LetsRun.com's 2009 USATF Coverage:  A Preview Of The Men's 10,000 Final
Plus A look At 1st Rounds Of Men's Steeple, 1,500 & 800

This 10k is going to be a real treat for the distance-oriented fans in Eugene. It is loaded with talent and features an Oregon Duck, Galen Rupp, as the favorite. Rupp will be wearing his Oregon jersey for the very last time and that will mean he will be the darling of the crowd as the crowd loves the Ducks (way more than they love the imported OTC guys).

Consider that only 43 Americans in history have broken 28:00-flat in history and this race features 10 guys who have done it. And it's not like it's full of guys that ran 27-something 4 or 5 years ago and aren't in good form. Eight of the 10 have gone sub-28:00 since the start of 2008. The two that haven't done it that recently are two of the bigger names in the field in Dathan Ritzenhein and Meb Keflezighi. It's also worth noting that there were three others in Adam Goucher, Fasil Bizuneh and Anthony "Fam" Famiglietti, who have also gone under 28:00 but elected not to run in Eugene.

We know the pace will be hot from the gun as, despite the fact that the race has so many sub-28 guys, only four of the guys have hit the new cruelly-lowered IAAF Standard of 27:47.00. We say "cruelly-lowered standard" because Scott Bauhs ran 27:48.06 last year which was under the Olympic A standard of 27:50.

The Four A Standard Guys
Those with the standard are Galen Rupp (27:36.99 at the Olympics last year), Abdi Abdirahman (27:16.99 from last year), Tim Nelson (27:36.99 this year at Stanford on May 2nd) and Jorge Torres (27:46.33 from last year).

Assuming the weather holds up (projections of 13 mph winds make us a little bit scared), we certainly expect this race to be a sub-27:47 race and we think those four, along with Bauhs, Ritzenhein and Keflezighi, are more than capable of running that type of time in Eugene.

To be honest, based on their history and recent peformances, we'd be surprised if the other three guys in the race who have gone sub-28:00 - Ed Moran (27:52), Josh Rohatinsky (27:54) and James Carney (27:58) - go sub-27:47 in Eugene, but there is a reason why the race is held, so they can't be totally discounted.

Everyone else in the field we are 100% discounting for a top 3 finish.

Rupp Or Abdi?
But who will win? Most people expect this to be a two-person affair in the end - a battle royale between Abdi Abdirahman and Galen Rupp - just as it was last year. We have to agree.

We felt that when Rupp ran in the 27:30s in the less-than-ideal conditions of Beijing, that he was in near-American record (27:13.98) shape last year. Considering he just finished one of the greatest collegiate seasons and history and seems to be at a much higher level in 2009 than in 2008, it's hard to think Rupp won't get some sweet revenge on Abidrahman. If there was a professional rabbit and ideal conditions, we'd probably predict an American record for the 23-year-old.

So if Rupp might be in American record shape, it's hard to see him losing, particularly when one considers the biggest development for Rupp this year has been that he has developed a lethal kick. The guy that used to never be able to win a race has won nearly everything in 2009 thanks to a new lethal kick. Rupp closed the PAC-10 10k in 54 looking over his shoulder and the PAC-10 1,500 in 52.2 or 52.3. At NCAAs, he went 2:25 his last 1k of the 5k and he wasn't even going all-out in the last straight.

Abdirahman hasn't had a particularly impressive 2009, as he's only run one race - a disappointing 29:02 10k in Central Park on May 16. However, in a recent interview with Running Times, Abdi seemed very positive about how his training has been going. He said, "My fitness is great. It's better than it's ever been. I'm doing long runs better than ever and training is going well."

But talking big and running big aren't necessarily one in the same (we've rarely seen a runner discount his chances before a big race), so it would be a leap of faith to think Abdi is going to win this race, as he likely needs to be in best shape of his life to beat Rupp and his results in 2009 don't indicate that is the case. However, if you are looking for a reason to bet against Rupp, then you probably are aware of the fact that Rupp hasn't had to run fast in a distance race all spring.

We imagine Rupp's fit as hell, as the end of his races have been incredible. However, there is a difference between kicking off a slow pace and a fast pace. Moreover, Rupp has been racing a ton for a long time as he was the star of the NCAA indoor meet back in March. Rupp has said that 2009 is the "year of Oregon" so if you are an Abdi fan, we guess you can try telling yourself that Rupp's not really fit as it's hard to maintain your fitness when you are racing so much over such a long period of time.

