LetsRun.com's Recap Of Day 1 Of The 2011 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships
By LetsRun.com
June 9, 2011
The 2011 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships got under way in Des Moines on Wednesday in fine fashion, as the women's 10,000 had a fantastic finish with 8 women battling for the win over the last 1,000 and a totally stacked men's 800 got underway. We recap all of the mid-d and distance action for you below.
In terms of non-distance action, the big news were that the favorites for the win in the men's and women' s 100 both failed to advance. Women's favorite Semoy Hackett of LSU had a huge mental gaffe, as she let up at the wrong line in the women's 100 and didn't make the final, whereas defending champ Jeff Demps of Florida ran poorly on the men's side and then was a victim of bad luck. Demps finished third in his heat in 10.40 but ran against a -2.3 wind, which means his time equates to a 10.25 in still conditions, whereas the final time qualifier ran 10.38 into a -1.1 wind, which equates to 10.28 according to the wind/conversion calculator.
Women's 10,000 Final - Duke Sophomore Juliet Bottorff Destroys The Field & Beats The Heat With One Masterful Lap
Results 1 Juliet Bottorff SO Duke 34:25.86 2 Kate Harrison JR West Virginia 34:30.35 3 Jennifer Bergman SO Arizona 34:31.69 4 Dani Stack SO Iowa State 34:32.28 5 Aliphine Tuliamuk SO Wichita State 34:32.77 6 Stephanie Marcy SR Stanford 34:35.18 7 Tonya Nero SR Wichita State 34:39.56 8 Katie Matthews JR Boston U. 34:45.77 9 Ruth Senior SR New Mexico 35:04.52 10 Sarah-Anne Brault JR West Virginia 35:05.36 11 Annie Beecham SR Ohio U. 35:08.39 12 Morgan Haws SO BYU 35:22.40 13 Andie Cozzarelli SO NC State 35:22.69 14 Tone Hjalmarsen SR Oklahoma State35:23.97 15 Bronwyn Crossman JR Oregon 35:25.12 16 Jessica Engel JR Oklahoma 35:27.27 17 Haley Greenwell SO Mississippi St.35:33.70 18 Holly Knight JR Auburn 35:41.72 19 Kara Millhouse JR Penn State 35:44.09 20 Bridget Lyons SR Georgia 35:53.00 21 Tara Erdmann SR Loyola Marymount35:53.48 22 Lauren Sara FR Connecticut 36:01.52 -- Carly Seymour JR Duke DNF -- Betsy Saina JR Iowa State DNF |
1k Splits |
1,600 Splits |
"I love the heat!" exclaimed Juliet Bottorff after winning the women's 10k at the first day of the NCAA Championships at Drake University in Des Moines, IA this evening." I'm from Delaware, so it doesn't really match up, but I really like the heat!" Bottorff has good reason to forever love the heat, as in hot and humid conditions (race time temperature: 85 degrees, 39% humidity), Bottorff bided her time and ran in the pack and saved energy for the whole race before grabbing glory with a last lap that truly was a thing of beauty.
The pace really dawdled in the opening miles, as the Wichita State Shocker duo of Aliphine Tuliamuk and Tonya Nero led the field through the 1,600 in 5:46 and 3,200 in 11:43 (5:56 2nd 1,600). The third 1,600 split of 5:18 pared the lead pack to 15.
In terms of kilometers, the pace was very slow for 3km before getting a little bit more honest on the 4th kilometer and the pace would stay modest but consistent until the very end. From 3k on, the lead pack got in the groove with steady splits between 3:21-3:25 for kilometers 4 through 9. After 6k, slowly the death march in the heat was taking its toll, as a few runners would fall off the lead pack each kilometer. At 7k, the race was all about Cyclones and Shockers, as the Iowa State duo of Betsy Saina and Dani Stack joined the two from Wichita State up front for much of the time. No one was really making a move. At 7,600 meters, U. of New Mexico's Ruth Senior tried to mix it up but would fade to 9th place overall. With 4 laps remaining, there were still 10 or 11 women still in the lead pack. The pace would get faster each lap to the finish but not by much until the final lap. At 8,700 meters, disaster struck as Betsy Saina, who had done much ot the leading, suddenly collapsed to the infield and became an unexpected DNF.
