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Record-setting and stunning performances in Prague, Austin, Kingston, Stanford and more

By Chris Chavez

April 3, 2017

allie ostranderEdward Cheserek

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Lots of fantastic running took place over the weekend and if you happened to be too busy watching the Final Four, WrestleMania, the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship or any of the Opening Day action, have no fear. That’s why I’m here to give you a rundown of everything that took place.

Prague produces fast marks for the women and slight foot problems for Rupp

Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei already held the world record in the half marathon in Saturday’s Prague Half but she asserted herself as the new queen of the roads. She broke the 10K, 15K and 20K road records on her way to a 64:52 run. That’s splits of 14:53, 30:05, 45:40 and 1:01:50 before crossing the finish line. (14:53-15:11-15:33-15:48-3:27)! She is the first woman to break 65 minutes for the 13.1 mile race and she is just 23 years old. Less than a year ago, her personal best was 69:07. It’s an absolutely meteoric rise but exciting to watch.

In the same race, American Jordan Hasay placed sixth in a personal best of 1:07:55. That time puts her as the No. 3 all-time U.S. woman behidn Deena Kastor’s American record of 1:07:34 and Molly Huddle’s 1:07:41 personal best. Hasay will be making her marathon debut in just a few weeks at the Boston Marathon. Marathon debuts can be tricky so it would be bold to say that she will be the top American in Boston, especially with a field that includes two-time Olympian and 2011 Boston runner-up Desi Linden. Linden holds the experience upper-hand but on the U.S. women’s side, we did see Molly Huddle make an impressive podium finish in her marathon debut last November in New York. Boston will be very fun and we’ll be celebrating the historic race next week on the site.

The men’s race was won by 10,000m bronze medalist Tamirat Tola in 59:37. The U.S. audience was fixated on Galen Rupp, who took 11th place in 1:01:59 and then reported some discomfort in his foot. We’ll size up the Boston elite field next week but that foot is a little bit of a concern because Rupp did pull out of the Houston Half due to plantar fasciitis and now there’s this. Sub-62 is not a bad day but with some American record buzz beforehand, the bar for success is higher for Rupp than other runners.

Texas Relays boasts record-breaking performances

The United States had its own share of record broken but more at the collegiate and world juniors level. At Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas, it was a Texas A&M Aggie that got the Texas Relays warmed up. Lindon Victor, an Olympian for Grenada, broke Trey Hardee’s collegiate decathlon record with a 8,472 point performance. In the Aggies’ press release, it was noted that Victor now holds three of the six highest decathlon scores in collegiate history. If you’re looking for a budding star in the post-Eaton multi-events era, Victor may be your guy.

If you haven’t already become familiar with Mondo Duplantis’ name, you should. Because it’s a very cool name (short for Armand) and he’s destroying the record books. He cleared 19 feet 4 1/4 inches (5.90m) to defeat 2015 world champion Shawn Barber of Canada and casually add a whole foot to the all-time high school record. It’s also a world junior record.

His Twitter bio underscores his greatness as it reads: “Pole vaulter, 7,8,9,10,11,12, and 17 year old world record holder”

(Watch the video above for a slow-motion relay of his 5.90m clearance)

While on the note of young stars to watch, Sam Worley beat a solid mile field that included Olympic silver medalist Leo Manzano. The New Braunfels Canyon ran 4:00.61 as we almost had a new addition to the sub-four club of high school runners It’s early and it will be interesting to see what he can do come May or June. A similar level of intrigue follows Manzano, who ran 4:02.02 for third place and is coming off a disappointing indoor season.

Oregon women break records Florida Relays

The Oregon women opened their April much in the same way they ran in March: Blazing.

The Ducks’ relay squad comprised of Makenzie Dunmore, Hannah Cunliffe, Deajah Stevens and Ariana Washington shattered the 4×100 and 4×200 collegiate relay records. Their 1:28.78 time for second place in the 4×200 (it’s hard to win in a race against professionals including Dafne Schippers and Tianna Bartoletta) breaks the 1:29.42 record by Texas A&M from 2010. They did come away with the win in the 4×100 in 42.34 to break another Texas A&M mark of 42.36 from 2009.

