Portland Track Festival: Galen Rupp Gives The Hometown Fans What They Came to See, Kate Grace Keeps Running Well, High School Girls Amaze in 1500
by LetsRun.com
June 12, 2016
PORTLAND, Ore. — Clayton Murphy made the biggest news at Sunday’s Portland Track Festival, winning the 1500 in 3:36.23, missing the Olympic standard by .03, and announcing he had turned professional. That gets its own recap here. We recap the rest of the meet below with results from the “A” races. The highlights were Galen Rupp returning to action with a win and three high school girls running very fast.
Men’s 5000m: Galen Rupp Gives the Hometown Fans What They Wanted
The athlete the fans most wanted to see was hometown hero Galen Rupp, as he returned to outdoor track in fine fashion, blitzing the 5000m field with a 56-point final lap to win in 13.20.69 to bring the meet to a close after the fans lined the finish straight of a track. It was Rupp’s first track race of the outdoor season and only his second race since he won the Olympic Marathon Trials in his marathon debut in February.
Afterwards Rupp said he got what he wanted out of the meet. He may race once more before the Olympic Trials and he did not rule out attempting the 5,000/10,000m double at the Trials. The marathon is very much on Rupp’s mind as he said he enjoys training for the marathon and wants to do well at both the 10,000 and marathon in Rio. Talking about today’s race and splitting his training between the marathon and track, Rupp said:
“A lot of it is just getting back into racing. The marathon is obviously a whole different animal. So I just need to get my track legs back underneath me. You can work out all you want, but at some point you just have to get back into racing again. That’s what this was all about and I was real happy with it. … I’m kind of walking a fine line. I can’t take too many weeks where I’m resting too much and lose that volume for the marathon. I see both ends running 200s hard and doing really long runs hard. … [My focus is on] both. I run to win, so I’m going to be in there for it for both of them.”
As for the race itself, Cristian Soratos rabbited for some of it and the first 1600 was 4:16.9 and 3200m 8:31.1. Canada’s Luc Bruchet took the lead with 800m to go, but Rupp was in the lead by the bell and extended that lead on the final lap as Tsegay Tuemay came up to finish 2nd and Bruchet just dipped under 13:35 in 3rd.
Final 4 laps (very rough): 65.2, 66.0, 61.8, 56.7
Section 1 1 Rupp, Galen Nike Oregon Project 13:20.69U 2 Tuemay, Tsegay Posso Sports 13:23.04U 3 Bruchet, Luc Asics Canada 13:24.10U 4 Geay, Gabriel Posso Sports 13:25.66U 5 Simbassa, Abbabiya Team Usa Minnesota 13:29.51O 6 Connor, Reed New Jersey-N 13:30.27O 7 Erassa, Kirubel Atlanta Track Club 13:30.57O 8 Alex, George Zap Fitness 13:35.57 9 Ostos Cruz, Luis Fernand Federación P 13:39.08 10 Brown, Mitchel Oregon Track Club 13:44.90 11 Corrigan, Peter Running Room Canada 13:46.45 12 Grey, Jonathan adidas 13:47.72 13 Gregg, Brendan Hansons-Brooks Odp 13:50.95 14 Landry, Christo Mizuno 13:56.46 15 Finan, Eric Team Run Eugene 14:04.42 16 Edwards, Jake Brooks 14:10.99 17 Pearson, Morgan Unattached 14:15.15 18 Olson, Erik Unattached 14:16.25 19 Gidabuday, Sydney Adams State 14:34.48 20 Roff, Jeremy Asics Sydney 14:36.91 -- Stilin, Joseph Zap Fitness DNF
Women’s 1500: Kate Grace Keeps Runing Well, High Schoolers Impress
Kate Grace kept up her fine 2016 with the win here. Afterwards she said she has made up her mind on which event to run at the Trials (she has run 2:00.05 for 800 this year), but isn’t ready to announce it yet.
The biggest 1500 news might have been section where high schooler Christina Aragon (daughter of 1987 World Championship team member Chuck) ran incredibly well the final lap to not only run a huge pr of 4:09.27 (previous best of 4:11.24), but to also qualify for the Olympic Trials (4:09.50). Fellow high schoolers Katie Rainsberger (4:12.62) and Ella Donaghu (4:14.11) were third and fourth as the US high school women continue to amaze.
