Flanagan blazes to course record, Vega takes men’s title

Press Release by USA Track & Field.

HOUSTON - Olympic Bronze medalist Shalane Flanagan (Pittsboro, N.C.) smashed the course record at the Aramco Houston Half Marathon to win the women’s USA Half Marathon Championship. Running 1:09:41, Flanagan broke the previous record by one minute, 14 seconds. Antonio Vega (Minneapolis, Minn.) won the men’s race in 1:01:54 to win the first U.S. title of his career.

Running her debut for the distance, Flanagan lived up to her status as pre-race favorite, taking control of the race from the first mile with defending champion Magdalena Lewy Boulet (Oakland, Calif.), Serena Burla (Ellisville, Mo.), Renee Metivier Baillie (Boulder, Colo.) and Kelly Jaske (Portland, Ore.) trying to keep pace.

Just before four miles, Boulet began to drop off the pack and Jaske and Baillie began to fade just after four. Running a pair of 5:16 miles for the sixth and seventh miles, Flanagan and Burla continued to pull away from the field. As Flanagan churned out a third 5:16 for mile eight, Burla missed a water bottle and faltered briefly, allowing Flanagan to gain a 15 meter advantage.

Over the final miles, Flanagan extended her lead to win the championship by 28 seconds. Amy Hastings (Flagstaff, Ariz.) overtook Baillie to take third place in 1:11:19. Baillie was fourth in 1:11:51 and Boulet took fifth in 1:12:22.

In the men’s race, a pack of about twenty men passed the first mile in a leisurely 4:53 before Vega and his Team USA Minnesota teammates, Matt Gabrielson (Apple Valley, Minn.), Josh Moen (Saint Louis Park, Minn.) and Patrick Smyth (Minneapolis, Minn.) pushed the pace to 4:38 for the second mile.

As Vega, Smyth and Moen continued to control the pace, Tim Nelson (Portland, Ore.), Stephan Shay (Flagstaff, Ariz.) and Brent Vaughn (Black Hawk, Colo.) began to open a gap on the field.

By eight miles, Vega and Smyth were running side by side with Vaughn trailing by about five meters. Shortly after the eighth mile, Vega made his break and by ten miles, had a 20 meter lead as Vaughn rejoined Smyth and looked to close the gap slightly but Vega held on to win the title by seven seconds.

Smyth won the duel for second, running 1:02:01 to Vaughn’s 1:02:04. Nelson rallied to take fourth in 1:02:11 as Shay rounded out the top-five in 1:02:26.

About the USARC

The Aramco Houston Half Marathon is the first stop on the 2010 USA Running Circuit (USARC), and featured a total championship prize purse of $59,500 plus potential bonuses. Flanagan and Vega each earned $12,000 for their championship victories.

The 2010 USARC is a USA Track & Field road series, featuring USA Championships from one mile to the marathon and attracts the best U.S. distance runners, including Olympians Deena Kastor, Ryan Hall, Shalane Flanagan and Anthony Famiglietti. The 2010 USARC has ten events each for men and women.

The 2010 USARC will once again see a record amount of circuit prize money for a non-Olympic year with total prize purse of $623,850 offered by host events. U.S. athletes will also have the opportunity to qualify for various Team USA events, including the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships and the Chiba International Ekiden.

The first ten U.S. runners earn points at each USARC race (15 for first, 12 for second, 10 for third, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1), with a final $12,500 grand prix purse ($6,000, $4,000, and $2,500) for the top three men and women point scorers overall. The USARC points at the USA Marathon Championships will be doubled.

The mission of the USA Running Circuit is to showcase, support, and promote U.S. runners. Since its inception in 1995, the USARC and its races have provided over $6 million dollars to U.S. distance runners.

Preview: Houston Marathon 2010

Going into a new year and decade with the advent of 2010, American distance running could sharpen its edges and gain more momentum, as the sport of running increases in popularity nation-wide.

The Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Half Marathon in Houston, TX, provides a microcosm of the running boom in this country. Every year, the field grows by thousands as more people lace up their running shoes and tackle their personal goals for the new year.

Houston will once again host the USA Half Marathon Championships. Last year in 2009, we saw Meb Keflezeghi beat Dathan Ritzenhein on the men’s side in 1:01:25. Magdalena Boulet dominated the women’s field in 1:11:47, but not without newcomer Kelly Jaske nipping at her heels. Jaske, who once before considered herself a “jogger,” ran an outstanding half marathon performance in 1:12:06.

Once again in 2010, Houston will not disappoint in providing an excellent race. This year, Shalane Flanagan, 2008 Olympic Bronze medalist in the 10,000m, will vie for the win in the women’s USA Half Marathon Championships. Houston will be Shalane’s first half marathon.

“Houston’s got good weather, a fast course and a good crowd. I’m really
excited to toe the line in Houston and tackle a whole new event,” said Flanagan.

Magdalena Boulet returns to defend her title in the women’s half marathon. Colleen De Reuck, the 2004 winner and course record holder (1:10:55), will also return to Houston. They will be joined by Serena Burla (Ballwin, Mo.), Heidi Westover (Walpole, N.H.), seeded 4th and 5th respectively.

On the men’s side, Josh Rohatinsky (Portland, Ore.) and Tim Nelson (Portland, Ore.) are now the highest seeded runners in the USA Half Marathon Championships, since James Carney unfortunately dropped out due to injury. Carney won the race in 2008.

In the full marathon, Teyba Erkesso of Ethiopa returns to defend her title. Erkesso won the women’s marathon in 2009, where she ran a course record in 2:24:18. Paige Higgins of McMillan Elite, who ran the half marathon last year in 1:14:24 (13th), is the second highest seeded runner for the women in the full marathon.

Jason Mbote of Kenya, who ran a 2:07:37 personal record at the 2008 Seoul Marathon, will be the highest seeded elite runner in the marathon field. Charles Kibiwott, also from Kenya, will be competing in the full marathon.

Brett Gotcher, who placed third in the USA Half Marathon Championships in 2009 (1:02:09), will debut in his first marathon performance.

“I’m definitely not going to just go out there and run 2:15 or 2:14 or something. I’m definitely going to be aggressive and try to go for it. My whole thing is that I’m hoping on a good day, I can run with the lead pack,” said Gotcher.

Deriba Merga of Ethiopia, who won the event last year and set a new course record in 2:07:52, will not be competing in Houston in 2010. Merga has his sights set on the Boston Marathon this April, where he hopes for a win.

PreRaceJitters.com will be covering the 2010 USA Half Marathon Championships and Chevron Houston Marathon this weekend. Stay tuned for the latest news!

Blog preview written by PreRaceJitters staff writer Cheryl Lowe.

Destinee Hooker to forgo final year of track and field eligibility

Press Release Courtesy: University of Texas Athletics

Four-time National Champion will play professional volleyball.

AUSTIN, Texas – University of Texas All-American high jumper Destinee Hooker (San Antonio, Texas) has elected to forgo her final season of track and field eligibility to pursue a professional volleyball career.

Hooker, a two-sport All-American on the Forty Acres, leaves Texas as one of the most decorated athletes in Longhorn history. On the track, Hooker claimed four individual national titles, six All-America honors and six individual Big 12 titles. She also set school and NCAA records in the indoor high jump (6-6, 1.98m) and tied the UT outdoor high jump record (6-4.75/1.95m).

“We’re very happy for Destinee and wish her all the best in her career,” University of Texas Women’s Track and Field head coach Beverly Kearney said. “We’re going to miss her, not only for the points she scored, but for the leadership and maturity she brought to the team. We’re so happy for her and all the great performances she has had at Texas, but this is so much more for her.”

Hooker, the 2008-09 Big 12 Female Athlete of the Year, also led the Texas Volleyball team to back-to-back NCAA Championship Semifinals appearances, including a trip to this year’s NCAA Championship match against Penn State. On the court, Hooker was a three-time AVCA All-American, four-time All-Big 12 First Team selection, the 2009 Big 12 Player of the Year and two-time Honda Award finalist.

“We are very excited for Destinee,” University of Texas Volleyball head coach Jerritt Elliott said. “She had a tremendous four years here, learning the game and growing as a player. Now she is able to take the next step in an incredible volleyball community. I know she will continue to improve and I’m excited about the possibility of her competing for a U.S. roster spot for the 2012 Olympics.”

Top Americans to debut at USA Half Marathon Championships; Aramco Houston Half Marathon kicks-off 2010 championship season

Press Release Courtesy USA Track & Field

INDIANAPOLIS - The Aramco Houston Half Marathon has been a key stop on the road to success for a number of U.S. distance running stars over the last six years and 2010 is sure to see its share of breakout performances as the event hosts the USA Half Marathon Championships this Sunday.

Running her first half marathon, Olympic Bronze medalist Shalane Flanagan (Pittsboro, N.C.) headlines the women’s field. Also making his debut for the distance will be 2009 USA 15 km runner-up Tim Nelson (Portland, Ore.), who is among the favorites for the men’s title.

While Houston is the home of the men’s American record for the half marathon, race organizers are hopeful that Flanagan can add the women’s record to the event’s history books.

Set to push Flanagan will be defending champion Magdalena Lewy Boulet (Oakland, Calif.) as they face a field that includes Serena Burla (Ellisville, Mo.), the third fastest U.S. woman at the half marathon in 2009. Other contenders include 2009 runner-up Kelly Jaske (Portland, Ore.), 2009 Team USA World Half Marathon squad members Heidi Westover (Walpole, N.H.), Amy Hastings (Flagstaff, Ariz.) and 2009 USA 20 km champion Colleen De Reuck (Boulder, Colo.).

