Queen Amber Reigns Supreme, Leads West to Romp
By Stephen (steveu) Underwood
Amber Trotter dared the girls field to chase her Saturday at the
23rd Foot Locker CC Championships in Orlando.
She had no takers.
So the Ukiah, Calif. senior blistered a 5:04 first mile, 20 seconds
up on the rest of the field, and won as she pleased in an eye-popping
course-record 16:24.0, smashing the previous mark by over 30 seconds.
She also beat Melody Fairchild's 1990 meet record by 15 seconds
and her winning margin was second only to the Colorado standout's.
The real "race(s)" came for the next several spots in
the top ten. For the most part, it was a battle between Illinois'
Erika Odlaug and the girls of the Northeast. Molly Huddle, Natasha
Roetter and Tracey Brauksieck all went out hard early, along with
Odlaug. Roetter took control of second after the halfway mark, but
in the final stretch, Odlaug dug down deep and passed Roetter in
the final meters, 17:04.3 to 17:05.1.
Huddle took 4th in and North Carolina's Laura Stanley outkicked
New Mexico's Felicia Guliford for 5th. But Guliford's finish started
a string of six West girls in the next seven places, easily giving
them the team title with 33 points.
It's All Amber
The prep running world, especially outside of California, wondered
if the Amber Trotter they'd heard about or seen all fall - the incredible
talent that blistered fields with sub-5:10 first miles and won by
incredible margins with course records - would continue to rule
Saturday. Well, she sure did. The effort marked the final 2001 statement
in Trotter's remarkable comeback from a battle with anorexia that
sidelined her last spring after she was 7th here in 2000.
After the 5:04, Trotter zoomed through two in 10:22 (5:18), then
maintained through the final mile. Long-time journalists like Marc
Bloom don't think they've ever seen a legit girls 5k time as fast
as Trotter's 16:24, but the Californian took the historic performance
in stride … after she could breath again in the stifling humidity.
Trotter didn't really have designs on any records, but she knew
what had worked for her before could work again.
"I didn't really focus on a specific strategy; I never focus
on times," she said, "just on giving it all and how much
I love the sport."
But then she added, "My strategy was to go out hard, and I
thought if I did that I would be the only one to keep it up."
Though her base of 65-70 mpw is strong, she admitted she doesn't
like her races to come down to kicks. "I did plan on being
well enough ahead, because if it comes down to the final 400 meters,
I'm toast."
On Saturday though - or anytime this year - she definitely was
not going to be toast. And she admitted that reflecting on it is
still a little surreal. "I've had a lot of fun and had a huge
support base," she said. "I owe a lot to my coach and
my parents. When I ran today, I thought about them and how much
I love running."
The Battle for Second and Beyond
Certainly Erika Odlaug had some kind of designs on winning when
she came here. But the realist in her apparently had the final word.
She didn't go with Trotter and, in fact, she lagged in third for
awhile late in the race before making her final move.
"The last ¼-mile I thought, 'I didn't come here to
get third,'" she said, noting that she caught Roetter in the
"last two seconds." "I came here to win. I guess
(getting second at the line) was a little bit of a win."
Did she consider going with Trotter? "Maybe a few weeks ago!"
she said. "I figured my best bet was to try and reel her in.
But it's tough to reel people in. I had to run my race; I wasn't
going to blast out there."
As for Roetter, the effort was very much a go-by-how-she-felt thing.
"I felt pretty good and just wanted to stay strong," she
said. "I was just running … I don't really remember anything
else."
Roetter's performance was part of a big push by the Northeast girls
at the front. At the mile, after Trotter, it was Huddle, Roetter
and Brauksieck leading Odlaug, Stanley and Mindy Sullivan of Texas
through in 5:25. But by two miles, Roetter had control of the group
in 10:52, with Huddle still leading Odlaug, followed by Guliford
and Stanley.
In the next half-mile, Odlaug moved into third and set sights on
Roetter, later to pass her. But Huddle and Brauksieck (who faded
to 13th) had made their mark on the race and helped the Northeast
to second place (61 points). "I was happy with the race,"
said Huddle, "but I would have liked to have gotten top three."
Brauksieck said she was shooting for the top 15, though those plans
were upgraded by mid-race. "I couldn't breathe very well and
I didn't get the warmup I needed," she said.
Meanwhile, Stanley and Guliford waged a nice battle for fifth.
The latter's attempts to take the spot were marred a bit by going
off the course on some of the final turns. Then Stanley finally
passed her for good on the stretch run.
"I was a little tired and dizzy," Guliford said, but
added that it wasn't a similar situation to her '99 collapses. "The
race didn't go as smoothly as I would have hoped, but I was happy
with my finish."
Said Stanley, "I ran the splits we wanted … and I knew
if I stayed with the front pack, it would go well."
Team Pride
The West was truly dominant, their 33 point total being 28 better
than the Northeast's 61. The Midwest and South followed with 71
and 73 in the close battle for second.
Guliford marked the start of the West surge that took the team
title. Wrapping it up then for the squad were Jackie Zeigle (7th),
Amber Harper (9th), Heidi Lane (10th) and Julie Allen (11th). Only
Val Lauver of the South could break up the sweep with an 8th-place
finish.
"The West has been a winning team for quite a while,"
said Montana's Lane, speaking of a strong tradition. "We wanted
to keep it up. We spent some time together making sure everyone
knew who we were running for, that we were out there for the team
also. Then we made sure to wish each other luck before the race."
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