Preview Of Men’s Steeplechase At 2013 USA Outdoor Track And Field Championships
Evan Jager Will Win, But Who Gets Second And Third?
by LetsRun.com
June 19, 2013
It’s been a goal of ours to preview all of the mid-d and distance action before the action gets underway on Thursday at the 2013 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Thursday. However, Thursday is nearly upon us and so we were thinking of waiting and doing the men’s steeplechase until after the heats are run.
But then we looked at the entries and thought, “That shouldn’t take us more than 15 minutes.”
So here goes. A quick preview.
Take a look at the 2013 US leaders in the steeple and you’ll see why we don’t think this event is too hard to break down.
1 8:08.60 Evan Jager 2 8:20.08 Cory Leslie 3 8:22.38 Dan Huling 4 8:28.88 De'Sean Turner 5 8:29.10 Bill Nelson 6 8:30.02 Donnie Cowart 7 8:30.87 Travis Mahoney 8 8:31.28 Matt Cleaver 9 8:31.29 Andrew Poore 10 8:32.57 Cameron Bean
Three guys just kind of jump out at you, don’t they?
The HEAVY Favorite
Evan Jager is way better than everyone in the US. With the way he’s running, he’s got a real good shot at soon pulling off his best Chris Solinsky impersonation – and becoming the first non-African born runner under 8:00.00 (Solinsky was the first non-African under 27:00.00 in the 10,000). Jager is your winner.
We also are very confident that Jager’s training partner Dan Huling, who comes in seeded #3 at 8:22.38 – some six plus seconds up on #4 – will also make the team. Huling wasn’t happy with his 8:22.38 at Prefontaine and we understand why. When you are a sub-13:20 guy in the 5,000 (Huling PRed at 13:18.42 earlier this year), you should be well under 8:20. Huling has run 8:13.29 in the past and it wouldn’t shock us if he broke 8:10 this year. He’s got an amazing training partner now in Jager and has already run a nice 5,000 PR.
So who gets third? Well, based on what he’s done so far this year, former Ohio State runner Cory Leslie is by far the leading candidate for the third spot. He comes into Iowa after already setting PRs at 1,500 (3:37.97), outdoor mile (3:58.18 in a race where he beat Nick Symmonds and Leo Manzano), 5,000 (13:43.73) and steeplechase (8:20.08). Clearly, he’s having a great year.
The only reason why we are a tiny bit nervous about him is he started the year with an 8:31 PR. We’re not sure how much faster he’ll run than around 8:20 but that’s plenty fast enough to make the team. Remember Donn Cabral last year finished eighth in the Olympics and his PR is 8:19.15.
Speaking of Cabral, he’s been having a poor first year as a pro (8:34 seasonal best), but he has entered USAs after considering not showing up. We doubt Cabral, who is very analytical in his running, will suddenly find the magic switch and pull things together (doesn’t that happen to the more intuitive runners like Gabe Jennings?) but it would be foolish to totally write him off.
If any of the first three seeds slip up, we think the third team member will be Bill Nelson. The 2008 US Olympian has won a US title before so he’s not afraid of the big stage. He also has been competitive in his two most recent steeples this year (a second at Oxy and first at Portland) after falling in Japan.
Like Leslie, former Indiana runner De’Sean Turner has also been a big improver this year. He started at 8:36 and twice has run under 8:30 this year, so he could sneak in if one of the top three has an off day. And remember it’s going to be HOT in Iowa, so that’s quite possible.
A few quick takes, heat sheets and entries below.
Quick Take #1: Anyone know what’s up with Kyle Alcorn? The 2012 Olympian hasn’t competed all year. Email us if you know.
QT #2: Do you think Jager will break 8:00 this year? Vote in our poll.
QT #3: Darn, it took more than 30 minutes and probably 10 more to put it up with photos.
Event 19 Men 3,000 Meter Steeplechase Heat Sheets =============================================================================== 14 Advance: Top 5 Each Heat plus Next 4 Best Times World: 7:53.63 9/3/2004 Saif Shaheen, QAT American: 8:06.81 7/20/2012 Evan Jager, Oregon TC Name Year Team =============================================================================== Heat 1 Prelims 1 Donald Cabral Nike 2 Dakota Peachee High Point U 3 Brian Himelright N C State 4 Caleb Hoover Unattached 5 Travis Mahoney Unattached 6 Benjamin Bruce adidas 7 William Nelson Unattached 8 David Adams adidas TmGreen 9 Cameron Bean ZAP Fitness 10 Cory Leslie Unattached 11 Austin Bussing Unattached 12 Craig Forys N Y A C 13 Michael Jordan Unattached 14 Alex Brill Wisconsin Heat 2 Prelims 1 Matt Cleaver Unattached 2 Jared Bassett Unattached 3 Daniel Huling Nike 4 Evan Jager Nike 5 David Goodman NE Distance 6 Augustus Maiyo U.S. Army 7 Andrew Poore adidas 8 Donald Cowart Unattached 9 Tabor Stevens Unattached 10 Carl Stones adidas TmGreen 11 Maximilian Darrah Georgetown U 12 De'Sean Turner Indiana Univ 13 Aric VanHalen Colorado 14 John Coyle Unattached
Entries For 2013 USA Men’s Steeplechase
3,000m Steeplechase – Men | ||||
Name | Affiliation | Mark | Status | Declaration |
Evan Jager | Nike | 8:06.81 | qualified | declared |
Donald Cabral | Nike | 8:19.81 | qualified | declared |
Cory Leslie | 8:20.08 | qualified | declared | |
Daniel Huling | Nike | 8:22.38 | qualified | declared |
De’Sean Turner | New Balance | 8:28.88 | qualified | declared |
William Nelson | 8:29.10 | qualified | declared | |
Benjamin Bruce | adidas | 8:29.11 | qualified | declared |
Augustus Maiyo | U.S. Army | 8:29.29 | qualified | declared |
Donald Cowart | 8:30.02 | qualified | declared | |
Craig Forys | New York Athletic Club (NYAC) | 8:30.85 | qualified | declared |
Travis Mahoney | 8:30.87 | qualified | declared | |
Matt Cleaver | 8:31.28 | qualified | declared | |
Andrew Poore | adidas | 8:31.29 | qualified | declared |
David Adams | adidas / Adidas/TeamRogue | 8:32.17 | qualified | declared |
Cameron Bean | ZAP Fitness Reebok | 8:32.57 | qualified | declared |
Jared Bassett | 8:36.46 | qualified | declared | |
Aric VanHalen | University of Colorado | 8:38.23 | qualified | declared |
Brian Himelright | North Carolina State University | 8:38.96 | qualified | declared |
Alex Brill | University of Wisconsin-Madison | 8:39.52 | qualified | declared |
Carl Stones | Adidas/TeamRogue | 8:41.63 | accepted | declared |
John Coyle | 8:41.64 | accepted | declared | |
Michael Jordan | 8:42.63 | accepted | declared | |
Dakota Peachee | High Point University | 8:43.04 | accepted | declared |
Tabor Stevens | 8:43.70 | accepted | declared | |
Maximilian Darrah | Georgetown University | 8:43.71 | accepted | declared |
Austin Bussing | 8:44.17 | accepted | declared | |
Caleb Hoover | 8:44.99 | accepted | declared | |
David Goodman | NE Distance | 8:45.28 | accepted | declared |
Mark Parrish | 8:42.38 | accepted | scratched |