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Lead Stories: Thursday, July 24, 2008

Willard Breaks American Record in Women’s Steeplchase Final

Posted July 4th, 2008 at 1:47 AM by Stephanie Lowe

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics

Image details: U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials - Day Five served by picapp.com

Fireworks lit the night sky as Anna Willard shattered the American record in the Olympic Trials 3000m Steeplechase. She ran the race in 9:27.59. Lindsey Anderson (9:30.75) and Jenny Barringer (9:33.11) will join her in Beijing.

Going into the race, Willard and Barringer both wanted the record. Willard tried at the American Milers Club meet in Indianapolis and Barringer came close at the NCAA DI Championships, but neither succeeded. This was the day to do it. Barringer was in front until the last 800 meters.

“I wanted to go out and set the stage for an American record,” she said.
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Tyson Gay Sets New 100m American Record

Posted June 28th, 2008 at 10:04 PM by Jay Hicks

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics

Image details: U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials - Day Two served by picapp.com

After nearly missing the finals, Tyson Gay set a new American record of 9.77 in the men’s quarterfinal heat. Gay potentially could have set a new world record had he not slowed down the final meters.

In the race, Gay set the new American record, Hayward Field Record, and the Olympic Trials Record of 9.79 previously held by Maurice Greene.

The quarterfinal heats saw six times under 10-seconds. Travis Padgett ran the fastest time ever by a collegiate. It was also the first time sub 10-seconds for Darvis Patton while winning his heat.

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Barringer Breaks Own Collegiate Record, Looks Towards Olympic Trials

Posted June 28th, 2008 at 2:15 PM by Cheryl Lowe

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Interviews, College

Image details: AT&T USA Outdoor Track And Field Championships - Day 1 served by picapp.com

Jenny Barringer, a cross country and track star at the University of Colorado at Boulder, won the preliminary and final races in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase event at the 2008 NCAA National Championship Track and Field meet on June 13 at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.

Barringer, 21, also managed to break her own collegiate record, finishing the finals race on June 13 in a wicked fast 9 minutes and 29.20 seconds. When Barringer ran the race up front and alone since the gun start, she did not know that she was on pace for the 2nd fastest ever 3,000-meter steeplechase run by an American woman, and that she missed the US record by only a few tenths of a second. Lisa Galaviz set the US record of 9:28.75 in Belgium last year.

“I wanted to win, take home another national championship and set the collegiate record,” said Barringer about her 2008 performance. The collegiate record time to beat was 9:38, and Barringer’s coach, Mark Wetmore, had a finishing time of 9:41 down on paper. “It was a realistic pace with a kick, within range of the record,” stated Barringer, who will be a senior this fall.
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American Record for Flanagan At Cardinal Invitational

Posted May 5th, 2008 at 12:30 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

She’d never run a 10,000m race before, but Shalane Flanagan can safely say that she’s already mastered the distance on only her first try at Sunday’s Peyton Jordan Cardinal Invitational. Helped by excellent pacemaking provided by Kenya’s Rose Kosgei and a spirited battle with New Zealand’s Kim Smith which went right to homestretch, the 26 year-old Olympian toppled Deena Kastor’s American record with a sparkling 30:34.49 clocking.

“Thanks to the New York Road Runners, they set me up with a rabbit and that gave me a cushion,” Flanagan told a clutch of reporters after the race. “It really worked out very well.”
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TFS Running Podcast 130:
Matt Tegenkamp

Posted March 11th, 2008 at 1:00 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics, Special Features, Interviews, Podcasts

Today on Episode 130 of The Final Sprint Podcast, I had a chance to speak with Matt Tegenkamp, the American record holder in the two-mile run and two-time US Indoor champion in the 3000m who competes for Nike and KIMbia Athletics.

In the interview, Matt talks about his repeat victory in the 2008 US Indoor Championships 3000 meters, why he’s staying home while his KIMbia Athletics teammates Chris Solinsky and Jonathon Riley (who finished 2nd and 3rd) are heading to Valencia for the world championships while he’s staying home. He also talks about what’s in store for him in 2008 leading up to the Olympic Trials in Eugene, OR and the Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

Download the podcast to hear Matt discuss about his plan to assault the American record in the 5000m, his long-term goals for running and beyond, and much, much more!

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Host: Jimmie Markham
Guest: Matt Tegenkamp
Producer: Greg Cherniet
Music: Ryan Ahlwardt & Darnell Perkins
File size: 13.2MB
Length: 00:19:17

Interested in featuring The Final Sprint Podcast on your site, blog or My Space page? Click here to learn how!

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TFS Podcast 120:
KARA GOUCHER - Back in Action and Hungry for Gold!

Posted January 23rd, 2008 at 4:00 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Special Features, Interviews, Podcasts

Today I am joined by Kara Goucher, one of America’s most formidable female distance runners and the surprise 10,000m bronze medalist at the 2007 IAAF World Championships in Osaka. Although its been a mere three months since she underwent knee surgery, Kara is already back on track, training hard, and confident that 2008 will be the most successful year of her blossoming running career.

