CONTACT:
Ross Krempley—Team XO Director
Tel: 541.579.8326
Email: ross@teamxo.com
Mail: P.O. Box 3915
King Leads XO With Commanding Performance
Van Cortlandt Park - New York City - N.Y. - February 18-19 2006 - There is no better place than on ESPN to bust onto the national elite running scene in America. Max King used his opportunity and did just that at Sunday’s U.S. National Cross Country 12k Championships. On a cold clear day that claimed several under-prepared runners, King showed his strength on the famed hills of the Bronx’s Van Cordtland Park in New York City.
Having run in a pack of five for the early stages of the race that included such luminaries as Nike’s Dathan Ritzenhein and Abdi Abdirahman, Reebok’s Jorge Torres, and Asics’s Ryan Hall, King alternately took leading duties and tucked into the rear of the pack as he held pace with the nation’s best. Hall made a surge midway through the race that opened a gap and the race was on with Torres chasing, King hot on his heels and the rest of the pack falling inevitably behind. “I felt Ritz[enhein] falling back and was feeling pretty good at that point (late in the race) so I knew I could hold my position,” said the Cornell graduate who was cheered on by many family and friends. Ultimately, the order of runners didn’t change late in the race as Hall, Torres, King, and Ritzenhein crossed in order, followed by Jason Hartmann and Matt Gabrielson rounding out the top six spots earning each a trip to the World Championships.
Modest as usual, Max King strode into the media tent, brow sweaty and shoes muddy, an American flag wrapped around him and an easy smile across his face where he was surrounded by cameras, microphones and questions about making the U.S. Team that will travel to Fukuoka, Japan for the World Cross Country Championships.
“It will be my first international race outside of the U.S.,” beamed King, “I’m very excited.” King plans on running the NACAC Championships in which he finished third last year as the first American finisher. He will then travel with Team USA to Worlds at the beginning of April.
The next runner in for XO was Masters 8k champ Rick Fuller (38:11) who was chased by XO newcomer Dylan Mason (38:44), training partner of Max King. “I was really pretty happy about my race,” said Mason who is looking forward to running the Oregon Road Championship Series as well as hitting the track for the occasional 5k.
Tim Julian (39:52) rounding out XO as well as the top nine club finishers comprised of only Team XO and Hansons-Brooks Distance Project. “I wasn’t in the best shape coming in, but it wasn’t that bad for my current fitness level,” remarked Julian, who like Fuller has been involved with XO since the cross country team’s inception. “I’m looking forward to the track races this spring, but this race was fun.”
Pleased with another second place team finish at the Winter National meet, team director Ross Krempley added, “This weekend was huge for XO starting off with Rick and his first U.S. Masters title. With Max leading the team to another second place finish and qualifying for the world championships team in impressive style, XO seems well on its way to achieving many of the goals we set out for ourselves this year. The past three years have been focused on this year to be the one where we show the nation what Team XO is all about. Placing third at Club Nationals, our impressive showing at Winter Nationals, getting another runner on the World Championships team were all goals of ours as we head into the Indoor National Championships where we can showcase some of our fine field event athletes. During the outdoor track season we now have thirty to forty elite athletes competing at the University of Oregon meets, which are our home meets. We will compete several times with a full track team, something we have only shown sparingly thus far. Throw in the elite high school meet, the XO Invite which is now a nationally featured meet on the elite high school statistical website dyestat.com, and we present a solid argument that we are one of the premier track and field team in the nation.”
The next opportunity for success will be the USA Track and Field Indoor National Championships in Boston, Massachusetts on February 24-26. XO athletes attending will be Leonidas Watson (Long Jump), Simidele Adeagbo (Triple Jump), Kyley Johnson (High Jump), Cari Soong (Weight Throw), and Niki McEwen (Pole Vault).
