{"id":396,"date":"2010-09-10T16:33:00","date_gmt":"2010-09-10T23:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=396"},"modified":"2010-09-10T16:33:00","modified_gmt":"2010-09-10T23:33:00","slug":"us-getting-back-in-the-game-above-400-meters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=396","title":{"rendered":"US Getting Back in the Game Above 400 Meters"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"float:left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/view.picapp.com\/pictures.photo\/sports\/12th-iaaf-world-athletics\/image\/6136061?term=chris+solinsky\" target=\"_blank\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/view.picapp.com\/pictures.photo\/image\/6136061\/12th-iaaf-world-athletics\/12th-iaaf-world-athletics.jpg?resize=380%2C262\" border=\"0\" width=\"380\" title=\"12th IAAF World Athletics Championships - Day Nine\" height=\"262\" oncontextmenu=\"return false;\" ondrag=\"return false;\" onmousedown=\"return false;\" alt=\"BERLIN - AUGUST 23:  (L-R) Joseph Ebuya of Kenya, Vincent Kiprop Chepkok of Kenya, Chris Solinsky of United States and Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia compete in the men's 800 Metres Final during day nine of the 12th IAAF World Athletics Championships at the Olympic Stadium on August 23, 2009 in Berlin, Germany.  (Photo by Mark Dadswell\/Getty Images)\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"clear:left;height:0px;overflow: hidden;\"><\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/view.picapp.com\/\/JavaScripts\/OTIjs.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The season is winding down quickly, with the Commonwealth Games the biggest competition remaining \u2013 and it\u2019s restricted to a select few nations. For all intents and purposes US athletes are done, with a bit of rest on the docket before resuming training for the upcoming World Championships season.<\/p>\n<p>Lots of ups and downs this year, and I will spend some time talking about them as we head into the Fall training \/ road racing season. But the one area that I want to give a shout out to right away is to the athletes on the track above 400 meters. One of the things that I will have to do fairly soon is update my \u201cThirty Watch List\u201d. When I first put it together it was dominated by the sprints and hurdles. Watching this season play out, I think that there may be some action above the sprints this next time around!<\/p>\n<p>I have to start with Chris Solinsky. He lead the world over 10000 meters for almost the entire year, as it was only two weeks ago that Kenya\u2019s Josephat Menjo surpassed Solinsky\u2019s AR of 26:59.60! Granted it moved him to \u201conly\u201d #30 all time, but when was the last time an American was in the top spot on a yearly list in the 10000? If I\u2019m not mistaken you\u2019d have to go back to 1986 when Mark Nenow lead the world with his AR 27:20.56 \u2013 twenty four years ago! Solinsky also gave us three races under 13:00 in the 5000 meters \u2013 with a 12:55.53 PR that would have been an AR if it weren\u2019t for Bernard Lagat. <\/p>\n<p>Ah, Bernard Lagat. I keep worrying about his age, but it doesn\u2019t seem to bother him. At 35 years old he ran an AR 12:54.12 over 5000, a 3:54.36 mile, 3:32.12 over 1500 and won a 3000\/5000 double in the Continental Cup. Lagat is STILL a factor, and he and Solinsky should make quite a pair over 5000 next year. And that\u2019s not saying anything about Dathen Ritzenhein or Matt Tegenkamp who had their own breakthroughs under 13:00 last season. <\/p>\n<p>And while Lagat looks like he will have help in the longer distance, we saw some improvement from others in the shorter distance too. Specifically from Andrew Wheating and Leonel Manzano. Wheating had multiple event duty for the University of Oregon as they gave game chase for an NCAA title coming up a bit short in their battle with the University of Florida and eventual champion Texas A&amp;M. But Wheating did his part taking an 800\/1500 double before heading to Europe and taking on the big boys. All he did after a lengthy collegiate season was run bests of 1:44.56, 3:30.90 and 3:51.74 \u2013 making me wonder whether he is a half miler or a miler! Similar improvement was made by the diminutive Manzano. The gutsy Manzano kept staying with the pace in Europe and was rewarded with PRs of 1:44.56, 3:32.37 and 3:50.64. Lagat is still our best competitor on the international stage, but Wheating and Manzano are the future, and have the potential to make some noise next year with a bit of improvement \u2013 especially in the metric mile which is in the 3:30 to 3:32 zone right now. <\/p>\n<p>Our women continue to make great strides in the middle distances as well. Last year it was Christin Wurth Thomas, Anna Pierce, and Jenny Barringer that make big moves. Barringer was quiet this year, but Pierce and Wurth Thomas continued to shine with Wurth Thomas improving her 1500 down to 3:59.59 \u2013 her second year in a row under 4:00. This year we can add the names Alysia Johnson, Phoebe Wright, and Morgan Uceny to the mix as they had major improvements of their own this year. Johnson was twice under 1:58 and lead the world at 1:57.34. After winning this year\u2019s NCAA championship Wright went to Europe and ran very well dropping her PR down to 1:58.22. And Morgan Uceny was double trouble running 1:58.57 in the 800 and 4:02.40 in the 1500. All three are hard charging, front runners who are not afraid to try and stay with the pace \u2013 any pace. Together with Wurth Thomas, Pierce, Barringer and Shannon Rowbury \u2013 who began to blossom in \u201808 and has continued to run well \u2013 we look well poised to battle the rest of the world in the women\u2019s middle distances next year!