The men’s race could prove to be the most heated of the day with several men capable of taking the title. Joining Nelson among the favorites will be 2008 champion James Carney (Boulder, Colo.), 2006 NCAA Division I Cross Country Champion Josh Rohatinsky (Portland, Ore.), and Team USA Minnesota teammates Josh Moen (Saint Louis Park, Minn.) and Patrick Smyth (Minneapolis, Minn.) who finished second and third respectively at the 2009 USA Men’s 10 Mile Championship.

About the USARC

The Aramco Houston Half Marathon is the first stop on the 2010 USA Running Circuit (USARC), and features a total championship prize purse of $59,500 plus potential bonuses. The men’s and women’s champions will each earn $12,000.

The 2010 USARC is a USA Track & Field road series, featuring USA Championships from one mile to the marathon and attracts the best U.S. distance runners, including Olympians Deena Kastor, Ryan Hall, Shalane Flanagan and Anthony Famiglietti. The 2010 USARC has ten events each for men and women.

The 2010 USARC will once again see a record amount of circuit prize money for a non-Olympic year with total prize purse of $623,850 offered by host events. U.S. athletes will also have the opportunity to qualify for various Team USA events, including the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships and the Chiba International Ekiden.

The first ten U.S. runners earn points at each USARC race (15 for first, 12 for second, 10 for third, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1), with a final $12,500 grand prix purse ($6,000, $4,000, and $2,500) for the top three men and women point scorers overall. The USARC points at the USA Marathon Championships will be doubled.

The mission of the USA Running Circuit is to showcase, support, and promote U.S. runners. Since its inception in 1995, the USARC and its races have provided over $6 million dollars to U.S. distance runners.

For more information on the 2010 USA Half-Marathon Championships visit www.usatf.org.

Speed moves from turf to track for Super 60

Press Release Courtesy USA Track & Field

NEW YORK - Stars of NFL Championship Games spanning the last three decades will trade in their cleats for spikes in the Super 60 at the 103rd Millrose Games.

A new event highlighting the track speed of some of the NFL’s most recognizable Super Bowl heroes, the Super 60 is expected to feature the New York Giant’s Super Bowl XLI hero David Tyree, ex-Chicago Bear wide receiver and world-class sprinter/hurdler Willie Gault, and Atlanta Falcons’ Super Bowl kickoff return star Tim Dwight.

To be held January 29 in Madison Square Garden, the Millrose Games is the first stop of USA Track & Field’s Visa Championship Series. The longest-running annual event held at The Garden, The Millrose Games features some of America’s and the world’s top track and field talent. The meet will be televised live on January 29 on ESPN2 from 8-10 p.m. Eastern Time.

The Super 60 will take that worn-out commentator’s phrase, “this football game has turned into a track meet” and make it literal. Pride will be on the line as youth takes on experience in a field that includes athletes with both track and football chops.

Early handicapping may cast an eye toward David Tyree, a prep track star at Montclair (N.J.) High School and a 2005 Pro Bowl selection who became a part of Giants’ lore when he made “The Catch,” sealing his team’s victory over the New England Patriots in 2008’s Super Bowl XLI. The seven-year NFL veteran pinned an Eli Manning pass to his helmet with one hand for the game’s pivotal pass completion. A 1998 graduate of Montclair High, Tyree continues to use his speed as a special teams coverage specialist for the Baltimore Ravens, who remain active in the NFL Playoffs after a resounding victory Sunday afternoon over the Patriots. Tyree ran the 200m and 400m at Montclair and was a letter winner in track and football at Syracuse University.

Track aficionados may give the nod to Willie Gault, one of the fastest track athletes ever to play football. At age 49, the man who organized “The Super Bowl Shuffle” is still one of the fastest men in the world. Gault starred for the Chicago Bears in their 46-10 Super Bowl XX victory over the New England Patriots in 1985, just two years after being part of a world record-setting USA 4×100m relay team that won the gold at the 1983 World Track & Field Championships in Helsinki, Finland. Gault also won bronze in the 110m hurdles in Helsinki.

Part of a world-record-setting relay team at the University of Tennessee (where he also starred in football), Gault qualified for the 1980 Olympic Games. After retiring from football, he won a gold medal at the 1998 World Bobsled Championships with the 4-man bobsled team. Gault eventually returned to track and field as a masters athlete, training with the Los Angeles-based H.S.I. group that has included athletes such as Maurice Greene. In 2006, Gault broke the world record in the men’s 45-49 age group 100 meters, running 10.72 seconds in the 100 meters in a special masters race at the USA Outdoor Championships when he was 45. Two years later he ran 21.80 for 200 meters, at the age of 47, at the Mt. SAC Relays to break the world age-group record in that event. As recently as 2008, Gault reportedly was timed in 4.27 for the 40-yard dash - just .03 off the time attributed to the 2009 NFL rushing leader, 24-year-old Chris Johnson of the Tennessee Titans.

