People hurried past, the others of the street, endless anonymous, twenty-one lives per second, race-walking in their faces and pigments, sprays of fleetest being. – Don DeLillo
From Santee “Race Walk Capital of the USA” to Antalya and Paris by Foot! Welcome to the 2024 USATF National Marathon Race Walk Mixed Relay Championships & Santee International Race Walk Invitational. A 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Selection Event!
The 2024 USATF Marathon Race Walk Mixed Relay Championships – aka US Olympic Team Trials – were held January 21 in Santee, California.
You missed it, didn’t you? This was the first Olympic Trials event towards the Paris Olympics held for USA Track & Field team. Complete with $84,000 in prize money.
Though not acknowledged as such, it was the Olympic Trials.
Well, it was.
The top three men and top three women will compete in the World Athletics World Team Race Walk Championships in Antalya, Turkey on April 21st. The race in Turkey will ultimately determine who will compete in Paris, but this is our Trials.
Our men’s team will be Nick Christie, Jordan Crawford, and Emmanuel Corvera.
Our women’s team will be Robyn Stevens, Miranda Melville, and Celina Lepe (Corvera).
They will be teamed up with each other per their finish on Sunday. Congratulations to our top three qualifiers and we hope they can qualify for Paris.
(See link far far below for completely accurate results. Results you can trust.)
Two-time Olympian and friend of the show, Allen James had this to say.
Congrats to everyone involved and all who finished this difficult, frankly stupid, event.
Hopefully, this event is a one and done gimmick as it physiologically and inhumane event on the athlete’s body. Can you imagine running a hard 10km waiting 40 minutes and doing another one? It’s not easy, especially in the cold rain they had.
I hope Paris is the only time we have to witness this dumbassed event! I’ve done enough 35-50km races that I understand, like you, the pain and recovery you need after a race. This relay, however, was ridiculously painful for most of us, even the best trained athletes. I finished 7th overall- a statement of the lack of depth, but I am in great shape. I know my body and to have to wait for 45 minutes or more and go again is torturous! I’ve never hurt so bad, muscularly. The last 7km I felt I had to chill as my Achilles tendon area felt inflamed like I was going to injure myself. Of course, the conditions didn’t help at all.
Just let the men and women walk a 50km, a true test of endurance.
Allen James, OLY
The second walk for each athlete was much faster. I know so little about race walking and maybe metric math, I had to ask.
We did 12.195km the first leg and every subsequent leg was only 10km. The best guys in the world should be about 9 minutes faster – factoring the extra 2.195km into the equation.
Future literary cognoscenti who study my work will notice this article is itself a metaphor for Olympic race walking because it’s long and there’s a lot going on, everybody seems to be hard-working and having a good time, even when things might not go exactly right – in bad weather – but nobody is paying much attention.
I should’ve been a race walker.
You think choosing the USA Men’s Marathon Team is convoluted, look at this.
As many as three U.S. men and three U.S. women, depending upon USATF, USOPC, and World Athletics team selection and qualifying protocols, will qualify to compete for Team USA in the Marathon Race Walk Mixed Relay at the 2024 World Team Race Walk Championships in Antalya, Turkey on April 21; and as many as two U.S. men and two U.S. women, depending upon USATF, USOPC, and World Athletics and Olympic team selection and qualifying protocols, may qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, August 1-11 based upon their performances in Antalya. 25 National Teams will qualify for the Paris Olympics, 22 of them at the World Team Championships in Antalya. As many as 5 countries can qualify two Teams based upon their results in Turkey, and the remaining three Teams will be selected based upon their ranking on the World Athletics Descending Order List from events around the world like these Santee Championships.
Insofar as the additional Santee International Invitational events are concerned, as many as three men and women per country are eligible to compete in this summer’s Olympic Games in the 20 km (12.4 mile) event if they achieve the Olympic standards of 1:20:10 (m) and 1:29:20 (w) within the qualifying period, and absent that, as many as three per country can be selected based upon their World Athletics World Ranking, which is determined by a combination of an athlete’s best three performances during the 18-month qualifying window, two of which have to be a 20 km. Consistent with World Athletics’ effort to encourage the world’s best athletes to compete more often and compete in the world’s premier events, the automatic qualifying standards are very tough – this year’s 20 km standards are actually faster than the current American Records! — thus the majority of the entrants in the Olympic Games will come from the World Rankings.
