6/15/08

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LONGHORNS SWEEP NCAA MEN'S MIDDLE DISTANCE FINALS
by Mike Scott
(c) 2008 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved - used with permission

Des Moines, Ia. (14-Jun) -- Texas middle distance stars Jacob Hernandez and Leonel Manzano ran to victories in the 800-meters and 1500, respectively, on the final day of the 2008 NCAA Men's & Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships hosted by Drake University here.  Michigan's Geena Gall and Florida State's Hannah England took the women's 800 and 1500, respectively.

HERNANDEZ GETS IT IN A LEAN

The men's 800 featured a strong front-running effort by Hernandez.  Southern California's Duane Solomon got out fastest, leading the pack through 200 in 23.1 with Hernandez right on his shoulder.  Hernandez passed Solomon to lead through 400 in 50.96, with Solomon by his side, followed by LSU's Elkana Kosgei, Northern Iowa's Tyler Mudler, UTEP's Elias Koech, Tennessee's Yarrick Kincaid, Oregon's Andrew Wheating, and Washington's Austin Abbott.

Hernandez continued to lead through 600 in 1:17.2 with only Solomon right with him.  As Hernandez and Solomon entered the straight, Wheating started a mad dash from behind.  Wheating gradually closed on Hernandez down the whole homestretch but ran out of room at the finish by the narrowest of margins, 1:45.31 to 1:45.32, with the latter sprawling across the finish line.

"My coach knew I was strong," said Hernandez, a native of Magnola, Texas.  "We just wanted to go out and leave it all on the track."

Hernandez, Wheating, and Solomon all broke the 30-year old Drake Stadium record of 1:45.86 set by Oklahoma's Randy Wilson in 1978, with Solomon finishing in 1:45.71.

MANZANO REGAINS METRIC MILE CROWN

Texas senior Leonel Manzano surprised the track world by winning the 2005 NCAA 1500 title as a freshman.  Now four years later, he ended his NCAA career where he started: on top of the medal stand.

Manzano, better known as a kicker, immediately took the lead and towed the field through a 58.1 first 400, with the entire field packed right behind including Stanford's Garrett Heath, Notre Dame's Kurt Benninger, Georgetown's Andrew Bumbalough, and hometown favorite Dorian Ulrey from Northern Iowa.  The senior Longhorn led through through the half in 2:03.2 with Heath, Ulrey, Benninger, and Texas teammate Darren Brown right on his heels.  Manzano, who represented the USA at last summer's IAAF World Championships in Athletics, quickened the pace over the next circuit and turned back a challenge from California's David Torrence at the bell to pull the field through 1200 in 3:01.3.

Ulrey made a move along the backstretch that electrified the hometown crowd, but Manzano simply dropped the hammer along the homestretch to win by over a second in 3:41.23.

"I thought I'd give them something new," Manzano said of his competitors.  " knew I was the guy to beat, so I just wanted to stay in front and end it with a bang!"

Ulrey held on for silver in 3:42.56, while Wisconsin's Jack Bolas and Craig Miller claimed third and fourth respectively 3:42.57-3:42.67.


WITHOUT JOHNSON, GALL WINS WOMEN'S HALF MILE

Following the withdrawal of defending champion and collegiate leader Alysia Johnson due to a foot injury suffered during the first round, reigning NCAA indoor champion Latavia Thomas (LSU) and 2006 NCAA indoor titlest Heather Dorniden (Minnesota) wore the favorite's mantle as the field lined up to race.

Western Michigan's Becky Horn sprinted to the front, leading the tightly bunched field through 200 in 27.1.  Horn continued to lead through the 400 in 61.64, with Dorniden on her shoulder, BYU's Carlee Clark-Platt and Thomas running 3-4, Michigan's Geena Gall and Washington State's Anna Layman just behind in 5-6, and Tennessee's Phoebe Gall and Oregon's Zoe Buckman drafting on the rear of the pack.

Dorniden made a strong move along the backstretch to take the lead, passing 600 in 1:32.2, with Oregon's Buckman moving up to challenge Dorniden.

Off the final turn, it was Dorniden leading with Buckman edging up to challenge the Gopher junior.  Behind them, Gall and Thomas sprinted hard and passed Dorniden and Buckman with 50-meters remaining.  Gall powered on to win in 2:03.91, with Thomas second in 2:04.38. 

"I knew someone would take it out with 300 to go and I saw Heather moving and I just had to go right with her," said the Grand Blanc, Mich., native.  "That was the plan all along: just stay with the leaders and race and react."

