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Matt Tegenkamp After His First US Title in Boston 3k
By David Monti
(c) 2007 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
February 23, 2007


When Matt Tegenkamp arrives in Boston later today for this weekend's AT&T USA Indoor Championships, he should be feeling pretty good about himself.  He's coming off of a dream season on the track last summer which vaulted him into the top echelon of U.S. distance runners, and he just ran an indoor personal best for 3000m at the Tyson Invitational.  He also got married last fall.  Life is good.

But there is something missing for the tall redhead from Lee's Summit, Mo., who now makes his home in Madison, Wisc.  Not since he won the U.S. Junior Cross Country Championships in 2001 has he won a national title.  In his opinion, he's overdue.

"It would be a great feeling," said Tegenkamp, 25, speaking by telephone from his home before heading to the airport this afternoon.  "I think it's a huge step going into the (U.S.) Championship this summer."

Bogged down by injuries, including stress fractures of his right femur and left shin, Tegenkamp never won an NCAA title while at the University of Wisconsin.  He won Big 10 conference titles indoors at 3000m and 5000m, and even won a Big 10 title outdoors at 1500m.  But he just lost too much time on the sidelines to reach his full potential while in college.

"I think with the kind of intensity in training, my body wasn't able to get the kind of recovery that it needed," said Tegenkamp who still runs for his college coach, Jerry Schumacher.  Of his 2003 season he said, "I was out from March to May.  That jump in time really set me back."

Nonetheless, from entering college with a 13:49.64 5000m to his credit, he dropped that to 13:25.36 in 2005 after graduating, finishing sixth at the USA Outdoor Championships. And, at the end of 2005, he won the U.S. Cross Country Championships for Clubs, which he doesn't consider a truly national title.

But, his solid progress in 2005 only provided a hint of what would come last year.  Defeated only by two-time Olympic medalist, Bernard Lagat, Tegenkamp ran a personal best 13:15.00 to take second at the USA Outdoor Championships last June.  That performance set him up for a European track season which became the envy of nearly every American distance runner.  Fans and journalists alike stood up and took notice.

At the 5000m in the DN-Galan meeting in Stockholm last July, Tegenkamp found himself one of only two non-Africans in a field of 23 athletes.  Rising to the occasion, he finished eighth in 13:04.90, a time beaten only by three other Americans in history: Bob Kennedy, Lagat, and Sydney Maree.  A little less than a month later, in the 3000m at the Herculis meeting in Monaco, he found himself in another tough field, but was up to the task again with a very strong 7:34.98 personal best.  He would also run 3:35.96 for 1500m and take third at the IAAF World Cup in the 5000m.

Comparisons to Bob Kennedy have since flowed freely and, while humbled by the comparison, Tegenkamp is definitely inspired to follow in Kennedy's footsteps.

"Definitely, he was the guy," said Tegenkamp.  "He set the bar, I guess, and he set it really high."  He added: "Kennedy kind of did everything.  He was the idol of American distance runners.  I've been able to have talks with him.  He's been very open if I need any advice, if I want to talk or anything, he's there.  He was a great athlete a great inspiration.  He wants to see his records broken."

For Saturday's race, Tegenkamp has a simple goal.  "I'm going in there and going for the win, expecting to win," he said.  He sees this indoor race as a great opportunity to sharpen his competitive skills.  "I want to work on the championship style of racing, go in there and not be too nervous with my own race plan and just compete well.  It will be a lot of fun."

It's hard not to look at Tegenkamp as the favorite.  His seasonal qualifying mark of 7:40.25 is some 13 seconds faster than anyone else's in the field.  His top challengers should be Thomas Morgan (who is a good closer), Sean Graham, and possibly Jonathon Riley, who grew up in the Boston area and has won the U.S. indoor 3000m title three times.

Tegenkamp said he bypassed the recent U.S. Cross Country Championships in Boulder because he has never done any racing or training at altitude, and because his track training was going so well, evidenced by his 7:40.25 indoor personal best for 3000m at the Tyson meet in Fayetteville.

"I've never been training up at altitude before," he reasoned.  "That wouldn't be something at this point that I wanted to do.  I didn't want to interrupt anything; the track had been treating me very well so I didn't want to change anything."

Working with Coach Schumacher for over five years, Tegenkamp feels confident in his coach's advice and feels their long-term relationship is one of his greatest competitive advantages.  "It's definitely huge," he said of his coach's influence.  "With any coach it takes at least two years for the athlete and coach relationship to develop.  That's something that's really great; he's always there looking out for his athletes.  He can just step back and say, Is this really going to improve the outcome of the season?  I just show up, do the workouts he says and the races he says."

It's been a winning formula so far, and Tegenkamp hopes it will take him to a high finish at the IAAF World Championships in Osaka in August.  Most Americans see just making the meet, which normally requires a top-3 finish at the USA Outdoor Championships, as a big step.  Not Tegenkamp.

"I don't want to just make it to the World Champs as an accomplishment.  I would see it as a complete failure if I did not make the final.  For the last two or three years my training has been to focus on those Championships in Osaka."


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