USA Team 12th at Yokohama Ekiden Relay

Ethiopia defeated defending champion Russia at the Yokohama Ekiden Marathon Relay on Sunday. The US team, led off on the opening 5K leg by Team USA Minnesota's Mandy Zemba, finished 12th. Ethiopia's time was 2:14:47. Japan finished second in 2:16:41, followed by Russia in 2:20:47. The US team's time was 2:25:53. Japan's Yuriko Kobayashi ran the fastest time for the opening 5K leg of 15:04. The Ethiopians broke the race open on the third leg and maintained their lead over the remaining three legs.

Zemba ran 15:40 for her leg, two seconds off her best run on the track last spring. She handed off the sash to teammate Stephanie Rothstein with the USA team in eighth place. After her 10K leg, Rothstein passed the sash to Delilah DiCrescenzo(pictured above) running her 6K leg.

Photo Courtesy of USATF