Go ahead and lie to yourself if you want, but we think Rupp is going to put the crowd into a frenzy with a devastating kick that simply destroys everyone else in the field.

If it ends up that Abdi isn't really fit but has just been talking big, then the guy we think that is most likely to challenge Rupp is the OTC's Tim Nelson. The former Wisconsin Badger is, like Rupp, having a dream-like 2009. Second at the US 15k, 2nd at US XC, any heart-ache he had about narrowily missing his first national titles probably instantly vanished when he ran 27+ second PR at Stanford on May 2nd and won in 27:36.99.

A Look At Time - Nelson & Others
In that race, Nelson won going away as the 2nd place finisher, Arkansas Razorback Shawn Forrest, ran 27:52.10. So Nelson beats Forrest by 15+ seconds and then Forrest put up a good fight against Rupp in the 10k at NCAAs. So on paper, Nelson might make it interesting. He's surprised people all spring. Can he do it again?

Meb Keflezighi and Dathan Ritzenhein both come into the 10k after running PRs in April's London Marathon. Keflezighi, the American record holder at 10k, should never be discounted if he's in good form and so far in 2009 he's been in great form, as he set a PR in the Houston half (61:25) before beating Nelson to win US XC, before PRing again in London, albeit in the somewhat disappointing time of 2:09:21.

The 26-year-old Ritzenhein has been running fairly well - just a step or two behind Meb all year. He ran 61:35 at Houston before running 2:10:00 in London. Ritz did run a 5k a few weeks ago. Some might think his 5k of 13:34 on June 11th in Toronto was less than stellar, but we think it's pretty encouraging. It was his first race back and he did run 27:38 way back in 2004 when his 5k PR was only 13:27.77.

But considering that both Meb and Ritz are coming into this race with limited preparation, it's hard to see them beating Rupp, as they'd still be the underdogs even if this was their sole focus for 2009. Moreover, Meb is 34 and he set his AR 8 years ago.

What About Jorge?
That pretty much leaves us with Jorge Torres. Jorge's 2009 results have been mixed so far. 4th at US XC, 5th at the US 15k, Jorge then only ran 13:54 at the adidas Track classic when the race was won in 13:16. Since then, he ran 28:16 for 10k in Eugene on June 6th.
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However, we caught up to Jorge on facebook of all places and we shouldn't let that 28:16 dissuade us as Jorge was only rabbiting the race for his twin brother Ed.

Jorge wrote, "I ran the 10k a few weeks ago here in Eugene. I wasn't planning on running the whole 10k because I was only here to help pace through 6 or 7k. When I looked back at 6k, I realized that Ed was on his own so I made the decision to help pace him through the entire 10k. So for me to run 28:16 was a just a good workout for me."

"Tomorrow I'm looking to make another USA team. Stick my nose in the race to make the team and maybe even surprise some people by winning another 10k title."

LRC Predictions: 1) Rupp wins - we're very confident in that 2) Abdi? 3) Nelson. We quite honestly have no idea where to pick Abdi.

Section 1  Timed Finals
  1  David Jankowski                  Hansons-Brooks     28:55.68        
  2  Edward Moran                     Nike               27:52.10        
  3  Jeremy Johnson                   Team Indiana/Brk   28:33.08        
  4  Michael Krisch                   Georgetown         28:58.48        
  5  Mikhail Sayenko                  unattached         28:25.85        
  6  Stephen Haas                     Team Indiana/Brk   28:21.42        
  7  Lucas Meyer                      Boston A A         28:48.94        
  8  Scott Bauhs                      adidas             27:48.06        
  9  Galen Rupp                       Oregon             27:36.99        
 10  Seth Pilkington                  New Balance        28:25.56        
 11  Sean Houseworth                  unattached         28:33.71        
 12  Patrick Smyth                    unattached         28:25.85        
 13  Josh Rohatinsky                  Nike               27:54.00        
 14  Juan Carlos Trujillo             unattached         28:52.26        
 15  Dathan Ritzenhein                Nike               28:05.31        
 16  Tim Nelson                       Oregon TC El       27:36.99        
 17  James Strang                     Arkansas           28:29.27        
 18  Joshua Moen                      Team USA Min/Str   28:26.26        
 19  Abdi Abdirahman                  Nike               27:16.99        
 20  Edwardo Torres                   Reebok             28:16.87        
 21  Jorge Torres                     Reebok             27:46.33        
 22  Michael Kilburg                  Hansons-Brooks     28:20.57        
 23  Meb Keflezighi                   Nike               28:28.24        
 24  Luke Puskedra                    Oregon             28:34.17        
 25  Forest Braden                    Brooks I D         28:35.36        
 26  Louis Luchini                    Oregon TC El       28:26.61        
 27  Charlie Serrano                  unattached         28:39.77        
 28  James Carney                     New Balance        27:58.81        

