June 9, 2005 2005 NCAA Women's 10k
Recap We only wish all of the male chauvinist pigs who come
to the message boards had seen the women's 10k as it wasn't boring
and was quite exciting.
Coming into the race you had a slew of people being mentioned
as contenders including the old guard in two-time dending champion
Alicia Craig of Stanford and the new guard in Caroline Bierbaum
of Columbia who had never run track prior to this year. Other
possible contenders included 2003 NCAA indoor 5k champ Sara Slattery
of Colorado as well as Harvard freshman Lindsey Sherf and Providence's
Mary Cullen, as Cullen and Sherf were the only two besides Bierbaum
who had gone under 33:00 so far this year.
After a fairly slow opening 1km of 3:25 (34:10 pace), the race
got going at an honest pace with Angela Holman of Auburn leading
from 1k to 6400, passing 5k with a lead pack of 10 in 16:39 (33:18
pace). For virtually the entire time she was leading, Holman
was accompanied by Caroline Bierbaum who was on her outside shoulder.
At 6400, with the pace slowing a bit, Providence's Mary Cullen
took the lead and led for 1600 through 8k. With 2k remaining, 5
were in contention - Cullen, Bierbaum, Sherf, Slattery and Wake
Forest's Annie Bersagel.
At 8100, Bierbaum made the race's
first big move as she dropped a 73.9 second lap which totally disintegrated
the lead pack. She followed that lap up with a 76.7 and the only
one who was able to stay in contention was Colorado's Slattery who
was about 10-15 meters back. Slattery slowly reeled Bierbaum in
and with 800 to go Slattery was on Bierbaum's shoulder. Just prior
to the bell, Slattery took the lead for the first time and threw
down a blistering 72.4 final lap to get the win. Columbia's Caroline
Bierbaum deserves a lot of credit as she never gave up and actually
came back on Slattery a bit in the last 200 but ended up 1.16 seconds
behind.
Splits, quotes, results and lap by lap recap below.
Women's
10k Quotes. Winner Sara Slattery: LRC: How does it feel
to win? "Awesome. It was a great way to finish my career
at CU. It really made everything sweet at the end after having to
do so many pool workouts and being hurt and having so many ups and
downs (the last 1.5 years due to injury). It was a good way
to finish it off."
"I ran cross this year but then
had to take a couple months off because my foot started bothering
me again. I think I now finally have it under control. I had to
take 2 months off and didn't start training again until March."
LRC:
Were you worried when Bierbuam made a move with 1900 left and gapped
you? "I felt pretty good the whole race. I was just so
nervous that I didn't know when to go. I knew I wanted the pace
to get going with 2k to go but I just didn't want to blow it (by
going to early). I felt good but I just wanted to finish strong
as I have a tendency not to (so I waited)."
LRC: Are you going to make fun of Steve (her husband and an
elite US steeplechaser) some more now that you've won again? "Now
that I have two (NCAA titles) and he doesn't have any, well I have
to rub it in a little bit, since he jokes around with me so much."
For the record, Steve tried to claim to letsrun.com that he
deserves to be husband of the year for coming to the meet since
he has to leave for his race in New York this weekend at 6 a.m.
Runner Up Columbia's Caroline Bierbaum
On her big move that opened up a gap with 2000m to go: "I wasn't sure if I had it. I wasn't planning on moving at that time, but I could sense she was going to move so I moved right ahead of her. I just tired to do what I did at the conference meet (where she blew Lindsey Sherf away over the mile despite Sherf setting an American junior record at 10k). I could tell I didn't have as great a gap as I would have liked and that she was on my tail."
On her success this year (3rd in XC and now 2nd here in first year ever of track) "I never thought I'd get this far. It was amazing when I had the top collegiate time in the 10k. Obviously my goal was to win, but I 'm really pleased with what happened. I know I have a year to improve and I can be happy with the way (things turned out)."
