Sheila Reid and Lawi Lalang bag the NCAA Cross Country Championships
As the NCAA Cross Country Championships, held at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, concluded on Monday, Canada’s Sheila Reid and Kenya’s Lawi Lalang prevailed in the women’s and the men’s competitions, respectively.
To claim the honour in the said showdown, both the runners emerged out of tough contests. Reid, the dweller of Villanova, overcame her close rival Jordan Hasay from Oregon.
She defeated her competitor by 0.6 seconds and hit the finish-line in 19 minutes and 41.2 seconds, over the distance of 6km.
On men’s side, Lalang’s was more of a solo flight where none of his competitors dared to come closer in the last five kilometers of the race. The Kenyan from the University of Arizona bagged the men’s 10,000m meet in 28 minutes and 44.1 seconds.
Reid and Hasay, the top finishers of the race, have been old rivals and the results produced in Terre Haute have only worsened this rivalry.
Running for the top position on the podium, both of the athletes went shoulder to shoulder, along with the leading pack of eight runners, until the finish-line was a mere 1000m to go.
This was the time to unleash the sprints and to pull away to create the decisive gaps. Thus, responding to the call of passion, Hasay was the first to take the lead.
With a couple of quick strides, she pulled herself away from the closely following Reid, who was determined to undo the difference.
As the distance from the finishing line reduced to merely 100m, Reid’s forceful legs galloped over the distance and pushed the course harder.
The efforts were bound to pay the dividends as the Canadian crossed the finishing line with a respectable margin. Nevertheless, it was a close competition, where the leading half a dozen runners maintained a distance of less than five seconds.
Reid, the winner of this year’s NCAA 1500m and 3000m races, who had lost to Hasay over the latter distance back in March, while describing her feelings, said, “That’s the only time she’s got one on me and I didn’t want to feel that way again. It is the worst
feeling in the world to know that I lost by that much so when she went I just thought this is it. I had to do it”.
Hasay, who led the race at one point, while commenting on her defeat at the hands of Reid, said, “I thought I had it. I felt pretty good. Sheila had another gear. It sucks. Sometimes there is always that one person. For me, it’s Sheila”.
On the men’s side, Lalang cherished having a clean, undefeated year. Extending his winning streak yet farther, he overcame his Kenyan counterpart, Leonard Korir, and Canada’s Cameron Levins.
In the beginning of a yet another tough competition, Korir contrived to create a 21-seconds lead. But it was off-set by Lalang who claimed a 13 seconds victory over him at the end of the race.
Coached by James Li, Lalang also happens to be the winner of the 2011 NCAA 5000m track champion.
Sheila Reid and Lawi Lalang emerged triumphant in the NCAA Cross Country Championships, much to the pleasure of their respective countries and their fans from all over the globe.
Tags: