SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CALIFORNIA, March 16 — Coming into Sound Running’s The TEN, the site where he set his American Record 26:33.84 for 10,000m, Grant Fisher had indicated that this year would not be about chasing that record, but rather simply getting under the ultra-tough Olympic standard of 27:00. He checked that box, winning in a world-leading 26:52.04 and leading 7 others under the standard.
Nico Young, the Northern Arizona star who became the first collegian to break 13:00 at 5000 over the winter, debuted over 25 laps to become the first NCAA performer to go under 27:00, with a Collegiate Record 26:52.72 in 2nd. That took down the old mark of 27:08.49 that Liberty’s Sam Chelanga set in ’10, as well as the American CR of 27:31.08 that had been held by Stanford’s Chris Derrick since ’12. It also makes Young the No. 3 American ever.
The early pacing duties were handled by Ahmed Muhumed, hitting 1600 in 4:19.03 and 2K in 5:23.87. After 2400 Amon Kemboi took over; he passed 3200 in 8:38.17 and led for another lap before dropping. Back in front, Muhumed kept clicking off the sub-65-second laps through 4400. Once he dropped, Abdihamid Nur led, passing 5K in about 13:31, followed closely by Luis Grijalva, Moh Ahmed and Adriaan Wildschutt. Fisher sat in 5th, with Andreas Almgren just behind.
Nur passed 6K in 16:14.17, then Ahmed moved to the front with New Mexico frosh Habtom Samuel on his shoulder. It was Samuel who led the tight pack past the 8K post in 21:38.20 (27:03 pace), followed by Ahmed, Wildschutt and Fisher. Young ran 6th at that point.
Ahmed still led at the bell but 5 others ran within a second of him. It was Fisher who launched the most powerful kick, covering the final circuit in 56.78 to take the win in the fourth-fastest performance ever by an American. Young held off the fast close of Almgren, who broke the Swedish Record at 26:52.87. Ahmed ran 4th (26:53.01) while Samuel ended up No. 2 on the collegiate list with his 26:53.84. Wildschutt (26:55.54), Woody Kincaid (26:57.57 — now the No. 4 American ever) and Edwin Kurgat (26:57.66) rounded out the qualifiers.
“It was the perfect race, the perfect setup,” said Fisher. “A lot of guys did a lot of work, not including myself, so I really appreciate them… It’s all about Paris. This was a key step to get to Paris. I needed this in my pocket.”
The women’s race saw Ethiopia’s Tsige Gebreselama blister a 29:48.34, the first time anyone has broken 30:00 on U.S. soil. The mark moves her to No. 9 in history. Running alone, the World Cross Country runner-up passed halfway in 14:57.6. Alicia Monson held the second spot until Weini Kelati passed her before 6400. Monson — who ran under the 30:40.00 Paris Q-standard with her 30:03.82 American Record at this meet last year — dropped out shortly after. Kelati clocked 30:33.82 in 2nd to become No. 6 on the U.S. all-time list. Australia’s Lauren Ryan (30:35.66 NR) and Britain’s Megan Keith (30:36.84) followed. Americans took the next 4 spots: Rachel Smith (31:04.02 PR), Karissa Schweizer (31:04.80), Keira D’Amato (31:05.31 PR) and Elly Henes (31:07.23).
The pro races produced other highlights as well. Drew Hunter won another section of the 10,000 in 27:38.87, his first effort at the distance. Amanda Vestri took the matching women’s race in a 31:54.22 PR. Thailand’s Kieran Tuntivate ran a national record 3:37.58 to win the 1500 over Thomas Ratcliffe (3:37.87). In the women’s race, California high schooler Sadie Engelhardt moved to No. 5 among preps all-time (and No. 7 among U.S. Juniors) with her 4:09.70 win over Lauren Gregory (4:10.03).
THE TEN MEN’S RESULTS
1500: 1. Kieran Tuntivate’ (Tha) 3:37.58 NR; 2. Thomas Ratcliffe (NikeBowTC) 3:37.87 PR; 3. Henry McLuckie’ (GB) 3:38.64; 4. Sam Parsons’ (Ger) 3:38.65; 5. Matthew Centrowitz (Nike) 3:38.88.
10,000: I–1. Simon Sundström’ (Swe) 28:11.16 PR; 2. Christian Ricketts (Roots) 28:17.78 PR; 3. Jeremy Coughler’ (Can) 28:28.30 PR.
II–1. Drew Hunter (adidas) 27:38.87 PR (WL);
2. Gulveer Singh’ (Ind) 27:41.81 NR; 3. Aaron Bienenfeld’ (Ger) 27:42.83 PR; 4. Simon Bedard’ (Fra) 27:49.24 PR; 5. Peter Lynch’ (Ire) 27:49.30 PR; 6. Efrem Gidey’ (Ire) 27:53.14 PR; 7. Pietro Riva’ (Ita) 27:55.19; 8. Noah Schutte’ (Neth) 27:58.80 PR; 9. Kartik Kumar’ (Ind) 28:01.90 PR; 10. Rory Leonard’ (GB) 28:04.83 PR; 11. Ryan Ford (ZapE) 28:07.41 PR; 12. Shotaro Ishihara’ (Jpn) 28:13.34; 13. Andrew Alexander’ (Can) 28:22.29; 14. Takato Suzuki’ (Jpn) 28:23.04; 15. Marcelo Laguera’ (Mex) 28:23.79; 16. James Mwaura (unat) 28:24.18; 17. Tai Dinger (TS) 28:26.78; 18. Barry Keane’ (Ire) 28:27.83.
