JAMES SETS COURSE RECORD AT USA 100 MILE TRAIL CHAMPIONSHIPS
His second USA 100 Mile Trail Championship may have been the sweetest for Dave James (Scottsdale, Ariz.) as the defending champion established the Burning River 100 Mile Endurance Run course record en route to winning his second straight national title in a time of 15:02:00 in Northeast Ohio on July 28.
Connie Gardner (Medina, Ohio) also defended her USA 100 Mile Trail title in winning the women’s division in a time of 17:46:29. Finishing seventh overall, it was the fourth USA 100 Mile Trail title in Gardner’s career.
Both James and Gardner ran well under their winning times from 2011. James (15:57:43 in 2011) took more than 55 minutes off his performance from
last year, while Gardner (19:01:39) smashed her winning time from 2011 by well over an hour.
Peter Hogg (Livonia, Mich.) placed second in the men’s
race in a time of 15:51:12 and Chris Reed (Allentown, Pa.) was third in 16:27:14. Deanna Culbreath (New York, N.Y.) finished second in the women’s race in a time of 19:20:05 and Starshine Blackford (Columbus, Ohio) was third in 19:39:23.
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TEAM USA WINS THIRD STRAIGHT THORPE CUP HEPTATHLON TITLE
Bettie Wade, Chelsea Carrier-Eades and Barbara Nwaba finished second, third and fourth, respectively, in the heptathlon to help pace Team USA to its third consecutive Thorpe Cup title over Germany July 21-22 in Marburg, Germany. The Germans responded in the decathlon competition to take their third straight win over Team USA.
The 19th edition of the competition, the Thorpe Cup is an annual multi-event competition between the two nations where team scoring is determined by adding the top five men’s and top three women’s scores.
A two-time Thorpe Cup champion, Wade led Team USA with 5,795 points to finish runner-up. Ryan Harlan placed fourth overall with a score 7,683 points as Team USA fell to Germany by a score of 38,521 to 36,428.
World record holder Ashton Eaton and 2011 World Outdoor champion Trey Hardee, who won gold and silver, respectively, at the London Olympic Games, also participated in select events at the competition. Eaton competed in the 100m dash, shot put and high jump on the first day and the discus and javelin on the second day. Hardee competed in the long jump, shot put and 400m on the first day and the discus and pole vault on the second day.
2004 Olympic gold medalist Bryan Clay was also a member of Team USA, but was only able to compete through the 100m, long jump and shot put Friday.