Women's 10k Splits/Recap 400 84.7 800
2:46.24 1k 3:25.01 Angela
Holman of Auburn then Cullen of Providence, Bierbaum, Slattery 1200 4:04 78. 1600 68.9 Holman, pack of 8 very close then it goes
single file 2k 6:42.32
69.0 2400 79.2 Holman,
Bierbaum, Cullen, Sherf, Slattery, Craig, Davies 2800 78.76 (9:20.0) 3k 9:59.54 3200 79.5 3600 79.6 Holman, Bierbaum, Cullen,
Sherf, Slattery, van Rooyen, Craig, Davies 4k 79.3 13:18.64
(appox. 33:15 pace) 4400 79.5 10 in lead group 4800
80.4 5k 16:39.35
5200 81.7 Holman, Bierbaum,
Cullen, Sherf, Slattery, van Rooyen, Davies, Craig, Bolf and one
other person still in tightly packed group of 10. 5600 80.6 6k 81.35 20:02.18
Holman and Bierbaum side by side (Holman on the inside as it's
been for a long damn time) 6400 81.2Cullen
to lead, Bierbaum and then Sherf. 6800
78.4 Cullen, Bierbaum, Sherf. 9 in lead group. 7k - 23:21.44 7200 80.7
Cullen, Bierbaum, Sherf, Slattery, Bersagel (that's the one we missed
earlier), van Rooyen and 3 others. 7600 80.5 8k 26:43.44 (82 on that
lap I think) Only 5 in lead group now. Cullen, Bierbaum, Sherf,
Slattery, and Bersagel. 8400 74.2 Bierbaum
makes moves at 8100 (Bierbaum's split was 73.9)!!! Gaps the field. Top 5 is splintered. Slattery
is 10 meters back. 8800 Bierbaum 76.7
Slattery, Sherf, Cullen, Bersagel. Slattery is only one with a chance
of catching Bierbaum. 9k 29:53.19 (3:09.5 for that 1k) 9200 78.2 Bierbaum in lead but Slattery is on
her shoulder with 800 left!! It's going to be a thriller!!
9600 77.41 Bierbaum
and Slattery. Slattery has taken the lead just prior to the bell.
She may win it!! 10k 72.4 33:02 Slattery wins it,
Bierbaum 2nd, Cullen up to 3rd, Sherf 4th.
Finals
1 Sara Slattery SR Colorado 33:02.21 10
2 Caroline Bierbaum SO Columbia 33:03.37 8
3 Mary Cullen JR Providence 33:12.32 6
4 Lindsey Scherf FR Harvard 33:19.37 5
5 Christine Bolf JR Colorado 33:26.97 4
6 Annie Bersagel SR Wake Forest 33:28.63 3
7 Angela Homan JR Auburn 33:30.19 2
8 Mary Davies FR Oklahoma State 33:31.54 1
9 Karin VanRooyen SR Southern Methodist 33:42.56
10 Casey Owens SR SW Missouri St. 33:52.95
11 Brittany Brockman SO Baylor 33:55.11
12 Lauren King SR Notre Dame 33:56.95
13 Katrina Rundhaug SO Wisconsin 33:58.84
14 Violet Chemakwila SO Texas Tech 34:05.94
15 Maria Cicero SR Boston College 34:10.48
16 Jill Scully JR Ball State 34:16.47
17 Victoria Jackson SR Arizona State 34:23.86
18 Penny Splichal SR Arkansas 34:30.15
19 Valerie Lauver SO Missouri 34:45.34
20 Shannon Saunders FR James Madison 34:53.48
21 Ali Zeinner-Rush SR Arkansas 34:55.14
22 Meredith Lambert JR Princeton 34:56.22
23 Laura Stanley JR Duke 36:08.83
24 Faithy Kamangila FR Oral Roberts 36:23.90
-- Alicia Craig JR Stanford DNF
-- Paige Miller JR Duke DNF
-- Amy Hastings SO Arizona State DNF
2005 NCAA Men's 10k Recap The men's 10,000m featured 3 Kenyan studs, Robert Cheseret (last year's 10k runner up and 5k champ), Josphat Boit (28:07), Peter Kosgei (28:08), a Canadian (NCAA XC champ Simon Bairu), and American Junior record holder Galen Rupp (28:15). Cheseret was clearly the favorite based on his double at last year's NCAA, but the question of the day was whether Rupp or Bairu who were fresh could run away from the tired legs of Cheseret (5000 prelim the day before), Boit (5000m prelim the day before), or Kosgei (steeplechase prelim the day before).
