New faces emerge in U.S. women’s race

Monday, Feb. 10, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

For one thing, Saturday's triumph on the rain-slicked streets of Columbia was her first career win at the full 26.2-mile distance. And it came with a nice perk -- the chance to compete in this summer's World Championships in Athens, Greece.

"I've been wanting to do some international competition," said Kirtland, a resident of South Harpswell, Maine, who does her winter training in Columbia. "I think Greece is a perfect start."

Runner-up Cheryl Collins of Pittsburgh and third-place Mary Alico of Winter Park, Fla., also earned World Championships berths.

Saturday was a time for new faces to emerge, with most of the top U.S. women's runners skipping the race for one reason or another. Only four of the nation's top 20 women were entered, and just one of the top 10 finishers from last year's U.S. Olympic trials run over the same course.

Such recognizable names as Olga Appell, Anne Marie Lauck and Kim Jones were among the missing, and even trials champion Jenny Spangler could only do television commentary while still recovering from Achilles surgery.

"It's still serious," Kirtland said. "I don't think anybody here wouldn't take it serious."

The race still provided an interesting tactical duel as Kirtland, Collins and Alico reeled in early rabbit Jeanne Peterson to pass her along the up-and-down terrain of the Fort Jackson military base.

Peterson jumped to the front at the gun, turned the first mile in 5:37 and held a 10-second lead on her nearest competitor by the end of the second mile. The gap eventually grew to more than two minutes by the 10-mile mark.

But temperatures in the mid-40s and a cold wind eventually took their toll on the native of Massapequa, N.Y., whose problems compounded when she bypassed the first few water stations and had mishaps at a couple of others.

"The pace I was running today was the same pace I had been running in training, but the cold weather did me in," Peterson said. "I began cramping up really badly."

Kirtland, meanwhile, was content to stay back around 15th in the early stages, then caught up to Collins and Alico about seven miles into the race.

After a while, the trio noticed that Peterson wasn't pulling away any more.

"If we can catch her, the three of us will go to Greece," Collins told the others.

Which is precisely what happened. Kirtland made the first move, cruising past Peterson in the 16th mile. Collins and Alico did likewise another mile or so later.

Kirtland set a personal best with her time of 2:37:46, topping her prior best by seven seconds. Although she won a pair of half-marathons in recent months, her best previous finish in the longer race had been third at the 1995 U.S. Championship.