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Olympic teammates, from left, Desiree Davila, Ryan Hall, Abi Abdirahman, Shalane Flanagan, Meb Keflezighi and Kara Goucher stand on the finishing podium after the U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon. (Johnny Hanson / Houston Chronicle)

Congratulations to all the members of USATF Southern California who competed in the 2012 Olympic Trials, in Houston Texas. USATF Southern California member Ryan Hall earned a spot on the 2012 Olympic team with his 2:09:30 second place finish. First place finisher Meb Keflezighi is a member of the USATF New York, but is coached by USATF Southern California Long Distance Running co-chair Bob Larsen, co-founder of the Mammoth Track Club. Jimmy Grabow, of adidas Legacy Run Racing, also scored a top-10 finish, with his 2:12:29 time.

In the women’s division 2011 USATF Southern California Marathon Champion Amy Hastings barely missed a spot on the Olympic team with her fourth place 2:27:17 finish.

Complete Men’s Results

Complete Women’s Results

2008 Olympians – Photo left: Brian Sell, Ryan Hall, Dathan Ritzenhein, Photo Right: Blake Russell, Deena Kastor, and Magdalena Lewy Boulet

This weekend the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials will be held in Houston January 14, 2012. The races will determine the three men and three women who will represent the United States in the marathon at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Members of USATF Southern California are expected to again be a dominant force at the Olympic Trials this year. If these names look familiar, it is because many of the talented runners are also USATF Southern California Champions! Check out the links below to learn more about the 2012 Olympic Team Trails, and watch exclusive video interviews with these USATF Southern California Champions!

• 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials – Marathon Program
• Will Californians Deliver Again at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials? (by Mark Winitz, California Track & Running News)
• YouTube Interview- Mo Trafer – 2008 USATF Southern California 10 km Champion
• YouTube Interview- Mary Akor – 2008 USATF Southern California Half Marathon Champion
• YouTube Interview- Cheryl Smith – 2010 USATF Southern California Marathon Champion
• YouTube Interview- Amy Hastings – 2011 USATF Southern California Marathon Champion
• YouTube Interview- Charlie Serrano – 2011 USATF Southern California Half Marathon Champion

Photo left, Chris Jaggers (left) and Joe Ogata (right). Photo right, Ryan Hall (left) and Joe Ogata (right)

Have you seen Joe Ogata? If you ran in the 2011 Road Running Grand Prix, chances are you were standing at the starting line with Joe Ogata! Joe participated in more Road Running Grand Prix races than any other runner: 8 of the 9 races!

Joe only missed the Redondo Beach 5 km, because he was running the Surf City Marathon, which he finished in 3:41:04. In fact, if you check Joe’s results at Athlinks, they post results from Joe in no fewer than 38 road races in 2011!

Joe Ogata racing the 2010 Road Mile Championships

Joe easily qualified for a 2010 USA Track & Field Phidippides Award, and you can see a picture of Joe with his Phidippides award in the photo at the top with USATF member Chris Jaggers, and (right) with USATF member Ryan Hall (notice Joe decked out in his Boston Marathon running gear!). I first met Joe years ago, I think around 2007, when I noticed Joe on the airplane bound for the Boston Marathon, then I ran into Joe at the Culver City 5 km, and then again at the San Diego marathon! 62 year old Joe Ogata brings both quantity, and quality, to his running, consistently qualifying for the Boston Marathon.

What is the USATF Phidippides Award? This is an award offered by USATF to masters runners, awarding points for participation. Points vary according to distance, and all events must be USATF certified and sanctioned events. There is no fee to receive this award, just send a list of your events to the national office, and receive official recognition from USATF and a beautiful plaque or medal from Hasty Awards, the official supplier of awards for USATF.

The deadline for submitting applications for the 2011 awards is January 30, 2012.

2011 USATF Southern California Gold Award Recipients: Jerry Beatty (61), Michael Berger (54), Raymond Billig (54), Guillaume Chanfreau (43), Tom Hosner (61), Frank Lahtinen (50), Dona McBride (60), Michael Mizote (53), Bob Norton (73), Bobby Porter (59), Brandye Smith (51), Ward Wright (70).

More than 530 USATF Southern California runners posted scores in the 2011 Road Running Grand Prix series. Leading the way for the youth division are runners Sydney Tullai (12) with 2595 points and Anthony Palazzo (14) 2544 points. Youth runners were required to run 3 races for end-of-year awards.

In the open and masters divisions, Tania Fischer (45) and Dale Campbell (58) again won 1st place, winning $500 each. Second place awards go to Jon Megeff (48) and Alison Atkinson (44) with a $250 prize. Third place: Rich Gust (52) and Yayoi Liu (54) winning $150. Fourth place: Mark Steyvers (41) and Cambria Wu (33) for $75, and fifth place kudos to William Sumner (63) and Sue Reinhardt (65) taking home $25.

With four runners in the top finishers, Club Ed Running again showed their depth and strength, winning 21592 points, taking top honors for the second year in a row. It was a close contest for second and third, with The Janes Elite Racing scoring 20961, beating Cal Coast Track Club 20833, by a margin of 128 points. Fourth place went to Track Club L.A., 19235, with new USATF club Gritty City Track Club coming on strong with 18715.

In the youth division, The Equalizers remain unchallenged again, with the South Orange County Wildcats competing well in the 2011 series, but the Wildcats failed to field a team in a minimum of three races.