LetsRun.com's Recap Of The Women's Distance Action At The 2012 Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational
Betsy Saina And Sally Kipyego Impress As Deena Kastor Returns To Track Action & Anna Pierce Returns To Form
By LetsRun.com
April 30, 2012
The 2012 Payton Jordan Invitational at Stanford certainly didn't disappoint, as Sally Kipyego put on a clinic in the women's 5,000, Anna Pierce returned to form in the 1,500 and Deena Kastor returned to the track in the women's 10,000, where Betsy Saina stunned everyone with a huge PR. We recap the women's top action for you below.
*LRC Men's Recap Here *LRC Women's Recap *Complete Results Here *Flotrack Video Coverage
Women's 1,500: Welcome Back, Anna Pierce
Anna Pierce is back.
Many wondered if the former 3:59.38 performer would ever be a force again in US middle-distance running after she struggled through a disastrous 2011 during which she never broke 4:10.38 for 1,500. Those fears only intensified after Pierce followed up her 2011 with nothing faster than 4:11.85 indoors this year.
Anyone who watched Pierce run on Sunday night likely has few doubts now, as Pierce was sensational over the last 200, seemingly coming out of nowhere to blow by Canada's Hilary Stellingwerff and 2012 USA indoor runner-up Brenda Martinez to grab the win in a new world leader of 4:07.00.
After a 2:12 first 800 meters, the race seemed to be a two-person affair between Stellingwerff and Martinez as they had gapped the field. With a lap to go (3:01), the question seemed to be would the two be able to hammer it home to get the Olympic "A" standard of 4:06.00, as they led the field by at least 10 meters. With 200 remaining (3:34), it seemed to be a possibility but the leading duo would soon slow and lose the lead as Pierce came blowing by them seemingly out of nowhere. Stellingwerff and Martinez had no response as Pierce went by them with roughly 120 meters to go. She'd go on to earn a convincing victory in 4:07.00 to Martinez's 4:08.66 (a new PR, previous best 4:09.52) and Stellingwerff's 4:08.76.
Afterwards, Pierce told Flotrack she was happy with the win.
"I'll take it. I just needed to get some competitions in and remember I am a champ," said Pierce "(When I was struggling), it was scary to get beat by that much but it made me hungry."
"I feel real good where I am right now. I just trust my coach."
The only collegian in the race, Oklahoma State's Natalja Piliusina, came on strong late to set a new collegiate leader at 4:09.51.
Event 47 Women 1500 Meter Run Section 1 =============================================================== Name Year School Finals =============================================================== Finals 1 Anna Pierce Nike 4:07.00 2 Brenda Martinez New Balance 4:08.66 3 Hilary Stellingwerff Speed River Tfc 4:08.76 4 Treniere Moser Nike 4:09.35 5 Natalja Piliusina Oklahoma State 4:09.51 6 Alice Schmidt Nike 4:09.68 7 Malindi Elmore Speed River Tfc 4:10.16 8 Marina Muncan New Balance 4:10.78 9 Geena Gall Otc 4:12.67 10 Sara Vaughn Nike 4:13.29 11 Susan Kuijken Nike 4:14.50 12 Bridey Delaney Nswis Sydney 4:22.16
Heat 2
Event 48 Women 1500 Meter Run Section 2 =============================================================== Name Year School Finals =============================================================== Finals 1 Lauren Johnson Nike 4:11.22 2 Lauren Bonds adidas Ralei 4:11.93 3 Cory McGee Florida 4:12.61 4 Melissa Salerno New Balance 4:12.82 5 Orla Drumm Unattached 4:13.27 6 Kristen Gillespie Arkansas 4:13.33 7 Jillian Smith Michigan 4:13.94 8 Morgane Gay Virginia 4:15.04 9 Lea Wallace Nike 4:16.56 10 Amanda Winslow Florida State 4:18.68 11 Camille Chapus Unattached 4:19.54 12 Lindsey Gallo Unattached 4:26.12 -- Samantha Learch Arkansas DNF
Heat 3
Bernard Lagat's sis had a big PR as she lowered it from 4:21.5.
