Sept. 21, 2012
For immediate release
Quiett leads women to Redding; Pool wins pair of individual crowns
Another women’s team title and several individual victories helped the Sacramento Running Association’s Elite Team continue its stretch of strong performances in the fall running season.
The SRA women grabbed four of the top six spots to win the team title at the NorCal XC Challenge last Saturday in Redding. Mary Cate Quiett led the way with a second-place finish, covering the 5k course in 19 minutes 54 seconds.
Alyson Barrett-Ryan finished third in 20:05, Stephanie Artis placed fourth in 20:18 and Michelle La Sala was sixth in 20:25, helping SRA win its second team title this fall.
On the men’s side, Kevin Pool won the individual title in Redding with a 26:59 effort on the 8k course.
Pool also won the Race for the Arts 5k in a course record 15:13.9. La Sala won the Run on the Sly Half Marathon in 1:54:34.8. Courtney Green (59:42.5) and Camron Shahmirzadi (49:13.3) won Run On the Sly 12k titles. Shahmirzadi also won the Davis Labor Day 5k in 16:00.25.
Andrew Timmins finished second in the Air Force Marathon in Dayton, Ohio in 2:33:36 and Lindsay Tollefson placed fifth at America’s Finest City Half Marathon with a 1:21:04 effort.
“It’s definitely a really good start,” said Pool, who manages the SRA Elite Team. “I would say I’ve been pleasantly surprised.
“The last month we’ve added a lot of different runners. Now I think we have a pretty solid roster.”
SRA Executive Director John Mansoor said he expected the women’s team to come together slowly before taking off.
“I knew once we could pull it all together we’d be pretty good,” he said.
The Sacramento Running Association is a non-profit organization dedicated to finding ways to encourage people of all ages and abilities to run. The SRA is committed to developing new, quality running events that appeal to a broad variety of runners.
SRA events include the California International Marathon, which celebrates its 30th anniversary on Dec. 2. More than 8,600 runners and 800 relay teams have already registered for the race.
Other SRA events include the Lake Natoma Four Bridges Half Marathon on Oct. 28, The Super Bowl Sunday 10k Run on Feb. 3 and the Credit Union SACTOWN Ten-Mile Run on April 7.
SRA beneficiaries include the American River Parkway, youth fitness programs, local running venues and aspiring young runners.