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XO Helps Rupp to a National Junior RecordPublished by
XO Helps Rupp to a National Junior Record
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XO Helps Rupp to a National Junior Record XO Helps Rupp to a National Junior Record Hayward Field – The night belonged to distance runners on a day dominated by some of the top distance performances Hayward Field has seen in some time including Olympian Shayne Culpepper’s 22-year old meet record breaking 3000, Dathan Ritzenhein’s 5000 meter meet record, and certainly not the least of all, Oregon’s newest distance star Galen Rupp’s U.S. Junior Record 10,000 meter run. Respect is given here, as well as countless other columns across America no doubt, to one of the greatest distance runners the University of Oregon and the USA has ever witnessed in Rudy Chapa, who owned both records that Ritzenhein and Rupp bettered on this special night. The men of XO found a niche in the distance spotlight as Max King paced the 10,000 meter field through 5k in 14:17 before stepping off the track. “I was thinking about dropping back and finishing with the field, but it stung a little more than I thought it would,” said King. Hitting 68s and 69s for virtually every lap, King did his job well and helped Rupp preserve precious energy for his record-breaking performance. Training partners Ross Krempley and Kevin Ullman took advantage of a loaded field and both ran to season bests in the 800 meters. Krempley returned to his form of old when, cheered on by the west grandstands, stepping out to lane two, he obliterated challengers Mike McGrath of the Nike Oregon Project and Lane CC’s A.J. Casteel putting a half second on the two in the last fifty meters. “I started going a little from 150 [meters] out,” said Krempley, “but Smith just started pulling away and I just couldn’t go any faster. When Mike passed me, I just hung on and hoped to get inspired in the homestretch.” Ullman knocked a second off his season best, but still struggled to find the last 200 he knows is there. “I just watched A.J. go, and then before I knew it, he caught Ross, and I thought to myself, ‘I should be there too,’” said a disappointed Ullman. XO’s Brayce Forsha looked to be in great position coming off the Bowerman turn heading into the final 100 meters. “It just kind of spooked me a little, but overall, I’m happy,” said Forsha of Oregon’s Kyle Alcorn’s big move to take the lead on the homestretch. To Forsha’s credit, Alcorn’s move could not have been better timed and made for quite the exciting finish. The order stayed the same afterwards which gave Alcorn the win, Symmonds second, and Forsha third in 4:05.35, a time 5.5 seconds better than what he ran in the same race last year. Another XO team member took advantage of the strong distance fields. Lauren Weiner opened her track season in the women’s 3000 with a strong seventh place finish that earned her a new Team XO record at 9:58.06. The old record was held by former Portland State Star, Jenny Rodgers at 9:58.59. The lone XO sprinter of the day was 400 meter hurdler Brandon Holliday who finished second to Oregon’s Eric Mitchum after beating him in their previous meetings two weeks ago. Holliday’s 51.47 of his Oregon Invite performance is the current Team XO record. A third XO record on the day came from former NCAA national champion javelin thrower John Stiegeler who opened his throwing season with a mark of 219-7 bettering his own XO record of this meet last year by almost fifteen feet. Kyley Johnson finally made his breakthrough in the high jump leaping over 7-2.5 and barely brushing the bar off at 7-3.25, the same height that sent fellow high jumper Jason Boness to the Olympic Trials last year. “I’m really happy,” said Johnson of his personal record, “and I was so close to 7-3, I was just tired after the first two attempts, but the third one was almost there.” The XO high jumping core swept the day’s event placing Boness and XO newcomer Chris Nelson second and third respectively at 6-10.75. The next closest competitor to the jumping trio was four inches under. The XO hammer specialists Adam Kriz and Cari Soong each found success on the day. Kriz launched a rocket that landed easily past the USA “A” Qualifier of 65.76 (215-9) with a remarkable 67.28 (220-09) that less than three feet shy of his XO record. Soong finished second as she continues to
trade wins with Britney Kay Henry who took the win by just one
meter in this competition. Having already qualified for the Outdoor
National Championships, Soong looks forward to next month’s
trip to Carson, CA to take on the nation’s best. More news |
