Sunday, April 02, 2006

Eaton represents Kentucky well

Bowling Green, Ky., resident Michael Eaton, a senior at Greenwood High School, fought through strong winds to finish 60th out of 98 runners in the junior men’s race at the International Association of Athletics Federations World Cross Country Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, on Sunday.

Eaton, who has signed with the University of Louisville, was the fifth runner in Team USA’s six-man contingent to complete the eight-kilometer course and was timed in 26:39. He was the only high school runner on the team.

Kiel Uhl, who finished 36th in 25:31, was the top runner for Team USA - which placed ninth in the junior men’s team standings. Kenya was first.

“I nearly fell on my face at the beginning,” Eaton said in an interview with USA Track and Field. “I was hoping to get out a little better, but it didn’t happen. I made it to the outside and tried to work my way to the front. That wind really sucked. I gave up trying to get up front and started drafting behind people. In the last stretch, this Canadian guy passed me, and I said, ‘I don’t think so,’ and I found another gear and tried to push through it.

“There certainly are a lot of fast people out there. I’ll work harder and try to get back here next year.”

Team USA fared better in several of the other five divisions, including fifth-place finishes in the senior women’s long race (eight kilometers), the senior women’s short race (four kilometers), and the senior men’s short race (four kilometers).

Full results can be found here.