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Day 1 Recap USATF Nationals – Eugene, OR
The day started for the TriStateRacer.com crew with breakfast in the hotel. Sitting right beside of us was Christin Wurth-Thomas. We thought this was super cool way to start the day, but we had no idea how great the day would become.
After the trail run, we got cleaned up and headed to Hayward Field to grab the t-shirts and stuff for the trip. We left from Hayward to visit Pre’s Rock. We took the pictures and laid down an extra bib number from the WV 5K Championship. While we were walking away from the memorial, a blue Ford Explorer comes running up and who is in the passenger seat? Jordan Hasay!! Told you she was following us!
After all that excitement, we went to Track Town Pizza for lunch. How cool is that? Track Town Pizza!!! It was good food and only 4 blocks from Hayward.
After lunch, we decided to go to the track meet where they were finished up the decathlon events for the first day. We got to see the Javelin as well before the main running events started.
Since I am a distance fan, I had to wait and watch some really good sprint races before we got to the 800s (First distance events). We got to watch Tyson Gay drop an amazing (Wind Aided) 9.75 and he pulled a Usain Bolt and jogged in the last 20m or so. We can’t wait to see Gay vs. Bolt in the World Championships in Berlin. If Gay stays healthy, he may just be up there with Bolt.
The women’s 800 was interesting but the real good stuff started with the Men’s 800. There were 4 heats and at least 3 Olympians (Should have been 4 but Andrew Wheating of Oregon Scratched). Everyone got out of the pre-lims that needed too and we can’t wait for the next round. Results of men’s 800.
The next distance race was the 1500s. We got to see Christin Wurth-Thomas (who we ate breakfast next to) win her heat. Shannon Rowbury and Tennessee’s Sarah Bowman go at it and Olympians Erin Donahue and Anna Willard. We were star struck during these races! The crowd was loving it.
The men’s 1500 was supposed to be THE event of the evening as the 3rd heat featured too many names to even consider. However, Andrew Wheating and freshman sensation German Fernandez both pulled out giving Alan Webb and William Leer the 2 spots out of that heat to go to the finals. It was good to see American Record holder Alan Webb finally
have a decent race. He has been destroyed in his past couple of races for not having a kick but last night, he found something and qualified for the final.
Finally, we have the 10Ks. Before the start of the women’s 10K, it was announced that there was over 8,000 people at Hayward field and you might think that no one wants to watch to 30 minute plus races right? WRONG!! Not a single person left and they were treated to two great races.
First it was the women where Bronze Medalist Shalane Flanagan was heavily favored to beat fellow Olympian Amy Begley. WVU’s Clara Grandt was in the race as well and we were cheering for her big time (I think the people around us were wondering why we were going nuts for some Clara girl). Up in the lead, Amy and Shalane took turns sharing the lead and dropped the rest of the field running 75-second splits. It came down to a kick to the crowds enjoyment. The entire crowd at Hayward field was on their feet for the final lap as Amy outkicks Shalane for the US Title and the major upset.
The crowd at Hayward is so great that they not only giving a standing ovation for the top runners, but they continued it until every runner in the 10K was finished.
WVU’s Clara Grandt (later complaining of a slight stomach cramp) ran off her personal best but still had a good showing with a 34:13. Even if she had a bad race, it didn’t show at Track Town Pizza after the meet as she was all smiles (Get to that in a bit).
Everyone at Oregon wanted to see what would happen in the men’s 10K. This was the last time that Galen Rupp would be wearing the “O” of Oregon. This was to be a very special race for both Galen and the fans. He has had a tremendous senior year where he has gone undefeated in Cross-Country, Indoor, and Outdoor. Would he be able to hold off the competition at the professional level?
Before the race, the favorite was Abdi Abdirahman. In the first 200 meters, it looked like Abdi didn’t want to sit around and wait for Galen’s nasty kick and he had a big lead early on. The rest of the pack let him go but he didn’t stay gone for long as shortly after the first mile or so, Abdi was back in the pack and falling off the pace fast. It soon became obvious that this was going to come down to Galen Rupp and 2008 Olympic Marathoner Dathan Ritzenheim. Tim Nelson of the Oregon Track Club was also there.
Galen has never taken the lead early in a race and tonight would be no different. Even though at times Dathan (who was leading) would almost completely stop and come to almost a walk to see if someone else would take the lead.
Galen stuck to his plan and with 500 meters to go, he unleashed his nasty kick and blew by Dathan for the lead and made it look real, real easy. He finished in 27:52 and was crowned US Champ and kept his undefeated senior season in tack. Lots of people stayed for his victory lap and a couple of comments over the PA system.
While the men’s 10K was going on, we received a text message stating that our favorite WVU 10K runner and her Coach Jenn Davis would be at Track Town Pizza after the meet. We decided to go and hit it up again (I mean it is some really good pizza!)
That place was a who’s-who of distance running. We sat with Delilah Dicrescenzo, who is friends with Jenn Davis. In case you don’t know who that is, see here. Yup, it is THAT Delilah. She is running the steeple tonight and we wish her the best of luck! There was also the Torres brothers who just ran the 10K and many other people who were hiding in booths.
What a great first day with more track action to happen today (It is Friday now!). Marshall University’s Matt Shiffbauer is coming into town today as he has a 1500 tomorrow in the Junior Nationals. We will hopefully be meeting up with him and sharing it all with you!
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