lethbridge AB, but now attending the University of Waterloo . Debbie is just coming off an injury but plans to compete for Waterloo at the OUA and CIAU indoor track championships in preparation for WXC.

Stephanie Mills ran the Beijing Ekiden on the 20th of February. Mills, a fourth year political science student at the University of Victoria, was third in the CWUAA indoor track championships 3000m in a time of 10:05.20. She will be participating in the CIAU championships in Montreal on the 11th and 12th of March. After World Cross in Portugal, Stephanie will be representing Canada in the World University Cross Country championships in Jena, Germany.

The senior men's 12k is a young team, with David Milne (only 20 years old) of West Vancouver BC leading the way. David competed at the world championships for Canada just two years ago in Morrocco, as a junior! He attributes his quick rise in the senior ranks to his training group which includes the likes of Jeff Scheibler, Chris Weber, Al Klassen, Randy Moody, Ahmed Krama, and Oliver Utting.

"I think I have been able to make the jump so fast because most of the races I run have weaker fields then the group I train with. Not many races I get in have in them. (Coach) Marek (Jedrzejek) is also a huge part of my life and running. I also started running at 16 so I think my legs are fresher than the other runners my age so I think I am still making progress, while other athletes my age have had trouble with those huge improvement jumps that are common in young juveniles and junior athletes."

David ran a 10km cross country race in Seattle and finished 4th in 31:04 on January 29th. A week later,he ran in the Cargill Games 3000m and went out with Jeremy Deere (4:02 first 1500), but died and ended up in 8th in 8:27.

Milne is sponsored by Nike and studies sociology at the University of British Columbia. He seems to have the talent to pick up a big scholarship in the USA, but he says:

"I went to Middle Tennessee State Univ. for one year but there was no where to run so it didn't make it worthwhile to return. I decided to go to UBC while I decided what to do with my life. I was still looking at US universities but couldn't get the offer I needed to leave UBC. I hope all those coaches that said I wasn't worth a big scholarship saw the result from nationals."

He says he has always looked up to teammate Graham Cocksedge, and has been racing him "just about every weekend for the last month." As it is his first forray into senior international competition, he says his plan is to "just run with someone on the team and see what happens."

Graham Cocksedge is doing a double shot of world championship action this March. Following the IAAF meet in Portugal, the Victoria, BC native will travel to Jena, Germany, to represent Canada and the CIAU in the World University Cross Country Championships.

Graham was fifth at the Seattle Open Cross Country with a time of 31:16. He has run 8:13 in the 3000m (a second place finish behind Jeremy Deere at the Cargill Games) and he won the Canada West 1500 in 3:52. He also won the 3000m at the same meet in 8:17 and was named CWUAA MVP. He also anchored the winning 4x800m relay team.

Faizal Emamaullee of Toronto, ON will be joined by Scott MacDonald of Ottawa ON and Steven Lawrence, a graduate of East Northumberland high school in eastern Ontario to complete the team.

The junior women's team is a relatively inexperienced group, though Emilie Mondor of Mascouche, PQ is back in shape and will attempt to repeat her top ten performance of two years ago. She has run a 4:29 1500m this year.

"Hier, le 3 mars j'ai couru 4:27.74 au 1500m. C'était lors de mes provinciaux civil indoor. J'ai couru seule comme d'habitude, la deuxième afait 5:09, elle était de Ottawa-lion. C'est mon PB indoor par plus d'une seconde. Je ne suis pas blessé à nul part cette année et mes entraînement vont très bien. Espérons que je n'attraperai pas une grippe (flu) cette semaine... J'espère bien faire une très bonne course au mondiaux et aller plus vite qu'en 1998. Je veux profiter de ma dernìère année junior. Je veux aussi que l'équipe junior femme aille un bon classement mondial. Je crois que nous allons être très forte, plus que les autres années. J'étudie présentement en science de la santé et je vais aller à l'université l'hiver prochain en médecine vétérinaire ou en biologie. J'ai présentement 18 ans."

