INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - (October 19, 2000) - USA Track & Field announced today the USA Team for the 9th IAAF World Half-Marathon Championships to be hosted by Veracruz, Mexico, on Sunday, November 12. Here are the five-member USA men and women's teams with half-marathon PRs:

Jeff Campbell, 29, Brevard, NC  1:06:09 ('00)
Jerry Lawson, 29, Jacksonville, FL  1:01:43 ('98)
Teddy Mitchell, 28, Alamosa, CO 1:06:20 ('00)
Todd Reeser, 27, Canandaigua, NY    1:04:13 ('00)
Clint Verran, 25, Rochester Hills, NY   1:04:53 ('00)

Kristin Beaney, 28, Wayland, MA 1:14:16 ('97)
Kelly Cordell, 30, San Luis Obispo, CA  1:12:04 ('99)
Kelly Keeler, 38, Bloomington, MN   1:13:20 ('00)
Milena Glusac, 25, Fallbrook, CA    1:14:33 ('00)
Shelly Steely, 38, Albuquerque, NM  1:13:33 ('98)

Team leaders are Will Lindgren (Cypress, TX) and Max Mayo (Hilton Head, SC).

Like the past eight editions, individual and team competition (accumulative time by the top three individuals) should be keen. Along with individual and team titles, there is also $194,000 in prize money ($40,000, $20,000, $15,000, $10,000, $7000 and $5000).

At Veracruz, Kenya, Japan, Romania, Ethiopia, South Africa, Spain, Portugal and Italy are expected to send top teams. Veracruz is located on Mexico's east coast. The course is flat and fast with three loops of 7K.

Last year in Palermo, Italy, Kenyans Paul Tergat and Tegla Loroupe won world titles. Tergat, despite avoiding an errant official near the finish line, edged South Africa's Hendrick Ramaala; both were timed in 1:01:50. South Africa repeated as team champion. Scott Larson of Boulder, Colorado was the top American in 41st place (1:04:14). The U.S. team placed 10th.

Loroupe, one of most complete female distance runners ever, won her third consecutive world half-marathon title with a convincing 24 second victory over Japan's Mizuki Noguchi, 1:08:48 to 1:09:12. With three women in the top five, the Kenyan women easily repeated as team champion. Top American, Michelle Byrne of Richardson, Texas finished 40th (1:15:55). The U.S. women's team also placed 10th.

At the championships, the best U.S. individual and team placements are: Bill Reifsnyder, 18th (1:02:00, '92) and Gordon Bloch, 14th (1:11:34, '92) and Lynn Doering, 14th (1:11:54, '95) and the 1992 women's team 5th (3:35:32) and the 1996 men's team 8th (3:13:52).

The previous eight world championships were held in Tyneside, England (1992), Brussels, Belgium (1993), Oslo, Norway (1994), Montbeliard-Belfort, France (1995), Palma de Mallorca, Spain (1996), Kosice, Slovak Republic (1997), Zurich-Uster, Switzerland (1998) and Palermo, Italy (1999) espectively.

Past Individual and Team Champions

Year    Champions               Time        Team        Time
1992    Benson Masya (KEN)      1:00:24 Kenya       3:02:25
1993    Vincent Rousseau (BEL)      1:01:06 Kenya       3:05:40
1994    Khalid Skah (MAR)           1:00:27 Kenya       3:03:36
1995    Moses Tanui (KEN)           1:01:45 Kenya       3:05:21
1996    Stefano Baldini (ITA)       1:01:17 Italy       3:07:42
1997    Shem Kororia (KEN)      59:56       Kenya       2:59:54
1998    Paul Koech (KEN)            1:00:01 South Africa    3:02:21
1999    Paul Tergat (KEN)           1:01:50 South Africa    3:06:01

1992    Liz McColgan (GBR)      1:08:53 Japan       3:30:39
1993    Conceicao Ferreira (POR)    1:10:07 Romania 3:32:18
1994    Elana Meyer (RSA)           1:08:36 Romania 3:29:03
1995    Valentina Egorova (RUS)     1:09:58 Romania 3:31:29
1996    Ren Xiujuan (CHN)           1:10:39 Romania 3:33:05
1997    Tegla Loroupe (KEN)     1:08:14 Romania 3:27:40
1998    Tegla Loroupe (KEN)     1:08:29 Kenya       3:29:43
1999    Tegla Loroupe (KEN)     1:08:48 Kenya       3:27:40

# # #  

Special thanks to 
Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Coordinator for providing us this press release.
USATF Road Running Information Center
5522 Camino Cerralvo, Santa Barbara, CA 93111
(805) 696-6232, fax (805) 696-6252
http://www.usaldr.org