North American 5km Championships - Oct. 24th

Elite Fields Announced for North American 5K Team Championship

Three nations - Three teams - One champion

SAN DIEGO, CA - October 15, 2004 -- The Arturo Barrios Invitational celebrates its 16th anniversary in spectacular fashion with a series of races for the whole family and a fiercely competitive elite field, which features four Olympians in the North American 5K Team Championship. The races and surrounding festivities take place Sunday, Oct. 26 at the Chula Vista Marina. Registration for the people's races is still open and will be available on race day.

The North American 5K Team Championship, in its third year in San Diego, is a unique competition in which elite national men's and women's teams from the United States, Mexico and Canada vie for the title of fastest country in North America. An impressive cash prize purse is offered, with the squads competing for $21,000 in team prize money and $4,000 in an individual purse, all of which is calculated by using a cross country low scoring format.

The United States is set to defend its 2003 championship title with a strong team of newcomers led by returning veteran Sylvia Mosqueda, 38, from Los Angeles, Calif. Mosqueda finished in 15:54 to take third in 2003, helping lead the U.S. women’s scoring. Her experience is backed by the speed of Colette Liss, 31, who holds a 5K personal record of 15:28 and was a member of the United States World Cross Country Team in 2003. Amy Mortimer of Boston, Mass. completes the American women’s team.

The U.S. men are all new to the bay side course. Jonathon Riley of Palo Alto, Calif. leads the men’s team with a 5K personal record of 13:21. At 25, Riley has an impressive resume. He represented the United States in the Athens Olympics, finishing 14th in the opening round of the 5,000-meter competition, and he captured the 3,000-meter USA Indoor Championship for the second time this year. Chad Johnson of Minneapolis, Minn., a former member of the 2003 U.S. World Cross Country 12K team, enters with the second fastest 5K time on the men’s team at 13:36. Completing the team is 24-year-old Josh Eberly from Arvada, Colo.

Athens Olympian Émilie Mondor (Mascouche, Quebec) crushed the last year’s North American 5K Team Championship women’s course record of 15:30 by seven seconds, winning in 15:23 and finishing a full 20- seconds ahead of the second place finisher. Despite her dominating performance, Canada finished second overall to the United States, but only by the narrowest of margins. Mondor, 23, also owns the Canadian 5K road record of 15:19, which she earned at the 2003 Carlsbad 5000. Malindi Elmore, 24, from Calgary, Alberta is a strong addition to Team Canada. In 2004, she has claimed a string of first and second place finishes in distances between 800 and 3000 meters, and set a 3,000-meter personal record of 9:00.27 in January at the Huskies Invitational in Seattle, Wash. Tara Quinn-Smith, 25, from Waterdown, Ontario will be running with the momentum from her victory last September at the Waterloo Invitational Cross Country Meet (13:48, 4km).

Ontario is home to all three members of the men’s Canadian team. Reid Coolsaet, 25, leads the men’s trio with a personal record of 13:31, established at the 2004 Belgium Grand Prix II. Andrew Smith, a 25-year-old teacher and professional athlete, runs for the Toronto Olympic Club and Saucony Canada. His best finish at the - more - North American 5K Team Championship, page 2 5,000-meter distance was second place at the Canadian 2003 Track & Field Championships. Ryan McKenzie from Windsor, Ontario rounds out the Canadian men’s team with a 5K personal best of 13:36.

In 2003, 23-year-old Alejandro Suàrez of Mexico out-kicked the men’s field to capture the individual title at the North American 5K Team Championship. He returns this year, after representing Mexico in Athens, holding the second fastest 5K time (13:23) in the men’s elite field, with hopes of adding a team win to his individual accomplishment. Suàrez finished seventh at the 2004 Carlsbad 5000 and is the 2004 North American Relay Champion (2:06:02). Rafael Sànchez, 24, and 22-year-old Armando Torres, who both hold personal records in the 5,000-meter distance at 13:42 (at altitude), will provide a strong complement to the Mexican men’s team. The North American 5K Team Championship women’s course record of 15:30 was set in 2002 by Dulce Rodriguez of Mexico.

This year, Mexico has selected 28-year-old Athens Olympian Angelica Sànchez of Tlaxacala, 25-year-old Gisel Bautista from Zacatecas and 31-year-old Elisa Cuellar from Mexico City to follow in her footsteps, and improve on Mexico’s third place finish at the Invitational in 2003. Sànchez was one of two women selected to represent Mexico this past summer at the Athens Olympics in the marathon. She holds a 16:24 personal record (at altitude) in the 5K. Bautista set her personal record of 16:33 (at altitude), at this year’s Mexican National 5,000m Championships.

For more information about the Arturo Barrios Invitational, contact Elite Racing, Inc. at 5452 Oberlin Drive, San Diego, CA 92121, call 858/450-6510 or visit

www.eliteracing.com

.

Arturo Barrios Invitational Elite Athlete Media Briefing Thursday, October 21, 2004 2:00 p.m. Holiday Inn South Bay San Diego-National City 700 National City Blvd. National City, CA 91950 1-619-474-2800

riley will kick all their arses.

so will mondor.

usa wins, can second, and mex third.

can third