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Tonight's update is going to have to be brief because I have a guest visiting and I don't want to be rude! Watching TV all day, it was hard to think about much other than the flooding that is currently threatening Des Moines. However, head over to Drake Stadium and it's quite easy to forget what's going on just a few miles away. Today's weather was the best it's been yet for the distance races--less humid, and 71 degrees just after the men's 5,000.
Jenny Barringer absolutely dominated the steeplechase. She will tough to beat at the Olympic Trials if she runs the way she did tonight. Her loss to Irene Kimaiyo at the Big 12 Championships earlier this season raised some doubts, but if her 9:44 at the Midwest Regional didn't send the message that she's back, this did. Her time of 9:29.20 was only .45 of a second slower than the American record, set by Lisa Galaviz last year. SMU freshman Silje Fjortoft--who I admit I've never heard of until tonight--took second in 9:55.54 and might be the one to watch in 2010, once Jenny Barringer is long gone.
The men's steeplechase remained a lot closer for much of the race, and since the light was so bad, I spent more time trying to find a decent place to stand rather than paying much attention to the race. (Precisely why I am not doing formal race reports from this meet.) I rushed up the track to get to the finish line, missing what was going on in the race, and with one lap to go, Kyle Alcorn had broken away. He held on to win in 8:28.26, despite a strong charge from Billy Nelson (8:28.85) at the end.
I'm being rude to my guest...so I'm going to sum the 5ks up very briefly, especially since most of you loyal track fans probably watched the race on tonight's webcast. Sally Kipyego pulled a Lisa Koll (or I could say a Jenny Barringer, I suppose) and took off right from the gun. She dominated the race, and like last night's 10k, it was the race for second which was much more interesting. Kipyego won in 15:15.08, and Angela Bizzarri had a great race to take second in 15:46.08. In the men's 5,000, the CU trio of Brent Vaughn, Stephen Pifer, and Kenyon Neuman did most of the pacesetting. They were unable to break away from the pack, however, and there were plenty of runners still in contention with 1,200 meters go to. Bobby Curtis had the best finish of the bunch, and he cruised to victory in 13:33.93. I last saw Brent Vaughn with about 50 meters to go, and I am surprised to look at the results now and see that his teammate, Stephen Pifer, beat him by a tenth of a second, 13:39.34 to 13:39.44, because Vaughn seemed to have second place wrapped up.
At every multi-day meet, I seem to hit a point where I am hopelessly behind on posting photos. I have now reached that point. I will be posting photos from yesterday's 1,500 and 800 meter rounds momentarily, but after that, I won't be able to post any additional photos until I return home.
Posted by Alison Wade at 12:44 a.m. | Tags: 2008 NCAA Outdoor T&F Champs