Matt Lane’s Olympic wait will last at least another four years.

Nick Rogers, the third-place finisher in the 5,000 meters at the U.S. Olympic Trials, secured his spot on the U.S. team by running faster than the Olympic “A” standard in a meet Saturday in Heusden, Belgium. If Rogers had not achieved the “A” standard before Sept. 11, Yarmouth native Lane, the fourth-place finisher at the trials, would have traveled to Sydney in his place for the Olympic Games.

“I was a little disappointed,” Lane admitted. “But [Rogers] ran a fantastic time. I’m not disappointed overall with my season.”

The top three finishers in each event at the trials were selected for the Olympic team. But in order for a country to send more than one aOlympic team. But in order for a country to send more than one athlete to the Olympics, they must all have achieved the “A” standard. Rogers had only achieved the “B” standard of 13 minutes, 34 seconds before the trials. Lane, on the other hand, had run faster than the “A” standard before the trials. Had Rogers failed to meet the mark, Lane would have been the next athlete selected for the team by virtue of his fourth-place finish.

Rogers clocked 13:18.50 Saturday. Ismael Kirui of Kenya won the race in 13:11.18.

At last month’s trials, Rogers timed 13:29.48 to Lane’s 13:37.03. Rogers will join the first- and second-place trials finishers, Adam Goucher and Brad Hauser, in Sydney.

Lane said he has been training as if he were a member of the Olympic team, and he will continue to stay in shape in case there is an injury and he is called to represent his country. Beyond that, he is looking ahead to the collegiate season. The 22-year-old will enter his fifth year at William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va., in the fall.

Lane has earned nine All-America awards in cross country, indoor and outdoor track and has eligibility remaining for indoor and outdoor track.

“I’ll [concentrate on training] for the track. I haven’t looked at what’s possible. I’d like to win an NCAA championship, and the American collegiate record [at 5K] is a possibility,” he said.

The 13:27.84 5K Lane ran in a meet at Stanford this spring was the fourth fastest ever for an American collegian.

He said he will also keep his Olympic hopes alive for 2004.

“I just want to keep moving forward every year, doing different things, increasing my intensity and mileage. I’ve got a lot of room to grow. I’m not scared that I’ve already reached my potential,” Lane said.

Mainers pace U.S. racewalk team

Caitlin Bonney of New Sharon and Ben Shorey of Ellsworth helped pace their respective U.S. Junior national racewalk teams to victories over Canada at Sunday’s 10K North American championship in Edmonton, Alberta. Bonney and Shorey both placed second overall in their races.

Bonney, a senior at Mt. Blue High of Farmington, circled the track in 57 minutes, 46 seconds, trailing only U.S. teammate Robyn Stevens of California (57:11). Anne Favolise of Columbia and Narraguagus High of Harrington aided the U.S. team with a seventh-place finish.

Shorey sacrificed a chance for the individual gold to boost the overall success of the U.S. squad. Shorey raced the entire distance head-to-head with teammate Tristan Ruoss of Arkansas. But because Ruoss received two red cards during the first 9K of the event (three red cards result in an automatic disqualification), Shorey chose not to challenge Ruoss with a sprint finish, lest his teammate be disqualified in the heat of the competition. Shorey crossed the line two seconds behind Ruoss, who finished in 47:00.

Dan Pendergast of New Sweden, a recent graduate of Caribou High, bolstered the U.S. success by placing fourth.

Four of the nine members of the men’s and women’s U.S. teams hailed from Maine.

Hickman accustomed to adversity

Libbie Hickman, the second-place finisher in Saturday’s Beach to Beacon 10K road race in Cape Elizabeth, might have been disappointed after falling just short of defeating Catherine Ndereba of Kenya in a women’s race that was so close most spectators couldn’t tell who finished first. But the Olympic-bound Colorado runner wasn’t going to let it spoil a beautiful day in Maine.

“I’ll enjoy the gorgeous day, get to the beach, and move on to the next race. I’m not going to do anything about [contesting the outcome of the race] at all,” she said.

Hickman’s husband Walter issued an appeal of the officials’ ruling at the finish line, but his protests did not alter the decision that Ndereba had beaten Hickman.

“There’s nothing wrong with finishing first-second,” Hickman quipped. “… My husband keeps going over the tape [of the finish], but I sprinted as hard as I could and I still ran a good race… In my mind I can just think that I won.”

Hickman has dealt with disappointment in her career before. This winter, she came into the U.S. Olympic marathon trials with the fastest time of all the competitors, 2 hours, 28 minutes, 27 seconds. But at the trials she finished eighth on a hot and humid day in Columbia, S.C. She finished two seconds ahead of Beach to Beacon race founder and Cape Elizabeth native Joan Benoit Samuelson.

Samuelson, the 1984 Olympic gold medalist, ran the fastest time ever by a masters (age 40 and over) runner at the trials, clocking 2:39.59.

But Hickman turned that setback into a positive, refocusing her training for the track and qualifying for the U.S. team at 10K last month at the trials in Sacramento, Calif. Hickman was third at the trials (31:58.68) behind Deena Drossin (31:51.05) and Jen Rhines (31:58.34).

Hickman said training for the marathon trials prevented her from peaking too early for the Olympics because she was forced to take a rest after that grueling race.

“I’ve got two months to prepare [for the Olympics]. At least I’m not peaked and coming down,” she said.

Hickman added that the controversy at the finish won’t keep her from coming back to the race next year.

“I’ll give Joan a little bit of an elbow here or there so she’ll make it extra special that I come back next year,” she joked.

Elites keep each other in top form

Many of the elite runners in the Beach to Beacon aren’t only competitors, they are also training partners.

Second-place finisher Simson Limareng of Kenya has been living in Mexico and training with eighth-place finisher German Silva of Mexico. In the fall, Silva will relocate to New York to train with fifth-place finisher Khalid Khannouchi of New York. Limareng will go back to Kenya. Silva had traveled to Kenya to train back in December and January.

“I’ll train with Khalid. We’re good friends,” Silva said. “I feel honored to train with him.”

Silva is a two-time winner of the New York Marathon and he plans to run it again in the fall. Khannouchi also wants to run a fall marathon but has not decided which one.

Silva was also enthusiastic about Limareng and the other men he trained with in Kenya.

“I’m impressed how quickly they improve. I spend more than seven years [training to get to this level], and they can reach that level in just one year,” he said.