Event 49 Women 1500 Meter Run Section 3 =============================================================== Name Year School Finals =============================================================== Finals 1 Violah Lagat Florida State 4:15.15 2 Hannah Brooks Florida State 4:15.59 3 Agata Strausa Florida 4:15.92 4 Danielle Tauro Shore AC 4:16.12 5 Rebecca Addison Michigan 4:17.16 6 Laura Carlyle Oregon State 4:17.77 7 Jessica Parry Florida State 4:19.04 8 Alli Billmeyer Stanford 4:19.20 9 maria del carmen osorio Venezuela 4:19.29 10 Shelby Hayes Florida 4:19.72 11 Kenyetta Iyevbele North Carolina St. 4:20.38 12 Mandy Perkins Florida 4:25.58 13 Nicole Bowler San Francisco 4:26.10 14 Jessica Eldridge Greater Boise RC 4:35.36 -- Hannah Barnell Stanford DNF
Women's 5,000: Sally Kipyego Is Way Better Than Your Average Olympian
2011 World Championships silver medallist at 10,000 Sally Kipyego showed she was the class of the field from the moment it started, as she looked great in running 14:43.11 to win the women's 5,000 by a ton. Her first lap of 68.2 was a bit ambitious, but after that she rolled off a ton of 71s in a row before picking it up at the end (she was 9:31 at 3,200, which is 14:52 pace).
Former NC State star Julia Lucas had a big breakthrough to get second in 15:08.52 as the top six, including American Julie Culley and Brit Stephanie Twell, all dipped under the IAAF "A" standard of 15:20 for the London Olympics. The injury-plagued Lucas came into to the night having only run one 5k since 2008 (a 16:02.23 last year) and with a PR of 15:33.05 from 2007.
Oregon's Jordan Hasay was on "A" standard pace for much of the race but really struggled over the final 1k and ended up 16th in 15:44.97. Hasay wasn't the only person to have a rough night. Other people struggling included 2009 World Championships bronze medallist at 1,500 Shannon Rowbury, who was a DNF, and 2004 Olympian Carrie Tollefson, who ran 16:12.64.
After the race, Kipyego told Race Results Weekly, "This is the only 5-K I will run before the Trials. We talked with coach and we thought --I thought-- that I needed to run 71's, or close to that pace, because I needed to get my body to realize that in a month or so I'll have to be able to run that with maybe ten girls in the race. I needed to get comfortable and test the way that I am."
Lucas also was happy to see her years of dedication pay off. She said on the Flotrack broadcast, "I ran 15:33 four years ago. I ran 15:50 eight years ago and my training was increasing (ever since). (So to) have the practices actually add up to the performance (is nice)," said Lucas. "On our warmup, Sally said, 'You're going to run 15:10 on a good day.'"
Event 56 Women 5000 Meter Run Section 1 =============================================================== Name Year School Finals =============================================================== Finals 1 Sally Kipyego Otc 14:43.11 2 Julia Lucas Otc 15:08.52 3 Julie Culley Asics/NYAC 15:13.87 4 Barbara Parker New Balance 15:14.26 5 Stephanie Twell Nike 15:15.24 6 Jessica Tebo Colorado 15:19.43 7 Eloise Wellings Melbourne Tr 15:20.28 8 Megan Wright New Balance 15:21.75 9 Liz Maloy New Balance 15:26.60 10 Emily Brichacek Melbourne Tr 15:30.00 11 Georgie Clarke Unattached 15:31.29 12 Kayoko Fukushi Wacoal 15:33.11 13 Katrina Wootton Unattached 15:39.31 14 Jennifer Rhines adidas 15:41.31 15 Tara Erdmann Charisma Sports 15:41.85 16 Jordan Hasay Oregon 15:44.87 17 Risa Takenaka Shiseido Run 15:44.94 18 Frances Koons New Balance 16:00.74 19 Sandra Lopez Mexico 16:01.01 20 Carrie Tollefson Unattached 16:12.64 21 Carmen Hussar New Balance 16:20.11 -- Shannon Rowbury Nike DNF -- Adrienne Herzog Brooks DNF
Women's 10,000: Deena Kastor Returns As Betsy Saina Introduces Herself To The World
American Lisa Uhl ran aggressively from the start of this race as it was clear she was hoping to break her PR of 31:18.07. However, after 11 laps, she was all alone and soon started to struggle with no help. She went through 5k in 15:38 but the chase pack, which included 2012 Olympic Trials 4th placer Amy Hastings as well as 2012 NCAA indoor champ of Betsy Saina (who was running unattached but goes to Iowa State) and 2004 Olympic marathon bronze medallist Deena Kastor, wasn't too far back (15:45-6).
