USATF Oxy High Performance Meet 2013May 16, 2013 by Mitch Kastoff
Who Will Actually Take "A" Shot in the Women's Oxy 5k?
Who Will Actually Take "A" Shot in the Women's Oxy 5k?
The women’s 5000m is making us a bit anxious. The morning of the 2013 USATF Oxy High Performance Meet, only three American women have the IAAF “A” standard in the 5k. Three.
It’s not that we don’t think that more women aren't capable of running under 15:18.00 (they are). It’s not that we don’t think that the 5k tonight isn’t set up for this happen (it is).
It’s just that as qualifying window starts to close, we can’t always rely on the U.S. Championships being a fast race or that athletes will chase the standard after they leave Des Moines, IA (the qualifying window closes nearly a month after the U.S. Championships).
That’s why the USATF, Katie Mackey, and Dana Mecke deserve some praise.
The USATF because they’re following through on one of their main objectives of helping athletes “to attain the World Championships ‘A’ standard...” That’s always been the crux of the high performance invitational, but putting that in a press release is the easy part. Getting World Championship hopefuls to do it is the hard part.
That’s where Katie Mackey and Dana Mecke come in. We generally don’t give too much praise to rabbits (other than Matt Scherer), but this is the part of the season where personal goals take priority over helping others. It’s not like being nice to everyone is going to get you an at-large bid to the U.S. Championships let alone a trip to Moscow.
We bring this all up because the last time a stellar field of American women was assembled, they dogged the first half and no one went under the “A” standard. Would a rabbit have helped? Sure, but it’s not like you can’t just go out and run it yourself.
The problem of every coaching telling his/her athlete, "Don’t lead."
So while Mackey is actually incredible close to the 5k “A” standard, she’s opted to return to her main event at Oxy and run the 1500m. She’s then able to double back and help set the tone for what will hopefully be a genuinerace time trial. It also helps that Mackey’s training partners, Brie Felnagle and Jessica Tebo, are in the race too.
This gives us another chance to give praise to Brooks for forming a training group that's not based on sponsors, but with the one goal of advancing U.S. distance running.
We assume that they’re listed in respective order on the heat sheet, so Mackey will rabbit thru 1600m in 4:50 and Mecke will tow the field thru 2000m. From there, it’s up to everyone else.
We’ll give the nod to two women and put a question mark next and two training partners.
Molly Huddle
Bold first pick. The American 5000m record holder has had a low key spring by staying close to home and racing in the New England area. However, we still haven't seen any glimpses of the '11 Huddle when she went on to run 14:44.76.
That being said, Dan Green sent us some races and interviews from the New Balance Boston Twilight Meet #1, where Huddle ran 8:57.75 with the men in the 3k. Huddle called it “a hard effort,” which is sort of worrying because that’s the pace she used to run for 5k.
In her interview, she followed that up by saying that the race was for “rust busting” purposes and she’s looking to run the “A” standard soon. We’ll assume that “soon” means Oxy HP.
Brie Felnagle
Last year, she was oh-so-close to the 5k standard. Even though she’s further off this year, there’s still two months to go before the window closes and she’s been looking strong.
Her 15:29.14 seventh place finish at Payton Jordan didn’t indicate that she was ready drop at least 10-seconds in the 5k, but her mile at RE:RUN San Diego tells us that she’s primed for a breakthrough. In what used to be her marque event, Felnagle showed some grit over the last lap of the RE:RUN mile to take second in 4:28.90. That would’ve been a personal best, but the Balboa Stadium was lined with cones where the rail should’ve been, so it counts as an “irregular mark.”
This was a tough call between putting in the “confident” or “question mark” pile, but she’s been hot as of late and we think this might be her second breakthrough race in a row.
Tara Erdmann
She’s a little more fresh and is hoping for a new 5000m personal best. Erdmann looked like she was coming along nicely indoors with a fourth place finish in the New Balance Grand Prix 2-mile in 9:39.48. That time roughly equates to 15:29, so a new PR wasn't out of the question come the outdoor season.
Since then, things have been tough. She picked up the injury bug soon after and ran a subpar 3000m at the Oregon Twilight (9:25.17). Still, the 10,000m specialist is looking to drop her 15:33.92 personal best.
- Tara Erdmann looking for 5k PR at Oxy
She’s one half of the Nike Oregon Project women who’ll be in the 5k this evening, but the other and more intriguing entry is...
Treniere Moser
Never has LL Cool J been so literal. Don’t call it a comeback, Trenimere Moser’s been here for years. In what’s been a second coming under coach Alberto Salazar, Moser ran her fastest 1500m since ’07 (4:06.40 at Payton Jordan) and now looks to do the same in the 5k.
A few days ago, Moser and Salazar decided that 5000m at Oxy fit well into her schedule. She’s wanted to run a 5000m for a while (she hasn’t since ’09) and the two think that the jump up in distance will help her in the 1500m.
Her 5000m PR, 15:34.56 from Mt. SAC, is from six years ago. She’s overdue and if everything goes well, this could be her event at USAs.
Below is the rest of the women’s 5000m field at Oxy. Will anyone else go with the rabbits?
Edit: We've said nothing about Amy Hastings, Jackie Areson, or Jessica Tebo. The first two have had tough outdoor campaigns while Tebo hasn't run a race all year (at least that we can find). They're listed in the "unknown" category, but let's not forget that special races can happen in the women's 5k at Oxy.
Section 1
It’s not that we don’t think that more women aren't capable of running under 15:18.00 (they are). It’s not that we don’t think that the 5k tonight isn’t set up for this happen (it is).
