- Nelson Mandela, talking to the South African Olympic team prior to the opening ceremony in 1992, South Africa’s first Olympics since 1960. The great Mandela, who amazingly had no bitterness about his incarceration for 27 years, will be missed.
Alexa Efraimson appeared to be dropped, but battled back with a great kick the final 400m to kick past Elise Cranny and Sarah Baxter to win. Baxter ended her high school XC career with her only loss as the Fayetteville-Manlius amazing streak of 7 national team titles ended with a runner-up finish.
Kai Wilmot of North Spokane won the individual title in 15:00 as 5 others finished in a close battle for 2nd, as Wilmot’s teammate Tanner Anderson was third. Wilmot’s a big talent who ran 8:57 2 years ago as a soph, but has been battling injures since. He was 4th at his state meet this year and picked the perfect time to put it all together. In the team competition, Gig Harbor, coached by 1:45:36 800m man Mark Wieczorek and 800m pacer Matt Scherer, got the win over CBA NJ.
NXN Talk:
LRC Weekly Recap: The Guts/Collapse Of Georgetown, The Most Unlikely All-Americans, The Mysterious Mark Wetmore, Dathan Ritzenhein 2.0, And Kenya 500x Greater Than The USA? Our weekly recap took a Thanksgiving week break last week so this week we spend most of our time taking one last look at the 2013 NCAA Cross-Country Championships. We give out awards to most unlikely All-Americans (Aaron Nelson, Trent Lusignan and Emma-Lisa Murphy), and most improved/comeback performer (Sammy Silva) before wondering if Ben Saarel is Dathan Ritzenhein 2.0? Plus the mysterious Mark Wetmore and plenty of praise for the Kenyan and Japanese marathoners who excelled yet again at Fukuoka.
#1 Alan Abrahamson: Remembering Nelson Mandela Mandela was a big believer in the power of sport.
We transfer our world-renowned statistical analysis to soccer and break down the 2014 World Cup Draw. Overall, US and UK fans still are screwed but we find a tiny sliver of hope.
MB: USA in group with Germany, Portugal, and Ghana for the World Cup
LRC An Incredible Half Marathon Will Take Place Next Weekend In India At The 2013 Airtel Delhi Half Marathon Jos Hermens has brought together a ridiculous field with 11-sub 60 men, including Dennis Kimetto, and 13 sub-70 women.
*Hermens: “We feel that with this elite field it’s possible to challenge both the course records of 59:15 for men and 66:54 for women”
IAAF Preview: Fionnuala Britton Looking To Make History As 1st Female 3-Time Champion Defending men’s champ Andrea Lalli of Italy isn’t running as he made his marathon debut (2:14) in October. 9-time men’s champ Serhiy Lebid isn’t running either.
