Talking Trials: Agony and Ecstasy on full display at Hayward Thursday

Photo finishes aren't reserved for the 100 hurdles
(photo: TrackAndFieldPhoto)

This is the eighth installment of "Talking Trials." There will be more to come every day during the 2012 USA Olympic Track and Field Trials from Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene, OR. Full results for the trials are here.

You're not supposed to cheer from the press box. I wouldn't necessarily say I was cheering, but providing words of encouragement for a cramping Julia Lucas as she gutted out a painful last 50 meters of the Women's 5000 final Thursday night, eventually getting out-leaned by a hard charging Kim Conley. Julie Culley outkicked American Record Holder Molly Huddle before the drama for third. You've likely seen it by now, but if you haven't, here's the link to watch the race. Keep in mind, if it would have been a tie, like in the 100 hurdles, there could have been a 5000 runoff. That would have been worth a pay per view special to me.

Lucas is from Charlotte, as am I, and I would be covering her for the Charlotte Observer and the Raleigh News & Observer, as she went to NC State in Raleigh. I've never met Julia, as she's five years younger, but it's not hard to pull for someone that has been through so much and lays it out like that, only to fall .04 seconds short of an Olympic berth.

And as tough as it was to watch, she handled it with class. "I completely went underwater" said an exhausted Lucas afterwards. "I gave that race away." No one would have blamed her if she would have walked through the mix zone, without taking interviews, but she didn't. She talked for at least 15 minutes about the tough ending she faced.

Lucas' personal best going into this season was 15:33, a time run in 2008. Her 15:08 earlier this year at Payton Jordan was a major, major breakthrough. To be so close and to fall so short. "I didn't sense her until the last few meters. I thought this day I would be the best athlete. You can't fake it." No you can't. This one's tough to swallow, but Lucas has been facing adversity for years. She'll press on.

Rupp leads the field and Hills lurks
(photo: TrackAndFieldPhoto)

The Men's 5000 went almost to form, except of course, Galen Rupp battled back and beat one of the best of all time, Bernard Lagat, over the same last 50 meters that the Women's race was decided over. The fist pump he gave afterwards was that of pure joy, with a trace of relief.

"I'm on cloud nine right now" were Rupp's first words at the press conference. "It's a huge confidence boost for sure," he claimed in reference to outkicking Lagat.

Lagat's reaction was a little different "Our mission as a team is to bring back a medal, whether it's me, Lopez or Galen. I'm at 90% right now. I'll be at 100% in London."

In somewhat of a surprise, recent NC State graduate, Ryan Hill, had an excellent race and a strong last lap, where he went from seventh to a strong fifth in a personal best time of 13:27.49. "I'm still trying to decipher in my mind if I'm happy with that or not. You can always get fourth and third. Hopefully four years from now, it will be more like third," said a slightly surprised Hill at how well he closed on the leaders over the final 400 meters. "It's to Europe from here to go after that A standard for the World Championship next year." A great race by a guy with a bright future. Watch the race here.

The future of the Men's Steeple
(photo: TrackAndFieldPhoto)

The Men's Steeple has been looking for a new star since Anthony Famiglietti's reign and it looks like they may have two. Evan Jager, of the Jerry Schumacher group, has learned the event fast and is going to be a force internationally. His 8:17.40 in only his fourth steeple ever shows the kind of promise he has and the potential to compete with the east Africans for years to come. Donn Cabral was in his Princeton uniform during the prelims, and then a new Nike kit during the final. And luckily for Nike, he delivered with a runner up finish, making the London team. I ran into him later at the Wild Duck Cafe and he couldn't have been happier. He "donned" his Team USA sweats, while being surrounded by many of his college friends who had come out west to watch him compete. What a rush. Kyle Alcorn rounded out the team and left it all on the track; literally. Possibly a P&J sando. Watch the race here.

The Women's Steeple final concludes the evening tonight and if Emma Coburn doesn't win, I'll be shocked. She's extremely smooth and is likely a year away from challenging Jenny Simpson's American Record of 9:12.50. There's a big group behind her that will contend for those last two spots, including her Colorado teammate, 2012 NCAA National Champion Shalaya Kipp, 2010 NCAA Champion Bridget Franek, Delilah DiCrescenzo, Sara Hall, Stephanie Garcia and a steadily improving Ashley Higginson. The easy money would be on Kipp and Franek, but anything can go wrong in the steeple. We'll see later. Buckle up!

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The USA Cross Country Championships kick off a big weekend of competition

Huddle's 2012 return starts
 in St. Louis

There are three big track meets this weekend (Husky Classic, Millrose Games and the new USA Track and Field Classic), but there's also the 2012 USA Cross Country Championships, which will be held this Saturday, February 11th, at Forest Park in St. Louis, MO. There's no World Cross this year, but five slots for the NACAC team are up for grabs. The NACAC Championships will be held on St. Patrick's Day in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Not a bad paid vacation I'd say.

