Multiple Bowerman Bros to Run Steeplechase

From the Kansas City Qualifer meet director this weekend, "The pro fields are shaping up to be incredible - so far in the women's 800m, 1500m, 3,000m steeple and 5,000m pro races, we have women entered with seed times of 1:59, 4:09, 9:30, and 15:16 respectively. For the men, those seed times are 1:44, 3:37, 8:13, and 13:27. We also have several big announcements to make in the coming days; I'm excited!"

Bowerman could be a possibility there, but doesn't appear they are committed yet.

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Bower Man wrote:
In Shalane Flanagan's interview at TrackandFieldNews.com, she -- seemingly casually -- drops a rather unexpected bomb regarding BTC's plans to get the Steeplechase qualifiers this spring.

Here is her pertinent info drawn from the article:

Basically, we’re just waiting for a few steeplechase races so that we can have our steeplers get their times in.

T&FN: I get that. Steeplechasers had essentially zero opportunities in 2020.

Flanagan: Yes. We’ve been using a lot of high school facilities and high school tracks really don’t have steeplechase pits. So we’ve been very limited. Really the best tracks that we’ve been able to use are private Catholic schools and they just don’t have steeplechase pits.

So that’s why we need a few of our men to go run some steeples and Courtney [Frerichs] hasn’t steepled in over a year either. We’re basically waiting, and then we’ll have everyone pretty much check that box to get their Olympic standards so that when they stand on the [OT] start line they’ve got that, they don’t have to worry about it, they just have to be top 3.

"a few of our men" means Evan Jager . . . and who else?

Based upon past interviews, social media posts, etc., my guess is the "other" guys could be one or more of the following:

Josh Thompson (was once a steepler)
Sean McGorty (given size/long legs, seems logical . . . but has to be careful with that surgically repaired right foot)
Amos Bartelsmeyer (may want to use his 3:36/1500 chops)
Woody Kincaid (wild guess here)

BTC will be up in Park City training thru April so the first opportunity for any racing at all would be the Kansas City Qualifier on May 1. Mt. SAC and Sound Running will have pro-oriented meets later next month.

Whatever occurs, looks like Jerry is doing something to break the 5k logjam on his men's team.

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McGorty would make sense. he seems to be the odd man out in the 5,000m on Bowerman right now. Lomong, Fisher and Kincaid have faster PRs. Throw in Chelimo and it is a very tough team to make. I think Jerry will have Lomong double 5/10 at the trials, Woody double (but have the 10 be the focus and just help out in the 5) and Grant focus on just the 5. Shifting Jager and McGorty to the steeple helps get McGorty on the team. All of this is assuming that McGorty will be a good steepler which obviously remains to be seen.

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If It Was You wrote:
McGorty would make sense. he seems to be the odd man out in the 5,000m on Bowerman right now. Lomong, Fisher and Kincaid have faster PRs. Throw in Chelimo and it is a very tough team to make. I think Jerry will have Lomong double 5/10 at the trials, Woody double (but have the 10 be the focus and just help out in the 5) and Grant focus on just the 5. Shifting Jager and McGorty to the steeple helps get McGorty on the team. All of this is assuming that McGorty will be a good steepler which obviously remains to be seen.

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McGorty is crazy talented, but I wouldn't sleep on Woody's closing chops.

Chelimo is always a factor.

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Somewhere in Oregon wrote:

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If It Was You wrote:
McGorty would make sense. he seems to be the odd man out in the 5,000m on Bowerman right now. Lomong, Fisher and Kincaid have faster PRs. Throw in Chelimo and it is a very tough team to make. I think Jerry will have Lomong double 5/10 at the trials, Woody double (but have the 10 be the focus and just help out in the 5) and Grant focus on just the 5. Shifting Jager and McGorty to the steeple helps get McGorty on the team. All of this is assuming that McGorty will be a good steepler which obviously remains to be seen.

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Mcgorty is going to outkick Kincaid at the Trials 5000m. It's not a question, Kincaid is the odd man out except that Lomong, if qualified, may not run the 5 at the olympics. Chelimo is a non-factor.

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Nice catch there, OP — the fact that she mentions Frerichs by name really does make it seem like at least one other guy would run it with Jager.

