Sunday USATF Recap: Alysia Johnson is Back, Nick Symmonds Dominates, Lomong  Repeats Over Manzano and More

By Ryan Craven for LetsRun.com
July 27, 2010
Des Moines, IA
*AFP Recap of Sunday here
*Results here
*Sunday Photos
Previous Days:
*LRC Saturday: Anna Pierce Kicks Past Erin Donohue To Win 1,500m, Jeremy Wariner And Sanya Richards Don't Win 400s, Chaunte Lowe Breaks American Record In High Jump 
*LRC Friday: Lauren Fleshman Upsets Jenny Barringer
*LRC Thursday: Galen Rupp Reigns Supreme, Amy Begley Over Hometown Hero Lisa Koll

Sunday brought to an end the 2010 USATF Championships in Des Moines. There were 5 distance finals on Sunday and we recap them in order below. In other action, David Oliver ran a blazing 12.93 in the 110 hurdles in the final event of the day,Jenn Suhr went 16' 0.5" in the pole vault to show she is back in form, Dwight Phillips won the long jump, and Wallace Spearmon the 200 (19.77).  AFP Recap of all the action here.

Men’s 3000m Steeplechase: Dan Huling Shows He's America's #1 Steepler

The sun was slightly more merciful for the final day of competition as America’s finest steeplers toed the line.  The runners got off to an honest pace as OTC Elite’s Ben Bruce took the pack around for the first half of the race.  2009 US LRC #1,  Daniel Huling stayed close to Bruce as a group consisting of former NCAA champ Kyle Alcorn, former USATFs champ Steve Slattery and Josh McAdams and recent NCAA runner-up Donald Cabral kept their noses in the hunt.  Perennial contender and former champ Anthony Famiglietti spent the early parts of the race hoping to challenge despite both a lingering foot injury as well as a sprained ankle he suffered in the prelim.  With a tight group still in contention, it was Huling who eventually broke the race open with a fantastic surge just before three laps to go.  Huling, who said he was planning to make a steady and aggressive move anywhere from 1500 to 700 meters to go left the competition far behind with his lethal maneuver.  Fam attempted to move with the chase pack but couldn’t hold on as Ben Bruce and a host of others were not content to let Huling get away just yet.  Bruce was no match for Huling, who went on to capture a new stadium record of 8:27.87, but the mullet-clad Bruce separated himself nicely from the chasers as McAdams, Slattery, and Billy Nelson battled for third.  Over the final water jump, the experienced Slattery performed a fantastic jump to separate himself from the younger runners.  “I felt a little flat when Huling took off” admitted Slattery, but “(I was) very confident in his last 150.”  2009 represents a resurgence for Slattery as he only ran 8:36 last year and did not make the USATF final. McAdams, who won last year’s US Championships, came in strong for fourth as Nelson finished fifth in front of Nike’s Kyle Alcorn.

The win cemented Huling atop the US steepling ranks. Huling made worlds last year and was 2nd at USATFs  but really did not turn heads until his 8:14.69 after Worlds. His run today shows he's the man to beat.

1	Daniel Huling		Reebok	8:27.87							1(1)
2	Ben Bruce		Oregon TC Elite	8:30.87							1(2)
3	Steve Slattery		unattached	8:33.23							1(3)
4	Joshua McAdams		New Balance	8:34.43							1(4)
5	Billy Nelson		Oregon TC Elite	8:35.17							1(5)
6	Kyle Alcorn		Nike	8:36.96							1(6)
7	Donald Cabral		Princeton	8:37.35							1(7)
8	Jacques Sallberg		unattached	8:38.76							1(8)
9	Donald Cowart		Ragged Mountain Racing	8:41.02							1(9)
10	Anthony Famiglietti		Saucony	8:47.08							1(10)
11	Corey Nowitzke		Mizuno	9:00.38							1(11)
12	Matthew Williams		US Air Force	9:04.43							1(12)
DNF	Kyle Heath		Stotan Racing								1
DNS	Brian Olinger		Reebok								1

Women’s 3000m Steeplchase: Lisa Aguilera Back on Top

This year's USATF steeple final was wide open with #1 - 3 in the 2009 LRC steeple rankings (Jenny Barringer, Anna Pierce and Lindsey Anderson not running).

The final looked to be  a repeat of heat 1 of the prelims as 2009 Worlds qualifier Bridget Franek took the early lead away from Nicole Bush. (Bush was LRC ranked #2 in 2009 and was the women who broke her foot at USATFs because the steeple barrier was set at the wrong height).  Franek continued to press the pace as only four women (Franek, Bush and former USA record holder and 2006 USATF champ Lisa Aguilera, and Lindsey Allen) and were left to battle for the win after just a few laps. 

