The USA Half-Marathon Championships were held at the 2008 Aramco Houston Half-Marathon this past Sunday morning, January 13. Kate O’Neill led the women’s race with a time of 1:11:57, which earned her the national title. “I’m really excited to have won my first national championship,” O’Neill said at the post-race press conference. She was presented with a cowboy hat and belt buckle by Aramco president and CEO, Mohammed Al Qahtani, and a medal by USATF president, Bill Roe. O’Neill said that the beginning of the race was slower than the previous year. She stayed with the front pack of runners for most of the race, which included last year’s winner, Elva Dryer. Dryer eventually dropped out of the race due to an injury, and O’Neill separated from the pack. A challenging aspect of the course was the turnaround point, but O’Neill considered it an advantage to see how far behind the other runners were. “It’s always fun to have a race like that, with the turnaround point,” she O’Neill explained. “After the turnaround and a little before 9 miles, I could see that there were people there. It was a good wake-up call to stay focused.” O’Neill had hoped to set a new personal record time at the 13.1 mile distance, but the wind did not allow it. Despite the conditions, she pushed herself to a strong finish. O’Neill, a 2004 Olympian in the 10000-meter run, will run the U.S. Women’s Olympic Trials Marathon in April. Not far behind O’Neill were Hansons-Brooks runner, Desiree Davila, with a personal-best time of 1:12:10, and Serena Burla, who placed third in 1:12:22. Davila’s teammates and fellow Olympic Trials Marathon qualifiers, Dot McMahan and Melissa White, also finished within the top-10. Their coaches, Keith and Kevin Hanson, have high hopes for the trials. “She (Davila) is gaining experience every time out. I think we’re going to continue to see big leaps from her,” Keith stated. “She has not reached her full potential yet, so we’re really excited about where she’s at. I think we’re right on track for where we want to be going into the trials.” “We think that minus Deena [Kastor], most of the major players that should be vying for those other two spots for the women’s trials were here,” Kevin added. McMahan was pleased with her 8th place finish and new PR of 1:13:10. She ran with a pack of other runners, including White, Stephanie Rothstein and Ann Alynak, for most of the race. “We had a pretty good pack of people to work with. I think that when you come to these championship races, that’s what you have to do. You have to work together with people,” McMahan said. “I just got fortunate enough to have lots of people to run with today. A good field always works to your advantage.” Although she was unsatisfied with her performance in Houston, White said that she and her teammates will aim for times in the low 2:30’s at the trials. With five members of the Hansons-Brooks team running the marathon, there is a good chance to make it to Beijing. “We’ve come a long way in the last year. Hopefully you’ll see one of us in the top 3 if not more than that,” White said. “The Olympic Trials only comes every four years. You’ve got to get out there and go for it.”