All 3 High Schoolers:
Section 1 1 Grace, Kate Oiselle 4:05.93O 2 Sifuentes, Nicole Saucony 4:06.40O 3 Stafford, Gabriela Toronto 4:06.53O 4 Brown, Stephanie Nike 4:09.16U 5 Vaughn, Sara Boulder Track Club 4:10.19 6 Johnson, Lauren Unattached 4:10.91 7 Tracy, Rebecca Oiselle 4:11.71 8 Simpson, Katelyn Asics Sydney 4:11.82 9 Felnagle, Brie adidas 4:12.13 10 Freitas, Marta Miss State 4:15.94 11 Benson, Fiona Nike 4:21.13 -- Wright, Katie Unattached DNF Section 2 1 Aragon, Christina Unattached 4:09.27U 2 Farber, Lianne New Balance Norcal 4:12.35 3 Rainsberger, Katie Unattached 4:12.62 4 Donaghu, Ella Unattached 4:14.11 5 Moye, Megan Unattached 4:14.15 6 Kelly, Mariah Unattached 4:14.31 7 Pomfret, Kendra Mizuno Run Canada 4:14.40 8 Silva, Samantha Bowerman Track Club 4:14.49 9 Kouba, Paige Harvard 4:16.61 10 Paquette, Lauren Brooks/Break 4:17.18 11 Salerno, Melissa Asics 4:18.32 12 Handler, Brook Unattached 4:19.32 13 Van Der Klooster, Coreen Run Canberra 4:27.41
Women’s 5000: Kim Conley is Best
Conley already had the Olympic standard but really pulled away from the field the final lap to get some race preparation and confidence for the 10,000m at the Trials.
The Olympic Trials standard is 15:25, the Olympic standard 15:24.
Section 1 1 Conley, Kim New Balance 15:16.75U 2 Grunewald, Gabriele Brooks 15:19.50U 3 Oliver, Lucy unattached 15:20.13U 4 Williams, Alisha adidas Rme 15:23.11U 5 O'Connell, Jessica Asics 15:23.15U 6 Thweatt, Laura Boulder Track Club 15:26.28 7 Spencer, Kate Asics Sydney 15:28.47 8 Hasay, Jordan Nike Oregon Project 15:32.19 9 Finn, Erin Unattached 15:34.50 10 Cridebring, Alycia Sra Elite 15:35.34 11 Eccleston, Amanda Brooks 15:44.14 12 Gollish, Sasha Oiselle/Toro 15:49.19 13 Wodak, Natasha Asics Canada 15:54.06 14 Bizzarri, Angela Brooks Beast 15:57.10 15 Olowora, Aminat Nigeria 16:01.10 16 Welling, Tara Skechers/HPW 16:01.16 17 Rhines, Jen Baa 16:05.20 18 Marchant, Lanni Asics Canada 16:12.58 19 Valencia, Elena Corre A.C. 16:16.35 20 Smith, Kelsey Unattached 16:35.45 21 Aish, Nicole Unattached 16:42.65 -- Beck, Anne Strava TC DNF
Women’s 800: Brenda Martinez Wins
She talked a little about Boris Berian post-race.
Event 29 Women 800 Meter Run High Performance ================================================================ Meet Record: R 1:59.94 6/14/2015 Fiona Benson, Langley Must Olympic: O 2:01.50 US Trials: U 2:03.00 Name Year Team Finals ================================================================ Section 1 1 Martinez, Brenda New Balance 2:00.21O 1:00.495 (1:00.495) 2:00.207 (59.712) 2 Fricker, McKayla Brooks/HPW 2:01.55U 1:00.148 (1:00.148) 2:01.547 (1:01.399) 3 LeBlanc, Annie Unattached 2:02.30U 1:00.362 (1:00.362) 2:02.294 (1:01.932) 4 Storey, Lora Asics Sydney 2:02.58U 1:01.246 (1:01.246) 2:02.578 (1:01.332) 5 Velvere, Liga Unattached 2:02.71U 1:00.559 (1:00.559) 2:02.704 (1:02.146) 6 Hall, Linden Wolfpack TC 2:02.85U 1:01.004 (1:01.004) 2:02.846 (1:01.842) 7 Smith, Jessica Nike 2:02.89U 1:00.731 (1:00.731) 2:02.884 (1:02.154) 8 Gall, Geena Brooks / Team Ru 2:03.34 1:00.711 (1:00.711) 2:03.331 (1:02.621) 9 Piliusina, Natalja Brooks Beasts 2:05.61 1:00.801 (1:00.801) 2:05.602 (1:04.802) Section 2 1 Johnson, Lauren Unattached 2:01.59U 59.544 (59.544) 2:01.590 (1:02.047) 2 Praska, Bethany Unattached 2:02.72U 59.078 (59.078) 2:02.717 (1:03.639) 3 Stellingwerff, Hilary New Balance/ 2:03.06 59.661 (59.661) 2:03.053 (1:03.392) 4 Francois, Rachel Unattached 2:03.18 59.436 (59.436) 2:03.172 (1:03.737) 5 Murphy, Samantha Unattached 2:03.41 59.183 (59.183) 2:03.402 (1:04.220) 6 Jackson, Dominique Oiselle/SRA Elite 2:03.61 58.864 (58.864) 2:03.608 (1:04.745) 7 Wallace, Lea Sra Elite 2:03.90 59.411 (59.411) 2:03.899 (1:04.489) 8 Malasarte, Megan Brooks Beasts 2:03.98 59.290 (59.290) 2:03.976 (1:04.686) 9 Westaway, Jenna Brooks Runni 2:04.52
Men’s 800: Windle Makes the Trials
Drew Windle, the former DII star, got the Olympic Trials standard and a nice win. Matt Centrowitz ran this and the 1500 as a workout.