Being a Silver Label Event gives that weekend’s participants in the 20 km, 10 km, and 5 km Invitational events World Ranking Bonus Points, and all the U.S. and international athletes competing in the Invitational events, are hoping to boost their Olympic chances this weekend in Santee.
USA Race Walkers, We Salute You!!!
USATF National Marathon Race Walk Mixed Relay Championships (Confirmed entries as of 1/20/24)
#101) Nick Christie, OLY, 32, El Cajon, CA. PRs: 3,000m: 11:33.42, 5,000m: 19:23.30, 10km: 41:13, 20km: 1:22:40, 35km: 2:38:16 (AR), 50km: 4:09:32. New York Athletic Club.
Nick has become the dominant U.S. male race walker at all distances, having won 29 National Championships from 1 Mile to 50km, and was the only U.S. male race walker on the Tokyo Olympic Team in 2021. And 2 years ago in Dublin, Ireland, he broke Curt Clausen’s 35 km American Record, which had stood for over 20 years! He took up race walking after being a California State HS Championship qualifier in the hurdles and pole vault, and quickly became a 5x NAIA All-American and 3,000m Collegiate Record holder at Missouri Baptist Univ.
#101) Miranda Melville, OLY, 34, Chula Vista, CA. PRs: 3,000m: 12:47.39, 5,000m: 21:41.99, 10,000m: 45:29.28 (AR), 20km: 1:31:42, 35km: 2:57:22. New York Athletic Club.
A native of Rush, NY, Miranda is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. In 2022, in her debut 35 km, she set the American Record winning these Championships … and then she repeated with a PR last year! One of America’s most decorated walkers, she is a 2016 U.S. Olympian, member of 5 U.S. World Championship Teams, the current U.S. Champion both Indoors and at 35km, and the 2nd fastest U.S. woman ever at the 20 km distance! She is the American Record holder at the Indoor 5,000m and 10,000m, has been on Team USA 22 times, and won 18 National Championships at different distances. Miranda and her Mixed Relay teammate, Nick Christie set the current American Best of 3:16:52 at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile. Away from race walking, she is an academic and test prep tutor for kids all across the country.
#102) John Cody Risch, 33, Grand Rapids, MI. PRs: 20km: 1:28:30, 35km: 2:50:06. Q Elite.
3rd here last year at 35 km, he was also 5th in the 2016 U.S. Olympic 20 km Race Walk Trials. Cody was a 4x All-American at Cornerstone University, as well as the 2014 NAIA National Indoor Champion who is now a coach and teacher in Grand Rapids.
#102) Maria Michta-Coffey, OLY, 37, Lake Grove, NY. PRs: 20km: 1:30:49 AR, 35 km: 2:58:39. Walk USA and Oiselle.
She is the current American Record holder at 20 km and 5 other distances(!), has won 43 National Championships and been a member of the 2012 & 2016 Olympic Teams as well as over 26 other National Teams. Equally successful off the field, she was her college’s valedictorian (L.I.U. – CW Post), has a PhD in Biomedical Sciences, and graduated 2 years ago as co-valedictorian from Tauro College as a PA (Physician’s Assistant) and is now working at Long Island’s South Shore University Hospital! All that said, though, she says her crowning achievement is being a mother to daughter Liliana, now 4 ½ years old!
#103) Clayton Stoil, 19, Great Falls, VA. PRs: 1 Mile: 6:37, 5km: 22:45, 10km: 48:47, 20km: 1:46:20.
Clayton started walking just 3 years and one month ago, but this student at Arkansas State with a goal of qualifying for this summer’s 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials at 20 km, has been making quite a name for himself already, having won both 2 National Junior Olympic and 3 USATF National Youth Championships, 2 Nike Indoor and 2 Nike Outdoor National High School Championships, and represented Team USA at the 2023 U20 Pan American Games where he was elected the Men’s Team Captain!
#103) Robyn Stevens, OLY, 40, Vacaville, CA. PRs: 3,000m: 13:12.54, 5km: 22:25, 10,000m: 45:48.01, 20km: 1:32:15, 35km: 2:49:29 (AR), 50km: 4:34:24. Wolfpack Track Club, Decathlon, and Newfeel.