It’s just that as qualifying window starts to close, we can’t always rely on the U.S. Championships being a fast race or that athletes will chase the standard after they leave Des Moines, IA (the qualifying window closes nearly a month after the U.S. Championships).
That’s why the USATF, Katie Mackey, and Dana Mecke deserve some praise.
The USATF because they’re following through on one of their main objectives of helping athletes “to attain the World Championships ‘A’ standard...” That’s always been the crux of the high performance invitational, but putting that in a press release is the easy part. Getting World Championship hopefuls to do it is the hard part.
That’s where Katie Mackey and Dana Mecke come in. We generally don’t give too much praise to rabbits (other than Matt Scherer), but this is the part of the season where personal goals take priority over helping others. It’s not like being nice to everyone is going to get you an at-large bid to the U.S. Championships let alone a trip to Moscow.
We bring this all up because the last time a stellar field of American women was assembled, they dogged the first half and no one went under the “A” standard. Would a rabbit have helped? Sure, but it’s not like you can’t just go out and run it yourself.
The problem of every coaching telling his/her athlete, "Don’t lead."
So while Mackey is actually incredible close to the 5k “A” standard, she’s opted to return to her main event at Oxy and run the 1500m. She’s then able to double back and help set the tone for what will hopefully be a genuine
This gives us another chance to give praise to Brooks for forming a training group that's not based on sponsors, but with the one goal of advancing U.S. distance running.
We assume that they’re listed in respective order on the heat sheet, so Mackey will rabbit thru 1600m in 4:50 and Mecke will tow the field thru 2000m. From there, it’s up to everyone else.
We’ll give the nod to two women and put a question mark next and two training partners.
Molly Huddle
Bold first pick. The American 5000m record holder has had a low key spring by staying close to home and racing in the New England area. However, we still haven't seen any glimpses of the '11 Huddle when she went on to run 14:44.76.
That being said, Dan Green sent us some races and interviews from the New Balance Boston Twilight Meet #1, where Huddle ran 8:57.75 with the men in the 3k. Huddle called it “a hard effort,” which is sort of worrying because that’s the pace she used to run for 5k.
In her interview, she followed that up by saying that the race was for “rust busting” purposes and she’s looking to run the “A” standard soon. We’ll assume that “soon” means Oxy HP.
Brie Felnagle
Last year, she was oh-so-close to the 5k standard. Even though she’s further off this year, there’s still two months to go before the window closes and she’s been looking strong.
Her 15:29.14 seventh place finish at Payton Jordan didn’t indicate that she was ready drop at least 10-seconds in the 5k, but her mile at RE:RUN San Diego tells us that she’s primed for a breakthrough. In what used to be her marque event, Felnagle showed some grit over the last lap of the RE:RUN mile to take second in 4:28.90. That would’ve been a personal best, but the Balboa Stadium was lined with cones where the rail should’ve been, so it counts as an “irregular mark.”
This was a tough call between putting in the “confident” or “question mark” pile, but she’s been hot as of late and we think this might be her second breakthrough race in a row.
Tara Erdmann
She’s a little more fresh and is hoping for a new 5000m personal best. Erdmann looked like she was coming along nicely indoors with a fourth place finish in the New Balance Grand Prix 2-mile in 9:39.48. That time roughly equates to 15:29, so a new PR wasn't out of the question come the outdoor season.
Since then, things have been tough. She picked up the injury bug soon after and ran a subpar 3000m at the Oregon Twilight (9:25.17). Still, the 10,000m specialist is looking to drop her 15:33.92 personal best.
- Tara Erdmann looking for 5k PR at Oxy
She’s one half of the Nike Oregon Project women who’ll be in the 5k this evening, but the other and more intriguing entry is...
Treniere Moser
Never has LL Cool J been so literal. Don’t call it a comeback, Trenimere Moser’s been here for years. In what’s been a second coming under coach Alberto Salazar, Moser ran her fastest 1500m since ’07 (4:06.40 at Payton Jordan) and now looks to do the same in the 5k.
A few days ago, Moser and Salazar decided that 5000m at Oxy fit well into her schedule. She’s wanted to run a 5000m for a while (she hasn’t since ’09) and the two think that the jump up in distance will help her in the 1500m.
Her 5000m PR, 15:34.56 from Mt. SAC, is from six years ago. She’s overdue and if everything goes well, this could be her event at USAs.
Below is the rest of the women’s 5000m field at Oxy. Will anyone else go with the rabbits?
Edit: We've said nothing about Amy Hastings, Jackie Areson, or Jessica Tebo. The first two have had tough outdoor campaigns while Tebo hasn't run a race all year (at least that we can find). They're listed in the "unknown" category, but let's not forget that special races can happen in the women's 5k at Oxy.
Section 1
Pace: Katie Mackey & Dana Mecke (4:50 thru 1600m, going 2000m)
| Name | Affiliation | PR |
| Molly Huddle | Saucony | 14:44.76 ('10) |
| Jackie Areson | Nike | 15:14.31 ('12) |
| Brie Felnagle | adidas | 15:22.39 ('12) |
| Tara Erdmann | Nike | 15:33.92 ('12) |
| Natasha LaBeaud | Brooks | 15:50.34 ('13) |
| Jessica Tebo | Brooks | 15:19.43 ('12) |
| Rosa Del Toro | Unattached | 16:14.79 ('13) |
| Andrea Seccafien | Speed River | 16:06.99 ('13) |
| Kristen Rohde | Bowerman AC | 16:12.74 ('12) |
| Amy Hastings | Brooks | 15:14.31 ('11) |
| Marisol Romero | Mexi | 15:27.94 ('11) |
| Treniere Moser | Nike | 15:34.56 ('07) |