UW-Parkside Race Walking Alum Stephen Quirke earned the 2010 USA National 50 km Race Walk title on Sunday held in Surprize, Arizona. Quirke covered the 31.1-mile distance in a time of 4:23:03 to edge out runner-up Jonathan Matthews of Helena, Montana, who placed second with a time of 4:23:15.
The race served as the Team USA Qualifying event for the World Cup of Race Walking to be held in May in Toluca, Mexico. It was Quirke's first ever USA National Title.
Quirke took the lead in the event just past the 49 km mark, having remainded in a group of 5 walkers over the first 35 km. The group split apart between 40 and 45 kms and the strong finish marked the closest 50 km finish in over 25 years. Quirke's time was his second best ever which he earned at the 2008 US Olympic Trials where he placed third.
Quirke lives and trains in the area and competes for the Parkside AC.
Melville and Voss Qualify for USA Indoor Track Championships
UW-Parkside track athletes Miranda Melville and Le'erin Voss earn USA indoor track championship qualifying marks at Sunday's Wisconsin USATF Association Championships held at Carthage College.
Melville won the 3000m Race Walk event with a personal best time of 14:03.3, and the sixth best all-time UWP team mark. Voss finished second with a time of 14:39.4.
In the men's race, Matt De Witt, competing for Parkside AC, was the winner and met the provisional standard in the event with a time of 12:46.1. His mark is second over the automatic qualifying standard of 12:45.00
The USA Indoor Championships will be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on the weekend of February 27-28.
UWP track coach Mike DeWittcommented on the performances of the race walkers over the weekend: "Steve has been doing a great job in his training and he has paid his dues with just over 10 years of training around UWP. He joins a quality list of UWP alums who have earned USA National Championships. The women have been patient with their development. Over the past 3 to 4 years they have gone from doing all they could to just earn a National Meet to being in contention for Top 3 and Top 5 finishes against the best in the U.S. We also had a great group from the team over to cheer them on. It was a good day in the long history of the program."