Where Your Dreams Become Reality
|
Where Your Dreams Become Reality |
|
Great Night for US
Distance Runners in Belgium On a Saturday night in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium where Hicham El Guerrouj, the fastest 1500m runner of all time, showed he is back on form and on track for Athens (click here for a report on Guerrouj), American distance runners impressed as 2 of them qualified for the Olympics (at least provisionally), 8 ran personal bests, and 2 set national records (1 of them a high school record). In the 1500m, former Kansas star, Charlie Gruber, had a 2.5 second pr running 3:34.71 for 10th in the 1500m to beat the Olympic A qualifying standard (3:36.20) and join Alan Webb on the Olympic team. Fellow American Jason Lunn was in the "B" race and could only manage 3:37.67. If he does not break the "A" standard by the August 9th deadline then Grant Robison of Stanford will be the 3rd member of the Olympic team. Also in the "B" race was US Olympic steeplechaser Anthony Famiglietti who was just behind Lunn running 3:37.98, a pr and 1500m Dan Wilson who ran a pr as well of 3:38.50. The women's 1500m saw US champ Carrie Tollefson provisionally qualify for the Olympics as she ran under the Olympic "B" standard of 4:07.15 running 4:06.30 for the win.. If Jen Toomey or Marla Runyan run under the "A" standard (4:05.8) and Tollefson does not by August 9th she will lose her spot. American Suzy Favor Hamilton has lost her spot unless another US runner hits the "A" standard. More on Tollefson in a full report here. The men's 5k was full of high and lows for US distance runners. First up was US Olympian Dan Browne, who will run the 10k and the marathon in Athens. He had a big breakthrough running 13:16.02 for 8th in the "A" race for a 10 second pr. (His previous best was 13:28.24 in 1998). However, Americans Jorge Torres and Louis Luchini, who were trying to hit the Olympic "A" qualifying standard of 13:21.50 and join Jonathon Riley and Tim Broe on the team, came up well short. Torres ran 13:39.41 while Luchini dropped out as did 3rd placer at nationals Bolota Asmeron. In the "B" 5k, high schooler Galen Rupp smashed the longest standing high school record on the books by running 13:37.91 to finish 11th and break the great Gerry Lindgren's record of 13:44.0 set in 1964. More on Rupp's run here. The other US national record was in a new event the steeplechase as Briana Shook ran 9:29.32 for the win and the record. American Carrie Messner also set a personal best in this race. In the women's 800m, Nicole Teter of the USA ran a seasonal best of 1:58.52 to finish 2nd and showed she may be a medal contender in Athens behind world leader Jolanda Ceplak who ran 1:58.00. (Francis Santin ran 2:00.90 in the "B" 800, .06 off her pr.) Canadian Gary Reed continued his fabulous outdoor campaign in 2004, getting his 5th win in 6 races and a Canadian national record of 1:44.92. American Khadevis Robinson was 3rd in 1:45.16. In the "B" 800 race Michigan's Nick Willis showed he his reaching his peak at an optimal time and has great range. Willis who ran 7:44 for 3k indoors and has run 3:32.68 for 1500m, ran nearly a 2 second pr at 800m (1:45.54). His previous best was 1:47.38. Next up for Willis is a test on Friday at the Golden League meet in Zurich against the top 1500m runners in the world including Alan Webb who was to be Willis' teammate in Michigan but he turned pro. Mike McGrath who is now training under Alberto Salazar ran a pr as well. Boulder based athletes Steve Slattery (8:30.05 steeplechase)
and Ed Torres (14:10..76 5k) had off nights.
|
Cross Country Spikes 10% off Injured?
|
