2024 BU Terrier: Senayet Getachew Sets World U20 Record (14:42) as Josette Andrews Runs 14:46
Getachew's 14:42.94 broke Tirunesh Dibaba's 20-year-old record
By Jonathan GaultBOSTON — Ethiopian Senayet Getachew‘s world U20 5000 indoor record highlighted night two of the 2024 John Thomas Terrier Classic at Boston University. Almost 20 years to the day since Tirunesh Dibaba ran 14:53.99 to set the previous record across town at the Reggie Lewis Center, Getachew took more than 10 seconds off Dibaba’s mark to run 14:42.94 on BU’s famously fast track. Getachew, who won the World U20 cross country title in Australia last year, had to work hard for the victory, running her last lap in 30.91 seconds to hold off countrywoman Fentaye Belayneh, who actually closed faster (30.83) but had to come from farther back.
Belayneh, the 2022 African champs silver medallist who ran 14:44 in 2021 but hadn’t broken 15:01 since, was 2nd in a pb of 14:43.25 with another Ethiopian, Aynadis Mebratu, 3rd in 14:44.94. Mebratu, 19, is the Ethiopian U20 record holder in the 3000 (8:30.99) and ran 14:45 last July.
Spain’s Marta Garica Alonso ran a 16-second personal best to finish fourth in a new Spanish record of 14:46.37 – the second-fastest ever by a European woman indoors while Americans Josette Andrews (5th, 14:46.51) and Courtney Wayment (6th, 14:49.78) rounded out the six athletes who dipped under the 14:52.00 Olympic standard. Andrews and Wayment now sit #2 and #6 on the all-time US indoor list. American outdoor record holder Alicia Monson paced the first 3400 meters of the race before stepping off the track.
There were also wins for Lucia Stafford in the 800 (2:01.79), Anna Camp Bennett in the mile (4:27.13), and Ella Donaghu in the 3,000 (8:46.39). Recap and interviews below.
Women’s 5,000: Andrews is all-in on the 5,000 and Wayment surprises herself
Josette Andrews is focusing on the 5,000 in 2024
Andrews’ main objective was to hit the Olympic standard and she did that with ease, running 14:46, three seconds off her pb. She’ll race again two weeks from now at Millrose, where she will try to win the Wanamaker Mile after finishing 2nd the last two years. British star Laura Muir will be back to defend her title in that race, so Andrews knows it will not be easy. But as she begins her second year under coach Dathan Ritzenhein at the On Athletics Club, Andrews feels good about where she is at.
“The workouts have been better than last year,” Andrews said. “Having a year at altitude, a year under Dathan’s training, a year of lifting (Andrews said she did not lift under previous coach Chris Fox), I’m in a lot better shape, physically, than last year.”
Andrews has been a serious contender to make the outdoor World/Olympic team in each of the last three years but has not gotten it done yet. She is strong in both the 1500 (where she was 3rd in the 2021 Diamond League final) and the 5,000 (her 14:43 pb is #7 all-time in the US) and has competed in both events at USAs, but said this year she and Ritzenhein have decided to focus on the 5,000 as she believes it is Andrews’ best shot to make the Olympic team.
“Last year we made the decision two weeks before USAs and I think it really messed with me mentally because the whole year I was picturing the 1500,” said Andrews, who was 4th in the 5,000 at USAs in 2023. “I think we knew the better event was the 5k, I just wasn’t mentally prepared for it, we think.”
All-time US indoor women’s 5,000 list
1. 14:33.17 Elise Cranny 2/11/22 Boston
2. 14:46.51 Josette Andrews 1/27/24 Boston
3. 14:47.62 Shalane Flanagan 2/7/09 Boston
4. 14:48.51 Vanessa Fraser 2/27/20 Boston
5. 14:48.75 Courtney Frerichs 2/11/22 Boston
6. 14:49.75 Courtney Wayment 1/27/24 Boston
Courtney Wayment overjoyed with big 14:49 pb
Wayment was the 2022 NCAA indoor champion at 5,000 but had not raced a 5000 since that year as she has focused on the steeplechase as a professional. But her fall training had been going well, so she and coach Diljeet Taylor decided to put a 5k on her schedule ahead of the 2-mile at Millrose in two weeks.
“After BYU came to this meet, the season opener in December, Coach Taylor was like, hey, do you want to run a 5k or a 3k?” Wayment said. “And I was like, let’s take a crack at the 5k.”
Wayment, whose pb was 15:15 from BU in 2021, came in hoping to break 15:00 and accomplished that and then some. She said she did not want to be left to lead the chase pack so decided to try to hang with the women chasing the Olympic standard.
“The goal was just get on the train and hope for the best,” Wayment said.
Women’s mile: Anna Camp Bennett wins & tows collegians to fast times
Anna Camp Bennett, the 2021 NCAA 1500 champion for BYU who is now a pro for adidas, does not like to lead races. But as the most accomplished runner in the field, it fell upon her to keep the pace going once the rabbit stepped off and she did an admirable job, holding off a spirited effort from Providence’s Kimberley May to win the fast section in 4:27.13.
May, a 20-year-old from New Zealand, was the only one who could stick with Camp Bennett in the final stages and was rewarded for her doggedness with a 10-second pb of 4:27.85 that moves her to #7 on the all-time NCAA list. To say she was pumped with the HUGE pb would be an understatement.
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May was one of five collegians in the top heat to run 4:30 or faster, with NAU’s Maggi Congdon (4:30.24), BYU’s Riley Chamberlain (4:30.26), Providence’s Shannon Flockhart (4:30.83), and Boston College’s Molly Hudson (4:30.92) finishing behind her.
In heat 2, reigning NCAA indoor 800 champion Juliette Whittaker of Stanford ran 4:30.92 to finish second behind Under Armour Dark Sky Distance’s Angelina Ellis (4:30.62).
Anna Camp Bennett happy with healthier start to 2024
Camp Bennett admitted she was hoping to run 4:25 or 4:26 today but could not be too disappointed as she got the win and a pb of 4:27.13 (previous pb: 4:33.00).
Camp Bennett tore her plantar in the fall of 2022, and she said that she struggled with the injury for much of 2023. But after missing the final at USAs, things began to feel better and Camp Bennett ended the year on a high note with a four-second pb of 4:04.99 in Memphis in August. She has been healthy since then and is ready for a stronger year in 2024.
Kimberley May stuns herself with 4:27
May, a junior at Providence, said she did not look at the clock once during the race and was stunned to see 4:27 on the scoreboard when she crossed the finish line. That said, she had logged some good warm-weather training back home in New Zealand over the Christmas break (she was there until January 10). Based on that, May and her coach Ray Treacy were expecting a time around 4:30 and she exceeded it.
4:27 puts May in rare company. Only seven other collegians have broken 4:28 in the indoor mile. All seven won NCAA titles and six of the seven won multiple titles.
Women’s 3,000: Nike Union AC’s Ella Donaghu dominates
As on Friday with the men, the women’s 3,000 at BU on Saturday was not as strong or deep as the 5,000 later in the meet. After running behind her Nike Union Athletics Club teammate Simone Plourde for the first half of the race, Ella Donaghu separated and went on to win in commanding fashion in 8:46.39, an improvement on her 8:48.79 pb from 2022. BYU’s Sadie Sargent was the top collegian in 8:59.45.
Donaghu, who was 3rd in the NCAA 1500 final for Stanford in 2021, failed to run faster than 4:11 in the 1500 last year and said that while she still thinks she can run well in that event, she has boosted her mileage and the volume of her workouts and will be focusing on the 5,000 in 2024.
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