At 9,000, there were still 8 in the lead pack and women's running was going to have a rarity - a ton of girls battling it out for an NCAA title over the last 1k. So many women were still in contention, as no one was making moves and the pace wasn't increasing that much. Over the last four laps, the steady stream of 81 and 82 second laps got faster, but only to 80, 79, 77 before there was one lap to glory.
And in an instant, the race was over. As the runners approached the bell, Duke's Juliet Bottorff hammered to the front and within the span of maybe 20 meters it was clearly over. In May, we had watched Bottorff sit patiently in a large pack and then destory the ECAC field over the last lap and had been so impressed we called her our upset pick to win in the LetsRun.com preview. Now Botorff, who came in seeded 5th (but only 8 seconds behind #1), was destroying the NCAA 10,000 meter field just as we had thought might be possible. If you have the best kick, a wise strategy is to do zero work, save energy and then unleash it at the very end - and Bottorff did this perfectly.
Bottorff's 67.4 last lap was a thing of beauty. It was 3.44 seconds better than what anyone else in the field had in the tank and it gave her a huge 4.49-second margin of victory, as West Virginia's Kate Harrison finished 2nd. Arizona sophomore Jennifer Bergman had a great run to finish 3rd, gradually moving up to equal her PAC-10 placing. After the race, Bergman remarked how her coach Erin Dawson is always encouraging her that she is capable of great things. Looking outside the interview area, she laughed as she saw her coach jumping up and down and going nuts. Iowa State's Dana Slack finished fourth while the Witchita State duo of Tuliamuk and Nero finished 5th and 7th, respectively.
Tara Erdmann of Loyola Marymount had the fastest time going in (33:10), but was never a factor and finished in 21st place. After nearly tripping twice in earlier laps, BYU's Morgan Haws hit the wall in the last lap and crawled over the line on all fours in 12th place, a testament to the very tough conditions in tonight's 10k.
NCAA Champ Juliet Bottorff |
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Men's 800 Semis - The Loaded Field Certainly Put On Quite A Show
Heat 1 Preliminaries
1 Elijah Greer SO Oregon 1:47.17Q
2 Cory Primm SR UCLA 1:47.43Q
3 Harun Abda SO Minnesota 1:47.66
4 Joe Abbott JR Washington St. 1:47.73
5 Michael Rutt SR Connecticut 1:47.75
6 Sean Obinwa SO Florida 1:48.14
7 Felix Kitur SR VMI 1:48.83
8 Brian Hill SR Harvard 1:50.26
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Heat 2 Preliminaries
1 Charles Jock JR UC Irvine 1:45.77Q
2 Willie Brown SO Akron 1:45.91Q
3 Edward Kemboi FR Iowa State 1:46.06q
4 Ryan Martin JR UC Santa Barbara 1:46.29q
5 Sharif Webb SR Kentucky 1:47.59 |6 Joey Roberts JR Texas A&M 1:48.22
7 Jack Howard SR Notre Dame 1:48.24
8 Nathaniel Litwiller SO Sacramento St. 1:51.79
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Heat 3 Preliminaries
1 Robby Andrews SO Virginia 1:46.99Q
2 Casimir Loxsom SO Penn State 1:47.34Q
3 Samuel Borchers SR Penn State 1:47.51
4 Fred Samoei SR Alabama 1:47.60
5 Erik Sowinski JR Iowa 1:47.83
6 R. Dinkins SO Princeton 1:48.26
7 Justin Hedin JR BYU 1:48.52
8 Michael Preble JR Texas A&M 1:48.97
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Quick Thought #1 - What we asserted in the preview certainly proved to be correct.
In our NCAA preview, we said two things and they both came true. 1) The men's 800 was totally loaded. 2) Simple math was telling us that there would be some major casualties in the semis of the men's 800, as only eight guys could make the final and there were more than eight big names in the race.
The quality of the men's 800 was astounding. Consider this stat - 24 guys ran and 22 of them had broken 1:49.00. Seven guys actually ran 1:47 on Wednesday and didn't advance. Indoor champ Fred Sameoi is gone, as is indoor runner-up Michael Rutt, and it's not like they ran poorly, as they slowest either of them ran was 1:47.75.