Robyn was America’s only female walker at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, and after not finishing these Championships 2 years ago due to injury, she returned spectacularly that April to set the American Record by over 10 minutes in the major race walk festival in Dudince, Slovakia. Robyn was first American to win both the 50 km and 20 km National Championships two years in a row in 2019 and 2020. She splits time now between Vacaville and Spain, where she is coached by Jacinto Garzon of the Spanish Athletics Federation. A 4x U.S Junior Champion, who was also a national-class runner, Robyn is an accomplished designer who came back to racing in 2016 after taking 10 years off and just keeps getting better.
#104) Anthony Joseph “AJ” Gruttadauro, 26, Brockport, NY. PRs: 20km: 1:28:46, 35km: 2:53:02, 50km: 4:16:23. Shore AC.
AJ has won 5 National Championships at shorter distances and been a member of 6 USA National Teams. He has an impressive set of PR’s for someone who has only been walking 8 years, including his 50 km (31.1 miles) PR of 4:16:23. AJ was 4th in the 2020 U.S. Olympic 50 km Race Walk Trials and 5th in the 20 km Trials. He is currently a Graduate Assistant Track Coach at the University of Rio Grande in Rio Grande, OH where he is pursuing a Masters degree after graduating from West Virginia University Institute of Technology, where he was a history and government major and a distance runner on the track team.
#104) Dr. Stephanie Casey, 40, Portland, OR. PRs: 20km: 1:37:11, 35km: 3:00:05, 50km: 4:41:12. Tracksmith.
Stephanie walked 1:37:19 for 20 km and made the 2008 U.S. World Cup Team. Since then, she has had 4 children (ages 14, 12, 8, and 5!) and become a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) and is a family practice physician. She has been a member of Team USA 9 times, and in the last 5 years has also become a force at the longer distances, finishing 2nd in the National Championships at 50 km in 2019 and 2020 and in the 35 km in 2021 and 2022 before her 3rd last year. A member of Team USA at the World Race Walking Team Championships in Oman the World Track & Field Championships in Eugene and Budapest, and the NACAC Championships in the Bahamas in 2022, Stephanie is looking for another breakout year in 2024.
#105) Emmanuel “Natos” Corvera, 30, Spring Valley, CA. PRs: 3,000m: 11:49.25, 10,000m: 42:31.77, 20km: 1:26:38. New York Athletic Club.
A 2016 graduate of San Diego State, who also has his master’s degree in history, Natos finished 4th in the 2016 Olympic Trials at 20 km and then had a break-out year in 2017, winning the USATF National 20 km Championships in Sacramento, CA in a big PR. He followed that up with a 3rd place finish at the 2020 Olympic Trials. Natos began his international career with a silver medal at the 2014 NACAC Under-23 Championships. Now a 3x USATF National Champion and 6x member of Team USA, Natos married fellow race walker Celine Lepe in 2022 and they are the only married couple racing as a relay team today.
#105) Celina Lepe, 27, Spring Valley, CA. PRs: 3,000m: 14:21.68, 5km: 25:51, 10,000m: 49:51.14, 20km: 1:42:09.
Celina is a San Diego State graduate in Kinesiology who is now working as a Physical Therapist. 5th in the 2021 U.S. Olympic 20 km Race Walk Trials setting one of the few PRs on a brutal day, her husband and training partner is Emmanuel “Natos” Corvera and they are racing as a team today.
#106) Allen James, OLY, 59, San Pedro, CA. PRs: 20km: 1:24:26.9 (AR in ’94), 35km: 3:19:11, 50km: 3:55:39 (AR in ’96). So Cal Track Club.
Allen is a 2x Olympian, walking the 20 km in 1992 and the 50 km in 1996, who was the dominant U.S. walker in the mid-1990’s setting 5 American Records and winning every major U.S. Championship multiple times. The son of a legendary Air Force colonel and a mother who founded the Super Jock ‘n’ Jill running store in Seattle, Allen grew up as a self-described “track brat.” Renowned distance runner and coach, Pat Tyson lived with the family while Allen grew up and turned him on to the sport. Much of his inspiration came from the people he met as a child, including Steve Prefontaine, a roommate of Tyson’s at Oregon; Olympic 20 km race walk champ Ernesto Canto, who stayed at the James’ house with the Mexican race walk team for an event in the ’70s; and coaching legend Arthur Lydiard, a Thanksgiving guest one year.
