2010 Mt. Sac Relays Friday Preview: Puma Mile and 5000s

Friday Highlights: Puma Mile and Invite 5ks

by: LetsRun.com
April 15, 2010

More Previews:
*Thursday's Mt. Sac Preview: Former NCAA Champs Square Off in Men's 10k
*Saturday's Mt. Sac Preview Olympic Sprint Stars, Bryan Clay, Maggie Vessey and Men's 800

The Mt. Sac Relays start Thursday and go thru Saturday. This meet was one of our favorite meets back when we were competing. But we now realize that the farther you get away from competing that the average track fan has no idea about the meet or who is running what as next to zero is done to promote the individual races. When you can't go to the meet homepage and find out who is competing, we have no idea how our sport is supposed to get more popular.

Thus, we've decided to provide you with a 5 minute guide to the relays so you'll know what to watch or look for. A full meet schedule can be found here or you can find the individual division schedules here.

The meet will be streamed somedays via Flotrack, some days via Mt. Sac itself. We will provide links or embed the stream on LetsRun.com.

Watch live:

Watch live streaming video from mtsac_tv at livestream.com

Friday's Top Events: Great 5ks and Puma Mile Highlight

Premier Friday Pro/Collegiate Distance Events
Fri 7:20pm	Women's Invitational 1500	US Olympian Alice Schmidt takes on mix of elite and collegiate runners including DII star Jessica Pixler.
Fri 7:32pm	Men's Invitational 1500	World indoor finalist Garrett Heath, NCAA record-holder/Olympian Christian Smith headline
Fri 7:45pm	PUMA Mile	15 men, 5 women will run in handicapped mixed race for $10,000 Puma sponsorship
Fri 8:35pm	Women's Invitational 5000	NCAA great Sally Kipyego, sub-4 1500 runner Christin Wurth-Thomas, Olympian Jen Rhines, Olympian Amy Begley, US XC #2 Molly Huddle will race.
Fri 8:55pm	Men's Invitational 5000	34 Top pros, collegians including Scott Bauhs, Boaz Cheboiywo, Lee Emanuel, several other NCAA champs and US worlds team members like steeple specialists Dan Huling, Kyle Perry and Brian Olinger

Friday 8:55 Pacific: Men's Invitational 5000 - No Clear Favorite In Talented, Deep Field
There won't be a clear favorite in Friday's men's Invitational 5000. 2009 and 2010 NCAA indoor mile champion Lee Emanuel of Great Britain and Stanford sophomore and former American junior record holder Chris Derrick will be the biggest collegiate names. Scott Bauhs is one of the most accomplished of the post-collegiate 5000m/10,000m specialists. From the steeplechase ranks come 2009 NCAA champ Kyle Perry, NCAA steeple record-holder Brian Olinger, and the 6th-fastest US steepler of all-time Dan Huling. Pros Boaz Cheboiywo (Nike stud and former NCAA XC champ), Brent Vaughn (62:04 half this year, pictured left) and Bobby Curtis (2008 NCAA 5000 champ) also stand out. There are many other good runners in the race so we anticipate surprise results and perhaps a win from someone we haven't even mentioned.

Friday 7:45 Pacific: PUMA Mile - $10,000 Puma Sponsorship Deal Goes To Winner of Mixed Gender Race
Anonymous message board poster "kipketer" might have said it best when he wrote, "This is about as close to to reality television you will find in track and field." A field of 5 women led by Great Britain Olympian Barbara Parker will get a 29-second head start (the difference between the men's and women's American mile records) on the men. The men's field includes Liam Boylan-Pett, Andrew Jesien, Sam Bair and others, most of whom have pr's between 3:58 and 4:02. The winner of the race gets a $10,000 Puma sponsorship. Thus this race generates more interest than the 1500m which has a better field.
*Boards: Mt. Sac 2010 - Puma Mile

Friday 7:32 Pacific: Men's Invitational 1500 - Garrett Heath and Christian Smith to clash
Stanford alum Garrett Heath made the Doha world indoor final in the 1500 last month. He'll have 2008 Olympian Christian Smith to contend with along with definite underdog 2010 Stanford winner John Mickowski.

Friday 8:35 Pacific: Women's Invitational 5000 - Big Names In This Race: Sally Kipyego, Amy Yoder Begley, Jen Rhines, Christin Wurth-Thomas, Molly Huddle
Unlike the men's Invite 5000, we pretty much know who the top runners will be in the women's race. We'll bet a good amount of money that the women's race will go to one of the 5 names listed above. 9 time NCAA champion Sally Kipyego, US ranked #1 10k runner Amy Yoder Begley , 2009 World Championship finalist Jen Rhines, sub 4 1500m runner and World Champs fifth place finisher, Christin Wurth-Thomas, and World XC team member star Molly Huddle are all in the field. All of the top-5 women are Olympic-caliber runners so we'll see who can lower their personal best and who can outkick the others.

Kipyego as good as she was in the NCAAs is better already as a pro. The jump from the college ranks to the pros is a big one, yet Kipyego ran a 17 second pr at 5k indoors (14:52). Thus she's got the best pr in the field and did it a few months ago indoors. Thus she's the favorite but it will be interesting to see if Amy Begley continues in 2010 where she left off in 2009 as this is her outdoor debut.

Friday 7:20 Pacific: Women's Invitational 1500 - Message Boards Will Go Crazy If DII Pixler Wins
DII fans will be pulling for multi-time national champ Jessica Pixler who may be the best collegian in the race. Alice Schmidt, a 2008 US 800m Olympian, is likely to be the favorite.

Keep Reading:
Saturday's Mt. Sac Preview Olympic Sprint Stars, Bryan Clay, Maggie Vessey and Men's 800
Thursday's Mt. Sac Preview: Former NCAA Champs Square Off in Men's 10k

More coverage:
Mt. Sac Preview from Whittier Daily News: Olympic decathlon champ Bryan Clay competing in 4 Events, Allyson Felix
Thursday: Former NCAA Champs Square Off in Men's 10k
Friday: Mt. Sac Preview: Great 5ks and Puma Mile Highlight
Saturday: Mt. Sac Preview: Olympic Sprint Stars, Bryan Clay, Maggie Vessey and Men's 800
*OTC Announce Their Elite Entries In Upcoming Mt SAC Distance Races
*Meet Schedule
*Start Lists
On the LetsRun.com Message Boards: Mt Sac HEAT SHEETS

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