Friday, June 24, 2011

USA Track & Field Championships Day 2

Mostly prelims again today. All the 800m runners that I thought would make the final did, which should make for some great finals this weekend. Khadevis Robinson won both is heats with the slowest times, which should give him an advantage (good lane assignment and freshest legs).

The 5k finals were tonight and I was not suprised to see Bernard Lagat and Molly Huddle win. They ARE the American record holders in the event. What impressed me the most was three people Galen Rupp, Desiree Davila, and Jen Rhines. Galen won the 10k last night then came back and made the team in the 5k with a third place finish. He said he will double at Worlds. Desiree Davila was 4th in the 10k (31:37) and 6th in the 5k (15:25). She didn't make the top 3 in either event but it was a killer double and a PR in both events. Jen Rhines made the same double but was even more impressive with a 3rd place finish in the 10k (31:30) and a 4th place in the 5k (15:19). She rounded out a 2nd, 3rd, 4th place finish in the 5k from the Mammoth TC girls!

The word on flotrack was that Lagat and Solinsky closed their last 1600m of the 5k in 3:58! AWESOME!

1500m finals tomorrow and Lagat will be there. An awesome field on both sides. Men's race includes Lagat, Wheating, Torrence, Leer, Manzano, Lomong, and Centrowitz. The Women's race has Anderson, Simpson, Rowbury, Hasay, Uceny, Pierce, Wurth, and Follett. It is anyone's race.

My picks:
Mens: 1. Lagat 2. Wheating 3. That is tough but I am going to go with Torrence, but I also like Leer (Go SCIAC).
Womens: (This is really tough) 1. Uceny 2. Pierce 3. Wurth although Katie Follett has had a great season...

2 comments:

Daniel said...

Cami Chapus should have been in the women's 800, with her 2:02 from the CA State Meet. It would have been a fun story to see...a 17-yr old up against the pros

Chuck said...

Thank you for the excellent breakdown of the USA Track & Field Championships!