2006 Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team ? JUNIOR TEAM ANNOUNCED

The 2006 Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team will travel to Bursa, Turkey to compete in the 22^nd World Mountain Running Trophy Race in September which is sanctioned by the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA) and patronized by the International Association of Amateur Athletics Federations (IAAF). The junior squad, (eligible to athletes who are at least 16 years of age in the year of competition and not yet  20) will compete on Saturday, September 10. The junior men (three scoring/four maximum) race an 8.5km uphill course with a total 895m ascent and 30m descent (same course as senior women).  The junior women (two scoring/three maximum) race 3.4km with 395m of elevation gain.

This is the fifth year the U.S. will field a junior men?s team to Worlds. The U.S. will not field a junior women?s team this year at Worlds. ?We did not receive much interest from junior women this year and will concentrate more efforts in recruitment of 2007 team members,? said Nancy Hobbs, team manager.

The juniors were selected based on their running resume which included mountain, trail, cross country, road, and track performances. All applicants were required to also provide a letter of recommendation from their coach, and be a current member of USA Track & Field.

Chosen to represent the United States on the junior men?s team are Andrew Benford, 19, Ravenswood, WV, Rory Egelus, 19, Palmer, AK, Jon Horn, 19, Kennesaw, GA, and Zach Rivers, 16, Rochester, NY. Jonny Stevens, 16, Vail, CO had been named to the team, but had to withdraw due to injury. Dave Dunham, Bradford, MA is the team manager. Dunham competed for the U.S. at seven World Mountain Running Trophy events finishing on the podium in 1993 as a silver medalist and as the top U.S. finisher six times. He was previously manager of the men?s team which made him the ideal choice to lead the juniors. He is a race director for both mountain and snowshoe races and was the organizer of the USATF New England Mountain Running Circuit for seven years (1996-2002).

Team members in alphabetic order:

Andrew Benford ran 19:18 to win the 2004 Pipestem Mountain Tram Run in Athens, WV which boasts an elevation gain of 1222 feet over 3.3 miles. He recently capped a stellar prep career with the coveted High Point Trophy for the AA classification at the 2006 WV State Track & Field Champs and defended his state titles in the 3,200 (9:30.47) and 1,600 (4:29.52), placed second in the 800, and ran on the championship 4x400 relay team scoring 28 points for his team.  Benford has personal best marks of 15:51 (5,000M XC), 9:30.47 (3,200), 4:26.20 (1,600) and 1:59.97 (800).  He won the 2004 and 2005 AAA WV State Cross Country titles.  While he was a member of the Ravenswood Red Devils Team they won four consecutive state cross country championship titles. He was a starter for the boys' basketball team that won the 2006 WV Group AA State Basketball Championship. He will attend the University of Richmond this fall where he will compete on the cross country, indoor and outdoor track & field teams.
Page Two/Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team ? Juniors

Now a four-time team member, Rory Egelus is a 2005 graduate of Palmer High School in Palmer, Alaska and will enter his sophomore year a the University of Nevada, Reno this fall majoring in Engineering. Egelus finished second for the U.S. juniors in Wellington, New Zealand last September. He holds a personal record of 26:35 for the grueling 1,634-foot vertical climb and descent on the famous junior Mt. Marathon course in Seward AK.  He is the impressive Mt. Marathon three-time junior champion (2002, 2003, 2004) and was 18^th in the open race this past July.  His 5km personal record is 16:02, his 1600m best is 4:42. Egelus?s hobbies include guitar, building bent willow furniture, and of course, running mountains.

Jon Horn was on the 2005 team and finished 47^th. This year Horn was ninth overall at the Mt. Wilson Trail Race in Sierra Madre, CA, an 8.8 mile race with significant vertical elevation, and in June he was 19^th  overall and first in his age group in the Loon Mountain Race. Horn?s other results in 2006 include a second place finish at the Catalina Island Half marathon and a win at the Christiansen 13.7 mile trail race in Phoenix. In 2005 he set a new course record to win the Verdugo Hills 7 Miler (2,000' vertical climb). During his freshman and sophomore years he participated on the swim team and on the cross country team.

Newcomer Zach Rivers traveled to Italy as a member of the U.S. Junior National Snowshoe Team in January 2006 where he finished fifth overall for the U.S. scoring for the open team helping them to win the national title. In 2005, the Victor High School Sophomore competed in cross country and track and won the Section V Cross Country Sectional Championships running 16:28, placed fourth in the NY State Class A Championships, and set a course record of 16:07 at the League Championships. He finished in second place at the Muddy Sneaker 12.8 mile race which had over 2000? of climbing setting an age group record in the process. Rivers was named the 2004 and 2005 Wayne-Finger Lakes Outstanding Cross Country Athlete. Victor Cross Country Coach Belinda O?Brien says, ?From results alone you can see that the terrain of Bursa will not intimidate Zach. His warm, friendly, caring personality ? along with his strong team ethics ? compliment his athletic ability.? Rivers will enter his junior year at Victor High School this fall.

New last year were running blogs set up at www.youthrunner.com by Youth Runner magazine. The juniors participated in the blogging after they were named to the team and provided updates before, during, and after their trip to New Zealand. This year we will again work with Youth Runner and our juniors to make this program a successful one, and hopefully get more juniors interested in the U.S. mountain running program.

For more information on the 22^nd World Mountain Running Trophy visit: www.wmrt2006.org. For more information about the Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team visit: www.trailrunner.com. For additional information on the U.S. Mountain Running program visit the websites listed below: