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Lead Stories: Tuesday, October 7, 2008

U.S. Record Holder Flanagan to Race in Central Park

Posted March 4th, 2008 at 3:00 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Road Racing

The fastest American woman ever at 5000m, Shalane Flanagan, will make a rare road racing appearance at the Central Park Challenge in New York City, organizers announced today. It will be Flanagan’s first-ever professional road race in New York City. The invitational race, organized by the New York Road Runners, is set for Saturday, March 15.

“Shalane is a shining star on the fast track to Beijing,” said New York Road Runners president and CEO, Mary Wittenberg, through a media release. “However, this will be no stroll in the park for her as we have assembled a formidable field of the best distance runners from the mile to the marathon to challenge her.”
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Records, Upsets Highlight Boston Indoor Games

Posted January 27th, 2008 at 10:00 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

A world best by Meseret Defar, an all-comer’s record by Craig Mottram, and upset winners in both the men’s and women’s miles gave the sell-out crowd of over 4000 fans plenty to cheer about at the 13th Reebok Boston Indoor Games here tonight at the Reggie Lewis Center at Roxbury Community College.

Defar, of Ethiopia, the reigning Olympic and world champion at 5000m, made her seventh appearance at this meeting her best yet. Paced by Serbia’s Marina Muncan and pushed by New Zealand’s Kim Smith, Defar destroyed Regina Jacobs’s 2002 two mile world best by nearly 13 seconds. With Smith never more than a few steps back, Defar went through the first mile in four minutes and 38 seconds, and came back to run the second half in 4:33.5, breaking the tape in 9:10.50. Smith powered home right behind her, running the #2 indoor time ever in history: 9:13.94.
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Gold Medalists Defar & Dibaba to Both Race in Boston on Saturday

Posted January 22nd, 2008 at 3:27 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

The gold medalists of the women’s 5000m and 10,000m at last summer’s IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Meseret Defar [Pictured] and Tirunesh Dibaba, will both compete at Saturday’s Reebok Boston Indoor Games (RBIG), organizers have confirmed. Although the two athletes will run similar distances, the two Ethiopian stars will not be running head-to-head; Defar will run two miles and Dibaba 3000m.

“Defar and Dibaba did not want to race each other in the first meet of the year, and a 5000 didn’t fit into the training of either one right now,” explained Mark Wetmore of Global Athletics & Marketing, the Boston-based athlete management firm which manages the meet and represents the two athletes. “This was a way to get them both into the event, and that was our priority.”

Both athletes have enjoyed record-breaking performances –and disappointments– at the RBIG which is held at the Reggie Lewis Track Facility at Roxbury Community College.
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Two American records and a WR fall at adidas Track Classic

Posted May 20th, 2007 at 9:22 PM by Hariz Siddiqui

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Breaux Greer and Jenn Stuczynski set American records in their respective events Sunday, while Meseret Defar (Pictured below) broke a world mark to highlight a day full of top performances at the adidas Track Classic. Held at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., the meet is the second event of USA Track & Field’s 2007 Outdoor Visa Championship Series.
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adidas Track Classic: Defar sets new 2-mile world record

Posted May 20th, 2007 at 5:33 PM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Ethiopia’s Meseret Defar, who set a new 5,000m world record last year, torched the rest of the field in today’s 2 mile race at the adidas Track Classic.

Her time of 9:10:47, although it will still need be ratified by the IAAF, broke the world record set in 1999 of 9:11.97 that had been held by suspected drug user Regina Jacobs.

Defar continued to pick up the pace but had to run the final lap in under 63 seconds to break the record. She was ultimately successfully, running it in about 62 seconds to set the new world record.

Megan Metcalf finsihed second, although that was about 27 seconds after Defar crossed the finished line, and Kara Goucher, who just set a P.R. in the 1500 meter, finished third. Sara Slattery was unable to finish.

Complete results:

1 MESERET DEFAR ETH 9:10.47B
2 MEGAN METCALF CAN 9:37.04
3 KARA GOUCHER USA 9:41.32
4 GEORGIE CLARKE AUS 9:43.53
5 AMY RUDOLPH USA 9:47.88
6 YUAN JIN CHN 9:49.33
7 DESIRAYE OSBURN USA 9:57.26
8 DEIRDRE BYRNE IRL 10:08.40
9 AMY YODER-BEGLEY USA 10:14.23
— MARINA MUNCAN SRB DNF
— RENEE METIVIER-BAILLIE USA DNF
— SARA SLATTERY USA DNF
— KORENE HINDS JAM DNF

For more information, please visit: www.adidastrackclassic.com

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Defar to chase 2 mile world best in Carson on May 20th

Posted April 27th, 2007 at 7:45 AM by Bob Ramsak

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Meseret Defar, the world record holder in the 5000m, will be looking to add the world best over the 2 Mile to her growing list of achievements at the adidas Track Classic in Carson, Calif., on May 20.

The Olympic 5000m champion, Defar, still just 23, will be chasing the 9:11.97 best set by Regina Jacobs in 1999. The mark by Jacobs equates roughly to an 8:31.00 performance over 3000m, well within the capabilities of the young Ethiopian, who earlier this year lowered the world record indoors to 8:23.72, while her outdoor best over that distance is 8:24.66 set last summer in Stockholm.

The men’s 3000 field is filling as well, currently featuring Irishman and University of Arkansas alum Alistair Cragg, the 2005 European indoor champion, and American Anthony Famiglietti, a 2004 Olympian in the steeplechase and this year’s national 8-K champion.
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Shalane Flanagan named Athlete of the Week by USATF

Posted April 17th, 2007 at 8:00 PM by Martha Jones

Section: News & Results

Shalane Flanagan has been named USA Track & Field’s Athlete of the Week after setting an American Record in the women’s 5,000 meters Friday at the 2007 Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif.

A 2004 Olympian and the 2005 USA Outdoor 5,000m champion, Flanagan won the women’s 5,000m in 14 minutes 44.80 seconds, bettering the previous U.S. record of 14:45.35 set by Regina Jacobs in Sacramento, Calif., on July 21, 2000. Earlier this year in February, Flanagan was victorious in the 3,000 meters at the AT&T USA Indoor Championships in Boston after setting the U.S. Indoor record at that distance of 8:33.25 on January 27.

Another notable performance over the weekend came from two-time Olympian Suzy Powell, who bettered the women’s U.S. discus throw record Saturday at the inaugural Maui “Big Wind” Discus Challenge in Wailuku, Hawaii, presented by Ironwood Throwers. Powell won the event on her fifth throw of the competition that sailed 67.67 meters/222 feet, which surpasses the 21-year old U.S. women’s record of 66.10m/216-10 set by Carol Cady in 1986.
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Flanagan Breaks U.S. 5000m Record at Mt. SAC Relays

Posted April 14th, 2007 at 11:15 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results

Former University of North Carolina star Shalane Flanagan took down Regina Jacobs’s U.S. 5000m record yesterday at the 49th Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif. Running in favorable weather conditions, she crossed the finish line in 14:44.80, well inside Jacobs’s mark of 14:45.35 set at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Sacramento in July, 2000.

“I really have to give credit to my support system,” said Flanagan in an interview with Flocasts.com. “I had a great pacer tonight, Erin Donohue, college teammate and friend. She really just set up the pins and I knocked them down.”
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