June 24, 2018 Homepage Archive

2018 USAs Schedule, Results & Entries TV & Streaming Women’s PreviewMen’s Preview Prediction Contest LRC Post-Race Interviews

LRCHoulihan, Chelimo, & Jager (7 Straight) Grow Their Legends With Convincing Wins At USAs Greatness was on display as 3 of America’s distance stars lived up to their favorite status.

LRC Ajee Wilson And Clayton Murphy, The Class Of US 800m Running, Win 2018 USATF Titles Murphy and Wilson were you expect them: atop the US 800 ranks. Wilson led 5 women to PRs, including Ce’Aira Brown and Raevyn Rogers going 1:58 for the first time and Kaela Edwards going sub-2:00 for the first time.

International Action

Final Day Of Japanese Champs:National Records Fall In The Men’s Discus (62.16m) And Men’s 110m Hurdles (13.36) Masateru Yugami amazingly threw 5 straight PRs and 3 straight NRs.
Japanese Champs Day 2:Ryota Yamagata Ties Meet Record In 100 (10.05)
Japan Champs Day 1: 2:22 Marathoner Matsuda Dominates 10,000 (31:52) Shuho Dairokuno won the men’s title in 28:30 after 2:06 marathoner Hiroto Inoue did most of the work.
World Champ Netsanet Gudeta Of Ethiopia (67:30) And Stephen Kiprop Of Kenya (60:15) Win Olomouc Half Marathon
Moses Kibet (28:34) And Katsiaryna Shaban Karneyenka (33:40) Take Top Honors At Vidovdan Road Race 10k
Molly Caudery Sets New UK Junior Record In Pole Vault (4.53m) She’ll going to be an NCAA star when she starts college in the US in the fall. *Video
44-Year-Old Jo Pavey Returns To Action With 15:48 5,000 Win She was hoping for the 15:30 European standard.
Eliza McCartney Sets Oceanic PV Record Of 4.92 Meters
Madrid: Su Bingtian Highlights Meeting Madrid With A 9.91 Victory And Chinese 100m Record Su Bingtian took back the NR he had lost just three days ago to Xie Zhenye‘s 9.97. Ethiopia’s 2016 World Indoor bronze medalist Gudaf Tsegay highlighted distance action, winning the 1,500 unopposed in 3:59.60. *Results
*MB: 20-year-old Italian Filippo Tortu runs 9.99 in the 100 in Madrid — 2nd white guy ever under 10?
*Cornell Alum Bruno Hortelano Runs Almost A One-Second PR To Break 29-Year-Old Spanish 400m Record With 44.69 In Madrid Hortelano continues his excellent comeback after he missed all of last year with injuries from his 2016 car crash. Dominican Republic’s former Olympic silver medalist Lugelin Santos won the race in 44.66.
Kenya: Gloria Mulei Shatters Kenyan Triple Jump Record With 12.97m In Kasarani The 18-year-old broke the 12.91m record set back in 2001.
Athens: Olympic Champ Ekaterini Stefanidi Vaults European-Leading 4.80m In Athens

Day 2 at USAs

LRC Noah Lyles Takes Another Step Toward Superstar Status, Wins First U.S. Outdoor Title In 100 With World-Leading 9.88 The 20-year-old Lyles became the youngest man to win the U.S. 100-meter title since Sam Graddy in 1984. *Video Of Lyles’ Race
*MB: NOAH MF LYLES: 9.88: Official Noah Lyles Appreciation Thread
*MB: USA Championships: Ronnie Baker runs 9.90 for 2nd OMG*

Reuters: Lyles Ready To Be A “Big Dog” “I didn’t think that my first USATF championship was going to be a 100 gold medal. I always thought it would be the 200. So to come out here to win the 100, it made me very happy.

Three-For-Three! Former LSU Star Aleia Hobbs Completes Sprint Trifecta At USA Nationals Hobbs this year has won the NCAA 60, 100 and now the USA 100.