Coming off of the next water jump, Franek opened up a sizeable lead on the other three women.  The race was far from over as Franek quickly came back to the group by the next hundred meters.  The women, who were putting more and more distance on the chase pack with each jump, waited patiently and continued to let a tiring Franek lead.  At the bell, Nicole Bush put in a move to see if she could break the other runners.  “My coach and I decided that if I got to 400 to go and didn’t feel good, I should take the lead and see what happens,” said Bush of her gutsy move.  The lead was short lived as eventual winner Lisa Aguilera put in a move of her own to crush the pack as she crossed the line in 9:53.59.  Aguilera happily described a euphoric feeling reminiscent of when she moved at 300 to go in 2005 to make the world team.  Behind the gracious champion, Nicole Bush finished strong to hold off Lindsay Allen.  Franek struggled over the final meters but couldn’t hold off a late charge from fellow Big Ten competitor Sarah Pease.  Pease, who still has one year left of collegiate eligibility, conserved early on as she hoped to move up between packs as they formed.  “I still had people to shoot for in front of me,” said the Indiana harrier. 

Galaviz had the 3rd fastest time in the US in 2009, but was only 6th at USATFs. This win goes nicely with her 2006 USATF crown and of course when in 2007 she won the LetsRun.com USATF XC Prediction Contest.

1	Lisa Aguilera		Nike	9:53.59							1(1)
2	Nicole Bush		New Balance	9:56.08							1(2)
3	Lindsay Allen		McMillan Elite-adidas	9:59.19							1(3)
4	Sarah Pease		Indiana	10:07.34							1(4)
5	Bridget Franek		Penn State	10:07.49							1(5)
6	Shayla Houlihan		Brooks	10:09.49							1(6)
7	Kara June		Rogue Running	10:10.99							1(7)
8	Jacqueline Wentz		MIT	10:12.46							1(8)
9	Juliane Masciana		Janes Elite Racing	10:18.82							1(9)
10	Stephanie Garcia		Virginia	10:21.71							1(10)
11	Alicia Nelson		Adams State	10:22.64							1(11)
12	Rebeka Stowe		Kansas	10:30.51							1(12)
13	Lauren Gregory		Georgetown	10:38.22							1(13)
DNF	Stephanie Pezzullo		unattached								1

Women’s 800m Run: In Case a World Indoor Bronze Didn't Already Show You, Alysia Johnson Is Back

The women’s 800 got off to an exciting start as 2007 NCAA champ and Worlds team member Alysia Johnson boldly went to the lead for the third time this weekend despite a gathering wind.  Behind her, current NCAA champ Phoebe Wright of Tennessee and Morgan Uceny, formerly of Cornell,  tucked in content to sit and kick.  With 200 meters to go, the always late charging Maggie Vessey led a group of runners as they ran up on the leaders.  With the whole field on top of one another, Vessey, who used her late charging style to run 1:57.84 last year and to win the Rome Golden League, looked poised to pass Johnson coming off of the final turn.  The two battled brilliantly, but it was Johnson who would capture a redeeming victory. 

“It’s been a 2 year fight for me to get back to where I want to be,” beamed a vibrant Johnson.  Johnson won the 2007 NCAA title. In 2008 got injured at NCAAs and did not contest the final. 2009 was a comeback year and Johnson appears now to be back at full strength. She earned a surprise bronze medal earlier this year at the World Indoor Champs that got very little notice.

Vessey was also all smiles after the race, both happy for her competitor as well as with her own efforts.  “I was fourth last year…progress is all I can really ask for.”  Johnson also spoke highly of Vessey, saying “It’s fun to have that rivalry between us here in the US.”  Behind the duo, Phoebe Wright was able to salvage third place as the disappointed runner admittedly made an error in her tactics.  “At 210 to go, I thought ‘Hold em off you’re gonna win this, you’re gonna win this.”  As the field came back on her however, Wright found herself boxed and unable to cover the moves put forward by Johnson and Vessey.  “I just lost the race right there in one step,” stated Nike’s newest 800m sensation.  It must be a very nice feeling when your bad day is just third in the country behind two of the world’s finest competitors.

1	Alysia Johnson		Nike	1:59.87							1(1)
2	Maggie Vessey		New Balance	2:00.43							1(2)
3	Phoebe Wright		Tennessee	2:00.47							1(3)
4	Treniere Moser		Nike	2:00.51							1(4)
5	Morgan Uceny		Reebok	2:00.86							1(5)
6	Latavia Thomas		LSU	2:01.70							1(6)
7	Laura Januszewski		Team NoDak	2:01.76							1(7)
DNS	Alice Schmidt		Nike								1

Men’s 800m Run: Nick Symmonds Dominates

The men’s 800 got off to blazing start as UC-Irvine’s Charles Jock took the field through a blistering first 400 of 50.25.  Meanwhile, Oregon Track Club’s Nick Symmonds and Tyler Mulder sat patiently in the back as they waited for the hot pace and wind to catch up with the front-runners.  Duane Solomon moved strong after the bell as Karjuan Williams and former NCAA champ Jacob Hernandez attempted to shift gears as they watched Symmonds move up beside them.  Solomon’s efforts to break the field along with Symmonds were fruitless as the confident Symmonds unleashed his patented kick coming off of the back turn. 

