Eritrean-American female runner from Virginia wins national title in San
Diego.
Eritrean-American high school standout and a great future prospect, Weini
Kelati of Leesburg, Va. captured a first place title at the 37th Annual
Foot Locker Cross Country Championships (FLCCC) National Finals at Morley
Field, Balboa Park in San Diego, Calif., this week. Kelati won in a time of
17:10 in San Diego, home of another Eritrean-American legend Meb Kiflezghi.
This is a great achievement for Kelati who has been working hard to get to
this point.
Weini taking off to win a national title! Congratulations!
In this national event, another Eritrean-American Futsum Zienaslassie a
current stand out at Northern Arizona University was a second place runner
up in 2011.In this year's girls' race, Kelati, a two-time FLCCC national
qualifier, took an early lead, cruising to a mile split of 5:13. Maryjeanne
Gilbert (Peoria, Ill.) closed the gap and took a brief lead prior to the
race's midway point. Kelati reclaimed the lead quickly while Nevada Mareno
(Leesville, NC) and Judy Pendergast (Naperville, Ill.) joined the lead
pair. Kelati and Gilbert pulled away in the final stretch with Gilbert
finishing second (17:11), Mareno in third (17:18) and Pendergast in fourth
(17:20).
Weini and the male Champion! holding their award.
A little bit about the FLCCC (Foot Locker Cross Country Championships).
The Foot Locker Cross Country Championships is comprised of four regional
5K races, which took place across the country in the Midwest (Kenosha,
Wis.), Northeast (Bronx, NY), South (Charlotte, NC)and West (Walnut,
Calif.), culminating in the National Finals here today.
Weini is a star in the making and don't be surprised if you hear her name
in the very near future doing big things. Congratulations to Weini and her
team. It is to be recalled that Eri-International sports blog did a small
piece on Weini earlier this year.
For Eri-International sports.
Mike Seium
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Posted By Eri-International Sports Comments to Eri-International Sports at
12/15/2015 06:53:00 PM
Received on Tue Dec 15 2015 - 21:53:38 EST