McKnight Qualifies for USA Olympic Team Marathon Trials

Cristina McKnight became the second ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE athlete to post a qualifying time for the 2020 USATF Olympic Team Marathon Trials as she debuted over the 26.2 mile distance with a time of 2:40:42. Her time was well under the 2:45:00 qualifying standard as she placed 11th overall in the women's field and was the 8th American finisher. This year's California International Marathon once again lived up to its excellent reputation for presenting the opportunity for multiple qualifiers over the course from Folsom to the California State Capitol in downtown Sacramento. 

Running with a large pack of Olympic Trials Qualifier hopefuls, McKnight ran splits of 18:48 at 5K, 37:33 at 10K, 56:42 at 15K, 1:15:34 at 20K, 1:19:36 at 13.1 miles (halfway), 1:34:29 at 25K, 1:53:24 at 30K, 2:12:39 at 35K and 2:32:07 at 40K. 

Cristina relocated to Greenville to join the post-collegiate, Olympic-development program in March 2019 with a half-marathon personal best of 1:18:21 and has seen steady improvement under the direction of Coach Laura Caldwell. They set a goal of qualifying for 2020 USA OT Marathon in Atlanta on February 29 and achieved that goal in spectacular fashion.

Eduardo Garcia had previously qualified back in January at the Chevon Houston Marathon, with a time of 2:18:50, but opted to represent the US Virgin Islands in last summer's Pan American Games in Lima, Peru and will not compete in Atlanta. 

GTC-ELITE was established in 2012. The program produced four qualifiers for the 2016 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Los Angeles and one qualifier/participant for the 2019 Pam American Games Marathon in. Lima, Peru. The post-collegiate, Olympic development program is sponsored by ASICS, the 47-year-old Greenville Track Club, Joy Real Estate,   generous individual contributors and partnerships with Performance Therapy, Carolina Spine and Rehab, Boston Bill Sunglasses, Roll Recovery products, FinalSurge (on-line training log), The ATI Running Academy, ElliptiGO, NormaTec Recovery Boots, Cocoa Elite recovery products, Stryd Running, Coach Bob Williams Pace Calculator, DorsiFlex and Synergy Performance (mental performance).  The club is a proud and active member of both the Road Runners Club of America and  USATF.