Not intimidated by either competitor, former NCAA track All-American Tim Dwight has been training this winter to hone the speed that famously got Super Bowl XXXIII off to a rousing start for the Atlanta Falcons. His 94-yard kick-off return to score in the 1998 NFL Super Bowl wasn’t enough to give Atlanta the win over the Denver Broncos, but it was emblematic of the fearless running style Dwight was known for. Dwight’s career continued with the San Diego Chargers, New England Patriots, New York Jets and Oakland Raiders.

Dwight was a dual threat at The University of Iowa. He set career receiving and return records for the Hawkeye’s football team while also winning the 1999 Big Ten Championships in the 100m and 4×100 and 4×400m relay teams, competing the year after his Super Bowl hijinks. Also in 1999 he earned All-America status as part of Iowa’s 4×400m relay team. As a high schooler in Iowa City, Dwight won four straight state titles at 200 meters.

Additional Super 60 participants will be announced in coming weeks.

For ticket and event information on the 2010 Millrose Games and the Visa Championship Series, visit: www.millrose-games.com or www.visachampionshipseries.com

Lagat faces World Champs rematch in Wanamaker Mile

Press Release Courtesy USA Track & Field
Monday, January 11, 2010

NEW YORK - Seven-time Wanamaker Mile champion Bernard Lagat will have to defeat the man who outsprinted him for silver at the 2009 IAAF World Championships 1,500 meters when he goes for a record eighth Wanamaker title at the 103rd Millrose Games.

The 2007 world champion and two-time Olympic medalist in the 1,500m, Lagat finished third at the 2009 World Championship in Berlin behind Deresse Mekonnen of Ethiopia in a furious final sprint. On January 29 at Madison Square Garden, Lagat will have an opportunity to seek revenge against Mekonnen, as well as Millrose history.
The Millrose Games are the first stop of USA Track & Field’s Visa Championship Series Indoor Circuit, which culminates with the 2010 USA Indoor Track & Field Championships, February 27-28 in Albuquerque, N.M. The 103rd Millrose Games will be televised live on January 29 on ESPN2 from 8-10 p.m. Eastern Time. The Wanamaker Mile is scheduled to begin at 9:50 p.m.

The 2007 World Outdoor 1,500m and 5,000m champion, Lagat won his seventh Wanamaker Mile title at last year’s Millrose Games, which tied all-time Irish legend and “Chariman of the Boards” Eamonn Coghlan for the most wins ever in that prestigious event.

The reigning World Indoor 1,500m champion, Mekonnen had a strong 2009 campaign, ending the season ranked #4 in the world by Track & Field News. In Berlin last summer, Lagat was boxed in on the rail during the men’s 1,500m final. He broke out in the final straightaway, moving from fifth to third to finish in 3:36.20 behind Mekonnen’s sliver in 3:36.01. Lagat went on to win the 5,000m silver medal, ending the decade with a combined total of seven World Championship and Olympic Games medals.

Willard Pierce headlines women’s 1,500 meters

The women’s 1,500m also will feature a strong field, headlined by USA Indoor champion and Olympian Anna Pierce (formerly Willard).

Pierce, who married 3,000m steeplechaser Jonathan Pierce in September, won last year at the London Grand Prix, finished second in Zurich and ended the season ranked #6 in the world and #3 in the U.S. for 1,500m by Track & Field News. She was a leader in a phenomenal year for American women’s middle-distance runners. The former steeplechase American record holder dipped under 4:00 for 1,500m and 2:00 for 800m, posting a U.S.-leading 3:59.38 for the longer distance and the second-fastest time for the 800 (1:58.80). In 2008, Pierce was tenth at the Beijing Olympic Games in 9:25.63.

Challenging Pierce at Millrose will be Sally Kipyego of Kenya, who won nine individual NCAA titles while at Texas Tech University, equaling the all-time record set by former University of Wisconsin great Suzy Favor Hamilton. Kipyego is the first woman ever to win three consecutive Big 12 Conference and NCAA women’s cross country titles. She won NCAA titles at 3,000m (indoors) and outdoors in the 5,000m and 10,000m.

For ticket information for the 103rd Millrose Games visit: http://ny.milesplit.us/articles/31594. USATF welcomes you to pay with your Visa.

For more information on the 2010 Millrose Games and the Visa Championship Series, visit: www.usatf.org or www.millrose-games.com.

About USA Track & Field

USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track and field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world’s oldest organized sports, some of the most-watched events of Olympic broadcasts, the #1 high school and junior high school participatory sport and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States.

For more information on USATF, visit www.usatf.org

1000m, Mile and 5000m All Strong in Boston