TULLY, D’AGOSTINO WINS HOKA ONE ONE ADRIAN MARTINEZ CLASSIC
By Chris Lotsbom, @ChrisLotsbom
(c) 2015 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved, used by permission
CONCORD, Mass. (05-Jun) – With the sun setting in the west and temperatures dropping on a cool, chilly evening, exciting racing took place here at the Hoka One One Adrian Martinez Classic. Nicole Talley set a world-leading mile mark of 4:31.4h, while Abby D’Agostino made a strong statement with a 15:23.66 victory in the 5000m. Other winners on the night included Robbie Andrews, Ryan Martin, McKayla Fricker and Reid Connor.
TULLY WINS WILD WOMEN’S MILE
It would take a blistering sprint, a bit of luck and some patronizing spirit for Nicole Tully to win the women’s mile. About 800 meters across 2:16 a.mThe 28-year-old found herself right where she wanted to be, among the frontrunners alongside Rachel Schneider and Hannah Fields. Fields was competing in his professional debut, but was still unsponsored wearing an Oklahoma Baptist University uniform.
Moving into second place at the bell, Tully still had plenty of competition around him. Down the backstretch and around the final turn it seemed like runners were bumping and bumping left and right, too many bodies in too little space. This caused Tully to drift back a bit before hitting the final straight.
Managing to stay out of trouble, Tully led a tough charge with Amanda Eccleston, Schneider, Fields and Corey McGee.
“I think I went from sixth to first (in the final straight),” Tully described. “I tried to channel my inner sprinter and maybe by the time the 40 was over I was like ‘I can do this’ and after the 20 I was like ‘skinny, skinny, skinny.’ So I did and I got it.”
Tully did get the win, but it ended with a photo. Fields raced through the line in stride with Tal, and both clocked 4:31.4. After reviewing the finish, the officials awarded the win to Talley. Schneider, Eccleston and McGee rounded out the top five with times of 4:31.8h, 4:32.0h and 4:32.1h (a brief power surge caused a power loss in the timing area, so athletes were given hand times).
“For me, it’s all about competitive effort. You run the race and try and win. To be able to close like that over the last 200m, it’s similar to how I closed at Oxy (where he was second over 1500m in heat 2),” he said. “I was really happy that no matter how the race went, I could bring it home.”
Tully said he felt he had a little extra motivation with the fact that his sponsor, Hoka One One, was running the meet.
“I thought I should show up at the Hoka meeting. They’ve done such a great job recruiting athletes and really supporting us on our journey to the U.S. and Olympic Trials next year,” he said. “It’s kind of like a home field advantage, so I had to bring it home for the Hoka.”
In his professional debut, Fields was pleased with a second-place showing.
“He just barely caught me, but it was a great finish by him,” said Fields, whose 1500m personal best is much slower than Talley’s 4:13.26. “At first I was overwhelmed by a field of people who were just as good, if not better than me. I was just trying to stay calm and do what I had to do.”
HEALTHY D’AGOSTINO DECLARES 5000 mln.
On May 2At the Stanford Payton Jordan Invitational, Abbey D’Agostino exited the track after clocking a disappointing 15:42.79 in the 5000m to finish well in 21st place. Just over a month later, D’Agostino feels he is in much better shape, as evidenced by a strong performance to win the 5000m here in 15:23.66.
Determined to earn the US Championships 5,000m qualifying standard time of 15:26.00, D’Agostino settled in behind the hares, with Ireland’s Mary Cullen and American Desiree Linden walking back. Through 3000 m 9:25 a.mit was clear that the winner would come from this trio.
Shortly after the two-mile mark, D’Agostino went into another gear, extending the gap to Cullen and Linden. It would only increase in the final mile of the race before D’Agostino broke the tape with a 3.57 second margin of victory.
“Training has been going really well, so I’m like ‘ready.’ I have to get myself out there; The U.S. is coming,” said an upbeat D’Agostino, fully recovered from a stress reaction that kept him out of nearly all of the past cross country and cross country seasons.
It was clear from his mood when speaking to the media that D’Agostino was over the moon to be back and competing well again. “It’s crazy to think where I’ve been May 2 at Stanford and where I am now. Honestly just racking up the miles. I luckily don’t need to be in the pool anymore. Just getting those miles in and getting a good night’s sleep, just all the right things.”