The favorite on the Women's side is American 5000 meter record holder, Molly Huddle. With the recent Olympic Marathon Trials and the aforementioned track meets in play this weekend, competition will be a little lacking on the top end. Sara Hall is registered (Ryan and Desi Davila are speaking at the Friday Panel Discussion), after a nice 3000 at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, where she was the top American finisher over the more heralded Shannon Rowbury and Jenny Simpson. Hall has consistently improved in the past few years and hopefully can find her way onto the Olympic team this summer in the steeple. Another podium contender this weekend will be the always strong Renee Metivier Baillie. Former high school phenom, Melody Fairchild, will be competing as well and one interesting entry is the newly pregnant, Julia Webb. Maybe she'll bring her husband and he'll run. Let the speculation begin.

Mack will aim for more
 Team USA gear

On the Men's side, the big news was that Dathan Ritzenhein was planning on bouncing back after a personally disappointing Olympic Trials Marathon and trying to keep the train rolling. That changed a few days ago when Ritz announced his decision to pull out. Some favorites on the Men's side are recent Bupa Great Edinburgh Cross Country Team Race runner-up (and Raleigh resident), Bobby Mack, McMillan Elite's Aaron Braun, Team USA Minnesota's Chris Rombough, road warrior Christo Landry, steepler Kyle Alcorn and USATF 10k Trail Champ, Joe Moore. A few other interesting entries are triathlete Jarrod Shoemaker and the University of Wisconsin's Elliot Krause.

Runnerspace will be broadcasting the event live at http://USARunningCircuit.com starting at 9:45 Central. Full field information (including juniors and masters races) is available here. Check out this page for Runnerspace's coverage leading up to the event.

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Road Rage: Dathan Ritzenhein leads the NYRR Dash to the Finish Line field

Ritz will look to break the tape Saturday
(TrackAndFieldPhoto.net)

It's been quite a while since Dathan Ritzenhein has raced. He'll officially end his racing hiatus Saturday at the New York Road Runners Dash to the Finish Line 5k. The course is being dubbed by NYRR as "flat and fast" and should fill a good void for those that want to be a part of the weekend, but not run the full 26.2. It's a similar effort to what the Boston Athletic Association has done with the BAA 5k, the day before the Boston Marathon.

Ritz will have his hands full with former Olympians, Lopez Lomong (1500) and Matt Tegenkamp (5000), but the darkhorse of the competition is 2011 USA Running Circuit Champion, Ben True. True has been very consistent all year and should not be overlooked!

On the Women's side, Deena Kastor is the featured competitor, but the heavy favorite is Oregon Track Club's Sally Kipyego. Kipyego has been on fire this year and has the hardware (from Daegu) to prove it. Also toeing the line is American 5000 record holder, Molly Huddle, who is coming back from injury, as well as the always consistent, Magdalena Lewy-Boulet. Aside from the fight between Huddle and Kipyego upfront (if Huddle is healthy and fit), the B-story will be the competition between Kastor and Lewy-Boulet, as both will be competing in the Olympic Trials Marathon in January. Kastor is the US Marathon record holder (2:19:36) and Lewy-Boulet has the third fastest time going into the trials (2:26:22). Between these two, Shalane Flanagan, Kara Goucher, Desi Davila and Amy Hastings, it will be an exciting race for the three spots to London.

Official writing about running Predictions:

Men
1. True
2. Teg
3. Ritz
4. Lomong

Women
1. Kipyego
2. Huddle
3. Lewy-Boulet
4. Kastor

Update: According to Spiked Up, Psyched Up, here's the rest of the field. Out of the rest, I like Aaron Braun, Scott Bauhs and Ben Bruce on the Men's side for top possible top five finish and Amy Hastings, Lisa Uhl (nee Koll) and Angela Bizzarri on the Women's side.

Men
Chris Thompson (GBR)
Andrew Bumbalough
Evan Jager
Brandon Bethke
Aaron Braun
Scott Bauhs
Brian Olinger
Ben Bruce
Harbert Okuti (UGA)
Brett Gotcher
Christian Hesch
Bobby Hartnett

Women
Lisa (Koll) Uhl
Amy Hastings
Liz Maloy
Angela Bizzarri
Sara Hall
Julie Culley
Frances Koons
Meghan ArmstrongPeyton
Caroline LeFrak
Ashley Higginson
Nicole Schappert
Stephanie Rothstein
Maggie Infeld
Lesley Higgins
Renee Tomlin
Cheryl Anderson

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