SAN DIEGO—Olympic hopefuls Dathan Ritzenhein and Shalane Flanagan put on impressive performances Saturday in winning the USA Cross Country Championships at Mission Bay Park.
The 25-year-old Ritzenhein, a 2004 Olympian in the 10,000 and runner-up in the 2008 U.S. Olympic marathon trials, took the lead at the halfway mark of the 12 kilometer race and cruised to victory in the Men’s Open division.
Ritzenhein, from Eugene, Ore., and third in last year’s championships in Boulder, Colo., finished in 35 minutes, 3 seconds. That was 26 seconds better than Jorge Torres, 27, of Boulder, Colo. (35:29).
Ryan Hall of Mammoth Lakes, Calif., one of the pre-race favorites and the American record holder in the half marathon and winner of the U.S. Olympic marathon trials, finished fifth (35: 50).
He trailed Josh Rohatinsky of Beaverton, Ore. (35:41) and Edward Moran of Williamsburg, Va. (35:42).
The top nine men qualify for the World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh, Scotland on March 30. Rounding out the qualifiers were James Carney of Boulder, Colo. (35:56); Max King of Eugene, Ore. (35:57); Ryan Bak of Eugene, Ore. (36:59); and Edwardo Torres, Jorge Torres’ twin brother, of Boulder, Colo. (36:01).
The 26-year-old Flanagan, a 2004 Olympian in the 5,000 and American record holder in the 3,000 and 5,000 from Pittsboro, N.C., took the lead at the outset of the 8K women’s open race and finished in 25:26, more than a minute ahead of second-place Renee Metiver of Boulder, Colo. (26:36).
Rounding out the top six women who qualified for the World Cross Country Championships in Scotland were Emily Brown of Minneapolis (26:37); Katie McGregor of Saint Louis Park, Minn. (26:38); Molly Huddle of Elmira, N.Y. (26:52) and Blake Russell of Marina, Calif. (26:54).
California high school stars German Fernandez of Riverbank and Jordan Hasay of Arroyo Grande captured junior championships. Fernandez, 17, beat out a trio of college runners, coming from behind and covering the 8K course in 24:18.
Hasay, 16, the pre-race favorite who ran a 9:23.90 in a 3K last week, covered the 6K course Saturday in 20:32. Alex Gits, 18, of Stanford was second at 20:45.
The winners of the men’s and women’s masters were Sean Wade of Houston and Jody Hawkins of Frisco, Texas.
