Lauren Fleshman made a great comback in Iowa. © www.photorun.net
The United States Outdoor Track and Field Championships were held last week at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa. The distance events offered plenty of exciting races and close finishes.
Probably the most inspiring of all the races at the four-day annual event was the women’s 5,000-meter final. In that race, Lauren Fleshman made a big comeback from a serious foot injury to place ahead of former collegiate champions Molly Huddle and Jenny Barringer. Lauren Fleshman’s winning time was 15:28.70 minutes, while Molly Huddle and Jenny Barringer ran 15:30.89 and 15:33.33 respectively. The women’s 10,000m event was arguably the most competitive of the women’s distances races in Des Moines with last year’s champion, Amy Begley, successfully defending her title. But her win was anything but easy with the race going neck and neck between her and Lisa Koll, the former Iowa State champion. Lisa Koll managed to hang with Begley until the bell lap. Amy Begley’s winning time was 32:06, while Lisa Knoll placed second in 32:11 and Desiree Davila took third in 32:22.32. Talking with the press after the race, Lisa Koll reflected on the hometown crowd that was present to cheer her on. “The crowd was awesome. When I came down the front, there was like a roar. There’s nothing like that to pump you up,” she said.
The men’s distance events provided the thousands of spectators in attendance with some standout tactical affairs. Most notably, Lopez Lomong successfully defended his title in the men’s 1500m event. The race began very slowly with the lead pack opening the first lap in a relatively pedestrian 67 seconds. But by the final lap, it was down to Lopez Lomong and Leo Manzano, sprinting for the finish. Lopez Lomong (3:50.83) edged Leo Manzano by less than a second (3:50.91). Will Leer of the Oregon Track Club placed third in 3:51.63. And in the men’s 5,000m final on Friday—a race that looked on paper to be an easy one for the United States record holder, Bernard Lagat—the winner wasn’t clear until the final stretch. Bernard Lagat found himself in second place with 70 meters to go. And when he made his move, 10,000-meter specialist, Tim Nelson countered. Lagat barely edged Nelson out at the line to win in 13:54.08. Tim Nelson’s time was 13:54.80. Third place went to Andrew Bumbalough (13:55.16).
