FERNANDEZ HAS SERIOUS ACHILLES INJURY
By David Monti
(c) 2008 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission.
Reigning
USA junior cross country champion, German Fernandez, sustained a
serious Achilles tendon injury before dropping out of today's NCAA
Division I Cross Country Championships in Terre Haute, Ind., with less
than two kilometers to go. Fernandez is a freshman at Oklahoma State
University, and had a realistic shot at making the podium.
Fernandez,
the 2008 Big 12 cross country champion, joined teammates Ryan Vail and
John Kosgei in moving up the pack throughout the race. The three had
gotten up to the second wave of runners in the field when Fernandez
sustained his injury and went down.
"This was a tough break for
us but this is how it goes sometimes," said Cowboys coach Dave Smith in
a statement posted on the team's website. "Ryan, German and John did a
great job of moving up the pack and were in a good position when the
injury happened. It’s very disappointing, but that’s how it goes. We
were looking at a very high finish – probably second or third – but
injuries are part of the sport and we have to accept that."
Doctors
will examine Fernandez when he returns to Stillwater where the
university is located, but the initial assessment is that the injury is
serious.
"German will need a lot of time off, but we won't know how much time until the doctors look at him," Smith concluded.
Oklahoma State finished eight in the championship with 205 points. They were ranked second going into the meet.