LRC 800 Semis Go According To Form – We Can’t Wait For Sunday’s Finals Ajee Wilson, Charlene Lipsey, Raevyn Rogers and Ce’aira Brown all made the final with ease as did Isaiah Harris, Erik Sowinski and Clayton Murphy.
*MB: Is Murphy the favorite? ‘”That’s for you guys to sit in a dungeon and twittle your fingers and write articles about.”
*MB: Anyone else thing Murphy is in trouble for the final?

LRC Men’s Steeplechase Prelims: Isaac Updike Runs A Big PR As Evan Jager Begins His Quest For 7 In A Row Meet Isaac Updike – the pro who has been supporting himself by working at Dick’s Sporting Goods – but is headed to Brussels soon.

Day 1 At USAs

LRC Final Lopez Lomong Is BAAACK, Makes History By Becoming First American To Win 1,500 And 10,000m Titles Lopez Lomong resurrected his career and made history by winning the 10,000 eight years after he won the 1,500 at USAs.

LRC Final Molly Huddle Crushes Final 4 Laps To Win 4th-Straight USATF 10,000 Title Just 66 Days After Running Boston Marathon The 33-year-old Huddle closed out her final 4 laps in a remarkable 4:38.93 to get the win over fellow Olympian Marielle Hall, who was running her first 10k since the Olympics. Olympic triathlon champ Gwen Jorgensen was 7th.
*MB: My god Molly Huddle is good. 66 days after Boston she runs a 4:38 final 1600 to win her 4th straight 10k title
*Q&A With Stephanie Bruce After Her Career-Best Showing In 10k (3rd) And With Ben Bruce After His 16th-Straight USAs

LRC Shock Day 1 Qualifying: Robby Andrews Is OUT, Drew Windle, Donavan Brazier, Sammy Watson, Sydney McLaughlin DNS Boris Berian was eliminated but the usual suspects looked good, including Clayton Murphy. Kate Grace showed some spark.

Mike Rodgers Runs World’s Fastest 100 Of Year At 9.89, Noah Lyles Runs 9.92w
Keturah Orji Outduels Tori Franklin, Wins By 3 Inches And Breaks Meet Record In The Process In addition to losing the competition, Franklin also lost some respect off of it in some people’s eyes as she broke her Oiselle contract to compete for Nike.
*MB: Oiselle says Tori Franklin broker her Oiselle contract to compete for Nike at USAs

News From Boston

Sunday:Desi Linden Returns To Boston To Take On Defending Winner Joan Chelimo At The BAA 10k Also racing are Sally Kipyego, Betsy Saina, Buze Diriba and Mamitu Daska. On the men’s side, Meb Keflezighi is racing as last year’s winner Daniel Chebii leads the field with Stephen Sambu, Abdi Abdirahman, Chris Derrick and more.
Recommended Read:Long Q&A With Boston Marathon Runner-Up, Sarah Sellers Get to know the woman who shocked the world in Boston as she talks about her 2nd place finish, as well as a lot of other highlights from her high school/college career.
City Of Boston Declares June 20th Desiree Linden Day A small ceremony was held Wednesday morning during a city hall meeting to honor her for her Boston win.

Previous USA Coverage By LRC

Press Conference LRC Burgers + Fries + Cookies + Ice Cream = 9.78, Cardi B + Dancing = World Title, & Everyone Wants To Be A … Pole Vaulter? Get the scoop from today’s press event for the 2018 USATF Outdoor Championships, which included Robby Andrews, from our boots on the ground in Des Moines.

LRC Feature Icon In The Making: Why Noah Lyles Could Be The Next Face Of Track & Field A natural showman and faster than Usain Bolt at age 20, is Noah Lyles the next face of track and field?
*MB: Is Noah Lyles the next face of track and field?

