The full fields for next Saturday's BAA 5ks and miles are out. In our mind, the men's 5000 is by far the most interesting race of the day
Defending champions Buze Diriba and Hagos Gebrhiwet join American record holder Ben True to lead B.A.A. races next Saturday
BOSTON – The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) today announced an elite field of world class competitors for the 2019 B.A.A. 5K and B.A.A. Invitational Mile, to be held on Saturday, April 13, two days prior to the 2019 Boston Marathon®. Defending champions Hagos Gebrhiwet and Buze Diriba, both of Ethiopia, return to defend their 2018 titles, as American record holder Ben True will look to earn his fifth B.A.A. 5K crown.
Following the B.A.A. 5K, milers from near and far will gather to take part in the B.A.A. Invitational Mile finishing at the Boston Marathon finish line on Boylston Street. The B.A.A. Invitational Mile will also include Middle School 1K races and Scholastic Mile races featuring youth athletes from the eight cities and towns along the Boston Marathon course.
A detailed start list and schedule of events for both the B.A.A. 5K and B.A.A. Invitational Mile can be found below.
B.A.A. 5K – SATURDAY, APRIL 13 | 8:00 a.m., Boston Common
Last year, Ethiopia’s Hagos Gebrhiwet and Buze Diriba earned hard-fought victories after sprinting down Charles Street to win the B.A.A. 5K. Gebrhiwet fended off four-time winner Ben True and Boston’s own Tommy Curtin at the line, with all three recording the same finish time of 13:42. True and Curtin return with hopes of shuffling the standings; True set an American record of 13:20 en route to winning the 2017 B.A.A. 5K title. Gebrhiwet – an Olympic bronze medalist – has the fastest 5,000-meter time of the field at 12:45.82.
Among other men’s contenders are reigning B.A.A. Invitational Mile and U.S. Indoor 2 mile champion Drew Hunter; Falmouth Road Race winner Ben Flanagan; NCAA Cross Country champion Justyn Knight; and European Championships medalist Chris O’Hare. B.A.A. 10K champions Stephen Sambu and Gabriel Geay will toe the line as well.
On the women’s side, Diriba is looking to join Molly Huddle as the only three-time consecutive champion in B.A.A. 5K history. Last year, Diriba covered the 3.1-mile course through Boston’s Back Bay in 15:22, a mere second up on Fotyen Tesfay and two seconds ahead of Monicah Ngige. Diriba, Ngige, fourth place finisher Gotytom Gebreslase, and fifth placer Molly Seidel are the top returners from a year ago. Seidel, a four-time NCAA champion while at Notre Dame, will look to score a win in her home city. From Ethiopia is two-time world championships silver medalist Senbere Teferi, owning a lifetime best of 14:23.33 on the track. Also entered is Kim Conley, a two-time Olympian at 5,000 meters for the United States.
The B.A.A. High Performance team will be well represented on home turf with Jacob Thomson and Trevor Dunbar competing for the men, and Erika Kemp, Dana Giordano, Kaitlin Goodman, Elaina Tabb, and Katie Matthews racing for the women. Kemp is coming off a victory at the USA 15K Championships in Jacksonville in March.
The men’s event record for the B.A.A. 5K stands at 13:20, set by Ben True in 2017, while the women’s event record is 14:50 run by Molly Huddle in 2015.
This year’s B.A.A. 5K will also feature the largest and strongest wheelchair field in race history, bringing together national champions from around the world. Defending B.A.A. 5K champions Jose Argenes Jimenez Hernandez of Costa Rica and Vanessa de Souza of Brazil return, as does B.A.A. 10K winner and Massachusetts-native Katrina Gerhard. A full list of entrants can be found below.
