LetsRun.com's Heusden KBC Nacht Distance Recap And Analysis

By LetsRun.com
July 18, 2009

Note: Our recap focuses primarily on the American competitors in Heusden as several of them were chasing championship qualifiers or personal bests in the distance events. At the end of the article we list all of the American distance runners who hit A or B standards in Heusden.

*2009 Heusden KBC Nacht Full Results
*World Championship Qualifying Marks

Men's 5000m A - Teg Runs Best 5k In 2 Years
The American performance of the day came from Matt Tegenkamp in the 5000m. Initially settling back in 14th place behind a train of Kenyans, Teg held on through the fast early pace (~2:33 for the first 1000m) and moved his way up the field in the middle stages. At 3000m, he sat in 6th as the lead pack passed through in approximately 7:51. Looking calm and under control, Tegenkamp stayed attached to the lead group throughout the remainder of the race.

Tegenkamp's significant flaw was in the final lap where he twice got himself cut off or boxed in, disrupting his momentum in a fairly critical juncture of the race. With 180m to go he wanted to tuck in but was moving faster than the runners around him. He pushed the guy in front and lost his speed. In the final 100m Teg was probably moving the fastest but left himself too much ground to make up to win the race. Nonetheless his 13:07.97 is one of his best performances of all time and his best since 2007 when he ran 13:07.4. It looked pretty easy for the US champ as he still was able to kick decently off of a fast pace amidst considerable traffic.

Tegenkamp achieved the A-standard of 13:20 by almost 100m and looks to have more left in the tank for a good shot at lowering his 13:04 personal best from 2006. His kick was pretty good - we had him at 59.6 for the final circuit - but his tactics in the final 400m might have cost him. Tegenkamp just edged 19-year-old Josephat Bett of Kenya for second place with the win going to Jonas Cheruiyot. If Teg can finish more smoothly he may be able to come close to his 4th-place worlds finish in 2007.

3 runners prominent on the US distance racing circuit this year did not fare so well: Anthony Famiglietti 13:25, Collis Birmingham AUS 13:35, and Juan Luis Barrios MEX 13:37.

Approximate 1000m splits for Tegenkamp
1k 2:33
2k 2:38 (5:11)
3k 2:40 (7:51)
4k 2:41 (10:32)
5k 2:35 (13:07.97)

Approximate 1600m splits for Tegenkamp
1600m 4:08
3200m 8:23 (4:15 2nd 1600)
4800m 12:40 (4:17 3rd 1600)

*Interview With Matt after his Race and Video of It

Women's 800m
Gold League Jackpot winner and Olympic gold medalist Pamela Jelimo got back on the right track with a solid win at 1:59.59. Her best coming into this meet was a 2:02.46 and her last 800m was a 2:05 beat-down at the Pre meet.

NCAA champ and 2009 USATF #2 Geena Gall of Michigan came up short of her personal best with a 2:01.61, good for 4th. Morgan Uceny continues her comeback from a knee injury with a 2:00.95. Uceny's PR is 2:00.01 from 2008. She was only 6th at USATF's so has no shot at Berlin but has to be optimistic after this performance.

Men's 1500m A - Nate Brannen Scores European Win But Still Lacks Canada's World Championship Qualifying Standard

Ireland's Thomas Chamney ran 4th in a 3.5 second pb, 3:37.67, and gave a hilarious interview to Flotrack after the race. Check it out to the right.

Lopez Lomong was in it most of the way but faded at the end. While Brannen was charging in the final 250m, Lomong wasn't moving up at all. Rob Myers took a nice scalp by taking down Ethiopian Mekkonen Gebredhim in 3:38.10. Will Leer and Ryan Gregson were not factors in the race, both failing to break 3:40 in performances that surely are disappointing for those two.

Men's 1500m B - Jager Wins And PR's, Torrence Comes Close
Coach Jerry Schumacher's young stud Evan Jager got a great win and confidence-building pr at the 1500, winning the slower heat in 3:38.33. Several LRC Message Board posters were irate that Jager was not moved to the fast heat, but winning the slower heat in a fast time is just as good for Jager. Next time, he'll be in the fast heat at a race like this. His winning time would have placed him 6th in the fast heat. Which would you rather be if you were 20 years old running in Heusden, 1st in the slow heat or 6th in the fast heat? It's probably more exciting for him to get a win.

David Torrence should also be mentioned as he had a great race and pr'd by 2.5 seconds with a 3:38.39 just behind Jager. Torrence and Jager both hit the world championship b-standard in the 1500m, a great accomplishment.

Men's 800m A
John Cook-coached Leonel Manzano ran by far the best 800m race of his life to get third ahead of Christian Smith. Manzano came in to the race with fantastic 1500m credentials but only a 1:49.26 personal best at 800m. Well, now his 800m pr matches up much better with his 1500m performances as he ran 1:46.20 to hit the world championship b-standard. 2008 Olympian Christian Smith didn't have a good race and fell back to 5th in 1:47.55.

Men's Steeplechase - McAdams Again Nears 8:20 Barrier
The steeplechase produced a world championship A-standard performance for America's Josh McAdams as the hard-charging BYU grad came up for third in a seasonal best 8:22.83. The other American in the race was Ben Bruce and he ran very well for a B-standard 8:26.60 that just missed his all-time personal best set earlier this year.

*Men's 5000m B
*Our initial recap was inaccurate as we were using incorrect results. Updated results below.

Led by Jonathon Riley in first, Americans ran great in the last event of the day. USA runners took 5 out of the top 6 spots and 6 out of the top-10 in the slower heat of the 5000. The biggest PR belonged to Tim Nelson who lowered his best from 13:34 to 13:24.

The weird result of the meet was 34-year-old Yossef Gezachw of Israel who ran 13:30.86 after coming in with a 14:09.04 pb run earlier in the year in Tel Aviv. His 10,000m pb is only 29:34 but he has spent most of his career running 1500m's. Go figure. At first we were suspicious but when we think about it 14:09 in Tel Aviv might be super hard to do if it's hot and humid and there's nobody to run with. So maybe Gezachw switched events and miraculously found the fountain of youth in his mid-30's. Yeah, we doubt it too.

Men's 800m B
Not much to report here as nobody ran particularly fast. We were surprised to see Liam Boylan-Pett in the results, especially in 1:49.89 way back in the field. He usually dominates slower 800m races like this.

Women's 1500m
The women's 1500m saw Hannah England of the UK run 4:08.96 for the win. The Florida State alum's seasonal best is still 4:05.

American A-Standard Qualifiers In Heusden
- Matt Tegenkamp 5000m 13:07.97
- Josh McAdams 3000mSC 8:22.83

American B-Standard Qualifiers In Heusden
- Morgan Uceny 800m 2:00.95
- Evan Jager 1500m 3:38.33
- David Torrence 1500m 3:38.39
- Rob Myers 1500m 3:38.10
- Lopez Lomong 1500m 3:38.92
- Anthony Famiglietti 5000m 13:25
- Leo Manzano 800m 1:46.20
- Ben Bruce 3000mSC 8:26.60
- Jonathon Riley 5000m 13:21
- Abdi Abdirahman 5000m 13:26
- Scotty Bauhs 5000m 13:28
- Sean Quigley 5000m 13:28
- Tim Nelson 5000m 13:24
- Brent Vaughn 5000m 13:26