#106) Erin Taylor-Talcott, 45, Colorado Springs, CO. PRs: 20km; 1:39:53. 35km: 3:28:03, 50km: 4:33:22.
Walking since she was 11, with only a few years off for college, Erin is the former World and American Record Holder at 50 km with a time of 4:33:22, whose personal advocacy led to the 50 km race becoming an internationally recognized event for women. Living most of the time now in Colorado Springs after moving from Owego, NY, she is a graduate of Rutgers, with a master’s from SUNY Stonybrook in Music Performance. Erin has also performed solo at Carnegie Hall on both the oboe and bassoon!
#107) Michael Mannozzi, 37, Imperial Beach, CA. PRs: 20km: 1:31:11, 35km: 3:11:26, 50km: 4:26:46. Shore AC and the U.S. Air Force.
A graduate of Notre Dame College where he was the NAIA Indoor 3k National Champion, he is known as “The Italian Stallion” in honor of his father. Mike is a 15x USATF National Champion at various distances, has been on 7 U.S. National Teams, and was 3rd in the 2016 50 km Trials and 6th in the 2020 50 km Trials. A father of 2 boys (6 and 7), Mike is now a member of U.S. Air Force’s World Class Athlete Program living in the San Diego area. Mike was the 2020 Air Force Male Athlete of the Year and is the 3rd member of the U.S. Air Force to represent his country in race walking following in the footsteps of Steve Pecinovsky and Kevin Eastler.
#107) Lydia McGranahan, 47, Sheridan, WY. PRs: 3,000m: 14:32, 5,000m: 24:52, 10km: 51:45, 20km: 1:45:51, 35km: 3:28:45, 50km: 4:56:48.
Formerly from Oregon and married for 28 years with 2 daughters, Lydia is a retired Level 10 USA Gymnastics judge who now works at Whitney Commons Park and volunteers for the Sheridan Area Search and Rescue. She became a force in masters race walking almost as soon as she started at age 40, setting American age-group records and being named the USATF National Masters Race Walker of the Year in her age group twice already. And now she is trying to be an author, too!
#108) Bricyn Healey, 25, Fond du Lac, WI. PRs: 3,000m: 12:42.19, 5,000m: 23:21.52, 20,000m: 1:32:38.23, 35km: 3:03:30. Raleigh Walkers.
A 3x NAIA All-American at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, IL, Bricyn graduated in 2020 with a degree in biology, and then got his Master’s in 2022, and now works as a cardiovascular scientist analyzing electrocardiograms. He finished 3rd here in 2022 in his debut 35 km and then got married to Sarai in May!
#108) Janelle Branch, 35, Salt Lake City, UT. PRs: 3,000m: 13:58.76, 5,000m: 24:23.27, 10,000m: 52, 20km: 1:45.
A married Navy veteran and graduate of Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, MI with a Master’s in Public Administration from Indiana University, Janelle is the Assistant Track Coach for Sprints and Hurdlesat the University of Utah, after leaving the Head Coach position at Clarke University in Dubuque, IA. 12th in the 20 km Race Walk at 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials, Janelle was a 7x NAIA All-American at Cornerstone, and was also selected as the Team USA Head Coach for the U.S. vs Canada Junior Dual Meet in 2019.
#109) Michael Bartholomew, 43, Mattituck, NY. PRs: 5km: 25:12, 10km: 52:00, 20km: 1:47:53, 50km: 4:53:21.Raleigh Walkers.
Born 3 months premature at 2lbs 10oz with Hydrocephalus (water on the brain), Michael has gone on to a brilliant career both on the athletic field and off. A member of Team USA at 50 km in 2005 and a 3x Long Island Track & Field Open Male Race Walk Athlete of The Year, he has now embraced competing as a Master, winning both the 5,000m and 10,000m at the 2022 USATF National Masters Outdoor Championships. Off the field, this former college cross country coach was ordained a Roman Catholic Priest on June 13, 2009, for the Diocese that includes Nassau and Suffolk Counties on Long Island. He is currently serving the Lord and the citizens on the East End of Long Island in 3 capacities – as a Pastor, Administrator, and Coordinator touching the lives of people in 8 parishes and 16 churches!
#109) Andrea Easterday, 42, Charleston, SC. PRs: 1,500m: 10:11, 3,000m: 19;55, 5km: 33:45. Raleigh Walkers.
