The Rest of The Meet: Noah Lyles Runs 19.69, Ryan Crouser and Jenn Suhr Break Meet Records, and A New Steeple Star Arrives?

By LetsRun.com
May 26, 2018

EUGENE, Ore. — The final Prefontaine Classic at the original Hayward Field did not disappoint as the action was great throughout the day. We’ve already recapped the men’s mile races for you — LRC 17-Year Old Jakob Ingebrigtsen Runs 3:52 Mile at Prefontaine Classic, And Oh Yeah Timothy Cheruiyot Wins in 3:49 — as well as the women’s distance races — LRC 2018 Pre Women’s Distance Recap: Shelby Houlihan Runs Massive 4+ Sec PB To Shock The World, Caster Semenya and Genzebe Dibaba Continue To Roll — as well as Friday’s action — LRC Friday Night At Pre: Emmanuel Korir Is Superman, Selemon Barega Impresses, King Ches Disappoints — so below we recap the rest of the meet. The biggest headlines from the rest of the meet were earned by 20-year-old Noah Lyles (who grabbed the men’s 200 in 19.69), Ryan Crouser (who broke the men’s meet record in a historically good men’s shot put), and Jenn Suhr (who broke the women’s pole vault meet record), but we lead with the one remaining distance event — the men’s steeplechase, which featured a big upset.

Men’s Steeplechase: Benjamin Kigen pulls off a stunner with a fantastic last lap

As one might have expected, the end of the men’s steeplechase at the 2018 Prefontaine Classic featured a super-tight battle between the 2016 Olympic gold and silver medallists in Conseslus Kipruto and Evan Jager with Kipruto crossing the line first as both men were credited with identical times of 8:11.71.

Seeing Jager battling Kipruto all the way to the line today was not much of a surprise, as both have been among the best in the world for some time. What was a huge surprise was the fact that they weren’t battling it out for the win. No, they were battling it out for runner-up honors seconds after the winner had crossed the finish line in 8:09.07 thanks to a super fast last lap of 57.89.

World, meet Benjamin Kigen.

Kigen, 24, who trains in Ngong, Kenya, with world U20 champ Amos Kirui, only moved to the steeplechase last year. His first steeplechase was just over a year ago — May 11, 2017. Now he’s a winner on the DL circuit, and he didn’t just win: he dominated the Olympic gold and silver medalists on the final lap.

Kigen missed Worlds last year by one spot (he was 4th at the Kenyan Trials) and ran a pb of 8:11 to take 4th in Monaco before finishing 6th in the DL final in Brussels. But today he showed he’s on a different level in 2018 and will certainly be one to watch moving forward.

MB: Unheralded Ben Kigen BLOWS AWAY Kipruto and Jager at Pre, closes in 57.89 — fastest steeple closer ever?

Steeplechase Results / Pts
1 Kigen , Benjamin KEN 8:09.07 8
2 Kipruto , Conseslus KEN 8:11.71 7
3 Jager , Evan USA 8:11.71 6
4 Kirui , Amos KEN 8:15.23 5
5 Bett , Nicholas Kiptonui KEN 8:15.52 4
6 Birech , Jairus Kipchoge KEN 8:18.76 3
7 Bor , Hillary USA 8:21.51 2
8 Koech , Paul Kipsiele KEN 8:23.22 1
9 Bayer , Andrew USA 8:29.70
10 Deriba , Tesfaye ETH 8:33.36
Kebenei , Stanley Kipkoech USA DNF
Lagat , Haron Kiptoo USA DNF

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Quick Take: Conseslus Kipruto was not at 100% today

Kipruto said he was disappointed to finish second today, but said that he had “a little malaria” before traveling to Oregon. That may not be quite accurate — in the past, we’ve heard Kenyans use “malaria” and “sick” interchangeably — but it is clear that whatever he had, Kipruto was not 100%.

“I’m not worried about the shape,” Kipruto said. “It’s only the body was tired [because of illness]. But the way I’m feeling, even I thought I was not going to run this way. But I knew it in the last lap, I was not comfortable because [I had] no power in the body.”

When we asked Kipruto why he even bothered racing if he was so sick, he explained that he did not want to scratch because this is a Nike-sponsored meet and he likes racing in front of the Hayward Field crowd.

Quick Take: Evan Jager is happy to have company at the front of the steeple field

Jager expected to be battling it out with Kipruto over the last lap today, and while that was indeed the case, they were not battling for the win as Kigen pulled the shock upset. Despite that, Jager was pleased with how he raced, in particular his ability to run with noted kicker Kipruto over the final 200 meters.

“I swear I outkicked Conseslus but they gave me third,” Jager said. “But it was fun being able to battle with him over the last 100 meters. Coming off that last barrier, it’s something he’s been better than me at my entire career.”

Jager moves to 0-5 in his last five matchups with Kipruto; his last win came at the 2015 Diamond League final in Zurich.

Now it’s back to training for Jager, who will run at USAs before gearing up for what should be a fast steeple in Monaco on July 20.