Linden passed Cullen for second and finished second with a time of 15:27.13. Cullen was third in 15:29.99. It was Linden’s second race since 2011. She will run the 10,000 meters next weekend in Oregon, hoping to compete in that event at the U.S. championships and then again at the world championships, Pan-Am Games or other international events. He said he won’t be running a fall marathon this year.
“Welcome back, huh?” Linden said with a smile, signaling her return to the track. “I’m working on getting faster, that’s what I need to do.”
Crossing his arms, trying to warm up after his race, he continued. “It’s a good start and I’m looking to improve on it.”
ANDREWS USES PATENTED KICK TO WIN THE MILE
Robbie Andrews, the 2011 NCAA 800m champion, struck again, as he often does in tactical half-mile or mile races. The men’s mile went by at a pedestrian pace, splitting 2:00.6 at the halfway point and approx. 3:00 At 3/4 mile. It was so slow and plodding that Australian 10,000m specialist David McNeill led the way to the bell.
With 350 meters to go, the field’s elite grinders, including Ford Palmer, Julian Matthews and Lee Emanuel, moved straight up, jostling for top position. Andrews instantly found himself in sixth position on the backstretch, but took the opportunity to start his search for the front with half a lap to go.
By the end of the circuit, Andrews was on the pole, a spot he controlled through the tap
e at 3:57.15. Palmer took second in 3:58.42 and European Indoor silver medalist Emanuel was third in 3:58.60. Matthews, fourth in 3:58.71, was the last man to fall 4:00.
“It wasn’t too fast and I felt pretty comfortable,” said Andrews, the US indoor 1000m champion. “They did all the work for me (laughs). It was a great field and I wanted to be careful, I didn’t want to mess anything up. I tried to be as conservative as possible.”
FRICKERS WON NEARLY 800M COMPETITIONS IN MARCH
Fast finishing speed was needed to capture the men’s and women’s 800m crowns, which Ryan Martin and McKayla Fricker did in times of 1:46.74 and 2:03.57, respectively.
Martin took the lead after the hare with 400 meters to go and held the lead until Mike Root got on his shoulder with 100 meters to go. Ruth’s valiant effort to take over made it a photo finish. From a distance, it looked like Ruth had taken the win from behind. However, the photo finish was a different story with Martin winning by just four hundredths of a second, 1:46.74 to 1:46.78.
“I heard a bunch of people right behind me and I could see shadows on the ground so I knew it was going to be a tight finish. I didn’t want it to be that close.” said Martin.
Less than a week after setting her personal best in the 800m at the Prefontaine Classic, McKayla Fricker took two laps over the line again. There were five women in contention for the title heading into the final corner, but Fricker had the best closing speed. She would cross the line in 2:03.57 with Stephanie Charnigo second in 2:04.20.
CONNOR CREDITS FOR TEAM 5000M CROWN
Reid Connor may have won the 5,000m, but he told Race Results Weekly he couldn’t have done it without the help of his teammates at the New Jersey-New York Track Club. One of the few purely distance-oriented guys on the team, Connor often has to split training time with 1500m/mile specialists (Kyle Merber and Ford Palmer, among others) and 3000m ace Don Cabral.
With 200 meters to go and five men still fighting, Connor had the confidence to make one last bold move. Having trained with America’s best milers, he knew he had fast wheels on him. They propelled him to victory in 13:34.68.
“When you go, you go.” he said “The biggest thing is having a lot of training partners that are not only good, but great. … That’s what you saw today, the combination of strength and speed of my training partners, and that, along with a great coach (trainer Frank ‘Gags’ Gagliano) to get us on the road.”
WORLD MASTERS RECORD AND MORE!
In the senior medley mile, 71-year-old Jan Holmqvist set a 70+ Masters world record of 6:37.21. The previous world record was 6:47.91, set by American Jeanne Daprano in 2007.
“It’s fantastic, it’s great,” said Holmqvist, who, at his daughter’s urging, didn’t start running competitively until he was 50. “I’m a road racer, but this makes me want to go back to the track.”
A pair of Ivy Leaguers in James Rendon (Yale) and Ned Willig (Brown) took home wins in the first legs of the mile and 800m, respectively. Randon set a personal best of 4:00.43 in the mile. He’ll have one more chance to go under 4:00 for the first time at the Harvard-Yale-Oxford-Cambridge Quad Meet later this summer, when he runs on Oxford’s Iffley Road, the same course Roger Bannister first broke four minutes on. Willig clocked 1:48.08 to win the first leg of the 800m.
Bethany Praska won the first race of the women’s 800m in 2:04.76.
FINISHING
