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Lead Stories: Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Distance Races Also Thrill At Reebok Grand Prix

Posted June 1st, 2008 at 3:46 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

It is true that most of the 6,000-plus spectators who filled Ichan Stadium here, especially the 1,000 or so Jamaicans, came to see explosive sprinters like Usain Bolt, Tyson Gay and Allyson Felix. Their cheers, deafening during the sprints, were largely lacking during the distance events, despite the entreaties of RRW’s favorite meet announcer Scott Davis.

However, some exciting sprint finishes in the longer races did get the crowds on their feet, in particular the finish of the men’s 5000m where Shadrack Kosgei of Kenya and Ali Abdosh of Ethiopia duked it out on the final 100m, the first race after a 45 minute delay caused by a heavy thunderstorm. The pair were running close to 13-flat pace throughout the race, and it took a 56-second final 400m by Kosgei to lock down the win by just 4/100ths of a second, 13:14.46 to 13:14.50. Abdosh was sprinting so fast in the final meters he nearly fell as he crossed the finish line.

“I thought the sprint was fantastic,” said a beaming Kosgei. “I was really strong.”
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2008 Reebok Grand Prix Preview

Posted May 31st, 2008 at 8:00 AM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

With the 2008 IAAF Golden League kicking off in Berlin this weekend, outdoor track is in full swing. This being an Olympic year, every major meet from here on out can offer a piece of what the final Olympic track & field puzzle might look like. The 2008 Reebok Grand Prix, which begins tonight, May 31, 2008, at at 5:00pm in Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island in New York City, NY, is no exception. Here are some quick glimpses into many of the events that will be held tonight:

100m

Men: Fresh off a sizzling 9.76 (just 0.02 slower than Asafa Powell’s world record), Usain Bolt will face World Champion Tyson Gay, who is facing some pre-Olympic jitters. Both men are fully capable of blowing their starts, which would offer Shawn Crawford and Xavier Carter some hope. There’s an A race and a B race. That’s always a letdown, isn’t it?

Women: Loaded with stellar American and Jamaican sprinters, this race should be a preview of the Olympic final: Veronica Campbell Brown, Lauryn Williams, Allyson Felix, Torri Edwards, more.

200m

Men: Wallace Spearmon is the only man in the race to have broken 20 seconds. It’s his race for the taking.

Women: Lashauntea Moore, the 9th fastest 200m runner of 2007 (22.46) faces Muna Lee, the 2nd fastest in the world (22.30) from 2008 and Shalonda Solomon, the 7th fastest in the world (22.36) in 2006. Keep an eye out for University of Texas freshman Bianca Knight, who turned pro this year after running a fabulous 22.40.
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TFS News Briefs: 12/20/07

Posted December 20th, 2007 at 2:00 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Cross Country, Track & Field, TFS News Briefs

Florida State Men Ranked #1 in NCAA Indoor T&F
The Florida State men’s track & field team is ranked #1 in the USTFCCCA preseason indoor rankings. Led by Walter Dix, they won the 2006 and 2007 Outdoor NCAA titles. Washington is ranked 2nd and Tennessee is ranked 3rd. Read more at: [USTFCCCA]

LSU Women Ranked #1 in NCAA Indoor T&F
The LSU women lead the USTFCCCA preseason NCAA Div. I Rankings for indoor track & field. They are led by hurdler Jessica Ohanaja and sprinter Kelly Ann Baptiste. Arizona State
begins the season ranked 2nd and Tennessee is ranked 3rd. Read more at: [USTFCCCA]

IAAF To Begin End-Of-Year Reviews On Saturday
This Saturday marks the first day of the IAAF’s annual end-of-year reviews. The IAAF is the world’s governing body of track & field. Here are the publication dates: Combined Events (Saturday, 12/22), Throws (Monday, 12/24), Jumps (Wednesday, 12/26), Hurdles (Thursday, 12/27), Road Running / Race Walks (Friday, 12/28), Long Distance/ Steeplechase (Saturday, 12/29), Middle Distance (Sunday, 12/30), Sprints (Monday, 12/31). Read more beginning this Saturday at: [IAAF]
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Dathan Ritzenhein Named
Visa Humanitarian Athlete
of the Year

Posted November 27th, 2007 at 7:45 AM by Martin Kennedy

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Two-time Olympian Dathan Ritzenhein has been named Visa Humanitarian Athlete of the Year by USA Track & Field. Ritzenhein will be honored December 1 at the 2007 Jesse Owens Awards and Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony held in conjunction with USA Track & Field’s 2007 Annual Meeting, November 28-December 2, in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Ritzenhein, 24, of Eugene, Oregon, earlier this year won the Healthy Kidney 10K in New York on May 19 in 20 minutes 8 seconds, breaking the Central Park course record of 28:10 set by Kenyan Paul Koech in 1997. Following the race Ritzenhein donated his winner’s earnings of $7,500 to the race beneficiary, the National Kidney Foundation. “I made a pact with myself before the race that if I’m fortunate enough to pick up this course record the least I can do is give back the first place prize money seeing as how this is professional athletics, but it’s a race for charity,” said Ritzenhein.
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Defar Impresses, Soi Completes Double in Stuttgart

Posted September 23rd, 2007 at 2:53 PM by Bob Ramsak

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Meseret Defar produced an impressive front-running victory in the 3000 while Edwin Soi became the first man to capture the 300/5000m double to highlight the second and concluding day of the 5th IAAF/VTB Bank World Athletics Final.

After a slew of world records and bests, her first world title and an undefeated season, Defar raced as though she wanted to get her 2007 campaign over as quickly as possible. And that’s precisely what the 23-year-old Ethiopian did with her captivating 8:27.24 gun-to-tape victory.

Taking control of the race from the gun, she upped the tempo throughout before covering the second half in just over 4:10 and the final kilometre in 2:45.22. But in Defar’s personal universe, the year’s second fastest performance wasn’t all that fast.
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IAAF World Athletics Final: Men’s 3000m Steeplechase

Posted September 23rd, 2007 at 8:55 AM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Paul Kipsiele Koech, the only man to break eight minutes for the 3000m Steeplechase in 2007, was going to have to treat the 3000m steeplechase at the 2007 IAAF World Athletics Final as his championships, having failed to make the Kenyan Osaka team. going into the race in Stuttgart, Germany Koech had the three fastest times and four of the 13th fastest times in the world in 2007.

He took the lead from the gun and went through 1000m in 2:42.30, on pace for a 8:06.90 time. He ratcheted up the pace a bit and opened up a lead. going through 2000m in 5:22.54 (1000m split: 2:40.24). Read the rest of this entry »

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Runners wow Hayward Field crowd at 2007 Nike Prefontaine Classic

Posted June 11th, 2007 at 8:04 AM by Hariz Siddiqui

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

2007 USA Indoor 3,000m champion Matt Tegenkamp set an American record in front of a standing room only crowd Sunday at the 2007 Nike Prefontaine Classic at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., which is the fourth event of USA Track & Field’s 2007 Outdoor Visa Championship Series.

Tegenkamp finished third in men’s two mile race in the American record time of 8 minutes 7.07 seconds, which betters the previous American standard of 8:11.48 set here in 2005 by Alan Webb. Tegenkamp was led to the finish line by Australia’s Craig Mottram, who won the race in 8:03.50, which is the sixth-fastest performance all-time in the two-mile. Ethiopia’s Tariku Bekele was the runner-up in 8:04.83, which is the eighth-fastest time ever.

Komen wins amazing Bowerman Mile

Kenyan Daniel K. Komen ran the fastest time ever on American soil to win the signature event of the Nike Prefontaine Classic, the Bowerman Mile. In a race that saw nine competitors finish under the 4-minute barrier, Komen was victorious in a blistering time of 3 minutes 48.28 seconds, which is the fastest time in the world this year. Two-time Olympic medalist Bernard Lagat was the runner-up in 3:50.56, which is the fastest time by an American this season.
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Record for Ritzenhein in NYC; Tops Mottram & Khannouchi at Healthy Kidney 10k

Posted May 19th, 2007 at 11:39 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results

Dathan Ritzenhein broke a ten year-old record here today, winning the third annual Healthy Kidney 10-K in 28:08.

Ritzenhein, 24, of Eugene, Ore., ran the second half of the hilly one-loop course around Central Park in 13:54, shaking off two-time champion Craig Mottram of Australia in the final kilometer. Ritzenhein ran the final 400m uphill in 68 seconds to surpass Paul Koech’s 1997 Central Park record of 28:10 set at the Trevira Twosome 10-K on essentially the same course. He also bettered Mottram’s race record of 28:13 set last year, and his own personal best of 28:11.
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Mottram Wins Healthy Kidney 10k, Course Record Intact

Posted June 2nd, 2006 at 10:34 PM by Andrew Goodman

Section: News & Results, Cross Country, Track & Field

On what was described as a brisk Sunday morning, more than 5,000 people showed up to run in the Healthy Kidney 10K taking place in New York’s own Central Park on May 22. This annual race raises support and awareness for chronic kidney disease, which many people are unaware they have until it is in its late stages. The race also raises support for organ donors, many of whom ran in the race two weeks ago.

“Through the miracle of organ and tissue donation, there are many people here, racing today because they had a kidney transplant and are alive because of it,” said Rich Mullane, a donor father, and the representative of the National Kidney Foundation at the race.

The big story at the race however was the proximity of the winning time to the record. Craig Mottram of Australia, finishing the race in 28 minutes and 13 seconds, three seconds shy of Paul Koech of Kenya who set the race record in 1997. The record for the course also holds a $10,000 dollar purse for the person who breaks it. Mottram who won the race for the second year in a row was hardly disappointed in his personal race record dropping 15 seconds off of last years win. The only point in the race onlookers saw disappointment on his face was when he saw the clock hit 28:10. Three seconds shy, and $10,000 short.

Mottram claims, “I’ll just have to come back and try again next year.”

Read [ESPN.com]

[Pictures taken from the New York Road Runners site]

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