Horn sprinted hard the final meters to pass Buckman and the fading Dorniden to claim third in 2:04.67, with Buckman finishing fourth in 2:04.69 and Dorniden fifth in 2:05.86.

ENGLAND BREAKS CHAMPIONSHIP RECORD

The women's metric mile featured an interesting matchup between defending champion Brie Felnagle (North Carolina), NCAA indoor mile titlest Hannah England (Florida State), and seven-time NCAA champion Sally Kipyego (Texas Tech), who just won the 5000 last night.

Felnagle shot to the front with the flash of the starter's pistol, with Tennessee's Sarah Bowman, Arkansas' Dacia Barr, Cal-Riverside's Brenda Martinez, England, and Kipyego at the front of the pack as the Tarheel junior led them through the first circuit in 64.1.

With two laps to go, Kipyego surged to the front and started to stretch out the pack as she led Felnagle, Bowman, England, and Barr through 800 in 2:11.2.  The Red Raider junior continued to drop the pace, with only England and Bowman in contact at 1200 in 3:17.3, with Barr running fourth and a spent Felnagale fading.

England, a native of Oxford, England, made her move off the final turn and passed Kipyego with 50 meters remaining to win in a new NCAA Championship record of 4:06.19, a huge personal best and under the Olympic Games "A" standard of 4:07.00.

"I am pleased with it," said the transfer student from the University of Birmingham.  "It was a little windy but I like to think I handled it as well as anyone else did.  It was a great race!"

Kipyego also slipped under Tiffany McWilliams' 2004 NCAA meet record of 4:06.75 with her 4:06.67, also a personal best.  Bowman placed third in 4:07.50 PB ahead of Barr's 4:11.02.  Felnagle faded to ninth.

The 2009 NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Outdoor Track & Championships will next move to Fayetteville, Ark., where the meet will be hosted by the University of Arkansas.

PHOTOS: Hannah England wins the women's 1500m; Jacob Hernandez just beats Andrew Wheating in the 800m.  Photos by MIKE SCOTT.

ENDS

6/13/08

WATCH NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS LIVE ON THE WEB

The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association reported today that CBS College Sports (formerly CSTV), will be airing the NCAA Division I Championships from Des Moines, Ia., live on the internet at the following link:

http://all-access.cstv.com/cstv/player/player.html?code=ncaa&sport=c-track&category=live&media=69621

DISTANCE RUNNERS SHATTER RECORDS AT NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
By Mike Scott
(c) 2008 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved - used with permission

Des Moines, Ia. (13-Jun) -– Jenny Barringer (Colorado) and Kyle Alcorn (Arizona State) won the women's and men's steeple under clear skies at the NCAA Division I Men's & Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships hosted by Drake University here, while Sally Kipyego (Texas Tech) and Bobby Curtis (Villanova) achieved redemption for last spring's runner-up finishes with wins at 5000.  Several key records were broken.

Barringer, the 2007 USA steeplechase champion who finished only seventh at last year's NCAA meet after losing a shoe during the second lap, avoided repeating that mishap by bolting into the lead with the sound of the starter's pistol, covering the first lap in a swift 72 seconds.  She was clearly trying for more than just the win.

“I went into this race wanting to run hard from the start,” said Barringer, “so I was out of traffic and I wouldn’t risk getting my shoe clipped. That was the main motivation for me.”

Texas Tech's Irene Kimaiyo, who beat Barringer in Boulder at last month's Big 12 Championships, led the pursuers which included Penn State's Bridget Franek, Weber State's Sariah Long, and Southern Methodist's Silje Fjortoft.  They never got close to the lead.

Barringer continued to pull away from the pack, passing two laps in 2:29 and four laps in 5:03.  Her lead continued to grow, and it became apparent that she was after both Lisa Galaviz's U.S. record of 9:28.75, her own U.S. collegiate best of 9:33.95 (set in Paris at DecaNation last year), and Anna Willard's NCAA Championships record of 9:38.08.  Her own U.S. all-comer mark of 9:34.64 and the Drake Stadium record of 9:44.31 would just be a throw-ins.

“I said to myself ‘go for it,’” said Barringer who finished well clear of the field in 9:29.20, shattering all of the above marks but Galaviz's.  “How many times are you on a great track with warm weather and the crowd going wild?  I didn’t even know until I finished that I was close to the American record.  I felt really strong and felt God’s pleasure the whole time.  This is what I do and I love doing it.”

