Santa Rosa Press Democrat // News for California's North Bay and Redwood Empire

Low-tech edition (About)
BEI CAPTURES NATIONAL TITLE

DATE: Sunday, December 10, 2000
BYLINE: By ERICK STUDENICKA
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
EDITION: CITY
SECTION: MAIN
PAGE: A1

MONTGOMERY HIGH STAR COMES FROM THE BACK 
OF THE PACK TO WIN THE FOOT LOCKER CHAMPIONSHIP

   There's no better place than Disney World for your dream to come true.
   That's what Montgomery High star Sara Bei realized Saturday as her
fantasy became reality when she won the National Foot Locker Cross Country
Championship in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., with a course-record time of 16
minutes, 55 seconds.
   Last year, Bei failed to even qualify for the race, which features the
top 32 girls in the nation.
   ``It's pretty shocking. Winning was something I had dreamed of since I
was a little freshman,'' said Bei while awaiting the awards ceremony.
``It's incredible. It felt like it wasn't me out there.''
   Bei, the state Division II champion, outsprinted Anita Siraki of Hoover
High (Glendale) to the finish line over the final 30 yards of the 3.1-mile
run on Disney's Oak Trails Golf Course to win by three seconds on the warm,
humid day. Siraki, the state Division I champion, had beaten Bei by five
seconds last week at the Western Regional.
   Bei's timing during the season and during Saturday's race proved to be
perfect. After placing second in the North Bay League meet just five weeks
ago, Bei peaked at just the right time of the season to become the national
champion.
   And after she trailed the entire field in Saturday's race after one
mile, few would have predicted she would emerge as the winner.
   ``It was amazing how I was able to keep moving up,'' Bei said. ``I just
kept thinking `I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.'''
   Ukiah High junior Amber Trotter, who was ahead of Bei at both the North
Bay League and North Coast Section meets in early November, was also in the
32-runner field and placed seventh in 17:36.
   ``I was happy with my race, but I wish I would have wasted less energy
in the first mile,'' Trotter said. ``There was a lot of jostling that was
very energy-draining.''
   Bei's and Trotter's West Team also won the team scoring, outdistancing
the second-place Midwest team, 19-57.
   After passing the one-mile mark in 5:29, it appeared Bei's rigorous
schedule of four races during the past five weeks had finally caught up
with her, as she was in last place.
   But Bei, the veteran of two previous Foot Locker championships, said
that starting conservatively was her plan all along.
   ``In the beginning, everyone is so excited they go out hard,'' said Bei,
who had placed 10th in 1997 and third in 1998 at the same event. ``It was
warm out -- I knew I had to run my own race.''
   While the other runners began to slow over the second mile, Bei kept a
constant pace, crossing the two-mile mark in 11:01. Up ahead, pre-race
favorites Siraki and Alicia Craig of Campbell County, Wyo., were in the
lead along with Laura Zeigle from South Jordan, Utah. Trotter was not far
behind, hitting the two-mile point in fifth place in 11:07.
   Finally, with 1,200 meters to go, Bei caught the lead pack of runners.
Zeigle made the first move with 600 meters to go, but she couldn't drop Bei
or Siraki.
   Zeigle then fell back, leaving Bei and Siraki to duel side-by-side until
the final yards, where Bei outkicked Siraki to the tape. Bei's 5,000-meter
time of 16:55 was her personal best by 17 seconds and marked only the third
time since 1990 that the winning time was under 17 minutes.
   Bei, who went off to a dance with the other participants in the Foot
Locker races, said she wasn't feeling tired at all on Saturday night.
   ``I feel so good -- I recovered really quickly,'' Bei said. ``I try to
take each race one at a time and try not to be too intense.''
   Bei joins Santa Rosa High's Julia Stamps as Empire runners who have won
national titles. Stamps, now competing for Stanford, won the title in 1994
as a sophomore.
   With Trotter returning next season, it's conceivable the Empire's list
of national champions could continue to grow.
   ``I'm glad there's a next year for me,'' Trotter said. ``The whole
experience has been a learning experience for me. If there is a next year
for me, I'll know what to do differently.''
   Dathan Ritzenheinof of Rockford, Mich., won the boys' race in 14:35.
Email story | Print story | Subscribe to paper