A married business consultant, Andrea was a competitive track and field, softball, and field hockey athlete when she was younger, who actually attended the USA Field Hockey Olympic Development Program. Andrea started race walking in 2017 and won her first National Masters Championship in 2018(!) for the 1,500m Indoors in the 35-39 age group. She has won an additional 7 National Championships since (plus 2 silvers) from 1,500m to 10,000m indoors, outdoors, and on the roads, and was named the USATF National Masters Race Walker of the Year in the 40-44 division in 2022. This weekend will be her longest race yet.
#110) Jordan Crawford, 24, Douglasville, GA. PRs: 1 Mile: 6:27.75, 3,000m: 13:31.35, 5,000m: 21:20.97, 10,000m: 49:54.56, 20km: 1:31:46.Raleigh Walkers.
Jordan is a graduate of Missouri Baptist University, where he majored in Exercise Science and where fellow competitors, Nick Christie and Natalia Alfonzo also went to college and competed. Jordan started race walking as a 10-year-old with the E-1 Track Club, and though he competed in many events and ran on his college cross country team, race walking won his heart. He is 7x NAIA All-American and has represented Team USA 5 times in international competitions.
#110) Jessica Heiser-Whatley, 24, Greenville, SC. PRs: 3,000m: 14:50.50, 5,000m: 26:20.12, 10km: 56:30, 20km: 1:55;49. Caminata Elite Track Club.
Jesi attended Columbia College on a track scholarship with her twin sister, Victoria, who is also racing the Mixed Relay, as is their father, Ian. She graduated with a 4.0 and is currently pursuing an M.A. in Organizational Leadership. A 5x NAIA All-American race walker, she also threw the javelin and ran cross country in college. She won the USATF 1-Hour Championship in 2018, the 2018 New Balance National High School Outdoor Championships, and has represented Team USA in the U.S. vs. Canada Junior Race Walking Dual Meet.
#111) Dan O’Brien, 59, Port Huron, MI. PRs: 10km: 45:51, 20km: 1:34:23, 35km: 4:06:33, 50km: 5:02:29. Pegasus Athletic Club.
A graduate of the University of Detroit where he was a school record holder, this founding member of the Pegasus AC has an 19-year-old son, and is a hospital X-Ray technician and “vaccine guinea pig”. He has been walking at the national level since 1988; was 8th in the 50 km Championships in 2001, 10th at the 50 km Championships here in 2017, and 9th in both 2022 and 2023 at 35 km; and won 2 bronze medals at the World Masters Athletics Regionals at 5k & 10k in 2019. Dan was also the Manager of Team USA at the 2007 Pan Am Cup.
#111) Rebecca Garson, 59, Afton, VA. PRs: 3km: 17:14, 5km: 28:54, 10km: 59:40, 20km: 2:04:10, 40km: 4:55:28, 24 hrs: 73 miles, 1 hr: 9,588m. Raleigh Walkers.
This married kindergarten teacher and grandmother of 3 teenagers started race walking in 2006 and since then has won 27 national age group championships. During that time, she has also had to overcome numerous physical challenges including Lyme Disease, Alpha Gal, and two small strokes. As she says, “Her love of the sport keeps her motivated to keep moving … albeit much more slowly.” ☹
#112) Ian Whatley, 64, Greenville, SC. PRs: 3,000m: 14:28.01, 20km: 1:39:22, 50km: 4:41:46.Caminata Elite TC.
Originally from England, Ian was 6th in the 2016 Olympic 50km Trials at age 56(!) and he has represented the U.S. at distances from 3,000m to 50 km, and in 2018 he became the oldest man or woman to ever win a USATF National Senior / Open Championship in any event when he won the USATF National 40 km Championships in Owego, NY. Ian is a consulting bio-engineer and an expert on athletic footwear and technology who holds 21 patents, and was brought to the U.S. by Nike to help set up their first sport research lab. In 1995, he invented the first prototypes of the ‘plate’ shoes that are now being used to break all those world records, and he is currently working on a project to develop and test electronic loss of contact sensors for World Athletics and producing USATF’s coaching education modules for the race walk event group. He and his wife, Susan, use their 24-acre pecan farm in South Carolina as a race walk training center, and their 2 twin daughters are also competing in the Mixed Relay Championships today.
