Stevens Point Area Senior High graduate Curt Clausen took top honors in the National 10 kilometer Racewalk at Wilkes-Barre, Pa. recently.
Clausen won the race in 43:08 after pulling away from teammate Tim Seaman at the seven-kilometer mark. Seaman was second in 44:53.
"For me, the race was a great tune up for the World Championship," Clausen said. "I felt very comfortable at the 4:20/km pace, which is plenty fast for 50 km."
Late last month Clausen finished sixth in the 20K at the Pan American Games (1:23:39). World record holder and 1999 World Cup Champion Bernardo Segura of Mexico won the race in 1:20:17.
"My strategy was to walk as close to 1 hour, 23 minutes as possible if the weather was good," Clausen said. "This meant walking alone most of the race so my heart rate monitor helped me to keep pushing."