Sharp, Login win USA 40 km Race Walk titles
Ray Sharp and Solomiya Login won the respective men's and women's national titles Sunday at the 70th annual USA Track & Field 40 Kilometer Race Walk Championships in Ocean Township, N.J.
Sharp (Atlantics Mines, Mich.) won his third consecutive U.S. 40 km men's title on a steamy 90-degree, high humidity day by covering the two-kilometer loop course 20 times in 3 hours 58 minutes, 52 seconds. Top placers in the men's division were Connecticut's Theron Kessinger (2nd - 4:03:55), Michigan's Leon Jasionowski (3rd - 4:17:30) and Indiana's Max Walker (4th - 4:29:37).
Pegasus AC of Michigan walked off with the men's team crowns in both the open and Masters categories with a squad of Jasionowski, Rod Craig (sixth in 5:05:34), Marshall Sanders (10th in 5:21:26) and Don Knight (11th in 5:24:41). Craig was the men's 50-54 winner andJasionowski repeated as the M60-64 titlist.
Solomiya Login, a Philadelphia resident who finished seventh at the 2008 Olympic Trials 20 km, won the women's race in 4:15:52 for her first ever senior national title. Other top finishers were New York's Jennifer Marlborough (2nd-4:46:16), Colorado's Yvonne Allmaras (3rd-4:51:06) and Virginia's Rebecca Garson (4th- 5:00:25.)Taking fifth places, and winning Masters divisional age-group gold medals, were Shore AC teammates Tom Quattrocchi and Maria Paul. Quattrochi, of Sportswood, led the 55-59 men with a 4:49:06 clocking, and Paul, of Long Branch, was the first women's 40-44 finisher in 5:11:31.
Fountain wins in France
Hyleas Fountain's breakthrough season as one of the world's finest women's heptathletes continued over the weekend with her win at the annual end-of-year Decastar combined events meeting in Talence, France.
Fountain, who earlier this year won the U.S. Olympic Trials and captured the silver medal at the Olympic Games in Beijing, was in second place after Day One in Talence before storming back to win the event with 6,473 points. Fountain grabbed the lead for good in the first event of Day Two with a long jump of 6.52 meters/21 feet 4.75 inches, and posted a personal best in the final event in sealing her victory with her 800m time of 2 minutes 15.32 seconds.
Fountain's most impressive performance this year was at the 2008 Olympic Trials where over two days she won five of the seven events and posted five personal bests, as well as her overall personal best score of 6,667 points. Her point total in Eugene is the second-best in the world this year and makes her the #3 American all-time.
Fountain continued to perform superbly with her silver medal performance at the Olympic Games, where she posted the third-best tally in the world in 2008 of 6,619 points.
For more information on the 2008 Decastar in Talence, including the complete results, visit: IAAF.org.
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