#112) Lizzy Kemp, 60, La Jolla, CA. PRs: 10km: 49:50, ½ Marathon: 1:56, Marathon: 4:15.
Liz is a longtime fixture in the race walk world as both an official and an athlete. She first met her partner, Ian, on October 8, 1989 at the MIT track in Boston when she won the National 1 hour track title. An endurance junkie, she also set World and American Junior Records for 100 miles and 48 hours! Today she and Ian hope to set the inaugural 60-64 age group world best for the Mixed Relay. With a degree in Exercise Physiology, she works at the Kaiser Permanente Positive Choice Integrative Wellness Center as a Lifestyle Educator teaching weight management and diabetes prevention.
#113) Pablo Gomez, 51, Morongo Valley, CA. PRs: 20km: 1:42:52, 50km: 4:45:23. Tracksmith.
Originally from Mexico City, Pablo, who was 8th in the 2016 Olympic 50 km Race Walk Trials and 5th in 2020 and then 10th at the 20 km Trials in 2022, got his PhD from Northwestern and is now a Professor of Psychology at the California State University, Palm Desert campus after years in Chicago, most recently as a Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at DePaul University.
#113) Victoria Heiser-Whatley, 24, Greenville, SC. PRs: 3,000m: 15:04.27, 5,000m: 24:14.40, 10,000m: 56:54.99, 20km: 1:55:06. Caminata Elite TC.
Tori attended Columbia College on a track scholarship with her twin sister, Jessica, who is also racing the Mixed Relay, as is their father, Ian. A 7x NAIA All-American race walker, she also did the high jump and ran cross country in college. She was 2nd to her sister in the 2018 USATF 1-Hour Championship and has represented Team USA in the U.S. vs. Canada Junior Race Walking Dual Meet. Tori graduated with a 3.96 GPA and a B.S. in Computer Science. Now working on an M.A., she plans to be a computer programmer and develop her own video games.
#114) Bruce Logan, 59, New York, NY. PRs: 35km: 4:30:48, 50km: 5:23.
A triplet, with 3 degrees, who is also a Hula & Folk Dancer with over 100 performances, Bruce has won 10 National Age-Group Race Walking Championships, including 3 at 50km.
#114) Yolanda Holder, 65, Corona, CA. PRs: 35km: 4:40:00, 50km: 6:22:54. So Cal Track Club.
Yolanda is a wife, mother of 2 adult children, inspirational speaker, and author. She is also a professional Endurance Ultra Marathon Walker and a 2x Guinness World Record holder for “Most Marathons Completed in a Calendar Year”, finishing a staggering 106 marathons/ultras in 2010 and breaking her own record in 2012 by finishing 120 marathons/ultras! She is the American Record holder for the 10-day race, covering a total of 622 miles, and the World Champion Pedestrian of the longest certified footrace in the world – the Sri Chinmoy Self Transcendence 3100 mile Race, finishing in 51 days, 17 hours and 13 seconds! Yolanda has finished 560(!!) marathons and ultras in her life … and counting …
#116) Adrian Zamudio, 48, Guadalupe, CA. PRs: 50km: 6:08:09, 35km: 4:19:59. Team Pegasus AC.
A former San Diego State cross country runner and cross country coach at Hancock College and Orcutt Academy High School, Adrian is a married father of twins who is now a Deputy Probation Officer for Santa Barbara County.
#116) Darlene Backlund, 78, Palm Springs, CA. PRs: 20km: 2:50:35, 35km: 5:00:15, 50km: 6:26:44. So Cal Track Club.
A marvel of time with 2 great grandchildren and another due in March, Darlene started walking at 50, and at last count holds 11 American Masters Records; has set 4 World Masters Records at 50 km; has won 37 National Age-Group Championships; and won 8 World Masters Team Gold medals. She will again be walking in memory and honor of her husband, coach, and training partner, John who passed just before the 2017 Championships where she honored him by setting a World Record.
Invitational Mixed Relay (Confirmed entries as of 1/20/24)
#401) Saul Caudiel Lucatero Perez, 52, Mexicali, MEX
#401) Concepcion Vazquez-Prado, 64, Mexico. Club Velazco.
Concepcion works in Chula Vista and has been competing for more than 16 years internationally as a masters athlete.
