Bobby Curtis
St. Xavier Louisville KY senior

Ari Lambie
Bromfield MA senior

After his DQ at the Great American for cutting the course late, Bobby Curtis' best race of the season was his slowest race. On October 19 in the North Hardin Invitational, Curtis was a rude host to Missouri's Adam Perkins in a matchup of sub-4:10 milers who struggled with the elements and each other. "Neither the rain, the mud, the 20-mph winds, or a hard fall could stop Kentucky's Bobby Curtis from victory," was Louisville writer Charles Zimmerman's description. Curtis yielded the lead when he tumbled late in the race, but still got up to win in 15:29. After that, Curtis set out to go 14:30 on his last race on his favorite course, Seneca Park in Louisville. It was muddy again, so he had to settle for 14:50, still the second fastest 5k in the nation this year, only 2 seconds behind Nef Araia's 14:48 on a fast, dry surface at the Midwest Meet of Champions.

Two goals remain for Curtis. First, defend his Kentucky state title and break his own record in his last cross country race in Kentucky. Second, improve on his disappointing 21st place finish at Foot Locker finals last year.

Curtis' DyeStat Elite performances
14:50 5k - 1 @ Metro Champions KY 10/26/2002
15:16 5k - 1 @ Tiger Run KY 8/31/2002
15:29 5k - 1 @ N. Hardin Inv KY 10/19/2002

Ari Lambie's biggest win on the national scene before this year came in a relay when she anchored Bromfield's 4x800 squad at the Nike Indoor Classic last March. This season, she is striking for gold on her own. After winning the McIntyre at Franklin Park in Boston by 58 seconds, a big win at the Brown Invitational propelled her into the favorites' ranks for the Foot Locker Northeast regional. Her 17:16 at Brown moved her into second in the country at 5k behind Nicole Blood.

Blood will be Lambie's chief competition November 30 in the Foot Locker Northeast regional at Van Cortlandt Park in New York. Lambie will also face in-state rival Sara Powell for the first time. Powell, sister of former Massachusetts star Andy Powell, ran within a split second of Lambie at the McIntyre. The two are in different Massachusetts divisions so they won't run against each other in any Bay State championship.

Lambie's DyeStat Elite performances
17:16 - 1 @ Brown Inv Ch RI 10/19/2002
18:26 - 1 @ McIntyre Inv MA 10/5/2002

Honorable Mention
Alphabetical order - Includes meets through October 23