News

Dec.4, 2005- Vancouver, Canada - By placing 11th, Stellingwerff did what she needed to do yesterday at the Canadian Cross Country Championships held at Jericho Beach in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Although she would have liked to have been more competitive in the very elite senior women's field, Stellingwerff finished short of her podium goal, but still in the top-16, which puts her in the pool for the World Cross Country Champsionships.

Stellingwerff felt she had a mediocre race. "I was happy to be among the top-16 today, but I really feel that my level of fitness is better than my placing shows," she says. "I think I made a mistake in flying from Europe to Canada only 5 days before the race, but at least I know better for next time."

She felt the nine-hour time change was too stressful on her body and didn't allow her to be fully competitive at the championships.

Carmen Douma-Houssar, Canada's top 1500m athlete, won the 6km race, followed by Tara Quinn-Smith and Courtney Bababcock, to round out the medals. All three women have represented Canada on multiple national teams. The next 10 women were very tightly packed, with only 12 seconds separating them.

The next step for all athletes wanting to represent Canada at the World Cross Country Championships this April in Fukoka, Japan, will be to prove top level of fitness during the indoor season in a 1500m or 3000m race. This will be the last time there will be a short-course, 4km race at the World Championships. This means many of the Canadian women will be eager to take a place on the team for the last time.

Although the main focus for Stellingwerff will be securing her spot and being competitive at the Commonwealth Games, she still plans to run a 3km in late February to gain one of the six spots on the Canadian women's short course cross country team.