Invitational 20 km Race (Confirmed entries as of 1/20/24)
#201) Jhon Alexander Castaneda, OLY, 31, Bogota, Colombia. PRs: 5,000m: 20:12.03, 10,000m: 41:50.85, 20,000m: 1:22:33.4, 20km: 1:24:33, 35km: 2:40:52, 50km: 4:09:14.
A 2020 Olympian for Colombia in the 20k, who has won here in Santee before, he is a 4x national champion and won silver medals in the 20k in the 2017 and 2021 South American Championships and gold in 2019.
#202) Brandon Segura Zepeda, 27, Mexico. PRs: 10,000m: 42:05, 20km: 1:22:42.
A member of the Mexican National Team, he has competed internationally including in the Pan American Cup, Central American Championships, and the World University Games.
#203) Mario Andres De Los Rios Banda, 26, Tijuana, Mexico. Club Velazco. 3,000m: 13:10, PRs: 10,000m: 41:47, 20km: 1:36:52.
Finished 2nd in the Santee International 20 km last year.
#204) George Papacalos, 63, Long Beach, CA. So Cal Track Club
The USATF-Southern California Association Race Walk Chair. He’s also a fundraiser for the Alzheimer’s Association, using his racewalking competitions to collect donations. George ran track for Saint Anthony High School until he broke his leg in an auto accident. He came back to the sport in 2012 by participating in community road running events. He became a race walker in 2015.
#205) Lizbeth Silva, 34, Mexico City, Mexico PRs: 10,000m: 49:01, 20km: 1:34:25, 35km: 3:22:17, 50km: 4:58:21.
A frequent competitor in Santee, she won the bronze medal in the 10,000m at the 2010 NACAC U23 Championships.
#206) Talia Green, 17, Oakland, CA. PRs: 3km: 14:01, 10km: 49:31. Oakland Cubs.
A senior at The College Preparatory School, who was fluent in Mandarin as a sophomore and is headed to Harvey Mudd College in the fall, Talia has been a national class youth, high school, and junior race walker for 4 years already, having won the 13-14 age group championship at the 2019 USATF Youth Nationals, been named the National High School Race Walk Athlete of the Year in 2022, and represented Team USA at the 2022 U20 World Athletics Championships in Cali, Colombia and the 2023 U20 Pan Am Games in Puerto Rico. Today’s 20k will be her debut at the senior distance and fans of the sport are excited.
#207) Natalia Alfonzo, 29, Venezuela, Edgewater, FL. PRs: 1 Mile: 7:15:14, 3,000m: 13:47, 5,000m: 22:41.18, 10km: 52:08, 20km: 1:36:28.
While now she is a full-time resident in the Orlando, FL area working as a Senior Analyst in accounting and finance at TopBuild Corp., Natalia is originally from Venezuela and continues to represent her native country internationally. She finished 12th in the World Athletics Youth Championships when she was 15 and holds the Venezuelan National Record at every distance except the 20 km, which she hopes to get this weekend in Santee, where she is the defending champion … and where she also hopes to take another step towards her dream of becoming an Olympian at the Paris Olympics this summer. Coached now by Ed Richardson, Vice-Chair of the USATF Race Walk Committee, She is married and is a graduate of Missouri Baptist University like fellow competitors, Nick Christie and Jordan Crawford, where she set the NAIA Record at 3,000m.
#208) Dmitry Babenko, 51, Canada, Brooklyn, NY. PRs: 3,000m: 12:57.03, 5km: 22:37, 10,000m: 46:10.63, 20km: 1:39:31, 50km: 4:26:07.
Born in Moldova and representing Canada, Dmitry now lives in Brooklyn where he is married with 2 sons (15 and 7). And with master’s degrees in both Computer Science and Geology, he and works as a Software Engineer for LinkedIn. He first race walked at 13 and has now won 3 World Masters Championships and currently holds 18 Canadian Age Group Records. But as impressive as all that is, his wife owns and runs Luksha Cosmetics and they are giving skincare product samples to every competing athlete this weekend and gift boxes to the winners of all the races!
#209) Olivia Lundman, 20, Canada. PRs: 3,000m: 14:25.74, 5,000m: 22:53.68, 10,000m: 47:24.73, 20,000m: 1:42:11.0.
Currently a student at the University of British Columbia, Olivia has been a member of the Canadian U20 National Team and won the Canadian National Senior 20km Championships in 2023.