Uhl got caught with 8.5 laps to go and with 7 laps to go, Saina surged to the lead and the only one to respond was Hastings. With 3.5 laps to go, Hastings went to the lead but in the end the night belonged to Saina, who really made a name for herself tonight.
A 68.5 final lap was too much for Hastings to handle as Saina pulled away with 250 meters to go and won in 31:15.97 to Hastings' 31:19.87. Talk about a breakthrough performance. Considering her first 5k was roughly 15:45, her last 5,000 was covered in about 15:30, which was faster than her 5,000 PR of 15:36.09. Her previous 10,000 PR? 33:13.87.
"I did way better than I thought I could do, so it's great," said Saina to Flotrack after the race. "I just felt really comfortable."
Hastings also obliterated her own PR as her previous 10k best was 32:18.72 from 2008.
"I am really happy," said Hastings. "I came here to get the 'A' standard. About 3k into it, I stopped paying attention to the time. It was fun to just get out there and focus on racing."
As for Kastor, who was running her first track race since 2007, she lost contact with the main pack just after 5k. She came up just short of the Olympic "A" standard of 31:45.00 as she ran 31:49.23 (she was 28:01 with 1,200 remaining). Pretty good stuff for a 39-year-old. Deena came up short of her goal telling David Monti, ""I really thought I could get the 'A' standard today. I was a little panicked in the beginning, getting a really terrible start. I just tried to maintain my composure and gradually get up with a pace that I felt good with. But, I think that the start really threw me off, and I just need to get back to the aggressiveness of the track which I am lacking."
Janet Cherobon-Bawcom's improvement continued as she got the "A" standard and Lisa Uhl managed to hang on as well. They joined Molly Huddle and Jen Rhines who already had it plus marathoners Shalane Flanagan, Kara Goucher, and Desiree Davila.
Event 59 Women 10000 Meter Run Kim McDonald =============================================================== Name Year School Finals ===============================================================
Finals
1 Betsy Saina Unattached 31:15.97 2 Amy Hastings Brooks 31:19.87 3 Fionnuala Britton Ireland 31:29.22 4 Julia Bleasdale Melbourne Tr 31:29.57 5 Janet Cherobon-Bawcom Unattached 31:33.50 6 Lisa Uhl Nike Otc 31:35.50 7 Deena Kastor Asics 31:49.23 8 Kim Conley Sra Elite 32:00.94 9 Lara Tamsett Melbourne Tr 32:01.60 10 Alisha Williams adidas Brc/Adp 32:03.07 11 Charlotte Purdue Nike 32:03.55 12 Deborah Maier Cal 32:12.47 13 Meaghan Nelson Iowa State 32:14.27 14 Allie Kieffer Unattached 32:25.69 15 Madai Perez Mexico 32:27.91 16 Katie McGregor Reebok 32:37.83 17 Kellyn Johnson Adidas McMil 32:39.04 18 Alissa McKaig Zap Fitness 32:39.87 19 Stephanie Rothstein adidas 32:40.67 20 Diane Nukuri Johnson Asics 32:45.96 21 rachel ward Ragged Mount 32:47.97 22 Adriana Nelson Asics 32:48.03 23 Marisol Guadalupe Romero Mexico 32:58.16 24 Annie Bersagel New Balance 33:15.80 25 Heidi Westover Unattached 33:24.99 26 Sarah Porter Zap Fitness 33:26.16 27 Meghan Peyton Mizuno 33:26.32 28 Erin Nehus-Vergara Athletic Annex 33:39.29 29 Kathy Newberry Nyac 33:53.51 -- Lindsey Scherf Mizuno Racing Team DNF -- Stephanie Pezzullo Newton Shoe Co. DNF -- Wendy Thomas adidas Brc/Adp DNF -- Rebecca Donaghue New Balance DNF -- Melissa Cook Unattached DNF
Women's 800: Uceny Wins
Former NCAA 800 All-American Morgan Uceny, who now makes her living as a the world's #1 1,500 runner, won the women's 800. Don't let the 2:02.46 time fool you. She looked SENSATIONAL over the last 100m. Uceny seemingly was practicing being patient in a pack and unleashing with 100 meters to go as she blew everyone away at 700 meters.
