by Larry Eder
In the most exciting race of the weekend so far, a few facts need to be put out there:
Anthony Famiglietti made this race, running fast from the start, and keeping the pace fast and honest. Fam is one of our most talented athletes, but the guy needs a coach, to take his passion, his drive and his talent and show him how to make a team.
German Fernandez is the real deal. This young man set the American Junior record once again, breaking it by four seconds, this evening. The previous records were held by Galen Rupp, Steve Prefontaine, Gerry Lindgren. 72 Bronze medalist Ian Stewart noted that ” German is the real thing.”
Wisconsin sure does much more than make good beer, wonderful cheeses, and nice fish fries on Friday nights. It is the former home of one of our best coaches (Jerry Schumacher, former Badger coach) and all three of the US team members at 5,000 meters matriculated from that fine institution. Jerry’s Kids rule! Note that Jonathan Riley is married to a Wisconsin girl, so he is honorary Wisconsinite-nice run by Riley!
Matt Tegenkamp is one of the most underrated 5,000 meter runners on the planet. The guy knows how to race a championship race. Chris Solinsky has improved eons over last year, and Evan Jager, man, that kid sure looks nice floating along at 64 seconds a lap!
A tip of the hat to Sean Quigley, in seventh, who ran one heck of a race, but got into no man’s land with 600 meters to go. A strong race for gutty runner.
So, here is how we saw the race:
Fam took the race out, running 2:36 for the first kilometer, which is, yes, dear friends, 13 minute pace. Honest, to say the least. Fam looks good running fast, and he kept the race flying for eight laps. He hit the next two kilometers in 5:18, and three kilometers was passed in 8:02. On his butt were Solinsky, Tegenkamp, Quigley, Fernadez, and Evan Jager, floating between fourth and sixth. Bolata Asmeron was up on Teeg’s shoulder and Jonathan Riley was esconced in sixth place. Jager runs smooth– Man, that kid looks great just relaxed, kind of like Frank Shorter with some muscle definition (complement).
Fam drops back to sixth or seventh after eight laps, then charges back on lap nine, leads another lap, and drops back, as they hit 4 kilometers. This is where the race heats up. Teegenkamp is on Solinsky’s shoulder, who is behind Asmeron, with Jager, Fernandez, Quigley and Riley in two.
Fam made one more run for the front and that was all he had. The pace, the hard winds and the frenetic tactics took it out of him. Fam dropped to eighth in 13:33.63.
The pace soon quicked, as the second to last lap was run in sixty flat, as the 4600 meters was hit in 12:30. The race was on, Asmeron, Solinsky, Teegenkamp, Fernandez, Jager, Riley, with Quigly dropping back. Then Asmeron fell off, then Fernandez dropped back, with Riley trying to find the next gear, just behind Asmeron and Fernandez.
As the three former Badgers hit the 200 meter mark, Evan Jager made his run for the race, going on the outside and trying to pass a hard charging Chris Solinsky, who had begun moving, as at Pre, with 300 meters to go. As Jager made his quick move, which was thwarted by Solinsky, Tegenkamp came on the outside of Solinsky.
Solinsky held off Tegenkamp until the top of the turn, as Matt started to move ahead. But Solinsky was not done and matched Teegs down the final stretch, step for aching step, with the training partners now safely away from the rest of the field and fighting for first. Evan Jager was in third, charging right behind them, and he would finish there.
Matt Tegenkamp, fourth placer in the 5,000 meters in Osaka, took the lead and pumped his arm as he hit the finish line, with Chris Solinsky just behind him, and Even Jager right behind them. In fourth, Bolata Asmeron ran a spectacular race. In fifth, German Fernandez broke his own American junior record by four seconds. Jonathan Riley, all of 33, ran a fine 13:26 for sixth, and Sean Quigley finished a fine race in seventh place.
This was a perfect race for the Oregon project. Tegenkamp knows what works for him, Chris Solinsky ran his race and Evan Jager, well, at the finish line, with the stress over,
Tegenmamp and Solinsky picked up Jager off the ground. Jerry’s Kids, the new group in town, had won the 5,000 meters with sub 54 second last laps on a fast pace!
Later that evening, Chris Solinsky told us that he felt great during the race. His legs feel good when he wears the compression socks, as he has had some tightness in his soleus since his winter injury. He was ecstatic with his run, and looked much different than the young man who moved to Portland last year, and just missed the Olympic team.
Again, another example of the support from many quarters, Men’s LDR, sponsors, coaches, media, athletes, all asking the important questions-how do we change our luck in US distance running. Without the likes of Jerry Schumacher, Alberto Salazar, Terrance Mahon, Joe Vigil, Bob Larsen, and many, many others, we would not have nights like this.
All photos by Photorun.net
Men 5000 Meter Run
================================================================
Timed Final – check-in required by 90 minutes before start time
One section if only 24 check-in.
World: W 12:37.35 5/31/2004 Kenenisa Bekele, ETH
American: A 12:58.21 8/14/1996 Bob Kennedy, Nike
Hayward: S 13:07.83 1998 Luke Kipkosgei, Kenya
Name Year Team Finals
================================================================
Finals
1 Matt Tegenkamp Oregon TC Elite 13:20.57
2 Chris Solinsky Oregon TC Elite 13:20.82
3 Evan Jager Oregon TC Elite 13:22.18
4 Bolota Asmerom Nike 13:24.00
5 German Fernandez Oklahoma State 13:25.46
6 Jonathon Riley Nike 13:26.90
7 Sean Quigley Puma 13:31.98
8 Anthony Famiglietti Saucony 13:33.63
9 Brent Vaughn Nike 13:38.30
10 Scott Bauhs adidas 13:39.06
11 Stephen Furst Adidas Raleigh TC 13:54.39
12 Aaron Braun Adams State 13:56.29
13 Matt Clark McMillan Elite 13:56.84
14 Ryan Bak Oregon TC Elite 13:58.76
15 Brandon Bethke Arizona State 13:59.47
16 Stephen Haas Team Indiana/Brk 14:02.36
17 Brian Medigovich unattached 14:14.09
18 Jordan Horn McMillan Elite 14:14.33
19 Scott Wall unattached 14:15.63
20 Andrew Bumbalough Georgetown 14:15.95
21 David Nightingale ZAP Fitness 14:16.02
22 Michael Maag Princeton 14:16.72
23 Thomas Morgan ZAP Fitness 14:26.55
24 Matthew DeBole N Y A C 14:37.50
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