|
IN TACTICAL RACES, BEGLEY & RUPP REPEAT AS USA 10,000M CHAMPIONS
Published by
Jun 26th 2010, 9:05pm
IN TACTICAL RACES, BEGLEY & RUPP REPEAT AS USA 10,000M CHAMPIONS By David Monti (c) 2010 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved - used with permission
DES
MOINES, IOWA (24-Jun) -- The Nike Oregon Track Club ruled supreme at
Drake Stadium here tonight as Amy Begley and Galen Rupp both
successfully defended their national 10,000m titles in tactical races.
On a comfortably warm and moderately humid night, both athletes used
superior closing speed in the final lap to secure their victories for
coach Alberto Salazar.
For Begley, 32, a Beijing Olympian at
10,000m, her victory was bittersweet. With 16 laps to go in the 25-lap
race, she latched onto the back of NCAA 10,000m champion Lisa Koll, an
Iowa native, who pushed to the lead and brought the small crowd to
their feet. And there Begley would stay, lap after lap, as Koll
churned out steady 76 and 77-second circuits.
"I'm usually the
one who leads and people sit on me," Begley told reporters after the
race. "Alberto told me just to wait until 800 to go. But, I feel
really guilty doing that. I mean, I'm ten years older than Lisa. I
feel so bad doing that for 25 laps."
Each time Koll came down
the homestretch with Begley in tow, the crowd would cheer for the Iowa
State star, something which Koll said made a big difference in her
performance.
"The crowd was awesome," Koll said after the race.
"I walked out, and I walked down the backstretch and I could hear
everyone just like, 'Go Lisa, go Iowa State!' When I came down the
front, there was like a roar. There's nothing like that to pump you
up."
Koll knew that she couldn't outkick the faster Begley, so
she began to pick up the pace with three laps to go. She ran 74.8
seconds, then 72.9 for the penultimate lap, but she could not shake
Begley. With about 500 meters to go, Begley surged to the lead to take
the bell, and within a few strides she had a big gap on Koll. The
former Arkansas Razorback ran her last loop in 65.2 seconds to win in a
stadium record 32:06.45.
"This race was all about how fast I
could go the last lap," Begley explained. "To compete at the world
level, they close in 56." She added: "Right now my goal is to get
closer and closer to 60 seconds."
Koll, who clocked 32:11.72,
was satisfied with her runner-up finish in what would probably be her
last race in Iowa until, perhaps, next year's Drake Relays. "I knew
she was going to be there at the end," Koll said of Begley. "I think
anybody who's done a lot of races, who's seen a lot of races, knows
that she's really great. I knew that she was going to be feeling good."
Rupp's
race was similar to Begley's, but was a painfully slow affair in the
early laps. The first kilometer was passed in only 3:06.7, and halfway
in only 14:57.5.
"You never know in championship races," Rupp
said with a chuckle about the slow pace. "Last year when I was in the
NCAA's it kind of got me used to it, going out slow and just being
ready for anything."
Rupp stayed well back in the pack, and was
in 17th place with 19 laps to go. But the former Oregon Duck responded
quickly when James Carney threw un a 62.9 second lap with 16 laps to go
and took the lead. Patrick Smyth, Ed Moran and Ryan Sheehan also
covered the move, creating a small separation from the main field.
But
the pace would soon sag and the field came back together, until Smyth
ran a 66.2-second lap with six laps to go. Smyth faded, leaving Moran
on the lead who kept things in the 65 second range, dropping everyone
but Rupp.
"I made some good decisions and put myself in good places and responded to all the moves," Moran said of his strategy.
All
but one. With 600 meters to go, Rupp decided it was time to put the
race away and quickly spurted ahead of Moran. Running easily, he split
the last 400 meters in 59.5 to secure the win in 28:59.29 to Moran's
29:03.07. Winning, Rupp said, was that tonight's race was all about.
"It
was like Al Davis said, 'Just win, baby,'" Rupp said referring to the
former American football coach. "That's all we're trying to do in
these races."
ENDS
|