Uceny's 1,500 rival Christin Wuth Thomas was a well beaten 8th in her season debut.
Event 43 Women 800 Meter Run ================================================================ Name Year School Finals ================================================================ 1 18 Morgan Uceny adidas 2:02.46 2 614 andrea ferris Unattached 2:03.62 3 178 LaTavia Thomas Hsinternatio 2:03.90 4 737 Karine Belleau-Bel Vainqueurs 2:04.08 5 841 Lemlem Ogbasilassi Club Sls 2:04.38 6 77 Laura Januszewski Brooks 2:04.54 7 177 Akari Kishikawa Hasegawa Spo 2:04.63 8 799 Christin Wurth-Tho Nike 2:04.80 9 738 Jessica Smith Valley Royal 2:04.82 10 629 Annie LeBlanc Unattached 2:06.09 Section 2 1 296 Kate Grace New Jersey-N 2:03.25 2 270 Diane Cummins Mountain Wes 2:04.02 3 632 Leanna MacLean Unattached 2:04.59 4 162 Devotia Moore GBTC 2:05.23 5 508 Justine Fedronic Stanford 2:05.42 6 173 Celia Peters Halifast 2:06.49 7 569 Kim Standridge Syracuse Cha 2:06.76 8 496 Mary Cate Quiett Sra Elite 2:08.31 9 524 Joy O'Hare Stanford 2:09.17 10 610 eliza curnow Unattached 2:09.21
Women's Steeple: Kipp Just Misses "A" Standard
Colorado's 3rd placer from NCAAs last year, Shalaya Kipp, whacked 13 seconds off her PR and put up a collegiate leader but she came up barely short of the 9:43.00 "A" standard.
Event 53 Women 3000 Meter Steeplechase Section 1 =============================================================== Name Year School Finals =============================================================== Finals 1 Shalaya Kipp Colorado 9:43.09 2 Delilah Dicrescenzo Puma 9:43.28 3 Beverly Ramos Puerto Rico 9:46.69 4 Ashley Higginson Saucony 9:48.50 5 Rebeka Stowe Kansas 9:52.82 6 Mason Cathey Saucony 9:53.78 7 Amber Henry Weber State 9:53.94 8 Genevieve LaCaze Florida 9:55.44 9 Helen Hofstede Team Distanc 9:55.44 10 Shayla Houlihan Brooks 9:56.32 11 Lisa Aguilera Nike 10:01.43 12 Eva Krchova San Francisco 10:02.15 13 Nicole Bush New Balance 10:03.92 14 Sara Hall Asics 10:04.13 15 Genevieve Lalonde Speed River Tfc 10:09.21 16 Kara June TeamROGUE Elite 10:10.33 17 Kerry Harty Newcastle AC 10:13.83 -- Lennie Waite TeamROGUE Elite DNF
Complete Results Can Be Found Here
More: LRC Men's Recap Here
RRW: Six World-Leading Marks at Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitation
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