Women’s 800 Prelims: Wilson, Beckwith And Price Go Wire-To-Wire
by LetsRun.com
February 22, 2014
Albuquerque, NM – The favorites absolutely dominated the women’s 800 prelims this afternoon at the 2014 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Alburquerue as Ajee’ Wilson, Molly Beckwith and Chanelle Price went wire to wire in each of the three heats. There were only 11 entrants and six moved on the final but one of them wasn’t 2012 Worlds bronze medallist Erica Moore who finished second in heat one.
Quick Thought #1: Someone at USATF must read LetsRun.com. In our preview, we said it made no sense that initially that Beckwith and Wilson were drawn into the same heat. Guess what? The heats were re-drawn and they weren’t in the same heat.
Heat 1
Ajee Wilson controlled this heat from start to finish winning in a comfortable looking 2:05.29. 2012 World bronze medalist Erica Moore ran an okay race here as she sat in 3rd and then closed well the last lap to take 2nd. It was only her second race of the year as she makes her comeback from injury/illness, but the pace was way too slow to make the final on time.
Quick Thought #1: Wilson definitely didn’t work any harder than she had to here and remains a favorite to make the team tomorrow.
| Place | Athlete | Time | 200m | 400m | 600m | >> | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ajee’ Wilson adidas |
2:05.29 | Q | 29.14 Rnk: 1 |
1:02.00 32.86 Rnk: 1 ↔ |
1:34.11 32.12 Rnk: 1 ↔ |
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| 2 | Erica Moore Brooks |
2:05.98 | 29.20 Rnk: 3 |
1:02.20 33.01 Rnk: 3 ↔ |
1:34.46 32.26 Rnk: 3 ↔ |
||||
| 3 | Cydney Ross New Jersey New York Track Club |
2:06.77 | 29.17 Rnk: 2 |
1:02.00 32.83 Rnk: 2 ↔ |
1:34.30 32.30 Rnk: 2 ↔ |
||||
| 4 | Shannon Leinert Oregon TC Elite |
2:12.24 | 29.39 Rnk: 4 |
1:02.43 33.05 Rnk: 4 ↔ |
1:36.32 33.90 Rnk: 4 ↔ |
Heat 2
Another heat where the leading runner lead wire to wire. Molly Beckwith looked strong as she pulled the rest of the heat along behind her and cruised it in for a 2:03.38 victory. On the last straight, Phoebe Wright worked hard to hold off Stephanie Charnigo, beating her by .02 seconds. In the end it wouldn’t matter who finished in front as they both made the final on time.
Quick Thoughts #1: Beckwith said she spoke with Wright before the race and had planned on leading the race to make sure they both made it through the first round. Beckwith didn’t feel she worked too hard and said it felt like a workout. She said she doesn’t plan on leading tomorrow and just wants to stick right on whoever is in the top 2.
QT#2: Beckwith was a close 4th at the 2012 Olympic Trials and was out all of 2013 with two knee surgeries and said making her first US team tomorrow would be “fabulous”.
| Place | Athlete | Time | 200m | 400m | 600m | >> | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Molly Beckwith Saucony |
2:03.38 | Q | 29.51 Rnk: 1 |
1:01.29 31.78 Rnk: 1 ↔ |
1:32.87 31.59 Rnk: 1 ↔ |
|||
| 2 | Phoebe Wright Nike |
2:03.78 | q | 29.72 Rnk: 2 |
1:01.49 31.77 Rnk: 2 ↔ |
1:33.10 31.62 Rnk: 2 ↔ |
|||
| 3 | Stephanie Charnigo New Jersey New York Track Club |
2:03.80 | q | 30.12 Rnk: 3 |
1:01.71 31.60 Rnk: 3 ↔ |
1:33.29 31.58 Rnk: 3 ↔ |
|||
| 4 | Lauren Wallace Oiselle |
2:05.01 | 30.15 Rnk: 4 |
1:01.86 31.71 Rnk: 4 ↔ |
1:33.39 31.54 Rnk: 4 ↔ |
Heat 3
Heat 3 was the Chanelle Price show as she looked powerful and dominated from start to finish, winning her heat in the fastest time of the day with 2:02.71. Bethany Praska benefited from her pacing and was pulled to the 3rd fastest time of the day (behind Price and Beckwith) with 2:03.56.
Quick Thought #1: After her race Price said she just “ran by feel” and wasn’t worried about time or even conserving for tomorrow as she feels she can recover fine no matter how fast it was today. Looking at tomorrow’s final, Price emphasized she’s not afraid to lead and said, “If you’re going to beat me we’re going to run fast. We’re going to go after it because I’m going to give it my all.” So in the final you can probably expect to see Price out fast in the lead with Wilson and Beckwith stalking her from behind.
| Place | Athlete | Time | 200m | 400m | 600m | >> | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chanelle Price Speed Factory Athletics |
2:02.71 | Q | 28.89 Rnk: 1 |
1:00.30 31.41 Rnk: 1 ↔ |
1:31.69 31.39 Rnk: 1 ↔ |
|||
| 2 | Bethany Praska Unattached |
2:03.56 | q | 29.11 Rnk: 2 |
1:00.57 31.46 Rnk: 2 ↔ |
1:32.08 31.51 Rnk: 2 ↔ |
|||
| 3 | Stephanie Herrick Central Park Track Club (CPTC) |
2:07.48 | 29.78 Rnk: 3 |
1:01.22 31.45 Rnk: 3 ↔ |
1:33.06 31.84 Rnk: 3 ↔ |
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| DNS | Heather Kampf Asics / Team USA Minnesota |