Quick Thought #2 - The time qualifiers out of heat two should thank Michael Preble of Texas A&M, who took the heat out in 50.4. We overheard someone say that he then died terribly. That really wasn't the case, as he still ran 1:48.22. It's just that a 1:48.22 looks bad when four guys run 1:46.29 or faster.
Quick Thought #3 - The 0 for 6 streak that sophomore phenoms Casimir Loxsom of Penn State and Elijah Greer of Oregon had in making NCAA finals is officially over in a big way. Greer had us fooled, as at the bell in his heat, he was in 7th and the race hadn't gone out fast. As the field approached 500, it seemed as if he was losing contact with the field, but in reality he was just moving himself outside to make a ridiculously big move at the 520 mark that catapulted him to 2nd by 600. Greer looked very, very impressive - although we think his move was a bit too sudden and too extreme if he's looking for victory in the final.
Quick Thought #4 - The mixed zone after the race showed the whole spectrum of human emotion.
Our faith in humanity was restored a bit when we heard NCAA indoor champ Fred Sameoi, who didn't advance, wish the guys who did make the finals good luck, saying, "I just want to wish the guys who made the final the best of luck." Sameoi easily could have been irate, as being Kenyan, he may have a hard time making it as a pro, so this might have been his last race (although Sameoi said he is hoping to have a pro career), but he was total class act and we hope a shoe company notices!!!
It also was refreshing to hear an athlete actually tell the truth after a race. It was great to hear Elijah Greer admit he's struggled with confidence in the past ("I'm working overall on confidence and attitude. I think that's the big difference from last year - trying not be scared when I come into a race - try to be confident.").
On the flip side, Penn State's Sam Borchers certainly showed emotion - maybe too much - after being the first person not to advance. Earlier in the year, much was made of the fact that former American record holder in the steeplechase and Penn State alum George "malmo" Malley said the PSU 800 crew was lacking emotion, but Borchers displayed enough emotion for a full 4 x 800 squad after his race. He repeatedly yelled "How do I get out of here" and somewhat comically tried to exit out the wrong door before nearly falling down as he did a mini-Alan Webb post-race impersonation.
We can understand how not advancing can be crushing, but a big part of running well is having the proper perspective, and Borchers has nothing to be ashamed of. All he has done this spring is basically resurrect his career and there is no shame in what he did on Wednesday, either, as he ran great and set a new PR by 1.29 seconds.
Heat 1 - The leaders got out in 25.7 but Elijah Greer was last at 200. At 400 (53.81), Greer was 7th but he looked incredible in moving from 7th to 2nd in the span of about 50 meters on the backstretch. What a move. Could he possibly go from having never made an NCAA final to NCAA champion?
Heat 2 - Joey Roberts took things out hard (50.4-5 at 400). 600 was reached in 1:17.8.
Heat 3 - After the second heat went so fast, it seemed as if the time qualifiers were bound to come from there and that proved to be the case, as the third heat had the slowest 400 split of the night (53.91). At 400, world junior silver medallist Casimir Loxsom was in 4th and Robby Andrews was 7th. Andrews looked good in moving up to get the win. How will his move to the front look if the heat goes out in 51 and not 53? We'll find out in two days.
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Women's 800 Semis - Chanelle Price And Lea Wallace Impress
Heat 1 Preliminaries 1 Lea Wallace SR Sacramento St. 2:04.57Q |
Heat 2 Preliminaries 1 Chanelle Price JR Tennessee 2:02.84Q |
Heat 3 Preliminaries 1 Anne Kesselring SO Oregon 2:04.70Q |
Quick Thought #1 - The #2 (Stephanie Brown - So - Arkansas - 2:02.59), #4 (Laura Roesler - Fr - Oregon - 2:03.12) and #6 (Anna Layman - Sr - Washington St. - 2:03.48) seeds didn't advance. That being said, we sort of expected Layman to not make it and we didn't think Bleazard would contend for the win, but seeing the West region champ Brown bomb out was a surprise.
Quick Thought #2 - Chanelle Price looked much better on Wednesday than she did in the East regional final, as she turned the tables on Kate Grace. But Grace said she was bothered by the heat and humidity. Will the result be the same on Friday when the weather will be much cooler?