LRC 5 Reasons To Be Excited For The Women’s Action At 2018 USAs: Sydney McLaughlin, Simpson Vs. Houlihan In An Iowan Civil War, Jorgensen Vs. Huddle, & More Even though it’s an off year, there is A LOT to be excited about at 2018 USAs in terms of women’s action including Jenny Simpson vs. Shelby Houlihan in the 1,500, a gold vs. silver matchup in the women’s steeple and the debut of Gwen Jorgensen at USAs.

LRC The 5 Things We’re Most Excited About For In The Men’s Events At The 2018 USATF Outdoor Championships We know it’s an off year but USAs are this week and we’re excited for it and try to get you excited as well by sharing our top 5 men’s highlights including a LOADED men’s 800. Plus can Evan Jager win his 7th straight and can Matthew Centrowitz win his 5th 1,500 title?

Previous Outside USAs Coverage

Des Moines Register:Iowa’s Karissa Schweizer Is A Proven NCAA Champ, But Can She MakeIt As A Pro?
Des Moines Register:Shelby Houlihan Is Excited To Come Home For USAs The Iowa native grew up winning races at Drake Stadium and says she enjoys coming back where she has a big fan base.
Jamestown Sun: After Bombing Out In 1st Round Of 2016 Trials After Finishing 4th At World Indoors Earlier That Year, Laura Roesler Quit Running And In The Process Sh Rediscovered Her Love For The Sport
CitiusMag:“Shelby Houluihan Vs. Jenny Simpson Is The Ultimate Battle In Des Moines” Houlihan got her first career win over Simpson at the Pre Classic (after 7 straight losses). Could we see win #2 this weekend?
Jesse Squire:What To Watch On Thursday At The USATF Championships In addition to the 10ks, the women’s triple jump final is a big event today.
TFN: 10 Events To Grab Your Attention In Des Moines
DyeStat:10 Men’s Story Lines To Follow At USAs Ryan Crouser will try to be the first to win three consecutive shot put titles since 1973-75.
DyeStat:10 Women’s Story Lines To Follow At USAs Women’s TJ will be a great matchup between two-time US champ Keturah Orji and the woman who stole her American record last month, Tori Franklin.
Register-Guard:Five Oregon Story Lines To Keep An Eye On In Des Moines There are seven current or former Oregon athletes in the men’s 1,500.
World 400H Champ Kori Carter:“It’s going to be fun to test yourself against the best athletes in the world and, to do it on home soil, that’s not something that we get to do that often.” Too bad more of her peers don’t feel the same about non-World/Olympic years. Yes, pros who are skipping USAs, we’re talking to you.
USATF Preview:Olympians, World Champions, American Record Holders To Vie For National Titles At USATF Outdoor Championships A run-through of the top matchups this week in Des Moines.

Was There Trouble In Eugene Paradise?

Ken Goe Reports That “There Were Signs Of Strain This Year Between Robert Johnson And Maurica Powell” One source says the relationship between the two had become difficult.
Robert Johnson:“We are very excited for Maurica and Andy … They have been a huge part of this program’s success over the past 13 years …” Johnson also said, “A national search will begin immediately to identify the most gifted and best fit for our distance program and our student-athletes.”
MB: Bad blood at a Oregon? Powell’s thank Lananna but not Johnson
MB: Who’s taking over the job at Oregon?

Off The Track At USAs

My Sac out USATF Board Meeting Recap – USOC Slams Mt. SAC Bid For Olympic Trials: “Thank goodness that embarrassment is behind us.” Highlights and lowlights of USATF Board meeting with the biggest lowlight being when the Board violated USATF’s own bylaws to extend the terms of two of its members.
*Discuss Here

USATFs Saturday

LRC Final Changing Of The Guard? Shelby Houlihan Beats Jenny Simpson For 2nd-Straight Time And First USATF Outdoor 1,500 Title Houlihan used a 57.67 final 400 to prevent Simpson from winning a record 5th-straight 1,500 title.

LRC Final Matthew Centrowitz Returns To The Top And Wins His 5th Outdoor US 1,500 Title The Olympic champion is back on top of the US.

