De la Cerda, Ortiz win USA Mountain Running Championships

July 6, 2003


VAIL, Colo.-- Peter De la Cerda of Alamosa, Colo., and Anita Ortiz of Eagle, Colo., won the inaugural USA Moutnain Running Championships on Sunday morning. The race, sanctioned by USA Track and Field, was held in conjunction with the 25th annual Vail HillClimb, a 7.5-mile race up the dirt roads to the top of Vail Mountain.

De la Cerda, 29, a former USA half-marathon champion on the roads, ran away from training partner Simon Gutierrez, 38, to win the race in 47:42. With the victory, De la Cerda earned an automatic berth on the Teva US Mountain Running Team that will compete in the World Mountain Running Trophy race in Alaska in September.

De la Cerda is training to make the U.S. Olympic marathon team in 2004. He and Gutierrez set a fast early pace, clocking a 4:45 on the flat and fast first mile fo the course.

"I just wanted to get our hard and try to maintain a good rhythm going up the hill," De la Cerda said. "There were a few guys with us for a while, but pretty soon it was me and Simon 1-2 the whole way up the mountain. The last mile was tough. I was just trying to get up the hill."

The women's race was not an automatic quailfer, but Ortiz, 11th at the WMRT race in Austria last year, showed she's still one of the top mountain runners in the U.S. Ortiz ran away from Kelly Ryan, 34, of Littleton, Colo., with about a mile to go to seal the victory in 1:01:19.

Ortiz, a native of Arvada, was the 2002 U.S. Snowshoeing champion.

The race also served as a USATF Masters Mountain Running National Championship. Scott Creel, 41, of Bozeman, Mont., (10th place) and Cindy O'Neill, 41, of Manitou Springs, Colo.,(3rd place) were the top Masters runners.

Complete results are available at www.vailrec.com

For additional coverage see http://www.coloradodaily.com/articles/2003/07/03/news/sports/sports01.txt


USA Mountain Running Championship Results
MEN
1. Pete De la Cerda, 29, Alamosa, Colo, 47:42, $425; 2. Simon Gutierrez, 38, Alamosa, Colo., 48:47, $200; 3. Joshua Eberly, 22, Gunnison, Colo., 50:00, $100; 4. Paul Low, 29, Amherst, Mass., 50:10; 5. Eric Blake, 24, Alamosa, Colo., 50:31; 6. Mark Werner, 29, Boulder, Colo., 50:48; 7. Bill Raitter, UNK, Colo., 51:46; 8. Nelson Laux, 25, Gunnison, Colo., 51:52; 9. Greg Winter, 24, Colorado Springs, Colo., 52:18; 10. Scott Creel, 41, Bozeman, Mont., 53:04

WOMEN
1. Anitz Ortiz, 38, Eagle, Colo., 1:01:19, $425; 2. Kelly Ryan, 34, Littleton, Colo., 1:01:55, $200; 3. Cindy O'Neill, 41, Manitou Springs, Colo., 1:03:11, $100; 4. Kari Distefano, 43, Telluride, Colo., 1:03:55; 5. Melody Fairchild, 29, Boulder, Colo., 1:05:28; 6. Kelli Lusk, 33, Manitou Springs, Colo., 1:06:36; 7. Renee Frazee, 36, Salida, 1:07:10; 8. Jeanette Heimbaugh, 37, Boulder, 1:08:19; 9. Laurie Edwards, 33, Boulder, 1:08:30; 10. Anne Riddle, 37, Ashville, N.C., 1:08:49.
 

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