t-and-f: TWO-TIME DEFENDING CHAMPION TINA CONNELLY LEADS CANADIAN CONTINGENT FOR SEATTLE OPEN CROSS COUNTRY CLASSIC (US & Canadian interest)

[Paul Merca]

Title: TWO-TIME DEFENDING CHAMPION TINA CONNELLY LEADS CANADI

CLUB BALLARD ATHLETICS
P.O. Box 70601
Seattle, WA.  98107-0601 USA
E-MAIL: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
WEBSITE:  www.accessone.com/~clubalrd

For Release:  Immediately (21 Jan 2001)
Contact:      Paul Merca, Meet Director
               206/499-4329, telephone
        206/725-3662, fax
               [EMAIL PROTECTED], e-mail

TWO-TIME DEFENDING CHAMPION TINA CONNELLY LEADS CANADIAN CONTINGENT FOR SEATTLE OPEN CROSS COUNTRY CLASSIC

      Two-time defending Seattle Open women's 6-k champion Tina Connelly of Port Coquitlam, British Columbia leads a contingent of Canadian harriers into Seattle's Lincoln Park for the third running of the Seattle Open Cross Country Classic on Saturday, February 3rd.
  
        The Canadian Olympian at 10000 meters at the Sydney Games and two-time national cross country champion is using the Seattle Open to gauge her fitness after an injury suffered upon her return from the Olympics caused her to miss the Canadian championships in November.

Connelly placed  42nd in last year's World Cross Country Championships in Vilamoura, Portugal, and 17th in the 1999 World Championships in Belfast, Northern Ireland.  Connelly is using the Seattle Open to help gain selection for Canada's short cross country (4-kilometer) team that will compete at the World Championships in Dublin, Ireland in March.

In last year's Seattle Open, Connelly set a new course record, running away with a time of 20:35.

      What is projected to be a strong women's 6-kilometer field over the Lincoln Park course is bolstered by the entry of Connelly's City Track and NIKE/Canada teammate Leah Pells of Coquitlam.

        Pells, a Canadian institution in the middle distances over the last decade, is a three-time Olympic Games competitor at 1500 meters, and placed fourth in the Atlanta 1500 finals in 1996.  She's also represented Canada numerous times at the IAAF World Track & Field Championships, Pan-Am Games, and Goodwill Games competitions.  Pells, like Connelly,  is using the Seattle Open to help gain selection for Canada's short cross country team that will compete in Dublin.

      "Once again, we're happy that runners of the caliber of Tina and Leah are coming down to Seattle to run in the Seattle Open," said race director Paul Merca.  Merca also noted that he expects in the next few days to receive entries from several other elite runners from British Columbia and Western Canada on both the men's and women's side. 

   The men's 10km and women's 6km features an international team challenge
competition between teams composed of runners representing American states and Canadian provinces. The first four finishers from each state or province will score for their team, while the first six displace per IAAF rules.   The Washington state men's and women's teams won the titles last year.

        The Seattle Open Cross Country Classic gets underway at Lincoln Park at 11 am with the 4k men's and women's short cross and citizen's race, followed at 11:45 by the men's 10k and women's 6k races over the spectator-friendly 2-kilometer loop course.

        Runners interested in competing in the Seattle Open have until Saturday, January 27th to send their entries to Club Ballard, POB 70601, Seattle, WA 98107-0601, or you may register on race day starting at 9:30 am at Lincoln Park. Entry fee for the Seattle Open is $10 to January 27th, and $15 day-of-race.

        Entry forms for the Seattle Open are available in the Seattle area at NIKE Town in downtown Seattle; Super Jock 'n Jill in Green Lake; Foot Zone in Issaquah, and on Capitol Hill; and, Fast Lady Sports in the University Village mall.  An entry form is available at Club Ballard's web site, at <http://www.accessone.com/~clubalrd>, or, you can enter online at <www.active.com>.

For more information, please contact race director Paul Merca at 206/499-4329, or by e-mail at <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>.

        The Seattle Open Cross Country Classic is presented by NIKE, with assistance from AT& T Wireless Services, Talking Rain, the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation, the Pacific Northwest Association of USATF, and Active.com.

--cba--

MEDIA NOTES:  Members of the media wanting background information on Tina Connelly and Leah Pells are encouraged to go online to: http://www.canoe.ca/AthcanAthletes/tconnelly.html for Connelly, and http://www.canoe.ca/AthcanAthletes/lpells.html  for Pells.

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