IN MAY defending national champion Elise Cranny ran the 5 at the USATF Distance Classic. It was her first race longer than 3000m in almost a year. She finished 4th, in 15:16.72, in a race won by Emily Lipari. What would she do at Nationals?
“I had not been myself for a while,” the 27-year-old Stanford grad and Bowerman TC member said. “But training has been going well.”
Even so, she said, “you always have a little bit of doubt.”
After toying with running the 1500 here, she ran the 10 the first evening and won, outkicking Alicia Monson. Would she double back in the 5? “I recovered well,” Cranny said.
By 3K the lead group was Monson, Natosha Rogers, Josette Andrews, Elly Henes, Whittni Morgan, Weini Kelati, Emily Infeld and Cranny. Monson was leading the way, running 71s.
“I decided I was just going to go for it,” said the 25-year-old 10K Olympian, who was running the 5K Nationals for the first time.
“A big thank you to Alicia for making it a fast, honest race,” Cranny said. “I’m very grateful for her.”
Cranny, in fact, did not have the WC standard of 14:57.00, while the other contenders did. But she was feeling confident. “I was ready for a hard race.”
The falloff began on the ninth lap. First the 33-year-old Infeld, a Rio Olympian and Worlds finalist a year ago, dropped back, followed quickly by Kelati, Morgan and Henes, while Andrews — who had decided to focus on the 5 rather than the 15 — was trying to hold on. With 3 laps to go it was down to Monson, Rogers, Cranny.
And just as with the 10K 3 days earlier, Cranny had the best close, pulling away over the last lap and a half to finish in 14:52.66 with Monson (14:55.1) and Rogers (14:55.39) next.
“I started to get tired towards the end,” Monson said. “But I’m happy with it.”
The top 3 all were 1-2-3 in the 10 as well, though Rogers does not have the Q in the 10, so decisions have to be made about which races to run in Budapest.
Cranny showed her hand by admitting, “The 5 is definitely where my heart is.”
Farther back, the runner with the best finish was the surprising 21-year-old collegian Katelyn Tuohy. “I tried to fight to the end and not give up,” she said. “It was tough, but a good experience.” She came from well back to get 7th in 15:15.26, ahead of Kelati and Infeld.
WOMEN’S 5000 RESULTS
(July 09)
1. Elise Cranny (NikBowTC) 14:52.66 (17.25, 34.98, 64.96, 2:18.23, 4:41.60)
(35.11 [35.11], 77.29 [1:52.40], 73.63 [3:06.03], 71.35 [4:17.38], 71.12 [5:28.50], 70.94 [6:39.44], 70.70 [7:50.14], 71.03 [9:01.17], 69.89 [10:11.06], 70.75 [11:21.81], 72.62 [12:34.43], 73.27 [13:47.70], 64.96);
2. Alicia Monson (OAC) 14:55.10 (16.76, 34.01, 67.21, 2:20.89, 4:44.73);
3. Natosha Rogers (PumaE) 14:55.39 (16.83, 34.26, 67.89, 2:20.72, 4:44.55);
4. Josette Andrews (OAC) 15:01.80 (70.05, 2:24.25, 4:50.40);
5. Elly Henes (adidas) 15:08.66 (72.33, 2:27.68, 4:56.52);
6. Whittni Morgan (adidas) 15:14.03 (78.32, 2:35.73, 5:01.59);
7. Katelyn Tuohy (NCSt) 15:15.26 (67.96, 2:22.05, 4:53.72);
8. Weini Kelati (UArmDS) 15:15.49 (71.77, 2:28.45, 5:02.13);
9. Emily Infeld (Nike) 15:24.17; 10. Abby Nichols (HokaNnAz) 15:27.02; 11. Allie Buchalski (BrkB) 15:28.19; 12. Andrea Rodenfels (BAA) 15:30.26; 13. Ednah Kurgat (NikeUSAr) 15:30.66; 14. Katie Camarena (unat) 15:32.26; 15. Katie Izzo (adidas) 15:32.61; 16. Taylor Werner (Puma) 15:36.06; 17. Emily Lipari (adidas) 15:40.34; 18. Hannah Steelman (OnAC) 15:42.83; 19. Katie Wasserman (HokaNnAz) 15:44.47; 20. Anna Oeser (BattR) 15:51.92; 21. Bethany Hasz (BAA) 16:20.76; 22. Maddie Alm (unat) 16:29.99.