Laura Roesler Destroys The Field In An Instant, Captures Women’s 800 Title – Can She Get Collegiate Record Outdoors?

by LetsRun.com
March 15, 2015

Albuquerque, NM – Oregon senior Laura Roesler entered the final of the women’s 800 at the 2014 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships as the heavy, heavy favorite, having run 2.81 seconds faster than anyone else in the field.

Halfway around the first turn of the bell lap, when Roesler, who started the final lap in third on the rail, allowed herself to get boxed in in fourth by Minnesota’s Alena Brooks, who moved up on the outside, it was fine if you thought to yourself, “What is going on here? Could we possibly be on the verge of a shocking upset?”

800 Results
1   Laura Roesler   SR  UO  2:03.85 
2   Savannah CamachoFR  OKST    2:05.53 
3   Kaela Edwards   FR  OKST    2:05.72 
4   Andrea Keklak   JR  GTWN    2:06.42     
5   Amanda Smith    JR  VT  2:06.53     
6   Megan Krumpoch  SR  DART    2:06.84 
7   Alena Brooks    SR  MINN    2:08.31

But the doubt that was creeping into your head was soon instantly erased when Roesler started to make her move after slowing and dropping back so she could move outside to get some space. Her move honestly reminded us a someone playing a video game hitting the “turbo” button. Roesler flew by everyone with breathtaking speed as she’d pour it on all the way to finish and her lead would grow to a dominant 1.68 seconds in the span of about 160 meters. Roesler won going away in 2:03.85. She was so dominant that if you watched it live, you could be forgiven if you forgot there was a second-place finisher in this race.

Oklahoma State freshmen Savannah Camacho (2:05.53) and Kaela Edwards (2:05.72) were the only two women in the race to finish within 2 seconds of Roesler.

Quick Take #1: What an incredible final 160-170 by Roesler. After running a penultimate lap of 32.08, Roesler picked it up by more than two seconds and ran a final 200 of 29.90. Camacho and Edwards also picked it up a little bit in their last lap (Camacho went 32.05 – 31.79). Everyone else in the field slowed down. Pure domination.

Roesler summed things up perfectly on her post-race ESPN interview when she said, “I knew if I went no one would be able to go with me.”

QT #2: How fast can Roesler go outdoors? Might Suzy Hamilton’s collegiate record of 1:59.11 go down? Here’s our crazy plan for Roesler to do it.

We aren’t ruling out the CR. We started to say, “Get her a lane at the Pre Classic right now.”

The problem is Prefontaine is May 31st this year. The NCAA Regionals for the 800 are May 29 and May 30th in Arkansas. We say – do something a little crazy. It will be great PR and raise her marketability a ton. Sandbag the two rounds of the 800 at NCAAs, get on a private plane and fly from Regionals in Arkansas back to Eugene and run Pre in front of the adoring crowd.

Is it ambitious? Yes. But she has nothing to worry about in terms of losing NCAAs and the sport needs some craziness.

The collegiate record is ambitious but much less so if she runs Prefontaine. Sub-2:00 seems like a formality for the 2:00.23 performer.

Total Domination for Roesler (click for photo gallery)

QT #3: The Oklahoma State freshmen might be be NCAA champs down the road but unlikely in 2014 as 2013 NCAA champion Natoye Goule will be in action for Clemson after sitting out a year for transferring from LSU.

QT #4: Teammates Savannah Camacho and Kaela Edwards were ecstatic and almost in tears about their 2-3 finish and said they “never thought in a million years” that they would have done that. They both run cross-country, so goes back to the old LRC mantra that strength makes for great mid-d runners.

Boxed in on the last lap? No worries.

Event 20  Women 800 Meter Run
=======================================================================
    Name                    Year School                  Finals  Points
=======================================================================
Finals
  1 Laura Roesler             SR Oregon                 2:03.85   10
       29.928 (29.928)       1:01.873 (31.945)       1:33.952 (32.079)
     2:03.846 (29.895)
  2 Savannah Camacho          FR Oklahoma St.           2:05.53    8
       29.805 (29.805)       1:01.692 (31.888)       1:33.742 (32.050)
     2:05.530 (31.788)
  3 Kaela Edwards             FR Oklahoma St.           2:05.72    6
       29.944 (29.944)       1:02.372 (32.429)       1:34.463 (32.091)
     2:05.717 (31.254)
  4 Andrea Keklak             JR Georgetown             2:06.42    5
       29.712 (29.712)       1:01.627 (31.915)       1:33.720 (32.093)
     2:06.415 (32.695)
  5 Amanda Smith              JR Virginia Tech          2:06.53    4
       30.053 (30.053)       1:02.088 (32.035)       1:34.142 (32.054)
     2:06.528 (32.387)
  6 Megan Krumpoch            SR Dartmouth              2:06.84    3

Laura Roesler Celebrates (click for photo gallery)

       30.459 (30.459)       1:02.732 (32.273)       1:34.621 (31.890)
     2:06.839 (32.219)
  7 Alena Brooks              SR Minnesota              2:08.31    2
       30.117 (30.117)       1:02.062 (31.946)       1:33.899 (31.837)
     2:08.302 (34.403)
  8 Nicky Akande              SR Villanova              2:11.60    1
       30.245 (30.245)       1:02.574 (32.330)       1:35.179 (32.605)