In the interview we discuss her plans and priorities for the 2008 season, her current and upcoming racing schedules, what it has been like in Eugene as a member of Nike’s elite distance-running squad, and the dynamic among her teammates (including her husband and fellow running star Adam Goucher) and Coach Alberto Salazar. Kara also describes what she believes it’ll take to defeat renowned kickers like Meseret Defar and Tirunesh Dibaba in Beijing, how an Olympic medal compares to a World Championship medal, her thoughts on competing in Beijing’s infamous pollution, and much more!

Listen In
[PLAY] (To Download: Right click and select “save as”)

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Host: Jimmie R. Markham | Guest: Kara Goucher
Producer: Greg Cherniet
Musicians: Ryan Ahlwardt, Darnell Perkins
File Size: 16.3 MB | Length: 23:46 MIN

Episode Sponsored By: Nike +

Long Live Running!
Nike Plus will improve the way you run. Get feedback from your iPod on pace, time, distance and calories burned.

Log into Nikeplus.com to track your progress,
set goals and challenge friends.

Interested in featuring The Final Sprint Podcast on your site, blog or My Space page? Click here to learn how!

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Glaring Omission in National Track & Field Hall of Fame

Posted November 20th, 2007 at 5:13 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Today the USATF announced the newest inductees into the National Track & Field Hall of Fame, the class of 2007: Jane Frederick (pentathlon/heptathlon), Calvin Smith (100m/200m), Glenn Morris (decathlon), George Woods (shot put) and Elvin C. “Ducky” Drake (coach). All are worthy candidates, but Don Bowden, the first American to break four minutes for the mile, should have been a part of this class.

On June 1st, 1957, Bowden, just 20 years old, ran a 3:58.7 mile in Stockton, CA to break Wes Santee’s 4:00.5 American record. By doing so, he became only the 12th man in history to break the 4:00 barrier for the mile run. His time that day also made him the third-fastest miler of all time. Without a doubt, an accomplishment like that stands head and shoulders above almost any other achievement imaginable in American Track & Field.
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“Kara Goucher’s
Husband Runs, Too”

Posted November 11th, 2007 at 8:45 AM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Track & Field, Olympics

Here’s a great new article about the Goucher Family. Both see the marathon as their primary distance in the future, but both are focused right now on breaking some American records on the track. Adam is set on on running a sub 13 minute 5000m and “setting some American long-distance records.” Could he mean Bob Kennedy’s 12:58.21 and Meb Keflezighi’s 27:13.98?

Kara is focused on breaking Deena Kastor’s American 10000m record time of 30:52.32. Kara also talks about qualifying for Beijing as being “the most important goal of [their] lives” while Adam discusses his support role for 2007 as “Kara Goucher’s husband”:

“It’s a little bit weird,” Adam said from his home in Portland, Ore., three days after successful foot surgery. “You kinda see how fickle the sport is. Her having such an amazing year and me not having such a great year, people now ask me ‘Oh, you run too?’ The Sports Illustrated article, which came out last week, said ‘Kara Goucher, whose husband runs, too.’

Thanks to EPelle at Track & Field News Forum for the great find. Read more at: [Washington Post]

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Shalane Flanagan to make rare road racing appearance

Posted August 17th, 2007 at 3:03 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

USA record holder at 5000m, Shalane Flanagan, will make a rare road racing appearance at the CVS Caremark Downtown 5-K scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 16, in Providence, R.I. The race will host the USA 5-K road running championships for both men and women.

Flanagan, 26, is in the midst of the best year of her career. In January, she smashed the USA indoor record for 3000m at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games with a sizzling 8:33.25 clocking. She followed-up with an American record for 5000m at last April’s Mt. SAC Relays (14:44.80). Flanagan also dominated the 5000m at the AT&T USA Outdoor Championships last June in Indianapolis, winning by about 17 seconds. She’s now preparing for the IAAF World Championships in Athletics where she will compete in the 5000m.

The CVS Caremark Downtown 5-K will only be Flanagan’s second road racing appearance. In 2006, she ran the Manchester Road Race in Manchester, Conn., and won by three seconds over Ireland’s Mary Cullen.

(c) 2007 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission.

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Alan Webb Breaks Steve Scott’s American Mile Record

Posted July 23rd, 2007 at 8:00 AM by Hariz Siddiqui

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Three-time U.S. 1,500m champion Alan Webb on Saturday broke the American record in the mile, clocking 3:46.91 at the Atletiek Vlaanderenmeet in Brasschaa, Belgium. The mark breaks the record of 3:47.69 set by National Track & Field Hall of Famer Steve Scott in 1982 and makes Webb the eighth-fastest man in history, behind Hicham El Guerrouj, Noah Ngeny, Noureddine Morceli, Steve Cram, Daniel Komen, Venuste Niyongabo and Said Aouita.

Webb’s agent, Ray Flynn, reports unofficial quarter-mile splits for Webb during the race as 56.1, 57.4, 56.8 and 56.2.

Held on a 6-lane track, Saturday’s race is part of a career-best year for Webb. In February, he won his first U.S. indoor title in the mile before going on a tear during the outdoor season. On April 28, he ran 3:51.71 to break Scott’s mile record at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa. On June 24 in Indianapolis, he ran 3:34.82 in the 1,500 to break Scott’s meet record at the AT&T USA Outdoor Championships, where Webb won his third career national title.
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