800M SEMI-FINALS HIGHLIGHT SECOND DAY ACTION AT USATF OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
By David Monti (@d9monti) and Chris Lotsbom (@chrislotsbom)
(c) 2015 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved - Used with permission.
EUGENE, Ore. (26-Jun) -- The semi-final of the men's 800m here on the second day of the USATF National Outdoor Track & Field Championships played out like a soap opera, filled with fast times and drama down the finishing straight. Cas Loxsom and Shaquille Walker won their respective heats in 1:44.92 and 1:45.58, though it was what happened with those behind them that set up a final for the ages come Sunday.
In the opening heat, Duane Solomon took the pace out as he so often does, leading through 400 meters in 50.27 seconds. On his outside shoulder was 600m national indoor champion Cas Loxsom, making a two-man pair charging around the final curve headed for the finish. Steps behind, a determined Erik Sowinski and Mike Rutt fought hard to stay in the top four, knowing any slip up and they wouldn't be advancing to the final.
Maintaining his lead in front of Hayward Field's faithful, Solomon looked side to side and realized he was comfortably in the top four. Shutting it down ten meters from the finish, Loxsom would charge on by and win the heat in a personal best of 1:44.92.
For a brief moment, it looked as if Solomon had gone to cruise control a second too early, as Sowinski and Rutt ran right past the two-time national champion to finish in 1:45.30 and 1:45.47, respectively. The confident Solomon strolled across in fourth, 1:45.56 his time, and a step ahead of Jesse Jorgensen (1:45.78).
"I knew I was going to be ready, and just came out here to make sure that everything was hitting right. In training we did everything right," said an extremely confident Solomon. "In the final, I'm going to go out more aggressive than that. I want to take it out faster than that. I'm going to take it to a place where the only person whose ever been there is me and myself. That's to give you kind of an idea how aggressive I am going to run the final."
When heat-two took the line, most eyes were focused on national leader and relative newcomer Boris Berian, as well as five-time national champion Nick Symmonds. Like Solomon moments before, Berian went to the pole and pushed forward along the rail. At the bell he looked in prime position, ready to make his first U.S. final in the discipline.
Yet down the backstretch the true race would begin. Collegians Shaquille Walker (BYU) and Clayton Murphy (Akron) began their charge for home, joined by Ryan Martin and Symmonds -- the latter was in seventh place with 250 meters to go.
Around the Bowerman Curve, Berian's form began to falter, wincing as his muscles locked up. He was passed by Walker, Murphy, and then Symmonds in the homestretch, before Martin swept by steps from the line. Berian would not be advancing.
"I got next year, I got [the] Olympic year, so I've just got to look forward to that," Berian told reporters, looking slightly shocked.
Walker timed 1:45.58 for the win, with Murphy second in 1:45.78 and Symmonds third in 1:45.95. Martin rounded out the top four in 1:46.19.
"That was nice and smooth," Symmonds explained, happy to achieve the IAAF World Championships standard today. "I got out off the line a little bit better, moved up when I needed to. I really would have liked to have been in third or fourth with 200 to go, but I would have had to go to lane-four to do it. So, I thought, I have it in my legs today. Just patient, patient, and was able to come home pretty strong down the homestretch."
FAVORITES ADVANCE IN WOMEN'S 800M SEMI-FINALS
In two very high quality semi-final heats in the women's 800m, 11 athletes broke 2:01, but only eight could advance to Sunday's final. Nearly all of the favorites got through successfully, except for national indoor 1000m champion Lauren Wallace who finished fifth in the second heat, despite running 2:00.48.
In the first heat, Molly Ludlow led from gun to tape, splitting 400 meters in a swift 58.42, then bringing it home in 2:00.22. Brenda Martinez (2:00.38) and Phoebe Wright (2:00.61) were only steps behind, also looking comfortable. Dana Mecke (2:00.76) also advanced in fourth position.
"I like to get out early, it makes me feel better throughout the rounds," Ludlow said. "I like to get out of trouble and I don't like to get in a position where I could potentially fall. I've seen it sometimes happen in rounds, and it's not my forté."
The second heat saw strong front-running by previous 800m national champions Alysia Montano and Ajee' Wilson, but a minute later fans saw a rare four-across finish with Chanelle Price (2:00.05), Maggie Vessey (2:00.05), Montano (2:00.11) and Wilson (2:00.14) all crossing the line in a span of just 9/100ths of a second. Price, the surprise 2014 world indoor champion, reminded reporters how tough it was to make the team this year.
