TEVA Junior Mountain Running Team 2007

The Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team will compete in the 23^rd World Mountain Running Trophy in Saillon, Switzerland on Saturday and Sunday, September 15 and 16, 2007. The USA National Team has been title sponsored by Teva, the official footwear of the team, since 2002, team uniforms are sponsored by official apparel sponsor SportHill, 180s is the team’s official ear warmer, glove, and sunglass sponsor, FuelBelt, Inc., is the official hydration system of the team, Windermere Real Estate/Teton Valley is the official real estate company, and Fleet Feet-Sports Boulder just signed as the official specialty running store.

“Fleet Feet –Sports Boulder is a welcome addition to our team and shows the commitment of its owners to our mountain running program. Building partnerships is integral to the future of our sport and the future of our team in terms of promotion, visibility, and success. Our relationship with Fleet Feet-Sports Boulder will help us achieve our goals,” said Nancy Hobbs, Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team manager.

According to Jay Johnson, co-owner of Fleet Feet-Sports Boulder and himself, a gold medalist at the World Trophy (1987), “The U.S. trail and mountain running program has shown tremendous growth over the past two decades and we are happy to be a part of the program this year by supporting the team. We look forward to our involvement and wish great success to this year's team.”

This year’s Trophy races are run on an up/down course (as opposed to even-numbered years when the events are held on uphill-only courses) with the senior men running 12km, the senior women and junior men running 8.5km, and the junior women running 3.4km.

The women’s team includes four athletes with the top three finishers scoring for the team. Six athletes will represent the men’s team with the top four finishers scoring. The junior men’s team includes a maximum of four with top three scoring while the junior women’s team is a maximum of three with the top two scoring. Team manager Nancy Hobbs, Colorado Springs, CO, team leader Richard Bolt, Portland, OR, manager of the junior team Dave Dunham, Bradford, MA, and women’s team manager Ellen Miller, Vail, CO, will accompany the team to Switzerland.

At the USATF annual convention in Indianapolis in December 2006, the Mountain Ultra Trail (MUT) Council chose three races from which automatic qualifiers to the U.S. team will be selected. The USA Mountain Running Championships will be hosted by Cranmore Mountain slated for June 24 in North Conway, NH. The top two U.S. men and the top U.S. woman finisher at Cranmore will receive automatic berths on the team. Steamboat Springs, CO will host the USA National 10 Km Trail Championships on June 30 and will welcome the top two U.S. men, a top U.S. woman to the team. The final selection race, the Mt. Tam Trophy Race, will be held in Mill Valley, CA on July 15 where the top U.S. man and top U.S. women will be selected to the team.

The remaining members of the squad, (one male, one female), will be selected by the Mountain Ultra Trail Council with input from the team staff based on results at the selection races, past World Trophy events, national and international racing experience including mountain, road, cross country, and track. Athletes MUST run a selection race in order to be considered for the team. The junior team is selected based on resumes with criteria to be posted in early January. To be considered for the team all team members MUST be current USATF members prior to running a selection race and in the case of juniors, USATF membership is also mandatory.

Interested athletes should submit running resumes to: Richard Bolt (r_boltski@yahoo.com) and Nancy Hobbs (trlrunner@aol.com). The full team will be announced by August 1, 2007.