Webb Defeats Ritzenhein in Strong 10,000m Debut By David Monti (c) 2006 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
PALO
ALTO (30-Apr-2006) -- Alan Webb made a strong 10,000m debut here tonight,
just nipping Dathan Ritzenhein in the final sprint to finish in
27:34.72, to 27:35.65. In doing so, Webb became the 8th-fastest
American of all-time over the distance, and Ritzenhein --who set a
personal best time-- became the 9th-fastest surpassing Bruce Bickford
and Bob Kennedy.
"I thought I could run with these guys," said
Webb who was clearly pleased that he had won the race. "It's hard to
know what would happen; it's such a long way."
Gabe Jennings and
Michael Aish took the field through 1000m in 2:44.7 and 2000m in
5:28.1. Both Webb and Ritzenhein followed the pace, as did Matt
Gonzales who would later fade. Jennings stepped off the track after
2400m, and Aish continued to set a strong pace. The New Zealander took
the contenders through 3000m in 8:15.8 and took them to 4000m in
11:02.0 before retiring.
At that point, Webb and Ritzenhein began to share the lead as they had agreed before the race.
"We decided to switch every 800m," Ritzenhein explained after the race.
It
was Webb who was on the front through 5-K in 13:48.1, but Ritz who led
at 6-K in 16:34.9. The small but appreciative crowd at Stanford
University was getting worked up with every lap as stadium announcer
Scott Davis continued to call out the splits which showed they were
well under 27:45 pace.
Just slightly behind the leading pair,
Anthony Famiglietti was also making an excellent 10,000m debut. He was
running alone about nine seconds back at half-way, but in the second
half the Olympic steeplechaser began to eat into their lead.
The
laps ticked by, Webb leading Ritzenhein, Ritzenhein leading Webb.
Passing 8000m in 22:09.9 they were still on target, and Famiglietti had
now closed the gap to only six seconds. Both athletes were beginning
to fight both mental and physical fatigue.
"About 6-K, I was saying, 'Man, 10 more laps!'" Webb recalled thinking.
"I didn't know if I had it in me with a couple of laps to go," Ritzehein said.
It
was Ritzenhein who took the bell and observers punched their
stopwatches to see who would be fastest over the last lap. The pair
rounded the final turn together, and Webb put the hammer down in the
homestraight. Ritzenhein relented, but Webb continued to sprint right
through the finish line. His last lap was completed in just under 61
seconds.
"It's really cool," Webb said of his debut at the
distance before heading off for his cool down run. His coach, Scott
Raczko, told reporters that despite his athlete's success here tonight
at the 25-lap distance, he was sticking to the mile this summer.
"This
was always in the plan to run a 10-K," he said. "I don't know who the
rumor got out there, but he's not planning to move up (to the 5000m)."
Ritzenhein
was pleased that he had put his 2007 World Championships qualifying
time in the bank (27:49.00) and when he races the 10,000m at Hengelo on
May 28, he's free to try for an even faster time.
"I can take
some risks," Ritzenhein said after explaining that he had dedicated
tonight's race to a friend, Matthew Weber, who had died last Thursday
of wounds he had suffered in a roadside attack while serving in Iraq
last November. "He finally went on Thursday. I was thinking 'Matt,
Matt, Matt' the whole way."
Famiglietti put in the fastest final lap, clocking 59.3 seconds to finish a solid third in 27:37.74. The New Yorker was elated.
"This
is what it's all about," said Famiglietti who admitted that he really
wanted to better Todd Williams's personal best of 27:31.34. "It's
great when it all comes together in one race. " *Results below, recap from Oakland Tribune Here
RecordTiming.com - Contractor License
Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational - 4/30/2006
Stanford University --Stanford, California
Event 20 Men 10000 Meter Run Kim McDonald
===============================================================
Name Year School Finals
===============================================================
Finals
1 Alan Webb Nike 27:34.72
2 Dathan Ritzenhein Nike 27:35.65
3 Anthony Famiglietti Adidas 27:37.74
4 Christian Belz Puma 28:02.46
5 Mario Macias Adams State 28:02.73
6 Brandon Leslie Unattached 28:10.59
7 Matt Gonzales Nike 28:22.33
8 Ryan Kirkpatrick Gordon 28:26.62
9 Nef Araia Stanford 28:27.43
10 Dan Browne Nike 28:27.71
11 Carlos Ramero Mexico 28:32.61
12 Monder Rizki Belgium 28:33.43
13 Jason Lehmkuhle TeamMN 28:33.90
14 Jason Hartmann Nike 28:35.63
15 Fasil Bizuneh Big Sur Dist 28:59.01
16 Matt Lane Nike Farm Team 29:03.20
17 Pablo Olmedo Mexico 29:09.77
18 Patrick Gildea Nyac 29:17.66
19 Kyle Goklish Unattached 29:53.01
20 Mark Stallings Red Rose DP 30:20.46
-- Joe Thorne Texas DNF
-- Patrick Moulton Boston AA DNF
-- Michael Aish Nike DNF
-- Gabe Jennings Unattached DNF
-- Andrew Smith Gordon DNF
-- Jacob Korir Eastern Kentucky DNS
-- Bolota Asmerom Nike DNS
-- Joe Driscoll Zap Fitness DNS
-- John McGuire Stanford DNS
-- Viktor Rothlin Stv Alpnach, Swi DNS
-- Alistair Cragg Adidas DNS