III–1. Grant Fisher (Nike) 26:52.04 (WL) (x, 4 A) (56.77, 1:57.93, 4:07.89, 5:13.14);
2. *Nico Young (NnAz) 26:52.72 CR, AmCR (old CR 27:08.39 Sam Chelanga [Liberty] ’10, old AmCR 27:31.08 Chris Derrick [Stan] ’12) (3, 5 A) (57.61, 1:58.88, 4:08.20);
3. Andreas Almgren’ (Swe) 26:52.87 NR; 4. Moh Ahmed’ (Can) 26:53.01;
5. ***Habtom Samuel’ (NM-Eri) 26:53.84 PR (2, 2 C);
6. Adrian Wildschutt’ (SA) 26:55.54 NR;
7. Woody Kincaid (Nike) 26:57.57 PR (4, 6 A);
8. Edwin Kurgat’ (Ken) 26:57.66 PR; 9. Isaac Kimeli’ (Bel) 27:07.97 PR; 10. Patrick Dever’ (GB) 27:08.81 PR;
11. Anthony Rotich (USAr) 27:08.94 PR (9, x A);
12. Joe Klecker (OAC) 27:09.29; 13. Jack Rayner’ (Aus) 27:09.57 NR; 14. Abdihamid Nur (Nike) 27:17.28 PR; 15. Ben Flanagan’ (Can) 27:20.93 PR; 16. Luis Grijalva’ (Gua) 27:26.02 NR; 17. Tomoki Ota’ (Jpn) 27:26.41; 18. Athanas Kioko’ (Ken) 27:32.29; 19. Charles Hicks’ (GB) 27:33.58 PR; 20. Keita Sato’ (Jpn) 27:34.66; 21. Emmanuel Bor (unat) 27:42.99; 22. Brian Fay’ (Ire) 27:43.45 PR; 23. Dillon Maggard (BrkB) 27:47.60; 24. Alex Masai’ (Ken) 27:47.86; 25. Kazuki Tamura’ (Jpn) 27:49.09; 26. Jack Rowe’ (GB) 27:54.55 PR; 27. Nils Voigt’ (Ger) 28:00.56; 28. Wesley Kiptoo’ (Ken) 28:03.42; 29. Mebuki Suzuki’ (Jpn) 28:03.93; 30. Jonas Raess’ (Swi) 28:04.78.
THE TEN WOMEN’S RESULTS
1500: 1. Sadie Engelhardt (CaHS) 4:09.70 PR (7, x AJ; 5, 9 HS);
2. Lauren Gregory (Nike) 4:10.03; 3. Jenn Randall (TS) 4:11.49; 4. Grace Stalnaker (Asics) 4:12.56; 5. Carina Viljoen’ (SA) 4:14.55.
10,000: I–1. Amanda Vestri (ZapE) 31:54.22 PR (WL);
2. Maggie Montoya (Salom) 32:05.22 PR; 3. Ms Seema’ (Ind) 32:07.67 PR; 4. Sanjivani Jadhav’ (Ind) 32:21.76 PR; 5. Jessica Gockley (unat) 32:38.57 PR; 6. Alexandra Hays (unat) 32:41.22; 7. Micaela Rivera (unat) 32:41.48 PR.
II–1. Tsige Gebreselama’ (Eth) 29:48.34 PR (WL) ACR (old ACR 30:00.86 Eilish McColgan [GB] ’23) (8, x W) ((66.39, 2:16.46, 4:39.10, 5:50.90); 2. Weini Kelati (UArmDS) 30:33.82 PR (6, 6 A) (68.85, 2:21.20, 4:49.52, 6:02.82);
3. Lauren Ryan’ (Aus) 30:35.66 NR; 4. Megan Keith’ (GB) 30:36.84 PR; 5. Rachel Smith (Hoka) 31:04.02 PR; 6. Karissa Schweizer (NikeBowTC) 31:04.80; 7. Keira D’Amato (Nike) 31:05.31 PR; 8. Elly Henes (adidas) 31:07.23; 9. Mercy Chelangat’ (Ken) 31:15.39 PR; 10. Emily Lipari (adidas) 31:19.72 PR; 11. Laura Galván’ (Mex) 31:26.80; 12. Everlyn Kemboi’ (Ken) 31:28.18 PR; 13. Erika Kemp (Brk) 31:28.69 PR; 14. Sara Hall (Asics) 31:32.52; 15. Florencia Borelli’ (Arg) 31:33.07 NR; 16. Holly Campbell’ (Aus) 31:44.67 PR; 17. Wuga He’ (Chn) 31:55.18; 18. Amy-Eloise Neale’ (GB) 31:56.01; 19. Katie Camarena (TinE) 32:00.20 PR; 20. Parul Chaudhary’ (Ind) 32:02.08 PR; 21. Annie Rodenfels (BAA) 32:33.73 PR; 22. Danielle Polerecky (McK) 32:42.90;… dnf—Alicia Monson (US), Jessica Warner-Judd (GB).
