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| (L-R) Kara Goucher and Shalane Flanagan at the finish line after competing during the women's marathon at the London 2012 Olympic Games at The Mall on Aug. 5, 2012 in London, England. |
Three-time Olympian Shalane Flanagan finished fourth in the women’s division of the Boston Marathon Monday, with a time of 2:27:08. Flanagan, who earned Olympic bronze in the 10,000-meter race in 2008, finished 10th in the 2012 Olympic marathon. Kenya’s Rita Jeptoo was first, with Ethiopia’s Meseret Hailu second and Kenya’s Sharon Cherop third.
U.S. Olympian Kara Goucher, who finished 11th at the London Games, was sixth in Boston. In the men's division, American Jason Hartmann finished fourth in a time of 2:12:12.
The women’s wheelchair division was won by U.S. Paralympian Tatyana McFadden, in a time of 1:45:24. Switzerland’s Sandra Grad was second. McFadden earned three gold medals and one bronze in track at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
U.S. Paralympians Amanda McGrory and Shirley Reilly finished third and fourth, respectively. Read more on Reilly here.
SWIMMING
Olympic gold medalist Breeja Larson enjoyed the chance to compete at home in Mesa, Ariz., over the weekend as she won the 200-meter breaststroke on Thursday night before adding the 100-meter breaststroke title by more than a second on Saturday night at the USA Swimming Mesa Arena Grand Prix.
She was just one of many U.S. Olympic gold medalists who excelled over the meet’s three days.
Katie Ledecky won three events, including the 800 free – the event in which she claimed the Olympic gold medal last summer in London. Ledecky won the women’s 800 freestyle in the world’s fastest time of the year, 8:20.64. She also won the 200 and 400 events.
Tyler Clary also won three events, the 400 IM, the 200 back and the 200 fly. Natalie Coughlin and Nathan Adrian won the 50 freestyle races.
One upset in the event: Darian Townsend beat Ryan Lochte in the 200 IM.
Four-time Olympic gold medalist Missy Franklin won three events, the 100 free, 100 back and 200 back. She came up three-hundredths of a second short to Ledecky in the 200 freestyle. Ledecky won in 1:56.93; Franklin clocked in at 1:56.96.
Franklin is a finalist for the AAU Sullivan Award, which honors the top amateur athlete of the year. If she receives the award, she will be the first aquatic sports athlete to win since Paralympic swimmer Jessica Long received the honor in 2006. The winner will be announced Tuesday.
The other finalists this year are junior world champion weightlifter Darren Barnes and University of Oregon multisport athlete Liz Brenner (volleyball, basketball, softball).
FIGURE SKATING
The United States won the title at the ISU World Team Trophy, a four-day competition that concluded Saturday in Tokyo.
The title was the second in three World Team Trophy competitions for the United States, which won in 2009 and took silver in 2012.
“I couldn’t be more proud of Team USA,” team captain Ashley Wagner said. “Everyone went out and skated with their hearts and really pulled it together during a difficult time.
“It’s not easy to compete at the end of the season and a few weeks after worlds. But here we are and everyone skated so well. I’m very proud.”
Each team features two men, two women, a pairs team and an ice dancing team. The same team format will make its Olympic debut next winter in Sochi.
Gracie Gold and Wagner each put up their best free skating scores of the season in international competition to help lock up the victory. Wagner had the second-best total score among women while Gold was third.
Madison Chock and Evan Bates had the best score in ice dancing (164.91) and won both the short and free dance portions of the event. U.S. national champion Max Aaron placed fourth among the men, and 2010 Olympian Jeremy Abbott was sixth. U.S. pairs champions Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir were fifth.
JUDO
Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison and 2012 Olympic silver medalist Marti Malloy won titles at the Senior National Championships in Virginia Beach, Va. Harrison won at 78 kg while Malloy won at 57 kg.
Other women’s champions were: Giovanna Prado 44 kg; Corey Jo Tashima, 48 kg; Angelica Delgado, 52 kg; Hannah Martin, 63 kg; Katie Sell, 70 kg; Nina Cutro-Kelly, 78+ kg; and Bianca Lockette, open. Men’s champions were: Ernest Ojito, 55 kg; Aaron Kunihiro, 60 kg; Nick Delpopolo, 73 kg; Jonathan Fernandez, 81 kg; Garry St. Leger, 90 kg; L.A. Smith III, 100 kg; Marktorria Fletcher 100+ kg; and Tokuzo Takahashi.