#210) Paul Rowan, 70, Briarcliff Manor, NY
#211) Ever Jair Palma Olivares, 21, Mexico. PRs: 5,000m: 18:39.28, 10km: 39:47, 20km: 1:19:38, 35km: 2:27:55,, 50km: 3:53:30
The silver medalist at 50 km in the 2021 Pan American Race Walking Championships, Ever has been ranked as high as 16th in the world at 35 km and is currently ranked 36th in the 20 km.
#212) Osvaldo Calderon Gomez, 26, MEX. PRs: 5km: 19::11.86 (2014), 10km: 40:02 (2011), 20km: 1:20:05 (2016), 50km: 3:48:04 (2017)
Member of the Mexican National Team, Osvaldo walked 1:24:56 at the Dublin World Athletics Race Walking Tour Bronze Label event in December by 1:42! Was the Silver Medalist at the 2007 World U18 Championships at 10km. No results since 2019.
#213) Ilse Guerrero, 30, MEX. PRs: 5,000m: 23:21.38, 10,000m: 44:44.17, 20km: 1:29:33, 35km: 2:53:48.
This member of the Mexican National Team won the Mexican National 10k Championship in 2019, and has raced the 35k here in Santee before.
Invitational 10 km Race (Confirmed entries as of 1/20/24)
#301) Lina Geraldine Bolivar, 25, Bogota, Colombia. PRs: 5,000m: 23:59.11, 10,000m: 47:03.71, 20km: 1:40:39.
#302) Angelica Harris, 18, Bartlett, IL. PRs: 5km: 24:07, 10km: 49:29. Elgin Sharks.
Currently a freshman at Vanderbilt University, Angelica has been one of America’s top junior race walkers for several years, winning the USATF Under-20 Female Race walker of the Year in 2021 and 2022. Coached by USATF National Race Walk Chair, Diane Graham-Henry, Angelica has already been a member of Team USA twice. represented the United States at both the World Race Walking Team Championships in Oman and the World U20 Championships in Colombia in 2022.
#303) Teresa Vaill, 61, Gainesville, FL. PRs 10km: 45:16, 20km: 1:33:23.
One of the greatest and most significant female race walkers in American history, Teresa won at least 14 National Senior Championships, winning her first title in 1984. She is the former American Record holder at 20 km and was the only race walker on the 2004 U.S. Women’s Olympic Team, making the Team at age 41, becoming the oldest U.S. female track & field Olympian in history. Teresa Vaill began her 30-plus year elite athletic career as a high school distance runner at Seymour Smith Senior (Pine Plains, NY) HS in Upstate New York in 1981. She started race walking just to score points for the team in her HS meets. Perseverance pays off as Teresa Vaill earned her spot on USA Olympic Team in 2004 at Age 41 in her 6th Olympic Trials (her first two Olympic Trials in 1984 & 1988 were exhibition races). 2012 was her 8th Olympic Trials. 2004 Olympian at 20k (1st place); 2nd – 2008 Olympic Trials; 6th – 1992 Olympic Trials; 2nd – 1988 Olympic Trials (Exhibition); 2nd – 1984 Olympic Trials (Exhibition); DNF in 1996 & 2000 OT’s.
2nd at 2011 USA Nationals @ 1:35:35.92; Seven-time USA Indoor champion – 1984; 1985; 1986; 1989; 1990; 1991; 2008; Four-time USA Outdoor champion – 2004 (1:35:57); 2005 (1:33:28); 2007 (1:37:28); 2009 (1:37:12)
Invitational 5 km Race (Confirmed entries as of 1/20/24)
#501) Charles Xiao, 27, Santa Barbara, CA.
#502) Ava Torgersen, 13, Oakland, CA. PRs: 3,000m: 15:19.11. Oakland Cubs Youth Running Club.
A student at Montera Middle School in Oakland, she is the current 13-14 Girls 3000m USATF National Champion. Her personal best for 3000m was achieved at the Nike Outdoor Nationals in 2023 with a time of 15:19.11. This is her first 5,000m RW.
Youth 3 km Race (Confirmed entries as of 1/20/24)
#601) Aniella Zawaty De Los Rios Banda, 11, Mexico, Club Velazco. Won in 2023.
#602) Chloe Coleman, 11, USA.