B.A.A. 5K MEN’S ELITE FIELD
NAME AGE COUNTRY ROAD 5K PB TRACK 5000M PB
Hagos Gebrhiwet 24 Ethiopia 13:14 12:45.82
Ben True 33 USA/NH 13:20 (AR) 13:02.74
David Bett 26 Kenya N/A 13:06.06
Stephen Sambu 30 Kenya 13:21 13:13.74 (Indoor)
Clement Langat 27 Kenya 13:41 13:15.81
Justyn Knight 22 Canada N/A 13:17.51
Gabriel Geay 22 Tanzania N/A 13:20.35
Ambrose Bore 23 Kenya N/A 13:20.39
Tommy Curtin 25 USA/MA 13:42 13:23.11
Alfred Barkach 22 Kenya N/A 13:25.30
Trevor Dunbar 27 USA/MA 13:55 13:26.27
Jacob Thomson 24 USA/MA 14:15 13:34.50
Willy Fink 25 USA/VA 14:07 13:39.05
Chris O’Hare 28 GBR 13:46 13:42.00
Ben Flanagan 24 Canada 13:57 13:48.58 (Indoor)
Scott Smith 32 USA/AZ 13:51 13:49.38
Drew Hunter 21 USA/CO 13:56 13:49.56
B.A.A. 5K WOMEN’S ELITE FIELD
NAME AGE COUNTRY ROAD 5K PB TRACK 5000M PB
Buze Diriba 25 Ethiopia 14:54 14:50.02
Senbere Teferi 23 Ethiopia 15:43 14:23.33
Gotytom Gebreslase 24 Ethiopia 15:17 14:57.33
Laura Thweatt 30 USA/CO 15:52 15:04.98
Ann Mwangi 30 Kenya N/A 15:05.34
Kim Conley 33 USA/CA 15:29 15:08.61
Molly Seidel 24 USA/MA 15:33 15:15.21 (Indoor)
Kaitlin Goodman 31 USA/RI 16:01 15:29.89
Hawi Feysa 20 Ethiopia N/A 15:31.50
Elaina Tabb 27 USA/MA 15:59 15:32.49
Katie Matthews 28 USA/MA 15:50 15:32.89
Mary Munanu 24 Kenya 16:04 15:36.74
Erika Kemp 24 USA/MA 15:50 15:41.23
Lindsey Scherf 32 USA/NY 16:10 15:42.81 (Indoor)
Dana Giordano 25 USA/MA 15:47 15:53.96
Monicah Ngige 25 Kenya 15:24 15:58.5
B.A.A. 5K PRIZE STRUCTURE (Equal for both men and women)
PLACE OPEN MASTERS WHEELCHAIR
1 $7,500 $300 $300
2 $4,000 $200 $200
3 $2,500 $100 $100
4 $1,500
5 $1,000
6 $750
7 $600
8 $400
9 $300
10 $200
GRAND TOTAL: $39,900
B.A.A. INVITATIONAL MILE – SATURDAY, APRIL 13 | 10:30 a.m., Boylston Street
The B.A.A.’s signature unicorn uniform will also be racing in the B.A.A. Invitational Mile, where Mike Marsella and John Simons vie for the title. Simons placed second a year ago in 4:09. They will be joined on the line by German national champion Sam Parsons, world indoor championships finalist Julian Oakley, 3:54-miler Robert Domanic, and Eric Avila, who finished second at the U.S. Indoor National Championships in the two mile.
Ben Groleau, a native of Framingham and the course record holder for the B.A.A. Scholastic Mile, will race the B.A.A. Invitational Mile, becoming the first athlete to have competed in both levels of the event. Groleau won the B.A.A. Scholastic Mile twice while attending Framingham High School; this past January he broke the four-minute mile barrier by running 3:58.93.
The women’s B.A.A. Invitational Mile field is highlighted by Heather Kampf, a four-time USA road mile champion, and Shannon Osika, runner-up at last year’s event. Emily Lipari, 2018 national champion in the road mile, and Helen Schlachtenhaufen are also entered, along with former Arkansas Razorbacks Nikki Hiltz and Therese Haiss.
The men’s and women’s event records for the B.A.A. Invitational Mile are 4:03.3 (Nick Willis, 2013) and 4:33.7 (Nicole Sifuentes, 2017).
B.A.A. INVITATIONAL MILE MEN’S ELITE FIELD
NAME AGE COUNTRY ROAD MILE PB TRACK MILE PB
Robert Domanic $24 USA/VA 4:01 3:54.73
Eric Avila $29 USA/CA 3:56 3:55.43
Julian Oakley $25 NZL/RI 4:05 3:55.10 (Indoor)
James Randon $24 USA/MA N/A 3:58.07 (Indoor)
Ben Groleau $25 USA/MA N/A 3:58.93
John Simons 28 USA/MA 4:09 3:58.95
Mike Marsella 24 USA/MA N/A 3:59.13 (Indoor)
Sam Parsons 24 Germany 3:58 3:59.70
Jeff Thies 25 USA/OR 4:14 3:59.89 (Indoor)
B.A.A. INVITATIONAL MILE WOMEN’S ELITE FIELD
NAME AGE COUNTRY ROAD MILE PB TRACK MILE PB
Shannon Osika 25 USA/MI 4:21 4:25:47
Heather Kampf 32 USA/MN 4:21 4:27.23
Helen Schlachtenhaufen 24 USA/MA 4:30 4:27.09
Emily Lipari 26 USA/WA 4:22 4:28.62
Nikki Hiltz 24 USA/CA 4:38 4:31.42 (Indoor)
Therese Haiss 23 USA/CA 4:39 4:34.54 (Indoor)
Emily Oren 25 USA/MI 4:37 4:35.48 (Indoor)
Ashley Stinson 25 USA/CO 4:36 4:35.62 (Indoor)
B.A.A. INVITATIONAL MILE PRIZE STRUCTURE (Equal for both men and women)
PLACE OPEN
1 $3,000
2 $2,000
3 $1,500
4 $750
5 $500
GRAND TOTAL: $14,500