Top 5 Recap: 2012 Herculis Monaco

1. We have to hand it to Evan Jager for having a mind-blowing race in the men's steeplechase today. Jager finished third in a time of 8:06.81 to snag the American record of 8:08.82, which was previously held by Dan Lincoln from 2006. The time was an eleven second personal best for the 23 year-old. It's been a long time since the US has had a superstar like Jager in the event, and he shows no signs of slowing down.  There was also an upset in the race in the last 100 meters when world leader Paul Kipsiele Koech was out-kicked by his teammate Conselus Kipruto in a winning time of 8:03.49, a personal best for the Kenyan.  

RANK	ATHLETE	NATION	RESULT		DIAMOND POINTS	DIAMOND RANKING
1	KIPRUTO Conselus	KEN	8:03.49	PB	4	2
2	KOECH Paul Kipsiele	KEN	8:03.90		14	1
3	JAGER Evan	USA	8:06.81	AR	1	6
4	NGANGA Bernard	KEN	8:09.23	SB
5	BIRECH Jairus Kipchoge	KEN	8:10.62		1	6
6	TALEB Brahim	MAR	8:14.11
7	MATEELONG Richard Kipkemboi	KEN	8:16.26		2	4
8	KESKISALO Jukka	FIN	8:27.96	SB
9	LUCHIANOV Ion	MDA	8:29.69
10	ABDI Youcef	AUS	8:32.86
11	GENEST Alexandre	CAN	8:36.69
12	PEPIOT Tanguy	FRA	8:39.90
	KOECH John	KEN	DNF
	YEGO Hillary Kipsang	KEN	DNF

2. A new world leader was crowned in the men's 1500 as Asbel Kiprop of Kenya ran a blazing time of 3:28.88 in a fierce-looking field.  The 2011 World Champion out-kicked teammate Kiplimo Nixon Chepseba who ran a personal best of 3:29.77 and was followed by 2008 Silver medalist Nick Willis in a new personal best of 3:30.35. 

RANK	ATHLETE	NATION	RESULT		DIAMOND POINTS	DIAMOND RANKING
1	KIPROP Asbel	KEN	3:28.88	WL	14	1
2	CHEPSEBA Nixon Kiplimo	KEN	3:29.77	PB	2	4
3	WILLIS Nick	NZL	3:30.35	AR	1	6
4	LAALOU Amine	MAR	3:30.54
5	MAKHLOUFI Taoufik	ALG	3:30.80	PB
6	BIRGEN Bethwell	KEN	3:31.00	PB	1	6
7	SEUREI Benson	KEN	3:31.61	PB
8	CHEBOI Collins	KEN	3:32.08	PB
9	RODRÍGUEZ Álvaro	ESP	3:34.50
10	KOWAL Yoann	FRA	3:35.03	SB
11	BEUGNET Gregory	FRA	3:38.00
	ANDREWS Robby	USA	DNF
	MAGUT James Kiplagat	KEN	DNF
	ROTICH Andrew Kiptoo	KEN	DNF

3. Duane Solomon also had a great day in the men's 800 where he finished 3rd with a smile on his face in a time of 1:43.44. Coming off of his 3rd place finish at the Trials with a time of 1:44.65, Solomon seems to be hitting his season's peak at the perfect time.  

RANK	ATHLETE	NATION	RESULT
1	ROTICH Abraham Kipchirchir	KEN	1:43.13	PB
2	KOSENCHA Leonard Kirwa	KEN	1:43.40	PB
3	SOLOMON Duane	USA	1:43.44	PB
4	LÓPEZ Kevin	ESP	1:43.74	NR
5	SYMMONDS Nick	USA	1:43.78	SB
6	OLIVIER Andre	RSA	1:44.29	PB
7	LEWANDOWSKI Marcin	POL	1:44.37
8	OSAGIE Andrew	GBR	1:44.48	PB
9	KAKI Abubaker	SUD	1:44.89
10	BUBE Andreas	DEN	1:44.89	PB
	SCHERER Matthew	USA	DNF

4. The men's 110m hurdles was another stellar performance for Aries Merritt who has been on a role these past few weeks, breaking 13 seconds in the past three meets.  Merritt hit 12.93 yet again for the win in another world leading time and a meet record.  

RANK	ATHLETE	NATION	RESULT		REACTION TIME	DIAMOND POINTS	DIAMOND RANKING
1	MERRITT Aries	USA	12.93	=WL,MR	0.112	6	3
2	RICHARDSON Jason	USA	13.07		0.162	8	2
3	SHUBENKOV Sergey	RUS	13.09	=NR	0.143	1	6
4	OLIVER David	USA	13.14		0.154	2	4
5	PORTER Jeff	USA	13.19		0.153	2	4
6	DARIEN Garfield	FRA	13.27		0.161
7	RILEY Andrew	JAM	13.28		0.138
8	BASCOU Dimitri	FRA	13.54

5. The men's 400m was a surprise as current world leader and reigning Olympic Champion LaShawn Merritt dropped out of the race in the first 200 meters.  Hopefully Merritt will be ready to go for London in a week.  In the same race, Jonathan Borlee ran a season's best of 44.74 to edge out Kirani James for the win.  

RANK	ATHLETE	NATION	RESULT		DIAMOND POINTS	DIAMOND RANKING
1	BORLÉE Jonathan	BEL	44.74	SB	4	3
2	JAMES Kirani	GRN	44.76		2	5
3	BORLÉE Kevin	BEL	44.94		1	8
4	SANTOS Luguelín	DOM	45.10		6	2
5	WARINER Jeremy	USA	45.28		2	5
6	ROONEY Martyn	GBR	45.52
7	MASLÁK Pavel	CZE	45.55
	MERRITT Lashawn	USA	DNF		8	1