LRC Final Emma Coburn Knocks Back Challenge From Courtney Frerichs, Wins 5th-Straight US Steeplechase Title

LRCFull Day 2 And Day 1 Aggregate Results On 1 Page

Full Coverage In USA Champs Event Page

Non-LRC USA Coverage

Des Moines Register:Houlihan: “I didn’t run maybe the smartest race but it worked out.”
Reuters:Shakima Wimbley Arrives As Another New Sprint Star For US With 49.52 Win Wimbley, who was the NCAA runner-up last year for Miami, is another pro thriving under Lance Brauman.
Vashti Cunningham Overcomes Shocking Start To Win Second National Outdoor High Jump Title With 1.95m She missed her first attempt at opening height, but got back on track with this message to herself: “’Vashti, if you don’t do this, you suck.’ That’s what I’m telling myself in my head. ’This is the last one, you have to make it.’”
Sam Kendricks Wins HIs Fifth USA Outdoor Pole Vault Title Kendricks won with a new Drake Stadium record of 5.85m over NCAA champ Chris Nilsen (5.80m).
45 Pounds Lighter Than Last Year, DeAnna Price Reclaims American Record In Hammer At 256 Feet, 3 Inches (78.12) All 4 of her legal throws were better than former those of the runner-up, the former AR holder Gwen Berry.
After Finishing Just 7th At NCAAs, Houston Kahmari Montgomery Wins 400 Title With Big 44.58 PR
Keni Harrison Defends 100-Meter Hurdles Title With Ease (12.46); Dawn Harper-Nelson Says Goodbye To US Nationals With 5th-Place Showing
Olympic Champ Dawn Harper-Nelson Talks Before Her Last Race At A US Champs Harper-Nelson, who has been competing at USAs since 2004, is ready to move on. “I’m personally ready to have some babies.”
Citius Mag: Podcast From Iowa With Tinman, Drew Hunter, Sam Parsons, Reed Fischer And Tyler Mueller
RunblogRun:Clayton Murphy: One Race Away From Redemption?

RIP Historic Hayward Field

Crews Demolish Hayward Field’s East Grandstand The new stadium project has begun with the East Grandstand coming down. *Video
*MB: THE EAST GRANDSTANDS ARE GONE.

Doping News

Spanish Police Arrest Six Athletes (Including Ethiopia’s Madrid Half Marathon Winner Gizaw Bekele) Involved In Drug Trafficking Operation It was an interestingly elaborate scheme which included code names, athletes smuggling drugs in from multiple countries, and making exchanges on train trips to Madrid.
IAAF Approves Application Of 33 More Russian Athletes To Compete Internationally As Neutral Athletes
WADA Granted Immunity From Lawsuits To Boost Doping Investigations The bill that was unanimously passed in Quebec seeks to stop lawsuits designed to impede doping cases and stop or slow down investigations against athletes.

Day 2 USA Outside LRC Coverage

RRW:Evan Jager Looks To Extend His Steeplechase Legacy At USA Championships Jager is one win away from tying the record for most consecutive US steeplechase titles (held by Henry Marsh, who won seven from 1981 to 1987).
Des Moines Register:Noah Lyles After Realizing He’s The Fastest Man In The World This Year: “Now that you just said that, I just realized it. That’s actually pretty cool. Oh my God.”
5 Years After Winning USA Steeplechase In Des Moines, Nicole Bush Returns … As A Journalist She’s successfully overcome depression and crippling anxiety.
Adopted Iowan Erik Sowinski Hoping To Win 1st US Outdoor Title
Both Aragon Sisters Come Up Short In 1,500
USATF Day 2 Recap:Multiple Drake Stadium Records Go Down
FloTrack: 6 Weird Things That Happened The Second Day At USAs