Canada’s Anthony Romaniw won heat 2 in an Olympic qualifying time and might have been the happiest winner of the day.
Event 30 Men 800 Meter Run High Performance ================================================================ Meet Record: R 1:44.79 6/8/2013 Tyler Mulder, OTC Olympic: O 1:46.00 US Trials: U 1:46.00 Name Year Team Finals ================================================================ Section 1 1 Windle, Drew Brooks Beast 1:45.65O 2 Kemboi, Edward High Performance 1:46.24 3 Gilreath, James Team Green 1:46.70 4 Abda, Harun Nike/OTC 1:46.75 5 Mulder, Tyler Nike/OTC 1:47.92 6 Greer, Elijah Nike/OTC 1:47.97 7 Fleet, Mac Nike/OTC 1:48.56 8 Solis, Dusty Big Bear Tc/ 1:49.62 Section 2 1 Romaniw, Anthony Speed River 1:45.94O 2 White, Joseph Georgetown 1:46.79 3 Deng, Goaner University o 1:47.23 4 Low, Chris Unattached 1:47.26 5 Centrowitz, Matthew Nike Oregon Project 1:47.69 6 Torrence, David Hoka One One 1:47.81 7 Mumba, Prince Santa Monica 1:47.95 8 James, Jamaal Trinidad and Tobago 1:48.59 9 Eichberger, James Unattached 1:49.01 10 Fleck, Nathan High Performance 1:54.40
Women’s Steeple: UK’s Lennie Waite Gets Standard for 2nd Time
Event 35 Women 3000 Meter Steeplechase High Performance ================================================================ Meet Record: R 9:45.90 6/14/2015 Shalaya Kipp, Oiselle Olympic: O 9:45.00 US Trials: U 9:53.00 Name Year Team Finals ================================================================ Section 1 1 Waite, Lennie Rogue AC 9:35.91O 2 Lawrence, Mel Oiselle 9:36.55O 3 Rolland, Megan Oiselle 9:36.88O 4 Bush, Nicole New Balance 9:39.84O 5 Pease, Sarah Rogue Ac/Saucony 9:40.94O 6 Butterworth, Alycia Idtc 9:41.26O 7 Bernard, Maria Saucony Canada 9:44.81O 8 Van Beek, Maddie Brooks 9:47.74U 9 Potratz-Lee, Allix Unattached 10:04.10 10 Goldkamp, Mary Unattached 10:06.59 11 Hayakari, Minori Unattached 10:07.95 12 Groenewoud, Chantelle Unattached 10:15.63 13 Mills, Shelby Unattached 10:18.34 -- Bell, Rolanda New Balance Norcal DNF -- Praught, Aisha Nike/OTC DNF
Men’s Steeple:
Event 34 Men 3000 Meter Steeplechase High Performance ================================================================ Meet Record: R 8:26.75 6/14/2015 Andy Bayer, Bowerman TC Olympic: O 8:30.00 US Trials: U 8:32.00 Name Year Team Finals ================================================================ Section 1 1 Stones, Carl Unattached 8:35.59 2 Bussing, Austin Rogue Athletic Club 8:36.58 3 Roth, Bailey Unattached 8:36.65 4 Cleaver, Matt Rogue AC 8:39.51 5 Lafond, Dylan Unattached 8:40.63 6 Barraza, Brian Unattached 8:41.27 7 Habte Ghebrezghiabhe, Ab Posso Sports 8:41.28 8 Winter, Connor Unattached 8:43.83 9 Parrish, Mark Pure Athletics 8:45.96 10 Pecora, Kent Bryn Mawr/ N 8:46.15 11 Bruce, Ben Naz Elite 8:46.39 12 Updike, Lucas Team Run Eugene 8:47.66 13 Hurt, Tripp Team Run Eugene 8:47.68 14 Sees, Jonathan Sra Elite 8:48.22 15 O'Neil, Austin Unattached Ucla 8:49.12 16 Gay, John Okanagan Ath 8:49.22 17 Simon, Meron unattached wolfpack 8:56.11 -- Brockerville, Ryan Running Room Canada DNF