Maranga confirms domination, Tergat
reverses Championship defeat
Jaqueline Maranga was victorious
yet again in the penultimate stage of the IAAF World Cross
Challenge in Mombasa Saturday as she crossed the line fully 16
seconds ahead of Sally Barsosio in the sweltering heat of
Mombasa. There seems little doubt of a Maranga victory in the
forthcoming World Cross Country Championships in Marrakech on
21-22 March if she manages to retain her current form. Fellow
Kenyan Susan Chepkemei, who currently leads the IAAF World Cross
Challenge standings, trailed in over a minute behind Maranga in
eighth place.
Disappointingly, the race was non-scoring due to a near total
dearth of runners from other countries. The only non-Kenyan in
the race was Finland's Annemari Sandell, who finished the race in
17th place two minutes behind the leaders. 21-year old Sandell is
an afficionado of Kenya, where she lives and trains for a large
part of the year.
Paul Tergat reversed the roles in the men's race, after a narrow loss to Paul Koech in the Kenyan National Championships just a week ago. Once again there was limited international participation and no non-African nation was represented in this edition of the World Cross Challenge. Tergat crossed the line a convincing 7 seconds ahead of Koech, confirming that he is still capable of repeating the success he has known in the last three World Championships. Thomas Nyariki came in third today and confirmed his leading position in the men's standings: he currently has 85 points - 16 more than Paul Koech, with one race to go.
The final race of the World Cross Challenge
before the World Championships will take place in Italy on 8
March with the Cinque Mulini race in San Vittore Olona. Full
results and a report will be available on this web site shortly
after the close of play.
swj