Non-USAs Distance News

Recommended Read:World Indoor Silver Is Life-Changing For Family Man Drew Windle Windle talks about having a big family with nine Windles at Worlds last year, being “taken out of his element” by the commotion of his two European races and how his name is really Curt.
World And Olympic Steeplechase Champ Conseslus Kipruto Wasn’t Always A Runner When Kipruto was younger he wanted to be a soccer player and had to be convinced by multiple people that he should switch to running.
What Did World 1,500 Silver Medalist Timothy Cheruiyot Do With The Money From His Lucrative 2017 Season? A lot of the money went to his family, but he did buy himself a car.
Carrie Tollefson Does Interview With Kara Goucher While On A Run Goucher discusses staying injury-free, her new book, designing for Oiselle, and her family life.

Des Moines Message Board Chatter For Day 1

Week That Was

LRC Rupp Vs. Farah In Chicago, Tuohy “Sort Of” Breaks HS Record, Taylor 2:24, Semenya Fights, And Race Marketing 101 Plus some Maggie Ewen and Aleia Hobbs love.

More Chicago:Boston Marathon Champion Yuki Kawauchi And NOP’s Suguru Osako Join 2018 Chicago Marathon Elite Field
*MB:YUKI IS RUNNING CHICAGO

Sprint Stuff

World 100m Champ Tori Bowie To Be In ESPN’s BODY Issue
Christian Coleman Has Delayed His Return To Competition Until Mid-July As He Recovers From His Hamstring Injury He’ll run his first race at the Rabat DL on July 13th.
IAAF Inside Athletics: Ato Boldon Video Interview With USA’s World 400H Champ Kori Carter
The IAAF Can’t Keep Up With Sydney McLaughlin The IAAF just ratified McLaughlin’s 53.60 world U20 400H record from April, but she’s already run 52.75 in May. By the time they ratify that mark, she’ll probably have set a new one.

Random Running Reads

Interesting Read:Runner’s World: The Running Résumé Of A World Cup Soccer Referee Over a 90-minute game, the refs essentially have to do a 6-8 mile fartlek workout and it requires intense training to prepare for it.
Massachusetts Woman Fights Off Attacker While On Morning Run A 57-year-old man got out of a car and attacked her, but the woman fought him off and he was arrested.
Usain Bolt’s Signed London Olympic Spikes Have Been Stolen From A Collector A 35-year-old man has been charged, but the shoes have yet to be recovered.
MB: Adidas To Release Gay Pride Shoes June 29th. Serious Question:
Runner’s World:25 Stock Images Of Runners That Are Just Plain Ridiculous

Ultra News: Western States 100 Mile And A New 100k WR From Japan

Jim Walmsley Beats The Heat To Win 2018 Western States 100 Mile In A 14:30:03 Course Record (8:42 Pace) Courtney Dauwalter won the women’s race in the second-fastest time in race history (17:27:03 – 10:28 pace). *Irunfar.com Coverage
Japan’s Nao Kazami Breaks 100k World Record At Lake Saroma 100k Ultra Kazami ran 6:09:14 (5:56 pace) to break the previous WR by more than 4 minutes. Yuki Kawauchi‘s brother Yoshiki Kawauchi was 5th (6:28:35) while Mai Fujisawa won the women’s race in 7:37:56 (7:22 pace).

Changes For Des

Desi Linden Wins 2018 Boston Marathon Des Linden Leaves Hansons Team She’s still with Brooks but has parted ways with the Hanson brothers. Des made it known she didn’t like Dathan Ritzenhein joining the group last year.

News From Kenya

Elijah Manangoi Skips Out On Final For Trials For African Champs As His Sister Died He’s been given a wild-card onto the team.
Conselus Kipruto Says Once Again He’s Going For Steeple World Record In Monaco On July 20 “This year has been so good for me. It’s every athlete’s dream to stay injury-free and God has been good to me,” Kipruto said in Nairobi on Saturday. “I have four more weeks to prepare for the World record attempt in Monaco. It will be great to bring the 3,000m steeplechase record back to Kenya.”