<\/p>\n<p>All in all I have to say that we look to have improved much in the past couple of seasons in the non sprints on the track. I\u2019m looking forward to some success stories in Daegu and beyond. It\u2019s been a while coming, but I think this group is truly capable. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The season is winding down quickly, with the Commonwealth Games the biggest competition remaining \u2013 and it\u2019s restricted to a select few nations. For all intents and purposes US athletes are done, with a bit of rest on the docket before resuming training for the upcoming World Championships season. Lots of ups and downs this year, and I will spend some time talking about them as we head into the Fall training \/ road racing season. But the one area that I want to give a shout out to right away is to the athletes on the track above 400 meters. One of the things that I will have to do fairly soon is update my \u201cThirty Watch List\u201d. When I first put it together it was dominated by the sprints and hurdles. Watching this season play out, I think that there may be some action above the sprints this next time around! I have to start with Chris Solinsky. He lead the world over 10000 meters for almost the entire year, as it was only two weeks ago that Kenya\u2019s Josephat Menjo surpassed Solinsky\u2019s AR of 26:59.60! Granted it moved him to \u201conly\u201d #30 all time, but when was the last time an American was in the top spot on a yearly list in the 10000? If I\u2019m not mistaken you\u2019d have to go back to 1986 when Mark Nenow lead the world with his AR 27:20.56 \u2013 twenty four years ago! Solinsky also gave us three races under 13:00 in the 5000 meters \u2013 with a 12:55.53 PR that would have been an AR if it weren\u2019t for Bernard Lagat. Ah, Bernard Lagat. I keep worrying about his age, but it doesn\u2019t seem to bother him. At 35 years old he ran an AR 12:54.12 over 5000, a 3:54.36 mile, 3:32.12 over 1500 and won a 3000\/5000 double in the Continental Cup. Lagat is STILL a factor, and he and Solinsky should make quite a pair over 5000 next year. And that\u2019s not saying anything about Dathen Ritzenhein or Matt Tegenkamp who had their own breakthroughs under 13:00 last season. And while Lagat looks like he will have help in the longer distance, we saw some improvement from others in the shorter distance too. Specifically from Andrew Wheating and Leonel Manzano. Wheating had multiple event duty for the University of Oregon as they gave game chase for an NCAA title coming up a bit short in their battle with the University of Florida and eventual champion Texas A&amp;M. But Wheating did his part taking an 800\/1500 double before heading to Europe and taking on the big boys. All he did after a lengthy collegiate season was run bests of 1:44.56, 3:30.90 and 3:51.74 \u2013 making me wonder whether he is a half miler or a miler! Similar improvement was made by the diminutive Manzano. The gutsy Manzano kept staying with the pace in Europe and was rewarded with PRs of 1:44.56, 3:32.37 and 3:50.64. Lagat is still our best competitor on the international stage, but Wheating and Manzano are the future, and have the potential to make some noise next year with a bit of improvement \u2013 especially in the metric mile which is in the 3:30 to 3:32 zone right now. Our women continue to make great strides in the middle distances as well. Last year it was Christin Wurth Thomas, Anna Pierce, and Jenny Barringer that make big moves. Barringer was quiet this year, but Pierce and Wurth Thomas continued to shine with Wurth Thomas improving her 1500 down to 3:59.59 \u2013 her second year in a row under 4:00. This year we can add the names Alysia Johnson, Phoebe Wright, and Morgan Uceny to the mix as they had major improvements of their own this year. Johnson was twice under 1:58 and lead the world at 1:57.34. After winning this year\u2019s NCAA championship Wright went to Europe and ran very well dropping her PR down to 1:58.22. And Morgan Uceny was double trouble running 1:58.57 in the 800 and 4:02.40 in the 1500. All three are hard charging, front runners who are not afraid to try and stay with the pace \u2013 any pace. Together with Wurth Thomas, Pierce, Barringer and Shannon Rowbury \u2013 who began to blossom in \u201808 and has continued to run well \u2013 we look well poised to battle the rest of the world in the women\u2019s middle distances next year! All in all I have to say that we look to have improved much in the past couple of seasons in the non sprints on the track. I\u2019m looking forward to some success stories in Daegu and beyond. It\u2019s been a while coming, but I think this group is truly capable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa3DCY-6o","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":429,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=429","url_meta":{"origin":396,"position":0},"title":"Goodbye 2010 \u2013 The Year of David","author":"CHill","date":"December 29, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Most track seasons are defined by a championship. Every four years it\u2019s the Olympic Games. For the years directly before and after the Olympics it\u2019s the World Championships. Everyone\u2019s focus is on those meets, and it is typically the performances produced in the Major that create the most lasting impressions\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS - JANUARY 01:  New Year's Eve fireworks display illuminates the sky over the Erasmus Bridge crossing the Nieuwe Maas river on January 1, 2010 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.  (Photo by Jasper Juinen\/Getty Images)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/view4.picapp.com\/pictures.photo\/image\/7442952\/the-new-year-celebrated\/the-new-year-celebrated.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":848,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=848","url_meta":{"origin":396,"position":1},"title":"The Players Begin to Emerge","author":"CHill","date":"February 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"WOW! Talk about a series of outstanding meets\/marks. This weekend has been HOT! New York, Fayetteville, Dusseldorf, Albuquerque, Donetsk \u2013 great results have been pouring in from all over the globe. Initially I thought that the World Indoor Championships would be \u201cdown\u201d with this year with most athletes preparing for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Blake. Lavillenie\"","block_context":{"text":"Blake. Lavillenie","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?tag=blake-lavillenie"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_ymo4BkmdsIY\/TCYFaJbMFWI\/AAAAAAAAPpU\/BL_01ZyTmrs\/s1600\/SANYA.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":279,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=279","url_meta":{"origin":396,"position":2},"title":"US Indoor Championships Watch List","author":"CHill","date":"February 26, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The biggest US indoor competition of the year takes place this weekend as the US Indoor Championships run Saturday and Sunday in Albuquerque New Mexico. On the line will be berths to this year's World Indoor Championships in Doha Qatar next month. So for many we will be seeing the\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"2009 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships Day 4","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cdn.picapp.com\/ftp\/Images\/8\/0\/3\/7\/2009_USA_Outdoor_0d4e.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":406,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=406","url_meta":{"origin":396,"position":3},"title":"My Vision For the World Championships","author":"CHill","date":"October 5, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes, I know it\u2019s October and we just had the opening ceremonies for the Commonwealth Games.\u00a0 But with the majority of top line athletes missing from the Commonwealth, my mind can\u2019t help but fast forward to the next gathering of the world\u2019s best athletes \u2013 the World Championships in Daegu.\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 5 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 5 comments","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=406#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"BERLIN - AUGUST 23:  South Korean dancers perform during the Closing Ceremony during day nine of the 12th IAAF World Athletics Championships at the Olympic Stadium on August 23, 2009 in Berlin, Germany.  (Photo by Martin Rose\/Bongarts\/Getty Images)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/view1.picapp.com\/pictures.photo\/image\/6136639\/12th-iaaf-world-athletics\/12th-iaaf-world-athletics.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":296,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=296","url_meta":{"origin":396,"position":4},"title":"Quartermilers in Action at Florida Relays","author":"CHill","date":"April 1, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Relay action gets underway this weekend with meets in Florida and Texas. Scanning the start lists for the Florida Relays looks like we will get to see some top level sprinting from 400 meter runners - and not all in the 400. Quartermiler Natasha Hastings looks to be working on\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":399,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=399","url_meta":{"origin":396,"position":5},"title":"ABC\u2019s of the 2010 Season","author":"CHill","date":"September 15, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"A \u2013 Ashton Eaton emerged as a major player in the decathlonB \u2013 Bershawn Jackson, back to form and dominant in the 400 hurdlesC \u2013 Chris, as in Chris Solinsky and Christian Cantwell both looking good heading into 2011D \u2013 David, as in Rudisha and Oliver, the two most dominating\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 1 comment","block_context":{"text":"With 1 comment","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=399#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"BERLIN - AUGUST 22: David Lekuta Rudisha of Kenya celebrates the victory and the new world record in the men's 800m during the IAAF World Challenge ISTAF 2010 at the Olympic Stadium on August 22, 2010 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Boris Streubel\/Bongarts\/Getty Images)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/view4.picapp.com\/pictures.photo\/image\/9579785\/istaf-2010-iaaf-world\/istaf-2010-iaaf-world.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}