Friday, June 22, 2012

Olympic Trials: Men's 10,000m

Rupp, Tegenkamp, Ritzenhein heading to London

Galen Rupp wins the men's 10,000m at Olympic Trials in a new Trials record of 27:25.33. Matt Tegenkamp and Dathan Ritzenhein were 2nd and 3rd, respectively, in 27:33.94 and 27:36.09. Rupp and Tegenkamp had previously recorded Olympic "A" standard times (27:45) but Ritzenhein needed to run under that or risk not being able to run in London.

The early pace was set by Rupp, who led the field through driving rain in Eugene. According to their coach, Alberto Salazar, Rupp and Ritzenhein were slated to share the lead approximately every 2 laps. By the halfway point, the pace was just below that of the necessary time, and the three men picked up the tempo, dropping just about the entire field.

The trio ran together until about 2 laps to go, when Rupp took off, splitting 62 seconds each for his last two laps. He entered the final straightaway with a smile on his face, waving to the crowd. This is Rupp's 4th consecutive US title at the distance. For Ritz and Tegenkamp, terrific races and surely will help him get over the disappointment of finishing 4th at the Marathon trials. Also great to note that he ran that in January, and then pulled himself back into 10k shape a few months later.

RESULTS (usatf.org)

1 Galen Rupp  Nike                                         27:25.33M
2 Matt Tegenkamp  Nike / Oregon TC Elite     27:33.94
3 Dathan Ritzenhein  Nike                                27:36.09
4 Chris Derrick  Stanford                                 27:40.23
5 Aaron Braun   adidas/McMillan Elite              27:41.54
6 Ryan Vail   Brooks                                        27:52.53
7 Brent Vaughn   Nike                                      27:55.44
8 Luke Puskedra   Oregon                                27:56.62
9 Bobby Mack III   Unattached                        27:58.07
10 Robert Curtis   Reebok                                27:58.48
11 Hassan Mead   Minnesota                            27:59.04
12 Benjamin True   Saucony                              28:08.17
13 Jacob Riley    Hansons-Brooks                     28:08.36
14 Tim Nelson    Nike / Oregon TC Elite           28:15.11
15 Joseph Chirlee    U.S. Army                         28:17.84
16 Jeff Schirmer   ASTF                                   28:35.18
17 Christopher Landry   Unattached                 28:35.46
18 Girma Mecheso   Oklahoma State               28:38.73
19 Josh Simpson   AST                                    28:48.32
20 David Jankowski   ZAP Fitness Reebok      29:00.67
21 James Strang  Unattached                           29:09.77
22 Mikhail Sayenko  Brooks                           29:18.57
23 Juan Carlos Trujillo  adidas                         29:36.50
DNF Scott Bauhs  Unattached

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