Harvard’s Maia Ramsden Upset Winner in NCAA 1500m as Katelyn Tuohy Fades to 7th

AUSTIN, Tex. –  Katelyn Tuohy is human.

Tuohy, the collegiate record holder in the mile and 3000 for NC State, who was seeking to become the first woman to win NCAA titles in the 1500 and 5000 on the same day, came up short in her first final, the women’s 1500m at the NCAA Track and Field Championships in Austin. After taking it out hard, she faded the final 100m and finished 7th, as Harvard’s Maia Ramsden blew by Tuohy for a convincing win in 4:08.60 as Oregon’s Izzy Thornton-Bott was second, and Virginia’s Margot Appleton third.

At the gun, Tuohy showed she was ready to run and took it out hard, just under 65 seconds at 400m and only Thonton-Bott and NCAA mile champ Olivia Howell of Illinois were with her. Tuohy slowed the second lap (2:12 and change, 67.38 from 300 to 700), but had opened up a 10-meter gap on the field. Tuohy continued to slow on the third lap and at the bell (3:03.96, 68.68), Thornton-Bott was on her heels with a 5-meter gap to the chase pack. Entering the final turn Tuohy still led, but now five women were in a pack right behind her. Around the final turn Ramsden moved up in the pack to get right on Tuohy’s shoulder. She flew by at the start of the final stretch and powered away to the convincing win thanks to a 63.27 final lap. Oregon went 2-4 behind her and Tuohy faded all the way back to 7th (67.45).

Tuohy would wind up scratching from the 5000m. NC State coach Laurie Henes wrote in a text: “She just felt awful after the 1500 and I decided it was not in her best interest to run.”

Pl	Pos		Athlete	Time	300m	700m	1100m	1500m
1	3		Maia RAMSDEN Harvard [SO]	4:08.60  PB	49.08 [49.08]	1:57.79 [1:08.72]	3:05.33 [1:07.54]	4:08.60 [1:03.27]
2	7		Izzy THORNTON-BOTT Oregon [JR]	4:09.21	48.51 [48.51]	1:56.11 [1:07.60]	3:04.23 [1:08.13]	4:09.21 [1:04.98]
3	4		Margot APPLETON Virginia [SO]	4:09.30	49.39 [49.39]	1:57.50 [1:08.11]	3:05.13 [1:07.64]	4:09.30 [1:04.17]
4	1		Klaudia KAZIMIERSKA Oregon [FR]	4:09.84	49.80 [49.80]	1:58.23 [1:08.43]	3:05.57 [1:07.35]	4:09.84 [1:04.27]
5	2		Billah JEPKIRUI Oklahoma State [FR]	4:10.17  PB	49.22 [49.22]	1:56.88 [1:07.67]	3:04.98 [1:08.10]	4:10.17 [1:05.19]
6	11		Shannon FLOCKHART Providence [SO]	4:10.78  PB	48.85 [48.85]	1:57.48 [1:08.63]	3:06.20 [1:08.73]	4:10.78 [1:04.58]
7	10		Katelyn TUOHY NC State [SO]	4:11.40	47.90 [47.90]	1:55.28 [1:07.38]	3:03.95 [1:08.68]	4:11.40 [1:07.45]
8	6		Olivia HOWELL Illinois [JR]	4:11.54  SB	48.17 [48.17]	1:55.87 [1:07.70]	3:07.23 [1:11.36]	4:11.54 [1:04.31]
9	9		Abbe GOLDSTEIN New Mexico [SR]	4:11.86	49.55 [49.55]	1:57.23 [1:07.69]	3:06.12 [1:08.89]	4:11.86 [1:05.75]
10	12		Maddy ELMORE Oregon [FR]	4:12.70	49.65 [49.65]	1:57.93 [1:08.28]	3:05.76 [1:07.83]	4:12.70 [1:06.95]
11	5		Melissa RIGGINS Georgetown [SO]	4:16.57	49.34 [49.34]	1:58.54 [1:09.20]	3:07.29 [1:08.76]	4:16.57 [1:09.29]
12	8		Sophie O’SULLIVAN Washington [SO]	4:22.81	49.09 [49.09]	1:58.21 [1:09.13]	3:09.67 [1:11.47]	4:22.81 [1:13.15]

Quick Take: Maia Ramsden stuck to her game plan and it paid off

Ramsden, a Kiwi who lived in a lot of countries growing up and went to high school in Ethiopia, told us that prior to the race that she and coach Alex Gibby talked about her running her own race. Ramsden, who was 11th in cross country, isn’t known for being a speed burner so Gibby talked about what type of 800 split might be the max that would be comfortable for her (2:12-3, Ramsden ended up hitting 800 in 2:15). Ramsden ran her own race, closed hard and won. Ramsden said she was inspired by teammate Graham Blanks’ 2nd place finish in the 5000 last night.

Ramsden wound up doubling in the 5000 tonight and finished 18th in 16:12.95.

Quick Take: Tuohy deserves props for being bold – she did not have many other options

It may be easy to criticize the result, a disappointing 7th-place finish, but the best strategy for Tuohy was to make it fast and try to run away from the field, which she tried to do. It just didn’t work out. In the end, a nonspeed burner ended up winning the race but Tuohy and the others did all the work.

Hindsight is always 20-20 but maybe trying to squeeze things down from 900 out would have been better. But when Tuohy went to the lead early, both Robert Johnson and Jonathan Gault agreed, “Mega props for going for it. This is gutsy.” So we aren’t going to criticize it now.

Tuohy didn’t come through the mixed zone after the race as at that point she was still signed up for the 5000.

Quick Take: Oregon’s Izzy Thornton-Bott and Klaudia Kazimierska were pumped to go 2-4 and were full of praise for coach Shalane Flanagan

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The most surprised runner-up finish of the weekend was Oregon’s Izzy Thornton-Bott in the 1500, who was in a state of shock after running 4:09.21 for 2nd. The 25-year-old Thornton-Bott had family fly in from all over the globe to watch her compete — her mom from Australia, her grandparents from the UK — and responded with the best race of her life so far, taking 2nd after finishing just 3rd at Pac-12s last month.

“It’s just been a very long road to get here and I’ve been looking for an opportunity like the one that we had ever since I can remember racing-wise,” said Thornton-Bott. “This is probably the most high-caliber competition I’ve ever been able to compete at.”

Between Thornton-Bott, Kazimierska, and 10th-placer Maddy Elmore, Oregon had three finalists in the 1500 tonight, and all three credited first-year coach Shalane Flanagan for tweaking their training individually to achieve the best results.

“We all have three very different approaches to training, which she has completely embraced — three different ways of preparing for a race, three ways of executing a race,” said Thornton-Bott.