American record: Teresa Vaill, 1:33:28
2007 U.S. champion: Teresa Vaill, 1:37:29
2004 Olympic Trials champion: Teresa Vaill, 1:35:57
Top 5 seed times:
1. Joanne Dow, 1:34:21
2. Teresa Vaill, 1:34:42
3. Sam Cohen, 1:38:50
4. Susan Armenta, 1:39:02
5. Jolene Moore, 1:39:24
Teresa Vaill, 46, has a long track record in every sense. Ranked nationally as a race walker every year since 1986, Vaill is a three-time outdoor champion, with the most recent win coming last year. When she won in 2005, she set the American record of 1:33:28. As a 41-year-old in 2004, Vaill was the oldest female track & field Olympian in U.S. history, a mark she could re-set this year if she can win the 20 kilometer race walk, an event for which she holds the fastest time in the U.S. this year. At the 2004 Olympics, Vaill was the lone American to compete in the Olympics because other athletes didn’t meet the standard.
The top seed, however is Joanne Dow. It seems whenever Vaill doesn’t win the title, Dow does. A three-time outdoor champion, Dow is the top seed by 21 seconds.
Third-seeded Sam Cohen might have a shot to make the Olympic team. At 31, she’s one of the younger race walkers in the field and comes in with a qualifying time of 1:38:50.
Oregonian Stephanie Casey of Salem is ranked seventh, while Lake Oswego native Sara Standley-Gonzalez is eighth. Casey has the fifth-fastest time in the U.S this year.