News24 Feb 2009


Brazil dominates South American Cross Country Championships in Chile

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Roberto Echeverría (CHI) after his victory in the 2009 South American XC champs (© Foto Fedachi)

Brazil once again demonstrated its power in the South American region by dominating the 24th Area Cross Country Championships held on 21 February in Coronel, Chile, in the VIII Region of the Andean country – some 500km south of the capital, Santiago.

The “verdeoro” team grabbed five of the six team competitions and three individual titles. All team and individual champions have qualified for the upcoming IAAF World Championships which will be contested in Amman, Jordan, on Saturday 28 March.

Chilean Roberto Echeverría took the men’s title in the 12km race with a 37:08 clocking slightly ahead of Brazilian Gládson Barbosa (37:45).

“I’m very happy with my result”, commented Echeverría. “I wasn’t expecting a victory, since I’m preparing myself for the Santiago Marathon, where I’m hoping to run in 2:14”, said the 33 year-old who in 2008 set a PB of 2:15:37 in the Santiago Marathon. That time qualified him for the Beijing Olympic Games, where he finished in 49th place with 2:23:54.

Echeverría became the third Chilean to win the men’s South American title. The other Chilean champions have been Omar Aguilar (1986, 1987) and Jonathan Monje (2002).

First win for Vieira

Brazilian Zenaide Vieira won the female 8Km race in 28:08, beating Venezuelan Yeisi Álvarez (28:13) and the 2006 and 2008 champion, Peruvian Inés Melchor (28:25), in a very intense race.

This represents the first Cross Country title for the 23 year-old Vieira, a Steeplechase specialist who currently holds the South American record with 9:42.10 (Rio de Janeiro, 18 May 2008). In 2008 Vieira was second to Melchor in Asunción, Paraguay.

Chilean Víctor Aravena won the male junior race over 8km in 25:09, also by a slim margin, over Brazilian Paulo Sérgio Carvalho (25:12), while Peruvian Charo Inga won comfortably the junior female race over 6km in 22:29, ahead of compatriot Yony Ninahuamán (22:53). Ninahuamán had won the junior event in 2008.

Both Youth races went to Brazilian athletes. Guilherme Santos won over 4km in 13:03, while Patrícia da Silva took the title in the 3km event with a 10:41 clock.

Sadly, the representations of Argentina and Colombia didn’t attend the event.

Eduardo Biscayart for the IAAF

24th South American Cross Country Championships
Coronel, Chile – 21 February 2009

RESULTS

Men
12 km Senior
1 Roberto Echeverría CHI 37:08
2 Gládson Silva Barbosa BRA 37:14
3 Sérgio Celestino da Silva BRA 37:45
Team: 1- BRA, 2- CHI, 3- VEN, 4- URU

8 km Junior
1 Víctor Aravena CHI 25:09
2 Paulo Sérgio dos Reis Carvalho BRA 25:12
3 Ederson Vilela Pereira BRA 25:42
Team: 1- BRA, 2- CHI

4 km Youth
1 Guilherme dos Anjos Santos BRA 13:03
2 Dagoberto Galindo CHI 13:04
3 David Javier PER 13:05
Team: 1- BRA, 2- PER, 3- CHI

Women
8 km Senior
1 Zenaide Vieira BRA 28:08
2 Yeisy Ávarez VEN 28:13
3 Inés Melchor PER 28:25
Team: 1- BRA, 2- CHI

6 km Junior
1 Charo Inga PER 22:29
2 Yony Ninahuamán PER 22:53
3 Dina Cid CHI 23:19
Team: 1- PER, 2- BRA 3- CHI

3 km Youth
1 Patrícia Lemos da Silva BRA 10:41
2 Jéssica Ladeira Soares BRA 10:50
3 Soledad Torre PER 10:59
Team: 1- BRA, 2- PER, 3- CHI

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