| USA Deaf Track and Field is working with USA Track and Field to bring
back our annual Cross Country Championship. The USADTF CC Championship
has not been active for a few years due to complications with arrangements.
Now, the USATF has agreed to include our Deaf runners in their annual National
CC Championship. We will run with the USATF runners, however, we
will have our own scoring table. USATF is providing everything from
course site to bibs to officiating to program book. USADTF will provide
medals and, of course, Deaf runners like YOU!
Details are in work between the championship host and USADTF. As soon as all details are finalized, another e-DTFNL will be distributed. Meanwhile, MARK your calendar for December 14, 2002!!! USADTF looks forward to seeing a successful return to USADTF CC Championship! See you there! |
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The United States Track and Field organization announced the awarding of the 2002 USA Fall Cross Country Championships to the Reebok Aggies Running Club, the City of Rocklin and Sierra College as the hosts for the annual event. The meet will be held December 14th, 2002 on the Sierra College Cross Country course. "We are very pleased that the governing body of Track and Field of the United States has selected our bid to host the Fall National Championship," stated Joe Rubio of the Reebok Aggies, the meet director and the head of the local organizing committee. "We plan to make this the best National Championship in US history." About 1,000 runners are expected to contest this meet. In addition to the open men and women's division, the meet also serves as the Master (over 40) National Championship and, for the first time, will also serve as the National Championship for Deaf athletes. "We're thrilled to be involved with a meet of this caliber," said Thomas Withrow, President of United States Deaf Track and Field. To round out the event, the local organizing committee will also host a race for the general public and for high school aged kids. "The Council was quite impressed by the organizing committee's bid package," commented Mike Scott, who oversees championships for the USATF Cross Country Council. "The Aggies have raced in almost all of the past twenty Championships, so the council is confident that the Aggies really know what athletes and fans are looking for." The greater Sacramento area has helped the west coast become a hotbed for world class running in the United States. Sacramento held the Olympic Trials for Track and Field in 2000 and will do so again in 2004. This race is the fall equivalent of the Olympic trials for cross country in that it establishes the national champion teams and individuals for the sport. Over the years, legends of the sports such as Frank Shorter, Bill Rodgers, Alberto Salazar, Joan Benoit and Lynn Jennings have competed in these championships. "Rocklin, with it's affordable hotels, great access to Sacramento International Airport, and it's central geographic locale makes it a great destination for runners and fans," said Carlos Urrutia, City Manager of Rocklin. "For a person who wants to get the most from a trip across the country, Rocklin is less than two hours to Tahoe, the San Francisco Bay, or Napa wine country." Runners from around the country will converge on Sacramento international airport to culminate the fall cross country season. The site of the national championship moves locations each year. The past few years have seen the meet in Mobile, AL, Boston, MA, and Long Beach, CA. The course at Sierra College has been hosting cross country meets since the seventies. "There is hardly a high school or college runner from northern California who has not competed at Sierra Rocklin," said Karen Linde, of Sierra College. The 6.2-mile course used for the nationals will be more European in its layout than the traditional Rocklin course, utilizing laps of about 2 miles each. "The nationals course should allow spectators to get a better look at the action, and by looping the course, they can always be close to the action," noted Rubio. The USATF is the national organization governing track and field in the United States. The Reebok Aggies Running Club is an Olympic development club based in California supported by Reebok. Rocklin, with a population of approximately 40,000 is located in the Sierra foothills at the crossroads of Interstate 80 and Highway 65, 20 miles northeast of Sacramento. Home to Sierra College, part of the California State Community College system, Rocklin continues to attract software, high technology manufacturing and service firms along with premier residential communities. For More information contact Brian McGuire, at macman@lmi.net
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