Sprints

Men’s 200: Noah Lyles crushes field, runs huge 19.69 pb

Let there be no doubt: American Noah Lyles, all of 20 years old, is the world’s best 200-meter runner right now. After winning the DL opener in Doha in a pb of 19.83, Lyles took advantage of a friendly tailwind (2.0 m/s) to crush a field that included Worlds bronze medalist Jereem Richards — apart from Lyles, no one else broke 20 seconds.

Lyles’ time tied the world leader run by South Africa’s Clarence Munyai at elevation in March; no one has run faster since Usain Bolt’s 19.55 at the 2015 World Champs.

200 Results Wind: +2.0 m/s Pts
1 Lyles , Noah USA 19.69 8
2 Richards , Jereem TTO 20.05 7
3 Brown , Aaron CAN 20.07 6
4 Jobodwana , Anaso RSA 20.42 5
5 Mitchell-Blake , Nethaneel GBR 20.51 4
6 Webb , Ameer USA 20.56 3
7 Guliyev , Ramil TUR 20.57 2
Makwala , Isaac BOT DNF

Men’s 100: Ronnie Baker Runs The Race Of His Life To Upset Christian Coleman

Christian Coleman and Ronnie Baker ran even for the first two-thirds of the men’s 100, but surprisingly in the later stages it was Baker, the two-time NCAA 60m champ, not Coleman, the NCAA 100m champ (Coleman also won a 60m NCAA title and two in the 200m), who pulled away to win.

When the time popped on the scoreboard — 9.78 — one understood why: Baker was flying. Coleman’s 9.84 was really quite strong for a season opener even if the wind (2.4 m/s) means the times won’t count.

Adjusting for the wind, Baker’s 9.78 converts to 9.89 without wind (with a 2.0 — the limit — it would have been even faster), well ahead of his official 9.97 pb, which is tied for this year’s world lead. Baker also won Pre last year with a 2.4 m/s wind but his time last year was 9.86.

Results: +2.4 m/s
1 Baker , Ronnie USA 9.78
2 Coleman , Christian USA 9.84
3 Prescod , Reece GBR 9.88
4 Su , Bingtian CHN 9.90
5 Young , Isiah USA 9.94
6 Ujah , Chijindu GBR 10.12
7 Meité , Ben Youssef CIV 10.13
8 Smellie , Gavin CAN 10.16

Ronnie Baker interview

Christian Coleman interview

Women’s 100: Marie-Josee Ta Lou leads Ivory Coast 1-2

The women’s 100 featured the same top 2 as the women’s 60 at World Indoors a few months ago but this time the order of finish was reversed, as 2018 world indoor silver medallist Marie-Josee Ta Lou, the world leader at 10.85, got the win in 10.88, just ahead of her compatriot Murielle Ahoure, the world indoor champ who ran 10.90. 2016 Olympic champ Elaine Thompson was third in 10.98 with 2017 world champ Tori Bowie fifth in 11.03.

World champ Tori Bowie injured her quadriceps in the final meters and was seen limping off the track with the assistance of two meet officials.

Results Wind: +1.9 m/s Pts
1 Ta Lou , Marie-Josée CIV 10.88 8
2 Ahouré , Murielle CIV 10.90 7
3 Thompson , Elaine JAM 10.98 6
4 Schippers , Dafne NED 11.01 5
5 Bowie , Tori USA 11.03 4
6 Asher-Smith , Dina GBR 11.06 3
7 Okagbare-Ighoteguonor , Blessing NGR 11.07 2
8 Oliver , Javianne USA 11.10 1

Men’s 110 hurdles: Omar McLeod scares 13-second barrier

The world has yet to see a sub-13 this year — the world leader is 13.15 — but world/Olympic champ Omar McLeod, who has broken 13 in each of the last three years, came close today, clocking 13.01. Unfortunately for McLeod, the time won’t count for record purposes due to the 3.0 tailwind, but it was still a good win over 2015 world champ Sergey Shubenkov (13.08). American Devon Allen was third in 13.13.

Results Wind: +3.0 m/s Pts
1 McLeod , Omar JAM 13.01 8
2 Shubenkov , Sergey ANA 13.08 7
3 Allen , Devon USA 13.13 6
4 Ortega , Orlando ESP 13.17 5
5 Levy , Ronald JAM 13.26 4
6 Merritt , Aries USA 13.27 3
7 Pozzi , Andrew GBR 13.51 2
8 Harris , Aleec USA 13.52 1

Women’s 400: Olympic champ Shauna Miller-Uibo dominates

The battle between the 2016 Olympic and 2017 world champ proved to be no contest as the Olympic champ Shaunae Miller-Uibo destroyed everyone in the women’s 400 as she went out more conservatively than normal but had a ton left at the end and won in 49.52. World champ Phyllis Francis was a distant second in 50.81 in a race that served as the first outdoor 400 of the year for both runners.