Men's 1,500 1st Round
USATF has done it again. Somehow they've yet again managed to screw it up. Last year, they capriciously kept people from realizing their dream of running the Olympic Trials for no reason and this year they are letting anyone with a pulse run USAs. We find it curious that the field is way larger than last year's Olympic Trials despite Doug Logan and Project 40's pleas for smaller more elite USA champs.

The men's 1,500 features 51 people. Now, don't misunderstand our criticisms. We actually think that's about the right number of people to have in the meet - but only if there are three rounds. We'd go for 4 heats of 12 with 3 rounds. You eliminate half the people in the first round and half in the semis. 48 to 24 to 12. Very simple and clean.

Instead, we have a joke of a race. 4 heats and only the top 2 automatically advance. Does USATF understand that the 1,500 is normally a very tactical race? Apparently not, as in the women's 1,500, they are having 6 time qualifiers.

Heat 3 is by far the most interesting. If everyone who is entered shows up, you've got the following people in this heat. 2009 NCAA 800 champ Andrew Wheating, 2009 NCAA 1,500 champ German Fernandez, 3:37er Will Leer (who was 4th at the Trials last year), and 3:36 guys Andy McClary and Steve Sherer - although truth be told we'd bet a ton of money that neither McClary or Sherer are in 3:36 form right now. Plus a 3:56 miler in David Torrence. And oh yeah, one more guy - American mile record holder Alan Webb.

This is actually a great heat, though, for Webb to be in, as we doubt he's very confident in his kick. Everyone should just assume German will take this heat out if he ends up running it and Webb might advance on time. Predictions for the heat if everyone shows up: 1) Fernandez 2) Wheating 3) Leer 4) Webb. However, we'd be totally shocked if Wheating actually toed the starting line. We imagine he'll scratch unless he falls or something in the 800 prelim, which is first, as he's double-entered in the 800 and 1,500.

As for Fernandez, who is double-entered in the 1,500 and 5k, he'd probably be more competitive at the senior level right now at 1,500 and might even make top 3. But he's had a long season and if he gets top 3, there would be a lot of pressure for him to extend his season. We imagine he'll probably end up in the 5k as the AJR is an enticing goal.

More: USA 1,500 Semifinal Qualification Format and Process - What the heck do you do with 49 entrants?
*USATF 1,500 Men Start Lists: Heat 3 Is ABSURD

