SONGOK UPSETS RUPP, KIPYEGO CRUISES IN NCAA 10,000m
Day 2 Recap of 2007 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships by Mike Scott (c) 2007 Race Results Weekly. Used with permission.
Sacramento,
Calif. (07-Jun) -- Texas Tech's Sally Kipyego won the
women's 10,000
meters as expected on the second day of the NCAA Division I Track &
Field Championships at Sacramento Hornet Stadium, but Texas
A&M-Corpus Christi's Shadrack Songok upset favored Galen Rupp in
the men's 10,000.
Fans eagerly anticipated the men's 10,000. Rupp, a junior at
the University of Oregon, had lowered the collegiate 10,000 meter
record to 27:33.48 in late April a week after defeating Wisconsin's
defending 5000 champ Chris Solinsky at that distance, giving credence
to those who had already awarded him the mantle of "America's Next
Great Distance Runner."
Challenging Rupp were BYU's Josh Rohatinsky, the reigning NCAA
harrier champ, Josh McDougal, who led the nation at 5000 with a
13:20.43 and showed 3:57 mile speed as well as 28:27.65 10k this
spring, Wisconsin's Tim Nelson (28:
04.46 '07), UTEP's Stephen Samoei (28:07.65 '07), and Songok, who
brought with him a 28:16.47 PB.
Despite
the august credentials of this field, the early pace was quite
pedestrian with New Mexico's Jeremy Johnson and UTEP's Japeth Ng'ojoy
leading the tightly bunched field through early splits of 4:37 for the
mile, 8:
48.74 at 3000, and 14:45.12 at 5000. Rohatinsky and Songok sat right
behind the leaders, while Rupp appeared content to run on the inside
back in eighth or tenth and McDougal running off his shoulder.
Songok
took over pacemaking duties just after the midpoint but the tempo
remained relatively calm with all major players still in contention at
8k (passed in 23:37).
Rupp moved up to Songok's shoulder with a mile remaining, then
surged into the lead along the back stretch with 1000 to go (9k split
26:23.87) with McDougal, Songok, Wisconsin's Nelson, and LaSalle's Sean
Quigley all in full chase. Rupp continued to lead through the bell,
with McDougal and Songok right on his shoulder.
Coming off the final turn, Songok launched a furious sprint to
edge past and away from Rupp along the homestretch to win in 28:55.83,
recording a 58.2 final circuit of the track.
"I've been
preparing for this since indoors," said Songok, who earned Texas
A&M Corpus Christi the school's first ever NCAA championship in any
sport. "I've been building my kick all along this spring, but I did
know everybody else had a good kick."
Rupp was just behind in 28:56.19 for his second NCAA runner-up honors to go along with the silver he earned in 2005.
"The
plan was to sit back along the rail and relax," said Rupp. "With three
laps to go, I wanted to really press the pace. I give him [Songok]
credit – he finished strong and also led a majority of the race so he
did his share."
McDougal claimed third in 28:58.28, while LaSalle's Quigley
finished fourth and Wisconsin's Nelson fifth in 28:59.29 and 29:00.75
respectively.
Little Drama as Kipyego Claims Fourth Title of the Year
The women's 10,000 lacked much of the drama of the men's
10,000. Texas Tech's Kipyego ran away from the rest of the country at
last fall's NCAA cross country championships, then dominated the 3000
and 5000 at the NCAA indoor championships. Earlier this spring, the
native of Marakwet, Kenya shattered the collegiate 10,000 record to
lower it to 31:
56.72.
Since Kipyego is also entered in the 5000 meters at this
championship in her bid to become the first ever to win the five
longest NCAA titles in one academic year, she was content to allow
others to do the work during the early stages of the race.
Arizona
State's Amy Hastings, who entered the meet with the second fastest mark
-- 32:30.37 -- was content to lead for over half the race, passing the
mile in 5:33 and the 5000 in 16:51. Kipyego ran comfortably on her
shoulder, while Georgetown's Melissa Grelli, Providence's Aine Hoban,
BYU's Whitney McDonald, Iowa's Diane Nukuri, and UCSB's Stephanie
Rothstein maintained contact.
The only "excitement" during the early stages of the race came
when Providence's Hoban took a tumble along the backstretch just after
6k. Hoban quickly regained her feet and quickly worked her way back
into the pack.
With just over 6 laps remaining, Kipyego asserted herself and
quickly opened up a small but clear lead over the chase pack of Grelli,
Hoban, and Hastings.
Kipyego appeared to be watching the video
feed on the stadium's "jumbotron" scoreboard each lap to carefully
gauge her effort so that she could conserve energy for Friday's 5000
final, actions which she confirmed after the race.
"I watched the big screen," said Kipyego. "I know I still have the 5000 tomorrow so I didn't want to use up all my energy."
Kipyego cruised home to win in 32:55.71.
Behind her, Grelli finished strongest to earn runner up honors in 33:
01.56, with Hoban claiming bronze in 33:04.32 and Hastings fourth in 33:08.27.
In
Thursday's qualifying action, yearly leader Katie Erdman (Michigan) led
much of the first 800 meter semi to win in 2:03.60 with Cornell's
Morgan Uceny (2:
03.74) and Oregon's defending outdoor champion Rebekah Noble (2:04.02)
claiming the next two automatic qualifying positions. Cal's Alysia
Johnson, the reigning NCAA indoor champion, and Minnesota's Heather
Dorniden, the 2006 indoor champion, claimed the top two places in the
second heat with times of 2:
02.73 and 2:03.13 respectively.
Favorites Andrew Ellerton
(Michigan), the yearly leader, and Ryan Brown (Washington), the 2006
outdoor and 2007 indoor champ, cruised through their 800 semifinal
today. Brown sat in the back of the pack, then moved up over the final
200 to claim third in 1:
48.41
behind Southern California's Duane Solomon (1:47.76) and Mississippi
State's Golden Coachman (1:47.89). Ellerton also used a strong final
lap to secure the second auto qualifying spot in 1:48.65 behind UTEP's
Elias Koech's 1:
48.64.
UNC's Brie Felnagle, the collegiate leader, won the
first heat of the women's 1500 meters in 4:19.86 over Michigan's Nicole
Edwards (4:20.09), Tennessee's Sarah Bowman (4:20.25), and Villanova's
Akilah Vargas (4:
20.57). Florida State's Susan Kuijken lowered her seasonal best by
over six seconds to win the second heat in 4:15.68 ahead of an
apparently relaxed Arianna Lambie (Stanford), who finished a stride
behind in 4:16.04 with Arkansas' Dacia Barr claiming third and Oral
Roberts' Mable Kunihira fourth in 4:
17.20 and 4:17.78 respectively.
Northern Arizona's Lopez
Lomong, the indoor 3000 champion, won the first heat of the men's 1500
prelims in 3:42.00, well ahead of Stanford's Garrett Heath (3:44.30),
Rice's Pablo Solares (3:
44.42), and Providence's Max Smith (3:44.54). The loaded second
section was won by defending champion Vincent Rono (South Alabama) in
3:41.77, with Stanford's Russell Brown (3:42.01) -- the indoor mile
runner-up -- second, 2005 NCAA champ Leonel Manzano (Texas; 3:
42.13) -- the indoor mile champ -- third, and Colorado's Stephen Pfifer
(3:42.29) -- third in the indoor mile -- fourth.
Friday's
championship activity features finals in the men's and women's
steeplechase as well as the men's and women's 5000-meters.