Kevin Ullman
800 meter specialist
XO Press Director
Team Finish
Place Place Bib# Finisher Time City, State Affiliation
1 16 Ryan Hall, 23 34:38 Woodside, CA Asics
2 13 Jorge Torres, 25 35:05 Boulder, CO Reebok
3 1 607 Max King, 25 35:20 Bend, OR Team XO
4 11 Dathan Ritzenhein, 23 35:27 Boulder, CO Nike
5 648 Jason Hartmann, 24 35:39 Boulder, CO Nike
6 640 Matthew Gabrielson, 27 35:39 Apple Valley, MN Team USA Minnesota/Reebok
7 662 Brandon Leslie, 29 35:42 Albuquerque, NM Sports Warrier Track/Brooks
8 633 Eugene Dennis, 31 35:42 Fond du lac, WI Wisconsin Runner RT
9 642 Patrick Gildea, 26 35:45 Knoxville, TN New York Athletic Cl
10 656 Ryan Kirkpatrick, 27 35:47 Colorado Springs U.S. Army
11 659 Travis Laird, 24 35:55 Flagstaff, AZ
12 621 Andrew Carlson, 23 35:55 Apple Valley, MN Team USA Minnesota
13 612 Ryan Bak, 24 35:58 Marina, CA Big Sur Distance Pro
14 681 Celedonio Rodriguez, 25 35:59 Alamosa, CO Reebok
15 619 Fernando Cabada, 23 36:18 Bristol, VA Virginia Intermont C
16 613 Kyle Baker, 30 36:24 Westfield, IN
17 654 Peter Julian, 34 36:26 Boulder, CO adidas
18 686 Jason Sandfort, 23 36:27 Fayetteville, AR
19 643 Brian Godsey, 25 36:28 Baltimore, MD
20 2 600 Josh Eberly, 25 36:36 Rochester, MI Hansons-Brooks Dista
21 3 602 Chad Johnson, 29 36:39 Rochester Hills, Hansons-Brooks Dista
22 615 Fasil Bizuneh, 25 36:41 Marina, CA Big Sur Distance Pro
23 4 603 Josh Moen, 23 36:45 Rochester Hills, Hansons-Brooks Dista
24 5 604 Ryan Sheehan, 22 36:46 Rochester, MI Hansons-Brooks Dista
25 6 601 Jeffrey Gaudette, 23 36:46 Rochester, MI Hansons-Brooks Dista
26 690 Josh Simpson, 21 36:47 Peekskill, NY Westchester TC
27 673 Corey Nowitzke, 21 36:53 Monroe, MI Eastern Michigan Uni
28 653 Gabriel Jennings, 27 36:57 Mendocino, CA
29 672 Sean Nesbitt, 31 37:00 Boulder, CO Boulder Express
30 644 Kyle Goklish, 25 37:05 Whiteriver, AZ Sports Warrier Track
31 20 Robert Gary, 32 37:08 Westerville, OH Reebok
32 652 Teren Jameson, 28 37:10 Taylorsville, UT New Balance
33 624 Jedidiah Chappell, 25 37:13 Scottsdale, AZ
34 661 Nelson Laux, 27 37:17 Arvada, CO Boulder Running Comp
35 682 Ben Rosario, 26 37:21 St. Louis, MO Brooks
36 697 Jay Wassell, 28 37:26 Elm, NJ Philadelphia Track C
37 664 Chris Lundstrom, 29 37:27 Minneapolis, MN Team USA Minnesota
38 631 Scott Defilippis, 26 37:33 Normandy Beach, Mizuno Runner's High
39 670 Lucas Meyer, 22 37:35 Redwood City, CA The Farm Team, Inc.
40 660 Steve Laurie, 25 37:50 Eugene, OR Team Eugene
41 669 John Mentzer, 29 37:54 Monterey, CA U.S. Navy
42 678 Joshua Perrin, 20 37:58 Hillsdale, MI Eastern Michigan Uni
43 626 Jonathan Clemens, 31 37:59 San Diego, CA U.S. Navy
44 693 John Supsic, 27 38:03 Boulder, CO Boulder Express
45 7 605 Patrick Fuller, 40 38:11 Eugene, OR Team XO
46 680 Oscar Ponce, 28 38:12 Boston, MA Boston Athletic Asso
47 691 Nick Stanko, 25 38:27 Ann Arbor, MI
48 679 Chase Pizzonia, 19 38:34 New Rochelle, NY Iona College
49 637 Adam Fitzgerald, 24 38:36 Carlisle, MA
50 625 Luke Chrusciel, 20 38:41 Grandville, MI Eastern Michigan Uni
51 8 608 Dylan Mason, 32 38:44 Bend, OR Team XO
52 620 Judson Cake, 28 39:00 Blowing Rock, NC ZAP Fitness
53 702 Joey Zins, 26 39:05 Tallahassee, FL
54 683 Frederick Rountree, 28 39:10 Williston, VT
55 689 Levi Severson, 25 39:17 Belmont, MA U.S. Air Force
56 641 Jonathan Gibson, 24 39:23 Woodinville, WA
57 646 Eric Hamner, 24 39:23 Pataskala, OH
58 671 Teddy Mitchell, 33 39:26 Albuquerque, NM U.S. Army
59 666 Carlos Martins, 36 39:28 Kearny, NJ
60 677 Nathan Pennington, 29 39:31 Apo, AE U.S. Army
61 635 Billy Edwards, 28 39:39 Virginia Beach, U.S. Marine Corps
62 617 Andrew Boone, 24 39:44 Cambridge, MA U.S. Air Force
63 623 Louis Chapa, 26 39:50 San Benito, TX U.S. Army
64 9 606 Tim Julian, 35 39:52 Ashland, OR Team XO
65 694 Davidson Taveras, 22 39:55 Milton, FL U.S. Navy