"I like that it's wide open," said Price, who ran for Tennessee during her NCAA career. "It's anybody's day, who can handle these rounds the best. It's one of the toughest teams to make but that's what's cool about it: who's going to step up on that day."
SIMPSON LEADS 1500M QUALIFIERS
Striding confidently in the lead for most of her heat, 2011 world champion Jenny Simpson led all qualifiers in the preliminary round of the 1500m.
Simpson, who won the silver medal at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, shared the early lead with Heather Kampf before reeling off a 63-second final lap to finish in 4:08.55. She had to push the final 20 meters to make sure she held her lead as her rivals were also closing fast.
"Heather took it and knew what she wanted to do with the race, and so I was just hanging on trying to make sure no one sniper-attacked me in the last 100 meters or so," Simpson, 28, told reporters.
As the 2014 IAAF Diamond League champion in the 1500m, Simpson has a guaranteed spot on team USATF for the IAAF World Championships in Beijing in August. Nonetheless, she's here in Eugene to run for victory.
"This is the first year that I'm defending a title in the 1500m so that's, like, special to me and I want to go out and try to win it again," Simpson explained. "I think I'm just specializing so much and I want so badly to be ready in Beijing to potentially race for a medal, then why pass up the possibility to run rounds and run kind of championships style racing? That's the thought that went into it."
Behind Simpson, four-time USATF 1500m champion Treniere Moser finished second, and Kerri Gallagher was third. Both women were timed in 4:08.70.
Other athletes with podium homes who advanced to the final included Shannon Rowbury, Gabe Grunewald, Mary Cain, Shelby Houlihan, Heather Kampf and Lauren Johnson.
Eighteen year-old Alexa Efraimson was unable to advance, despite running a USATF junior record 4:03.39 at the Prefontaine Classic late last month. She was visibly struggling in the final meters of the third heat, and finished fourth in 4:15.21.
"I'm disappointed," Efraimson told the media. "I mean, I was just hoping for that automatic qualifier and it didn't happen." She continued: "I just got to take this as a learning opportunity and move on from there. Next time."
JAGER, CABRAL LEAD QUALIFIERS FOR 3000M STEEPLECHASE FINAL
Evan Jager came into today's prelim of the 3000m steeplechase as the clear favorite, a three-time defending champion and the national record holder in the event. In the blink of an eye, Jager found himself out front of the field, right where he's most comfortable.
"I wasn't trying to push anybody and I wasn't trying to take it too breezy," said Jager, 26. "I just found myself running a comfortable pace and no one went with me, so I just continued that pace and stayed as comfortable as possible."
Avoiding any potential trouble, Jager continued out front with a slight lead all the way through the finish, winning over former Arkansas All-American Stanley Kebenei, 8:40.13 to 8:41.16. Matt Cleaver and Craig Forys would take third and fourth, both advancing to Sunday's final as well.
"Hopefully if everything goes well for myself, I feel like I should win," said Jager, aware that he is America's best hope for a medal in Beijing. "But you never know what's going to happen, so you have to show up on the day and have your game face on, be prepared to hurdle especially in the conditions we are running in."
In the second preliminary heat, 2012 Olympian Donn Cabral controlled the pace for the early laps, doing all he could to give New Jersey/New York Track Club teammate Travis Mahoney a chance to advance into the final. Mahoney had finished eighth in heat one (8:50.39), and was on the bubble for the final.
"I was feeling pretty good, pace was pretty slow early on so I took the lead and had a good view of the hurdles," said Cabral. Like Jager in the previous prelim, Cabral maintained control of the lead group, up until he was overtaken by Jager's Bowerman Track Club teammate Daniel Huling near halfway.
Cabral regained the lead in the final lap, going on to win the section in 8:36.80, with Huling second in 8:38.39 and Andy Bayer third in 8:38.68.
"The biggest thing I want out of the prelim is a practice for the final. It's good to run a couple different paces," said Cabral. His only wish was that the pace could have been a tad slower, as Mahoney wound up missing the final by a mere six one-hundredths of a second. Looking ahead to Sunday, Cabral expects the final to be exciting.
"I think it will take a 8:25 or 8:26 kind of effort to win. No idea what is going to happen. If I did, I probably wouldn't tell you," he said with a laugh, not wanting to reveal one bit of strategy.
Action continues here at Hayward Field tomorrow with the finals of the women's 3000m steeplechase, and men's 1500m.
ENDS