Another veteran on the junior team is Emily Kroshus. The student of Western Canada High School, in Calgary AB, has an indoor best this year of 9:38 for 3000m. Her expectations for Portugal?

"Run as hard as I can for as long as I can and place much better than last year."Last year, the 17 year old finished in 66th place, and was Canada's second finisher.

Nikki Reckman is a grade 10 student at Lambton Christian High School in Sarnia, Ontario. She is 16 years of age and this is her first world cross appearance. She did qualify for last year's team by finishing 2nd at the national championships, but decided not to compete because of her age and inexperience. As a result of her restraint, this year she is much more prepared physically for the 6km distance.

She is the Ontario Legion 1500/3000m champ, with times of 4:49 and 10:24, as well as the Ontario Juvenile 1500m Champion in 4:37.74. She is racing March 11-12 at Indiana University at Nike Indoor Classic which doubles as the USA High School Championships with World XC teammates Carol Henry and Mike Thorson in the 2 mile.

With this being her first appearance at WXC, her expectations are somewhat conservative. She feels that they have a great junior women's team, and hopes to contribute to the team finishing in the top 10. Individually she wants to get wxc experience under her belt in preparation for later world cross champs and is hoping for a top 80 performance.

The junior men's team consists of Ryan Haden of Richmond BC, Simon Bairu from Regina, SK, Mike Thorson from Port Elgin, ON, Brendan Young from Windsor ON, Will Thrift from Winnepeg, MA and Andrew Alley out of Calgary AB.

This truely nationwide team has little international experience, but there are some strong performers nonetheless. Andrew Alley is a first year student at the University of Calgary. Andrew was CWUAA and CIAU X-C rookie of the year in X-C with an 11th place finish at the CIAU X-C champs. He ran 8:32 in the 3000 at the Cargill games and 4:00.00 at the Alberta high performance invitational. This last performance prompted him to intone:

"I need to learn how to lean!"

His 1500m best is 3:55. He will be competing in the 3000m at the CIAU championships in Montreal on March 11-12.

Of his up coming Portuguese experience, he says:

"This is my first national team and this is by far my biggest competition so far. The excitement has been building for over three months now and I can't wait to toe the line with the best junior runners in the world. I think we have a great team."

Mike Thorson is 18 years old and a student at Saugeen District Secondary School in Port Elgin, Ontario. Not only is this Mike's first international experience, it is also his first time travelling outside of North America. Indoors this year he has run a 4:01 1500m and an 8:45 3000m. Most recently, he won the open boys high school 1500m at the Hamilton Spectator Indoor Games, taking home that title for the second straight year.

Mike says:

"I am extremly excited about racing and about watching some of the best runners in the world."

Brendon Young will be 18 on March 5, 2000. He is in Grade 12 at Riverside Secondary in Windsor. He ran an excellent double of 4:01 for the 1500 and 8:36 in the 3000m at the Ontario Senior indoor track championships on February 19-20. He finished second to Guy Shultz at the Really Chilly 10K in London, Ontario on Feb 27 in 33:07.

Brendon is "really excited to be going to Portugal to represent Canada for the first time. This has been a long term goal of mine and I'm really thrilled to have it come true!"

Will Thrift is at University of Manitoba. This is his first international appearance for Canada, though he won his first gold medal at the Canadian Legion nationals four years ago in the 3000m. He claims to have only raced once seriously this winter, and says that his 8:30 3000m at the Cargill indoor games is not an indication of his fitness:

"I can go a lot faster, so it's not that great. I didn't really run xc this year either (other than nationals, and I didn't peak for that) so I haven't had any big races in a while."

He is enthusiastic about Canada's chances in Portugual:

"I think we have a pretty good team this year. I know everyone else is in good shape, and so am I, so hopefully we can place well as a country. "