“The time will come,” said Solomon optimistically.  Solomon finished strong to hold off solid kicks from Hernandez and Mulder who finished third and fourth, respectively.  “It was a big step forward for me,” grinned Hernandez, who had never made a US final until this year.  Mulder spoke highly of the atmosphere in Des Moines saying, “Being here means a lot to me…I’ve had a lot of great experiences here.  I feel like people here are catching onto track more. (Mulder won an NCAA indoor title for Northern Iowa).”

Symmonds clearly showed he's the best in the US ranks. After 2 runner-ups in 2006 and 2007, this was Symmonds third straight USATF title. Unless Khadevis Robinson can get healthy the gap to Symmonds and the rest of the Americans is pretty big right now.

1	Nick Symmonds		Oregon TC-Nike	1:45.98							1(1)
2	Duane Solomon		Saucony	1:47.16							1(2)
3	Jacob Hernandez		Nike	1:47.23							1(3)
4	Tyler Mulder		Oregon TC-Nike	1:47.27							1(4)
5	Karjuan Williams		adidas	1:47.42							1(5)
6	Richard Jones		LSU	1:47.67							1(6)
7	Charles Jock		Cal Irvine	1:51.23							1(7)
8	Ryan Brown		Asics	1:54.63							1(8)

Men’s 1500m Run: Lomong Edges Manzano Again

With a steady wind blowing across the track, the final distance event of the weekend unsurprisingly looked more like the 20k race walk than the metric mile as the runners passed through 800 meters in 2:15.5.  Oregon’s Matt Centrowitz (5^th) spent the first 200 meters taking the early pacing duties before former NCAA champ and 3 time USATF runner-up Leo Manzano took over a lead that he would hold until he was overtaken by a swift kick the final 100m from Lopez Lomong.  Manzano and Lomong battled stride for stride much of the final straight, but Lomong got the best of Manzano just like he did last year. Lomong stayed near the front of the race, waiting for his time to pounce.  “I knew it was going to move,” said the gracious champion.  Manzano was happy with his earnest attempt to win and control the race from out front.  “Unfortunately the wheels weren’t there today.  I was glad I could hold a lot of these guys off,” said the ’08 Olympian.  Running a few seconds slower than the junior race, the entire field finished within 2.24 seconds of each other.  Third place finisher Will Leer described the race perfectly.  “Every Miler thinks they have the best kick.” 

This was Lomong's 2nd straight USATF title and Manzano's third straight runner-up finish.

1	Lopez Lomong		Nike	3:50.83							1(1)
2	Leonel Manzano		Nike	3:50.91							1(2)
3	Will Leer		Oregon TC-Nike	3:51.63							1(3)
4	David Torrence		Nike	3:51.80							1(4)
5	Matthew Centrowitz		Oregon	3:51.81							1(5)
6	Russell Brown		Oregon TC Elite	3:52.20							1(6)
7	John Bolas		Wisconsin-Madison	3:52.40							1(7)
8	Matt Tegenkamp		Oregon TC-Nike	3:52.54							1(8)
9	Ryan Hill		NC State	3:52.73							1(9)
10	Garrett Heath		Saucony	3:52.80							1(10)
11	John Mickowski		US Army	3:52.89							1(11)
12	Stephen Pifer		Oregon TC-Nike	3:53.07							1(12)

Performance of the Day: *AFP Recap of Sunday here

1	David Oliver		Nike	12.93				0.177		+1.7	1(1)
2	Ryan Wilson		unattached	13.17				0.162		+1.7	1(2)
3	Ronnie Ash		unattached	13.19				0.203		+1.7	1(3)
4	David Payne		Nike	13.28				0.180		+1.7	1(4)
5	Barrett Nugent		LSU	13.35				0.174		+1.7	1(5)
6	Tyron Akins		unattached	13.45				0.138		+1.7	1(6)
7	Joel Brown		unattached	13.46				0.203		+1.7	1(7)
8	Jason Richardson		Nike	13.55				0.267		+1.7	1(8)

*Sunday Photos

*Full Results

*LRC Saturday: Anna Pierce Kicks Past Erin Donohue To Win 1,500m, Jeremy Wariner And Sanya Richards Don't Win 400s, Chaunte Lowe Breaks American Record In High Jump 

*LRC Friday: Lauren Fleshman Upsets Jenny Barringer

*LRC Thursday: Galen Rupp Reigns Supreme, Amy Begley Over Hometown Hero Lisa Koll

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