66 657 Jeffrey Klemmer, 35 39:59 Fpo, AP U.S. Marine Corps
67 10 610 Andrew Ames, 43 40:03 Boulder, CO Fleet Feet Boulder
68 629 Mark Cucuzzella, 39 40:08 Shepherdstown, W U.S. Air Force
69 684 Kurt Russell, 23 40:10 Milton, FL U.S. Marine Corps
70 630 Russ Curley, 34 40:18 Titusville, NJ
71 11 632 Lance Denning, 44 40:33 Boulder, CO Fleet Feet Boulder
72 628 Liam Collins, 35 40:41 Alexandria, VA U.S. Army
73 663 Matthew Lowe, 25 40:43 Arlington, VA U.S. Air Force
74 614 John Beyer, 22 41:11 West Seneca, NY
75 12 688 Jeremy Schwartz, 31 41:35 Boulder, CO Fleet Feet Boulder
76 655 Kevin Kemmerle, 19 41:37 Dover, DE
77 675 Michael Owens, 32 41:44 West Wardsboro,
78 638 Nathan Flores, 26 41:47 Jacksonville, NC U.S. Marine Corps
79 650 Alexander Hetherington, 38 41:53 Stafford, VA U.S. Marine Corps
80 698 Mike Wasson, 40 42:06 Monument, CO U.S. Air Force
81 668 Joe McVeigh, 42 42:18 Convent Station, New York Athletic Cl
82 13 1009 Hans Funke, 45 42:25 Boulder, CO Fleet Feet Boulder
83 627 Richard Cochrane, 32 42:31 Norfolk, VA U.S. Navy
84 611 Vincent Augelli, 35 42:34 San Diego, CA U.S. Navy
85 645 Mitchell Hall, 33 42:55 San diego, CA U.S. Navy
86 616 Thomas Blackwell, 35 43:19 Jacksonville, NC U.S. Marine Corps
87 649 Jerome Henry, 38 43:32 San Francisco, C
88 665 Michael Mann, 37 43:41 Hampton, VA U.S. Air Force
90 685 John Sabatino, 39 47:21 Morris Plains, N Sneaker Factory Road
91 647 David Harding, 45 50:49 Lake Oswego, OR Team Red Lizard
92 651 Dr. Brian Hickey, 37 52:19 Tallahassee, FL
Team Results
Team Finish
Place Place Bib# Finisher Time
1 Hansons-Brooks Distance Proj. Score = 14
2 600 Josh Eberly, 25, Rochester, MI 36:36
3 602 Chad Johnson, 29, Rochester Hills, MI 36:39
4 603 Josh Moen, 23, Rochester Hills, MI 36:45
5 604 Ryan Sheehan, 22, Rochester, MI 36:46
6 601 Jeffrey Gaudette, 23, Rochester, MI 36:46
2 Team XO Score = 25
1 607 Max King, 25, Bend, OR 35:20
7 605 Patrick Fuller, 40, Eugene, OR 38:11
8 608 Dylan Mason, 32, Bend, OR 38:44
9 606 Tim Julian, 35, Ashland, OR 39:52
3 Fleet Feet Boulder Score = 46
10 610 Andrew Ames, 43, Boulder, CO 40:03
11 632 Lance Denning, 44, Boulder, CO 40:33
12 688 Jeremy Schwartz, 31, Boulder, CO 41:35
13 1009 Hans Funke, 45, Boulder, CO 42:25
News Release
CONTACT:
Ross Krempley—Team XO Director
Tel: 541.579.8326
Email: ross@teamxo.com
Mail: P.O. Box 3915
XO Travels Across The Country to the World XC Trials
Van Cortlandt Park - New York City - N.Y. - February 17 2006 - XO will send a team of five to the U.S. National Cross Country Championships that will act as the trials for the World Cross Country Championships. Max King will lead the charge along with Dan McLean, Tim Julian, Dylan Mason, and Rick Fuller who will double in the masters 8k and the open men’s 12k on the following day. Fuller is aiming at his first U.S. Masters individual championship after turning that “magic number” 40 last year. King is seeking his first World Cross Country team berth in the open 12k. Last year King placed 11th in the 12k. “I am hoping to make the team, after coming off a PR in the Half marathon at the US championships last month and another PR up in Seattle two weeks ago in the mile and 3k, I feel like anything is possible,” said King.
The meet will take place at New York’s Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx on February 18-19. XO team director Ross Krempley is optimistic about XO’s chances, “We know that this is mainly an individual event, and the team aspect is not as important, but we still wanted to bring a full team to support the team component of the meet. Members winning championships, making the world team, and having fun on the sloppy course in New York is what this trip is all about”.
Kevin Ullman
800 meter specialist
XO Press Director