More Non LRC Des Moines Coverage

Olympian Hillary Bor Credits His Time At Iowa State For His Success And Says He Considers Iowa To Be Home “Iowa State gave me an opportunity that changed everything for me. I can’t even comprehend what could have happened without Iowa State. It changed everything for me.”
Des Moines Register: “From Motherhood To Marathons, Gwen Jorgensen Wants To Succeed At Everything”
*MB: Gwen Jorgensen: “I don’t read message boards and I don’t look at commentaries.”
USA Today: Animal Lover Sandi Morris Has Dogs, Three Snakes, A Parakeet And A Lizard
RRW: Molly Huddle Wins Fourth USA 10,000 Title In Dominant Fashion
USATF Day 1 Recap: Keturah Oriji Sets Meet Record To Win Triple Jump With 14.34m
USATF: History Of US Champs At Drake Stadium A look back at when Drake hosted USAs in 2010 and 2013.
FloTrack: 12 Crazy Things That Happened The First Day At USAs

Jamaican Champs

10.10 Is Fastest 100m Time In Quarterfinals Of Jamaican National ChampsYohan Blake ran a 10.11.
UVA’s Jordan Scott Is Surprise Winner Of TJ At Jamaican Champs As He Put Up A 16.55m PR Scott, who has never scored a point at NCAAs, came in with a 16.44 PR.
Yohan Blake Still Looking To Rediscover His Best At Jamaican Champs Blake came into the Commonwealth Games earlier this year as the favorite, but only won bronze after a terrible start. He says he and coach Glen Mills have been working on it.
How To Watch Jamaica National Championships, Schedule: Day 1
Veronica Campbell-Brown Will Race For 1st Time Since June 2017 On July 2nd In Hungary Against Marie-Jose Ta Lou, Michelle-Lee Ahye, Tianna Bartoletta And Allyson Felix

NCAA News

AP: Texas To Settle Discrimination Suit With Bev Kearney, Terms Not Disclosed Kearney was forced out for having a relationship with an athlete, but argued that she was treated differently than a football coach who kept his job after a relationship with a student trainer.
Sydney McLaughlin, Maggie Ewen And Keturah Orji Selected As Women’s Bowerman Award Finalists The winner will be announced in December.
*MB: “I personally don’t believe I should be a finalist for Bowerman” – Sydney McLaughlin
Minnesota Daily:Obsa Ali Was Minnesota’s First NCAA Outdoor Champion Since 2003 Back in his hometown, a bunch of the teachers from his former high school had a watch party which one said had the atmosphere like a “Super Bowl viewing party.”

Starting The Week Off With Some Impressive Results In France

Genzebe Dibaba, Sergey Shubenkov And Mondo Duplantis Highlight Meeting Elite De Montreuil In France Dibaba won the 2,000 in 5:27.73 (just .23 off her PR) while Shubenkov ran the first sub-13 second 110H of the year with 12.99 (just .01 off his own Russian NR). Duplantis cleared 5.91m to beat WR holder Renaud Lavillenie, Xie Zhenye ran a new Chinese national record in the 100m with a 9.97 victory, and world silver medalist Marie-Josee Ta Lou won the women’s 100 in 10.95.
*MB: Dibaba 5:27 2,000m
*MB: Armand Duplantis jumps 5.91m at Meeting de Montreuil
*MB: Xie Zhenye runs 9.97 (+0.9) 100m, new Chinese record

More Going Pro Updates

Josh Kerr Joins The Brooks Beasts Kerr says he’ll stay in Albuquerque for the next two years to finish his MBA before moving to Seattle.
*MB:Woaaa. The Brooks Beasts just signed Josh Kerr
Grant Holloway Is One Of The Best Hurdlers In The World, But Assures Everyone He Won’t Be Going Pro This Year Florida coach Mike Holloway says they are convinced they are distant relatives as they share the same last name and both had a grandfather and great-grandfather born in Georgia (the country).