Event 9  Men 1500 Meter Run
===============================================================================
12 Advance:  Top 2 Each Heat plus Next 4 Best Times
Thursday 6/25/2009 - 7:05 PM
       World:  3:26.00  7/7/1998    Hicham El Guerrouj, MAR                    
    American:  3:29.30  8/28/2005   Bernard Lagat, Nike                        
     Hayward:  3:32.81  2007        Daniel K. Komen, Kenya                     
     Name                        Year Team                   Seed           
===============================================================================
Heat 1  Prelims
  1  Garrett Heath                    Stanford            3:37.57        
  2  John Jefferson                   Oregon TC El        3:39.55        
  3  Dorian Ulrey                     Arkansas            3:39.83        
  4  Andrew Jesien                    Virginia            3:41.89        
  5  Rob Myers                        Reebok              3:36.23        
  6  Liam Boylan-Pett                 Georgetown          3:41.11        
  7  Korey Edwards                    unattached          3:44.41        
  8  Mark Matusak                     California          3:43.70        
  9  Cory Nanni                       Duke                3:43.02        
 10  Ian Cronin                       unattached          3:44.09        
 11  Patrick Sovacool                 Miami/Ohio          3:43.27        
 12  Michael Coe                      California          3:56.18        
 13  William Berlin                   Virginia Tech       3:42.78        
Heat 2  Prelims
  1  Emory Gibbs                      unattached          3:41.65        
  2  Tommy Schmitz                    Wisconsin Runner    3:41.46        
  3  Erik Van Ingen                   Binghamton          3:43.18        
  4  Lopez Lomong                     Nike                3:36.70        
  5  Daniel Castle                    unattached          3:44.08        
  6  Jonathan Pierce                  unattached          3:44.75        
  7  Macklin Chaffee                  unattached          3:44.71        
  8  Christopher Lukezic              Reebok              3:37.32        
  9  Austin Abbott                    unattached          3:39.63        
 10  David Juiliano                   New Balance B       3:43.18        
 11  Derek Scott                      Team Indiana/Brk    3:39.63        
 12  Russell Brown                    Oregon TC El        3:43.79        
 13  Benjamin True                    unattached          3:42.41        
Heat 3  Prelims
  1  William Leer                     Oregon TC El        3:37.63        
  2  Andrew Wheating                  Oregon              3:40.92        
  3  Alan Webb                        Nike                3:35.86        
  4  Alex Tatu                        Ragged Mountain     3:44.30        
  5  Adam Perkins                     unattached          3:43.34        
  6  Brian Graybill                   Missouri            3:42.80        
  7  David Torrence                   unattached          3:56.75        
  8  Matthew Elliott                  unattached          3:43.61        
  9  Chad Hall                        Cal Riverside       3:44.12        
 10  German Fernandez                 Oklahoma St         3:39.00        
 11  Andy McClary                     Arkansas            3:41.96        
 12  Steve Sherer                     N Y A C             3:39.97        
Heat 4  Prelims
  1  Scott Smith                      U C Santa Barb      3:44.28        
  2  Stephen Pifer                    Oregon TC El        3:40.28        
  3  Jeff See                         Ohio State          3:40.46        
  4  Darren Brown                     unattached          3:58.35        
  5  Daniel Strackeljahn              unattached          3:42.67        
  6  Tim Cornell                      Missouri            3:44.15        
  7  Aucencio Martinez                Boulder R C         3:43.38        
  8  Gabriel Jennings                 unattached          3:58.25        
  9  Leonel Manzano                   Nike                3:34.14        
 10  Jordan McNamara                  Oregon              3:42.09        
 11  Craig Miller                     unattached          3:37.81        
 12  John Bolas                       unattached          3:37.64        
 13  Michael Wickman                  Chico State         3:43.52        
    

Men's 800 1st Round
These heats don't have the right amount of people either. It should be 4 heats of 8 in our minds, which get reduced to two heats of 8. Instead, you have 3 heats of 9 and one of 10, meaning that elite 800 guys won't start in lanes. Ridiculous.

Like the 1,500, heat 3 is the most interesting as it has Olympians and NCAA champs Andrew Wheating and Jonathan Johnson in it, as well as former NCAA runners-up in Kevin Hicks and Tevan Everett, plus LRC hero Golden Coachman. The class of these fields are the young guys - Wheating and Everett. In our minds, they are two of the top 3 in the US right now. We think Everett is that good and know that Wheating is.

One other thing to note is a disappointing one. 2008 NCAA outdoor champ and 2009 NCAA indoor champ Jacob Hernandez apparently isn't recovered from his injury that kept him out of NCAAs and isn't entered. Hopefully that injury didn't cost him a ton of money but we imagine it did.