The Oregon hurdlers are also running really well as Alaysha Johnson lowered Sasha Wallace’s school record from 12.95 to 12.69. Wallace also set a personal best of 12.94.

Also the Gators should never be counted out in a 4×400.

Real quick on sprints

One of my bucket list items is to attend Champs, the Jamaican high school championships, at some point in my life. My friend and Jamaica Gleaner reporter Andre Lowe tweeted that covering the meet is better than any Olympic or world championships and I actually may believe him. The atmosphere looks incredible and the performances will wow.

A 12-year-old Brianna Lyston ran a 23.46 200m.

https://twitter.com/bilbaoatletismo/status/848498269416280066

14-year-old Sachin Dennis ran 20.89 for the 200.

https://twitter.com/bilbaoatletismo/status/848497051470102530

Kingston College was one of the favorites to win and apparently it came down to the wire but Calabar claimed their sixth consecutive title.

That was the best news to come out of Jamaica over the weekend. (There was a little bit of bad news from Hajo Seppeldt.)

Carlsbad 5000 won by Lagat and Gebremeskel

Dejen Gebremeskel out-kicked Paul Chelimo for his fifth win at this race. Gebremeskel clocked a 13:27 as the Olympic 5,000m silver medalist finished 20 seconds back.

The women’s race was much closer with Viola Lagat winning in 15:35 and a tight battle for second that was claimed by Aisha Praught-Leer over Shannon Rowbury. It’s a great showing for Praught-Leer as she is now coached by Joe Bosshard in Boulder, Colorado.

If you’d like to watch the races, they are available below:

Stanford Invite gifts personal bests to many

The Stanford Invite used to attract bigger names and better talent. There were still some impressive performances and top elites but this year’s meet just did not appeal to me and others as much as previous years. Things will likely change when more names head to Palo Alto for Payton Jordan next month.

One of the more interesting races of the first day was Boise State star Allie Ostrander’s steeplechase debut. She battled a few injuries in the fall and her last major race was an eighth place finish in the 5,000m at the Olympic Trials. She’s technically a freshman for this year’s outdoor season because of her knee injury last year and she tackled a new event for a 9:55.61 debut.

Our own Kevin Liao was in attendance at Stanford and will have more on her run.

The two other collegiate stars with great showings at Stanford were a pair of Footlocker and NCAA cross-country champions – Molly Seidel of Notre Dame and Edward Cheserek of Oregon. Seidel ran just one indoor race with a mile in South Bend back in January but roared back into outdoor action with her 33:19.60 win in the women’s 10,000m. It was just a second off her personal best of 33:18.37 from her 2015 NCAA championship victory and that’s a great sign. A healthy Molly Seidel is a dangerous Molly Seidel during outdoor season. She could face some competition from teammate Anna Rohrer, who ran 31:58.99 to win her respective 10,000m heat in her debut at the distance.

Cheserek threw down a low key 28:46.48 for the win in the slower section of the men’s 10,000m to pretty much lock up his place for NCAAs and bring along some teammates with him.

Major kudos go out to Ben Rosario and the Northern Arizona Elite training group. Stephanie Bruce ran a 31:50 personal best just a week after racing the World Cross-Country Championships in Kampala, Uganda. Martin Hehir ran a 28:08 personal best. Ben Bruce ran a 28:09 personal best to lower his 28:25.32 mark from last year. The team also signed Aaron Braun, who took the win at the SacTown 10 Miler. (Our own Stephen Kersh finished seventh)

Lastly, always look both ways before crossing the track.

Our photographer Justin Britton was at the track and actually managed to snap a photo of the official before the incident.

Chris Chavez

Chris Chavez launched CITIUS MAG in 2016 as a passion project while working full-time for Sports Illustrated. He covered the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and grew his humble blog into a multi-pronged media company. He completed all six World Marathon Majors and is an aspiring sub-five-minute miler.

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