Behind Barringer, Fjortoft had joined Kimaiyo and Franek with three laps to go. Kimaiyo drifted backwards while Fjortoft pressed the pace and began to edge away from Franek.  The SMU freshman held on to claim silver in 9:55.54, while Franek claimed bronze in 9:58.74. Surprising Lindsay Allen (Stanford) captured fourth in 10:05.26, a fraction of an inch ahead of Kimaiyo in 10:05.29.

The men's steeplechase involved a much closer finish.  Florida State's Luke Gunn and Colorado's Billy Nelson pulled the tightly bunched pack through early splits of 68, 2:19 (two laps), and 4:36 (four laps).  Among the pack were defending champion Barnabus Kirui (Ole Miss), Arkansas's Peter Kosgei, Arizona State's Kyle Alcorn, and UTEP's Patrick Mutai.

Gunn still led at five laps (passed in 5:44), with Kosgei, Nelson, and Alcorn right on his heels.  Alcorn surged into the lead with a lap and a half remaining and started to string out the pack, passing the bell with a lap to go in 7:27 and a 20-meter lead.  However, Alcorn appeared to struggle over the next 200 while Nelson closed on him in hot pursuit.  Nelson closed within two strides by the final barrier, but Alcorn found the strength to get to the line first in 8:28.26, breaking a 31-year old Drake Stadium record held by the venerable Henry Marsh.

“It did not click (with me) that I could win until with two laps to go,” said Alcorn.  “I was not sure how much everyone else had left. With about 800 to go, Peter Kosgei of Arkansas and Billy Nelson of Colorado took off - and Billy has good closing speed - so I went with them. I took the lead with 600 to go.”

Nelson claimed second just behind in 8:28.85, while Gunn finished third in 8:34.41.  Iowa State's Hillary Bor placed fourth in 8:36.84, while Kosgei grabbed fifth in 8:37.61.

KIPYEGO DOMINATES 5000M

Texas Tech's Sally Kipyego must have been reading from the same highly successful playbook that Barringer and last night's 10,000m champ Lisa Koll used over the past two days to overpower their competition: run from the front.  Kipyego shot to the lead at the start and blasted away from the field with a 69-sec opening circuit.  She had a 50-meter lead through the first kilometer (3:01), while Stanford's Teresa McWalters, Oregon's Nicole Blood, Virginia Tech's Tasmin Fanning, Florida's Rebecca Lowe, and Texas A&M's Christina Munoz ran at the front of the chase pack.

Lapping some of the trailing runners, Kipyego got to the finish in 15:15.08 to break the NCAA championship meet record established by Wake Forest's Michelle Sikes last spring where Kipyego had finished second.  The win was Kipyego's seventh NCAA crown in a mere two-year career.

“I really wanted to win last year and I didn’t,” said Kipyego who will also compete in tomorrow's 1500m final here. “The 5000 is my favorite race of the entire NCAA meet. This is my last outdoor championship and I wanted to make sure that I got the title today.”

Illinois's Angela Bizzarri moved first at the bell, but Oregon's Blood quickly passed her to move into the lead.  Bizzari passed her back and managed to edge away to claim second in 15:46.08, a 30-second personal best.  Blood finished a couple strides behind in 15:49.22.  McWalters finished fourth in 15:50.18, while Lowe placed fifth in 15:50.73.

VAUGHN UPSET BY CURTIS IN MEN'S 5000M

Colorado's Brent Vaughn, Stephen Pifer, and Kenyon Neuman entered the race with a team plan: set an honest pace.

So, the Buffalo trio opened with a 65 first lap and traded pacemaking duties for the first eight laps, passing one kilometer in 2:45, 2-K in 5:31, and 3-K in 8:19.

Villanova's Bobby Curtis, Northern Arizona's David McNeill, and Notre Dame's Patrick Smyth stayed near the front, trailing the three Buffs closely.  Vaughn continued to press the pace through 4-K (11:05), dropping all contenders except Curtis, last year's NCAA 5000 runner-up.  Curtis continued to draft off Vaughn until the bell, when he spurted to the front and ran away to win in 13:33.93.

“My coach Marcus Sullivan told me not to go until you know you have it won,” said Curtis.  “The pace was fast enough to string out the pack single file, but it slowed down so the miler types could recover.  I was tying up on the final stretch, but felt great.”

Pifer caught the struggling Vaughn in the final meters to finish second in 13:39.34 ahead of Vaughn's 13:39.44.

The 2008 NCAA championships concludes on Saturday with 18 finals, including the men's and women's 800 and men's and women's 1500.

PHOTOS BY MIKE SCOTT: Billy Nelson can't catch Kyle Alcorn in the men's steeple and Sally Kipyego runs away with the 5000m title.

ENDS