Event 7  Men 800 Meter Run
===============================================================================
16 Advance:  Top 3 Each Heat plus Next 4 Best Times
Thursday 6/25/2009 - 5:35 PM
 2 Alleys
       World:  1:41.11  8/24/1997   Wilson Kipketer, KEN                       
    American:  1:42.60  8/28/1985   Johnny Gray, Santa Monica TC               
     Hayward:  1:44.01  2008        Alfred Kirwa Yego, Kenya                   
     Name                        Year Team                   Seed           
===============================================================================
Heat 1  Prelims
  1  Khadevis Robinson                Nike                1:45.53        
  2  Anthony Luna                     Metropolitan St     1:47.90        
  3  Matt Scherer                     Oregon TC El        1:46.53        
  4  Bernard Lagat                    Nike                     NT        
  5  David Krummenacker               unattached          1:47.38        
  6  Duane Solomon                    unattached          1:45.78        
  7  Mark Wieczorek                   Oregon TC El        1:47.11        
  8  Christopher Bilbrew              Arkansas            1:48.30        
  9  Michael Rutt                     Connecticut         1:46.47        
 10  Cory Primm                       U C L A             1:47.95        
Heat 2  Prelims
  1  Michael Carmody                  unattached          1:47.96        
  2  Gered Burns                      N Y A C             1:47.07        
  3  Dustin Emrani                    Pride Products      1:48.27        
  4  Brandon Shaw                     Oregon TC El        1:46.45        
  5  Jason Collett                    Kansas State        1:47.39        
  6  Jeffrey Fisher                   S M T C             1:47.85        
  7  Tetlo Emmen                      unattached          1:46.04        
  8  Christian Smith                  Nike                1:45.47        
  9  Brian Gagnon                     Connecticut         1:46.56        
Heat 3  Prelims
  1  Golden Coachman                  U.S. Army           1:47.82        
  2  Steve Ludwig                     Wisconsin           1:48.23        
  3  Andrew Wheating                  Oregon              1:45.03        
  4  Marcus Mayes                     unattached          1:48.14        
  5  Carlos Phillips                  Florida             1:47.48        
  6  Kevin Hicks                      Oregon TC El        1:46.97        
  7  Jonathan Johnson                 Reebok              1:46.05        
  8  Raphael Asafo-agyei              unattached          1:46.70        
  9  Tevan Everett                    unattached          1:46.27        
Heat 4  Prelims
  1  Sean Tully                       unattached          1:46.84        
  2  Nicholas Symmonds                Oregon TC El        1:44.10        
  3  Alex McClary                     Arkansas            1:47.78        
  4  Mason McHenry                    Arizona St.         1:47.76        
  5  Ryan Brown                       Asics               1:46.17        
  6  Andrew Dawson                    unattached          1:48.23        
  7  Kenneth Jesensky                 unattached          1:48.17        
  8  Tyler Mulder                     Northern Iowa       1:46.80        
  9  Karjuan Williams                 unattached          1:46.06        
    

Men's Steeplechase 1st Round
Not much too note here really other than the fact that while US distance running is flourshing right now in the 1,500, 5k and 10k, it's really a struggle in the steeple, as this is a fairly weak field with Famiglietti not in it.

Event 19  Men 3000 Meter Steeplechase
===============================================================================
14 Advance:  Top 4 Each Heat plus Next 6 Best Times
Thursday 6/25/2009 - 7:25 PM
       World:  7:53.63  9/3/2004    Saif Shaheen, QAT                          
    American:  8:08.82  7/14/2006   Daniel Lincoln, Nike                       
     Hayward:  8:08.08  2007        Paul Koech, Kenya                          
     Name                        Year Team                   Seed           
===============================================================================
Heat 1  Prelims
  1  Kyle Perry                       unattached          8:29.24        
  2  Jacques Sallberg                 unattached          8:37.97        
  3  Jordan Fife                      Team Indiana/Brk    8:37.47        
  4  Steven Strickland                unattached          8:42.71        
  5  Donald Cowart                    V M I               8:44.66        
  6  Kyle Alcorn                      Nike                8:21.46        
  7  Aaron Melhorn                    Malone              8:39.74        
  8  Aaron Aguayo                     Nike                8:40.40        
  9  Ryan Gasper                      Wisconsin           8:43.42        
 10  Steve Slattery                   Nike                8:30.49        
 11  William Nelson                   Oregon TC El        8:21.47        
 12  Ryan Warrenburg                  ZAP Fitness         8:45.16        
Heat 2  Prelims
  1  Luke Watson                      adidas              8:43.49        
  2  Scott MacPherson                 Arkansas            8:38.87        
  3  Benjamin Bruce                   Oregon TC El        8:26.08        
  4  Brian Olinger                    Reebok              8:35.89        
  5  Thomas Kloos                     TRANSPORTS          8:39.20        
  6  Thomas Brooks                    Oregon TC El        8:41.97        
  7  Daniel Huling                    Reebok              8:20.84        
  8  Joshua McAdams                   New Balance         8:21.99        
  9  Richard Nelson                   B Y U               8:41.85        
 10  Steve Finley                     Virginia            8:43.76        
 11  Jacob Morse                      Texas               8:34.57