Quick Thought #3 - Oregon's Anne Kesselring, who came in as the national leader, picked a great time to beat her teammate Laura Roesler, as Roesler had gotten best of her both at PAC-10s and the West Regional.
Heat 1
Lea Wallace, who is the only athlete at NCAAs attempting the 800/1,500 double, looked great in advancing to the finals. The 400 was reached in 61.4, and at 600, Wallace and NCAA indoor champ Lacey Bleazard occupied the top two positions (Bleazard had the lead). Wallace would move to the front with 150 to go, whereas Bleazard
faded to 3rd in her heat and didn't advance.
Heat 2
Chanelle
Price and Kate Grace dominated their heat after roaring through the first 400 in
60.0 seconds and 600 in 1:31.3. In the post-race interview, Price remarked that when she felt Grace
on her shoulder in the last 200 that she made a conscious effort to power ahead
to the win. Grace, the East regional champ (2:03.41), noted that while she ran
virtually the same time today, the humidity was unfamiliar after racing on the
East Coast all spring. Look forward to a great race between these two titans in
the final.
Heat 3
Anne
Kesselring of Oregon entered the meet with the year's fastest time and proved
she's still a force to be reckoned with, winning her heat. Freshman sensation
Natalja Piliusina was right with her, though. Another freshman phenom, Laura
Roesler, did not make finals, nor did Stephanie Brown, the West region champ in
2:02.59.
Oklahoma State's Natalja Piliusina |
Men's Steeple - A Few Minor Surprises
Heat 1 Preliminaries
1 Matt Hughes SR Louisville 8:40.04Q
2 Benjamin Johnson JR Stanford 8:40.32Q
3 John Sullivan SR Stanford 8:41.46Q
4 Andrew Poore JR Indiana 8:44.56Q
5 Justin Tyner SR Air Force 8:48.54Q
6 Hillary Bor SR Iowa State 8:48.95Q
7 Andy Weatherford JR Indiana 8:49.34q
8 Steve Finley SR Oregon 8:50.00q
9 Andrew Benford SR Richmond 8:50.11
10 Cory Leslie JR Ohio State 9:00.68
11 Matt Cleaver JR Georgia 9:03.91
12 Rick Elliott JR Arkansas 9:19.72
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Heat 2 Preliminaries 1 Craig Forys JR Michigan 8:41.59Q 2 Donn Cabral JR Princeton 8:44.56Q 8:44.556 3 Brett Hales SR Weber State 8:46.52Q 4 Travis Mahoney JR Temple 8:47.31Q 5 De'Sean Turner JR Indiana 8:49.32Q 6 Ryan McDermott SR Duke 8:49.84Q 7 Jared Bassett SO Portland 8:50.99 8 Tom Wade JR Lamar 8:54.73 9 Jacob Cosby SO BYU 9:02.09 10 Adrien Dannemiller SR Cornell 9:05.23 11 Alexander Brill FR Wisconsin 9:06.35 12 Steve Sodaro SR California 9:13.38 |
Quick Thought #1 - Seven of the top 10 fastest seeds advanced, with the only casualties being #6 Richmond's Andrew Benford, who fell on the last hurdle, #8 Cory Leslie of Ohio State and #9 Adrien Dannemiller of Cornell.
Quick Thought #2 - Oregon's Steve Finley, who went into regionals as the national leader, looked awful and was very, very lucky to advance on time. Other people that didn't look as good as we might have thought included Iowa State's Hilary Bor.
Quick Thought #3 - Michigan's Craig Forys was way better than expected and looked like the high school phenom he once was. Others that were way better than expected were the top two Stanford runners in heat 1.
Quick Thought #4 - After watching the semis, it would seem the only people who could win are the top three from the first heat and top two from the 2nd heat. Look for it to come down to Matt Hughes and Donn Cabral as we expected, but could Forys pull off a total shocker?
Quick Thought #5 - In heat 4, Weber State's Brett Hale put his hands up in celebration and stopped running a lap early. He had no problem, though, realizing his mistake and advancing a lap later.
Princeton's Donn Cabral |
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