Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
USATF Cross Country Championships
Tremblay Earns Spot on U.S. World XC Team
February 13, 2010 | Cross Country
SPOKANE, Wash. ? University of Colorado freshman Laura Tremblay earned a spot on the U.S. world cross country team after placing fifth in the junior women's race at the USA Cross Country Championships on Saturday afternoon.
Tremblay finished the 6-kilometer race in 20 minutes, 46 seconds and was just 19 seconds off the pace of the champion, Shelby Greany (Providence College) who finished in 20:27. The top six finishers in the race earned the honor to represent the U.S. at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, which is March 28 in Bydgoszcz, Poland.
“The strategy for this race was to not go out too hard, run smart and stay in the pack and the race unfolded that way for me for the most part,” Tremblay said. “I came through the first kilometer a little too fast but I still felt good and relaxed. I just wanted to stay in the top six and with about one lap (of the course) to go, my spot was pretty secure and I gave it all I had at the end.”
Tremblay had a decent freshman campaign on the cross country course in 2009, picking up All-Big 12 and All-NCAA Mountain Region honors for the Buffaloes with a 15th-place finish at the conference championship and a ninth-place finish at regionals. But the season didn't end the way she would have liked at nationals when she finished 199th, so this achievement is a little bit of redemption for Tremblay.
“I ended my cross country season on a worse note than I wanted, so this helped,” she said. “The race was good and was a good effort for me. I ran smart and didn't make too many mistakes. I'm very happy with my performance.”
Freshman Dillon Shije ran in the junior men's 8k race and had a good finish as he took 20th overall with a time of 25:40. Shije redshirted the 2009 cross country season.
Former CU ace Dathan Ritzenhein won the men's open 12k race. He finished in 34:34, which was 18 seconds ahead of Patrick Smyth's time (34:52). After running with a pack for the first part of the race, Ritzenhein and two others separated themselves from the field. He pulled away from that chase pack with about two kilometers remaining and easily cruised to the victory.
“I felt real good and comfortable,” Ritzenhein said. “I tried to push it a bit on that one hill and make it significant. I wanted to get through this race as comfortably as possible.”
Ritzenhein's win earned him a spot on the U.S. world championship team as well and he will be joined on the women's side by another former Buff great, Renee Metivier Baille, who took fifth in the women's open 8k race. She finished in 26:26.
USA CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Plantes Ferry Recreation Park (Spokane, Wash.)
Junior Women's 6k: (1. Shelby Greany, Providence, 20:27) 5. Laura Tremblay, 20:46
Junior Men's 8k: (1. Trevor Dunbar, Portland, 24:04) 20. Dillon Shije, 25:40
Open Women's 8k: (1. Shalane Flanagan, NIKE, 25:10) 5. Renee Metivier Baille, 26:26
Open Men's 12k: 1. Dathan Ritzenhein, 34:34; 24. Billy Nelson, 37:21
Players Mentioned
