Teva US Mountain Running Team 
Selection Process Begins

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - (June 2, 2002) - The Alaska Mountain Runners host the
first of three USA Track & Field mountain running selection races for the
Teva US Mountain Running Team on Sunday, June 9. The 5.5-mile Wolverine
Mountain Run gains approximately 3600 vertical feet with the first mile
slightly downhill and the remainder of the route uphill mirroring the type of
course team members will encounter at the WMRA World Mountain Trophy Race
this September in Innsbruck, Austria.

The remaining two selection races will be Gorham, New Hampshire's
7.6-mile Mount Washington Hill Climb on June 15 and the 7.5-mile Vail Hill
Climb in Vail, Colorado on July 7.

The first US male and first US female finisher at each of the USATF
mountain running selection races earns an automatic berth on the Teva US
Mountain Running Team with other top finishers considered for a spot on the
10-member senior squad (six men and four women). The six-member junior squad
will be selected based on running resumes.

Hoping to secure a spot at the Wolverine Mountain Run will be three-time
team member Suzy West from Putney, Vermont. West was the top US finisher at
the 1999 WMRA World Trophy Race in Sabah, Malaysia. She will face her
toughest competition from Vail Colorado's Anita Ortiz winner of the Teva
Spring Run-Off on May 25 and last winter's US National Snowshoe Champion.
Other top women include Olympic cross country skiers and Alaska locals Nina
Kemppel and Kikkan Randall.

Heading up the men's competition will be multiple-year US team members
Dave Dunham and Eric Morse, both are USATF Mountain Runners of the Year
(Dunham '00, Morse '01). Challenging the pair from New England USATF
association will be former Pikes Peak Ascent and Mount Evans Hill Climb
champion Scott Elliott from Boulder, Colorado hoping to make his first US
team and locals Todd Boonstra, Kevin Donley, Derek Dagley, and 2002 team
member Brad Precosky.

Contacts:
Brad Precosky, Alaska Mountain Runners
(907) 345-1857; akmtnrun@hotmail.com
Nancy Hobbs, USATF Mountain Ultra Trail Running Council
(719) 573-4405; trlrunner@aol.com

For additional information on the Teva US Mountain Running Team contact
Nancy Hobbs at trlrunner@aol.com or Dave Dunham at dave.dunham@verizon.net

www.alaskamountainrunners.org - Wolverine Mountain Run
www.gsrs.com - Mount Washington Hill Climb
www.vailrec.com - Vail Hill Climb

MUT Home
Last updated: 09/14/05
Web Author: Lorraine Gersitz