Results / Pts
1 Miller-Uibo , Shaunae BAH 49.52 8
2 Francis , Phyllis USA 50.81 7
3 Wimbley , Shakima USA 50.84 6
4 Beard , Jessica USA 50.89 5
5 McPherson , Stephenie Ann JAM 51.01 4
6 Stepter , Jaide USA 51.17 3
7 Okolo , Courtney USA 51.54 2

Women’s 400 Hurdles: Jamaica’s Janieve Russell gets narrow win

Coming into the women’s 400 hurdles today, Jamaica’s Janieve Russell and America’s Dalilah Muhammad were separated by just .01 on the 2018 world list as Muhammad had run 53.77 and Russell 53.78. Well today, they were separated by just .03, with the 24-year old Russell, the Commonwealth Games champ who has never medalled on the global stage, getting the win over the 2016 Olympic champ thanks to a strong last 100 as entering the homestretch Muhammad and fellow American Georganne Moline (3rd, 54.33) were battling it out for the lead.

Results / Pts
1 Russell , Janieve JAM 54.06 8
2 Muhammad , Dalilah USA 54.09 7
3 Moline , Georganne USA 54.33 6
4 Watson , Sage CAN 54.81 5
5 Little , Shamier USA 55.23 4
6 Hejnová , Zuzana CZE 55.36 3
7 Spencer , Ashley USA 55.58 2
8 Tate , Cassandra USA 55.97 1

Field Events

Men’s Shot Put: Ryan Crouser wins historically good event

Olympic champ and Oregon native Ryan Crouser won a historically good men’s shot put in style as he broke his own meet record with a fifth-round heave of 73’11” (22.53m), which gave him the win over Poland’s Michal Haratyk who had a pb in the sixth round of 72’1” (21.97m, previous pb of 21.88 m). Brazil’s Darlan Romani also PR’d to grab third in in 72’0.25” (21.95m, a slight improvement over his national record of 21.94m). Reigning world indoor and outdoor champ Tom Walsh of New Zealand, who had won his first nine competitions of the year, lost for the second time in his last three as was fourth in 71-8 (21.84).

This was the first shot put competition in history where four men threw farther than 21.80m.

Results / Pts
1 Crouser , Ryan USA 22.53 8
2 Haratyk , Michal POL 21.97 7
3 Romani , Darlan BRA 21.95 6
4 Walsh , Tomas NZL 21.84 5
5 Hill , Darrell USA 21.19 4
6 Whiting , Ryan USA 20.64 3
7 Storl , David GER 20.49 2
8 Kovacs , Joe USA 20.36 1
9 Bukowiecki , Konrad POL 20.12
10 Žunic , Stipe CRO 19.91

Women’s Pole Vault: Jenn Suhr wins with meet record

36-year-old Jenn Suhr’s resurgent year continued as she won with a meet record of 15’11” (4.85) — the same height cleared by the 21-year-old runner-up Eliza McCartney of New Zealand. Coming into 2018, Suhr hadn’t jumped over 4.83 outdoors since 2013 but she’s already done it twice and it’s still May as she went 4.91 at Texas Relays.

Results Pts
1 Suhr , Jennifer USA 4.85 8
2 McCartney , Eliza NZL 4.85 7
3 Morris , Sandi USA 4.70 6
4 Nageotte , Katie USA 4.70 5
5 Peinado , Robeilys VEN 4.60 4
6 Sidorova , Anzhelika ANA 4.60 3
7 Stefanidi , Katerina GRE 4.60 2
8 Bradshaw , Holly GBR 4.35 1
Newman , Alysha CAN NM

Men’s Triple Jump: Taylor wins with big 6th-round jump

Double Olympic champ Christian Taylor trailed two-time Olympic silver medallist Will Claye entering the final round but ended up winning comfortable thanks to a final round jump of 58’2” (17.73m, into a 1.3 m/s wind), which was nearly a foot father than Claye’s 5th-round jump of 57’ 3.5” (17.46m, +3.0 wind).

Results / Pts
1 Taylor , Christian USA 17.73 8 -1.3
2 Claye , Will USA 17.46 7 +3.0
3 dos Santos , Almir BRA 17.35 6 +1.1
4 Copello , Alexis AZE 17.24 5 +1.6
5 Dong , Bin CHN 17.22 4 +1.8
6 Heß , Max GER 16.95 3 +1.8
7 Évora , Nelson POR 16.93 2 +1.3
8 Benard , Chris USA 16.88 1 +1.9
9 Pontvianne , Jean-Marc FRA 15.66 +0.2

Men’s High Jump: Barshim wins

Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar remained undefeated outdoors and got some revenge as he won with a third attempt clearance of 7’8.75” (2.36m) as Danil Lysenko (Russian but competing as a neutral here), the man who beat Barshim for world indoor gold this year, was second at 7’7.25” (2.32).

Results / Pts
1 Barshim , Mutaz Essa QAT 2.36 8
2 Lysenko , Danil ANA 2.32 7
3 Wang , Yu CHN 2.32 6
4 Kynard , Erik USA 2.29 5
5 Robinson , Jeron USA 2.26 4
6 Protsenko , Andriy UKR 2.26 3
7 Przybylko , Mateusz GER 2.26 2
8 Thomas , Donald BAH 2.21 1

 

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