USATF Women’s 10K —Fast Cranny Finish Flips Script

Elise Cranny used the occasion of the slowest USATF 10K since ’06 to “channel the end of a 1500.” (KIRBY LEE/IMAGE OF SPORT)

UP UNTIL 7200m — 7 laps to go — one might have thought the story of this race was Karissa Schweizer’s biding her time until she was ready to strike. The Bowerman TC’s defending champ shadowed default leader Kasandra Parker through desultory laps that on occasion passed in more than 80 seconds, and even refused the lead when it was clearly offered.

Parker reached halfway in 16:45.92; presumably, Schweizer would eventually flex the form that made her the top American at last year’s World Championships (9th) on this track.

The script then gradually flipped, flipped again, and then once more. Natosha Rogers (also a ’22 WC finalist) surged to the front, pulling along a pack of 7. Then the third Worlds finalist, Alicia Monson — 4 months into her reign as the AR holder — made her bid with a mile remaining. Schweizer was suddenly no longer part of the story, although still very much in contention for the Budapest team.

Monson seemed to be in control, but it was illusory. Elise Cranny had a 62-second last lap in her hand and played it — in 62.20, to be exact. Cranny’s 32:12.30 finished well clear of Monson’s 32:17.51. Both booked trips to Hungary, having earlier bettered the requisite Worlds standard of 30:40.00. Rogers’ 3rd-place 32:22.77 left her far short, giving Schweizer (5th in 32:32.10) the top shot, for now, at the final team slot.

Schweizer, knowing she had the standard and the pace was well off it, may have been saving her energy for Sunday’s 5K final.

For the 27-year-old Cranny the win was a significant step up from last year’s USATF, when she was a DNS. Of course, being the 2-time defending 5000 champion — and a 5K finalist at both the Tokyo Olympics and Oregon Worlds — she wasn’t exactly needing redemption.

Cranny — who raced to a 4th-place 1500 finish on this track in the ’14 World Juniors — this time sped through the closing 3200 in 9:29.20 with a final 1600 of 4:30.22. Her negative-split halves were 16:47.65 and 15:24.65.

When she passed on last year’s 10,000 title race held in conjunction with the Pre Classic in late May, Cranny had explained, “I haven’t been feeling like myself in training… I just don’t feel ready to compete right now.”

Her turnaround since speaks for itself.

Asked about her ferocious finish, Cranny revealed she had hoped to convince Bowerman TC coach Jerry Schumacher to let her race the 1500 here. “I feel like we’ve been doing kind of a lot of 1500 work and have been feeling really good at that pace,” she said. “So I was kind of trying to channel the end of a 15 at the end of the 10K.”


WOMEN’S 10,000 RESULTS

(July 06)

1. Elise Cranny (NikBowTC) 32:12.30 (62.20, 2:11.48, 3:21.18, 4:30.22) (16:47.65/15:24.65)

(84.77, 92.11 [2:56.88], 79.63 [4:16.51], 78.91 [5:35.42], 78.53 [6:53.95], 77.76 [8:11.71], 77.07 [9:28.78], 77.86 [10:46.64], 78.97 [12:05.61], 79.60 [13:25.21], 82.75 [14:47.96], 80.81 [16:08.77], 77.71 [17:26.48], 77.73 [18:44.21], 78.98 [20:03.19], 80.41 [21:23.60], 79.50 [22:43.10], 74.18 [23:57.28], 74.39 [25:11.67], 75.69 [26:27.36], 74.72 [27:42.08], 69.04 [28:51.12], 69.70 [30:00.82], 69.28 [31:10.10], 62.20);

2. Alicia Monson (OAC) 32:17.51 (67.61, 2:16.91, 3:26.60, 4:36.06) (16:47.47/15:30.04);

3. Natosha Rogers (PumaEl) 32:22.77 (69.76, 2:21.70, 3:31.36, 4:41.14) (16:47.19/15:35.58);

4. Weini Kelati (UArmDS) 32:30.40 (70.36, 2:23.37, 3:37.23, 4:48.11) (16:46.43/15:43.97);

5. Karissa Schweizer (NikBowTC) 32:32.10 (71.66, 2:26.34, 3:39.43, 4:50.35) (16:46.02/15:46.08);

6. Ednah Kurgat (NikeUSAr) 32:38.99 (74.58, 2:31.39, 3:45.56, 4:57.10);

7. Emily Venters (Ut) 32:45.57 (74.51, 2:31.71, 3:48.15, 5:02.46);

8. Amanda Vestri (Syr) 33:11.26 (76.73, 2:35.28, 3:54.71, 5:13.83);

9. Kasandra Parker (unat) 33:18.60 (16:45.92); 10. Alexandra Hays (NC) 33:33.35; 11. Jackie Gaughan (GrnR) 33:37.81; 12. Vanessa Fraser (NikBowTC) 33:53.99; 13. Sam Nadel (AthDC) 34:01.35; 14. Marybeth Chelanga (unat) 34:01.91; 15. Hannah Branch (unat) 34:16.65; 16. Amaya Noe (Bobcat) 34:46.16; 17. India Johnson (Co) 34:58.50; 18. Mackenzie Caldwell (unat) 35:07.09;… dnf—Madeline Block (unat), Amelia Paladino (NBal).