Bairu had an off day and the young Rupp ran with poise beyond his years, taking the lead after a slow opening mile (4:38.2) and pushing the pace the rest of the way hoping to tire out his Kenyan pursuers. The next mile was in 4:27 and slowly the lead pack wittled away. By 5k (14:15) the pack was down to 7 (Rupp, Boit, Kosgei, Cheseret, Bairu, Koborsi of Georgetown, and Sheehan of St. Francis) with Rupp nearly leading every lap.
Laps of 66.81 and 67.9 by Rupp, really blew open the race and it was down to three, Rupp, Kosgei and Cheseret at 6k. A 67.6 put a gap between Rupp and Kosgei with Cheseret on Kosgei's heels. Cheseret then got around Kosgei and sat on Rupp's shoulder. It was a two man race and would remain that way the rest of the way.
Rupp tried to drop Cheseret the remainder of the race, but Cheseret stayed on his heels. With 3 laps to go, Rupp ran a slower 69.6 lap but Cheseret remained behind him. Rupp upped the tempo a bit on the next lap, but Cheseret was waiting to strike. He passed Rupp with 500 meters to go and had a lead of 5 meters at the bell (65.8 for that lap). He extended the lead by 200m to go and could enjoy the final 200m and the defense of his 10,000m crown.
Rupp ran a great race for a true freshman but was beaten by the better runner today.
Splits, quotes, results and lap by lap recap below.
Men's 10k Quotes Arizona's Robert Cheseret on the win.. "It feels great (to win again).
I'm excited."
Question: How much distance were you
willing to let Rupp put on you when he pushed the pace? "I
knew that if I let him go like more than 10 meters or so it would
be hard to catch up because he's a good runner and he's running
good and he's strong. I've run against him at conference and regionals
so I knew it would be hard to catch up if I let him (get ahead)."
Question:
How hard was that for you? You looked good at the end. "Moderate.
It was moderate."
Question: When did you know
you had the race won? "When I took off with 500 to go." But
were you confident when it was just the two of you (for about the
last 3200)? "Yes, I was confident because we ran almost the
same race at conference in the 10k."
Question: What are your thoughts about the 5k? "I think
the 5k is going to be fast. Most of the runners in the 5k are great
runners so it's going to be very competitive."
Additionally
Cheseret said he didn't think the 5k trials took anything out of
him as "we went out slow yesterday."
Men's 10k
Runner-up Galen Rupp of Oregon who was visibly pleased after a much
deserved 2nd. Question: Was it your plan to lead most of
the race? "I was going to see if anyone would take it out.
I was thinking Simon Bairu of Wisconsin might as he's fresh and
he won cross country so he's obviously fit. If no one took it out,
I was ready to go from 7,000 meters out and I went a little earlier
this time. One of the guys from Arkansas took it a couple of times.
I just tried to sit out as many laps as possible. But I just wanted
to make it honest. The only chance I had to win was to try to run
hard as I'm not the fastest kicker. I tried to take the kick out
of him but Robert is just a great runner so you have to give him
credit. He had not only a good kick at the end but that's a fast
time. I have no complaints and am not disappointed at all to lose
to a guy like that.
Question: You were running to win? "Definitely. I
came in looking at myself as being equal to these guys as my time
wasn't that far off (of theirs). I just tried to run hard and see
who could last the longest basically. I'm definitely not disappointed.
I have to look at it context. I'm only a freshman so I have a couple
of more years. Next year, hopefully I'll be more fit and be able
to kick with him at the end."
"I tried to
push the straightaways a little bit (in the last to miles) to see
if I could gap him a little bit and I did but I just wasn't able
to get that break where he'd give up mentally. Give credit
to him, he ran a tough race. He fell back a little bit as I was
looking up on the screen but he caught up and I just didn't have
anything left at the end."
Question: Were you surprised
the Arkansas guys fell back? "A little bit but they both ran
the day before and it's tough to come back from that. The steeple
was fast and they kicked really hard in the 5k at the end. That
definitely can take something out of your legs. That's why I wanted
to run hard - cause a lot of these guys weren't fresh. I was hoping
if I ran hard enough that maybe I could break them, and I got all
but one."
