Serianni Walks Away With National 30K Crown

Dan Serianni separated from a quartet of pursuers in the final 5k to capture the USA Track & Field 30k national racewalk championship, held on Sunday at Rockland Lake State Park in Congers.

The race was directed by Dave McGovern, a 1983 Clarkstown North graduate and seven-time U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier who won the 30K national title last year, also at Rockland Lake.

Serianni, 21, of Rochester, completed the 18.6-mile multiple-loop course in 2 hours 27 minutes 54 seconds for a 250-yard margin of victory over runner-up Tim Seaman of Chula Vista, CA, and third-place Patrick Stroupe of Armstrong, Mo., both of whom clocked 2:29:02. Serianni has made three senior national teams but was making his 30k debut. Seaman is a two-time Olympian and five-time national champion at 20k, and Stroupe also finished third at the 2011 U.S. 20k championship.

Jonathan Matthews, 55, of Helena, MT, won the masters (40 or older) championship and set a U.S. 55-59 age group record in 2:32:43. En route, he also claimed national age-group marks in the 15k (1:11:22), 20k (1:35:14) and 25k (2:02:19). Serianni, Matthews and Chris Schmid combined to pace World Class Racewalking to the team championship with an aggregate time of 7:42:32.

Darlene Backlund of the Southern California Track Club claimed the women’s open and masters titles in 3:50:15.

Concurrent with the 30k, races were contested at 20k (12.4 miles) and 50k (31.1 miles) to achieve qualifying marks for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials and London Olympics. Andreas Gustafsson of Sweden, a two-time World Championships competitor, won the 50k in 3:54:08, which betters the Olympic “A” standard. Gustafsson is the son of Bo Gustafsson, the 50k silver medalist at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. The second- and third-place finishers, Cuban émigrés Erich Cordero and Yandy Alvarez, qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials in 4:28:57 and 4:33:26, respectively.

Mauricio Sanchez of Ecuador won the 20k in 1:23:54, which surpasses the Olympic “B” standard. The top three women finishers also met the Olympic “B” standard: Mayra Carolina Herrera of Guatemala (1:34:39), and a pair from Ecuador, Paula Perez (1:35:10) and Johanna Ordonez (1:36:27). Fourth-place finisher Katie Burnett qualified for the Olympic Trials in 1:40:42.