FENCING
Alexander Massialas, a 2012 Olympian, completed his collection of Junior World Championship medals Saturday with a gold in men’s foil in Porec, Croatia.
Massialas, an NCAA champion at Stanford, was a silver medalist in 2011 and a bronze medalist in 2012. He defeated Italy’s Lorenzo Nista, 15-13, in the final.
“It was a tough day, but I made it through to the end,” Massialas said.
Adrienne Jarocki earned a silver medal in the women’s saber.
Elsewhere, the North American Cup, featuring two-time Olympians Kelley Hurley, Soren Thompson and Gerek Meinhardt, concludes today in Richmond, Va.
The Wheelchair National Championships are also being held in Richmond. Cat Bouwkamp won her third gold medal of the weekend Sunday with a victory in women’s saber.
SLED HOCKEY
The United States posted a pair of 7-0 victories — Friday over Sweden and Saturday over Norway — to begin the IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships in Goyand, South Korea.
The top five finishers among eight teams in the tournament automatically will qualify for the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games.
Josh Pauls had four goals in succession during a stretch of 9:24 in the second period against Norway. His outburst made the lead 6-0. Taylor Chace and Declan Farmer had two goals each against Sweden. Pool play continues today and is followed by elimination rounds.
Etc.
WEIGHTLIFTING: Sydney Goad, daughter of Olympian Robin Goad, broke the youth American record in snatch with a lift of 52 kilograms at the Youth World Championships, April 6-13, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, placed ninth in the 44kg class. The competition, which drew nearly 450 youth weightlifters from 52 nations, is a qualifier for the 2014 Youth Olympic Games.
CYCLING: Lauren Stephens, a Texas-based algebra teacher who has only been racing for four years, won the women’s elite title Saturday at the Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criterium in Charlotte, N.C. Australian Hilton Clarke and American Luke Keough finished 1-2 in the men’s event.
SHOOTING: Deanna Binnie won the three-position event in women’s rifle at the National Junior Olympic Shooting Championship to land a spot on the USA Shooting National Junior Team. Rachel Martin finished second and also landed a National Junior Team spot. Competition continues through Friday.
EQUESTRIAN: Heather Blitz on Paragon finished first, narrowly edging Cesar Parra and Van the Man at the FEI Grand Prix Special CDIO 3 in Wellington, Fla.
TRIATHLON: The University of Arizona’s Ben Kanute and the University of Colorado’s Michelle Mehnert won titles at the USA Triathlon Collegiate National Championships Saturday in Tempe, Ariz. Kantue led a field of 605 men, finishing the Olympic distances of 1,500-meter swim, 40-kilometer bike and 10-kilometer run in 1:46:36. Mehnert finished in 2:01:13 to lead the field of 410 women.
FIELD HOCKEY: The U.S. women held Argentina, the world’s second-ranked team, scoreless in the second half Sunday, but lost, 3-0, to finish last in the Four Nations Tournament in Whangarei, New Zealand.
SOCCER: The United States fell to Honduras, 3-1, in the quarterfinals of a CONCACAF U-17 World Cup qualifying tournament in Panama, ending its hopes of making a 16th straight appearance in the tournament.
CURLING: The World Mixed Doubles Championships and World Senior Championships continue through Saturday in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. Elsewhere, Team Leichter and Team Meyers qualified for the Winter World University Game Trials during a three-day competition in Blaine, Minn.
GYMNASTICS: The University of Bridgeport won its fifth straight title at the USA Gymnastics Women’s Collegiate National Championships, an event for college teams with less than 7.5 full scholarships. Sasha Tsikhanovich of Bridgeport won the all-around title in the event in Shreveport, La. Texas Woman’s University’s Bethany Larimer won vault and balance beam titles (both ties) to take home the most gold medals on the final day of competition. The vault final ended in a three-way tie between TWU’s Kristin Edwards, Amy Winczura and Larimer at 9.850. The University of Pennsylvania’s Kirsten Strausbaugh won the uneven bars crown (9.850). Lindenwood’s Rachel Zabawa and Larimer shared the top honors for the balance beam (9.875).
SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING: The Walnut Creek Aquanuts won the senior high-point team award and the Santa Clara Aquamaids won the junior high-point team award at the SwimOutlet.com U.S. National Championships in Greensboro, N.C.
Story courtesy Red Line Editorial, Inc. Tom Robinson is a freelance contributor for TeamUSA.org. Material from various news services and press releases from National Governing Bodies was used to compile this report. This story was not subject to the approval of any National Governing Bodies.