- I can’t see Kincaid being good, he shuffles too much and strikes me as rather unathletic.
- I don’t see any reason for Fisher, Scott, Tuntivate, Centrowitz, Lomong, or Ahmed to move over.
- Thompson makes sense because of his past — with the way he’s been running, seems to me that he’s got a great shot at making the 1500 team, which is pretty wide open for the most part.

That leaves Bartelsmeyer, who seems to have stagnated in the 1500, and McGorty, who has always seemed like a natural candidate for the steeple but would also have a good shot at the 5k.

Interested to see how it goes.

Agree, after more digging, that Bartelsmeyer & McGorty are the likely candidates to give the Steeple a go.

Woody's been doing great since last year, now has the 5k & 10k standards and is arguably the fastest sprinter amongst the guys, so don't mess w/success.

Josh has the 1500 Oly standard from 2019 and has been terrific since leaving the Steeple. Doubt he wants to go back.

Leaving:

Amos's 3:36.29/1500 pr from two years ago is still significantly off the Oly standard but is certainly speedy enough for the Steeple. Coming from Jerry's program, certainly should have the strength to race for a bit over 8 minutes.

Sean has the size & strength and moving over to the Steeple would certainly help out Grant & Woody in the 5k (especially if Lopez makes the team in the 10k and decides not to double in Tokyo).

Now, do they have the flexibility -- and commitment -- to excel in the Steeple?

My impression is that most distance runners at any level avoid the Steeple at all costs.

But when it appears to be your best chance to make an Olympic team -- and the financial rewards that come with it -- perceptions change.

I personally can't stand Bowerman or Jerry Schumacher for that matter. Anyone else?

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GORP wrote:
McGorty is crazy talented, but I wouldn't sleep on Woody's closing chops.

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Sean McGorty will be the next top US steeple chase runner. He may not run it often but when he does - watch.

Bartelsmeyer represents Germany. No need for him to try the steeple
I agree on McGorty though

But Amos will not be representing Germany in Tokyo if he does not run under the 3:35.00 Oly standard --- his pr is over a second slower than that.

Plus, if he does get the standard when BTC begins racing again in May, he likely still won't be anywhere near the world's best milers.

So -- if all of this guesswork is correct -- Jerry & Amos may feel that the 8:22.00 Oly steeple standard is more achievable than a 3:35.00 1500 and would put him higher up the world steeple pecking order if he does get that time.

Same for Sean -- getting under 8:22 may give him a better chance of making the US Olympic team and doing better in Tokyo than he otherwise would in the 5k.

Really, no downside here in swinging for the fences. Sort of like what Ryan Hall did years ago when he skipped right over the track 10k to make the Oly marathon team.

If they -- or whomever the "other guys" are -- blow up in their steeple debuts and dump 8:40s or something, they just go back to their prior main events and pick up where they left off this winter.

Just as important is how well will Evan Jager do? He hasn't raced a steeple since summer 2018. One would assume he will get the 8:22 standard right out of the gate but who knows how much faster.

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Conservative Christian wrote:
I personally can't stand Bowerman or Jerry Schumacher for that matter. Anyone else?

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There are multiple NCAA runners who have run 8:3x who are only 4:00, 8:00, 14:00 guys. BTC guys could jog 8:40.

Hi Alberto!

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Bowerman VI wrote:
Agree, after more digging, that Bartelsmeyer & McGorty are the likely candidates to give the Steeple a go.

Woody's been doing great since last year, now has the 5k & 10k standards and is arguably the fastest sprinter amongst the guys, so don't mess w/success.

Josh has the 1500 Oly standard from 2019 and has been terrific since leaving the Steeple. Doubt he wants to go back.

Leaving:

Amos's 3:36.29/1500 pr from two years ago is still significantly off the Oly standard but is certainly speedy enough for the Steeple. Coming from Jerry's program, certainly should have the strength to race for a bit over 8 minutes.

Sean has the size & strength and moving over to the Steeple would certainly help out Grant & Woody in the 5k (especially if Lopez makes the team in the 10k and decides not to double in Tokyo).

Now, do they have the flexibility -- and commitment -- to excel in the Steeple?

My impression is that most distance runners at any level avoid the Steeple at all costs.

But when it appears to be your best chance to make an Olympic team -- and the financial rewards that come with it -- perceptions change.

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Well I think the fact that he outkicked both Centro and Lopez to run 12:58 a year and a half ago holds some weight.

But you're right, currently it seems he doesn't quite have those wheels.