1 Robert Cheseret JR Arizona 28:20.11 10
2 Galen Rupp FR Oregon 28:23.75 8
3 Peter Kosgei SO Arkansas 28:39.29 6
4 Rod Koborsi JR Georgetown 28:42.05 5
5 Bret Schoolmeester JR Colorado 28:49.07 4
6 Josphat Boit JR Arkansas 28:52.69 3
7 Josh Rohatinsky SO Brigham Young 28:54.70 2
8 Tim Nelson SO Wisconsin 29:01.56 1
9 Andrew Carlson SR Minnesota 29:03.75
10 John Moore FR Portland 29:09.00
11 Ryan Sheehan SR St. Francis-PA 29:13.81
12 Jason Sandfort SR Arkansas 29:14.75
13 Kaleb VanOrt JR Notre Dame 29:19.74
14 Simon Bairu JR Wisconsin 29:25.19
15 Casey Burchill JR Arizona State 29:34.44
16 Antony Ford SR Wisconsin 29:35.28
17 Alex Korir SO Alabama 29:41.18
18 Mark Nichol SR Texas 29:51.92
19 Delfino Arevalo SR Utah 29:54.48
20 Sean Quigley FR La Salle 29:58.38
21 Karl Dusen SR Columbia 30:02.91
22 Brett Gotcher SO Stanford 30:11.48
23 Dave Ernsberger SR Central Michigan 30:16.77
24 Andrew Middleton JR Texas 30:31.96
25 Japheth Ng'Ojoy FR Texas-El Paso 30:56.16
-- Mathew Chesang SR Kansas State DNF
400 70.67 Duesen of Columbia leading 800 2:19, 2:54.3
1k 1200
3:29.0 1600 4:38.2 Rupp
in lead, Cheseret, Boit Dusen had led previously Columbia 5:42.29 64.6 last
lap Rupp pushing it in lead field is strung out 2400 6:50.6 67.6 Kosgei now in lead 2800
7:57.3 Rupp back in lead 66.8 3k 8:31.51 Rupp, 2 Arkansas
Guys, Cheseret, Bairu, 13 in lead pack 3200 9:05.3 3600 72.3
slower lap, Kosgei has now taken lead followed by Boit, Rupp, Cheseret,
Bairu, Sheehan, Rohantinsky and Korborsi of Gtown 4000 68.0 11.25.7
2:54.1 for that 1k 4400 68.5 Rupp back in lead Boit,
Kosgei, Bairu, Cheseret, 4800 67.4 Rupp, Boit, Kosgei, Cheseret,
Bairu, Koborsi, and Sheehan of St. Francis are now the lead
pack. Everyone else has been dropped 5k 14:15.22 5200
67.9 Rupp still in lead. The racing is starting for sure. Sheehan
has fallen off the lead pack. Carlsson of Minnesota and Rohatinsky
are 8 9. 5600 66.81 Rupp is pushing it and the pack is strining
out. He had 3 meters on the Arkansas guys. Rupp and Bairu are the
only fresh runners in the pack but Bairu is now back in 6th and
has been dropped. 6000 67.9 Rupp still in lead. Top 3 are clear
of everyone else with Kosgei and Cheseret about 3 meters behind
Rupp. 6400 67.6 Rupp is looking over shoulder. Cheseret
has had to pass the Arkansas guy Kosgei and it is a 2 man race.
6800 67.5 Cheseret is now right on Rupp's shoulder. 2
man race for sure now. 3rd is 20 meters back. 7k 19:53.61 2:49
for that k 7200 69.2 Rupp and Cheseret. 7600 68.5 Rup
and Cheseret, Kosgei is back in 3rd, then a gap to Boit and Koborsi. 8000
22:44 I think. 2:51 for k. 68.3 Rupp still leads but Cheseret
is right on him. 8400 23:53 with a mile to go 68.2 after Koborsi
is now ahead of Boit and then a 4 man pack with Schoolmeister leading
it. 8800 67.8 Rupp and Cheseret 3 to go. sorry for not uploading
the page. 9200 26:10.8 69.6 Rupp still in the lead Cheseret
right on him. 9600 Cheseret in lead with 500 to go. 65.8
Cheseret up by 5 meters. Koborsi in battle for 3rd with Kosgei. 9800 its over Cheseret has it.10k 63.6
Cheseret 28:20, Rupp28:23, Kosgei 28:39, Koborsi 28:42 4th, 5th
Schoolmeister 28:49, Boit 6 28:52, Rohatinsky 7th 28:54 , Nelson
of Wisconsin 29:01
