Robby Andrews is not a one trick pony anymore - He takes early lead and then takes down Centro!!

It might be a remote chance, but he's like Leo in that if he makes the final...you never know. He's got a shift in gears, which can beat guys who are far fitter and faster in a pure time trial. Can he make the final and can he be in the mix with 300 to go? Don't know.

1 Robby Andrews 03:43.29

adidas

2 Matthew Centrowitz 03:43.41

Nike / Nike Oregon Project

3 John Gregorek 03:43.99

ASICS

4 Craig Engels 03:44.01

Nike

5 Cristian Soratos 03:44.49

adidas

6 Jordan McNamara 03:44.81

Nike

7 Samuel Prakel 03:45.02

Oregon

8 Josh Thompson 03:45.07

Nike / Bowerman TC

9 David Ribich 03:45.44

Western Ore.

10 Benjamin Saarel 03:45.57

Colorado

11 Andrew Hunter 03:46.37

adidas

12 Ben Blankenship 03:46.42

Nike / NIKE OTCE

13 Clayton Murphy 03:50.55

Nike

52.2 last lap!

Ghvgvhghh wrote:

Congrats to Andrews. Great race

Blankenship made that race and you know it. Andrews was only there to clean up after someone else's work.

Centro was actually only the 5th fastest in the last 400m

Engels looked like he let off the gas in the last 50 meters, cost him 3rd place.

It was good to see Andrews take the lead like that. If he had just hung back like he always has I doubt he would've been in position to optimize his kick.

Blankenship made this the race it was, but you have to question his strategy if his goal was to make the team.

MaineTrain wrote:

Ghvgvhghh wrote:

Congrats to Andrews. Great race

Blankenship made that race and you know it. Andrews was only there to clean up after someone else's work.

Maybe Blankenship should have won then, eh? Honestly, I think Robby would have won either way. If Ben didn't make that move the race would have been slower and Robby would have had even more of an advantage.

I feel kinda bad for Engels though, 2nd championship in a row where he gets outdipped at the line...but this time obviously was a bigger deal than NCAAs (and a more impressive performance by him even though he was 4th).

BTW: You're welcome Robby. We are happy to a have contributed to your success.

Running on Empathy wrote:

Engels looked like he let off the gas in the last 50 meters, cost him 3rd place.

It was good to see Andrews take the lead like that. If he had just hung back like he always has I doubt he would've been in position to optimize his kick.

Blankenship made this the race it was, but you have to question his strategy if his goal was to make the team.

No. It's called tying up.

Engels tied up. I thought the same thing as you but we talked to him and he said he was going all out and we watched a race replay and it was clear he leaned at the line.

I was very impressed today by Engels. He could have run for third and probably gotten it. Instead he ran for the win and passed the Olympic champ with 100 to go and ended up 4th at as a result.

But what a race by Robby. I'm friendly with Vig. Whenever I've talked to vig, all spring he's thought things were going well and reminded me they were training for August. When he got 6th at Swarthmore in 338, he was happy with that even though he lost to a few guys who didn't end up making NCAAs.

But recently Andrews lost to guys he shouldn't lose to in the 800. I asked Chris Lear who talks to Vig even more often than I do. He said the workouts had been going great.

Today he finally looked great in a race.

From the interview it sounds like he turned off the monkeybrain and let his talent take over. Hope he keeps that.

Andrews is a monster. He could have won the Olympic 1500m if he wasn't disqualified in the semi's. His closing speed is Matt Withrow-esque.

Dannoi wrote:

Andrews is a monster. He could have won the Olympic 1500m if he wasn't disqualified in the semi's. His closing speed is Matt Withrow-esque.

great analogy, but did withrow really have that great of speed?

Never gets old:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmIgGRX39Co

There aren't a ton of Withrow clips left on Youtube but his finish at 2003 Footlocker remains the most exciting thing I've ever seen in-person:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxgJZt0UOos&t=306s

Dannoi wrote:

There aren't a ton of Withrow clips left on Youtube but his finish at 2003 Footlocker remains the most exciting thing I've ever seen in-person:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxgJZt0UOos&t=306s

Please explain to the benighted what became of Withrow. Thanks.

Congrats Robbie. You got a lot of heart dude. Good luck at worlds.

Horst Girth wrote:

Congrats Robbie. You got a lot of heart dude. Good luck at worlds.

I'm hoping he gets the standard! Met him today for a quick photo, seems like a cool dude.

I have never seen Robby run a smart race before today. Maybe that Rio DQ finally taught him a lesson about positioning in a race. It's not surprising that he can contend for the US title when he's not pretending he can make up 30m in the last 150.