Goucher Wins Trials 5000 Meters

Kara Goucher’s Olympic Trials just got even sweeter. Having already secured a slot on the U.S. Olympic team with her second place finish in the 10,000 meters, Goucher (pictured) took her Trials to the next level with a hard-fought victory in the 5000 meters.

Pre-race favorites Goucher, Shalane Flanagan, and Jen Rhines were all content to allow Arianna Lambie to set the early pace. They all had the Olympic ‘A’ standard, which Lambie lacked, so they bided their time while Lambie wore herself down out front. With three laps to go, Flanagan moved to the lead and began a prolonged kick, followed closely by Rhines and Goucher. The pace dropped from 75 seconds per lap down to 66, and the race was on.

With a lap to go, Goucher appeared in danger of being dropped. However, 300 meters out, she shifted gears and closed the gap on Flanagan and Rhines. She took the lead with authority coming off the final curve, and ran away with the race, clocking a 64 second final lap. Goucher’s time of 15:01.02 was off her best of 14:55.02, but her 4:36 final mile suggests that she is capable of much more.

Goucher heads to Beijing as a proven contender on the international scene after last summer’s bronze medal in the World Championships 10,000 meters.

In Addition ... Read Kevin Pates' Duluth News-Tribune story about the race HERE.

1500M Semifinal Action ... The first of two heats of the men’s 1500M semifinals saw two former Minnesota preps, Will Leer (Minnetonka) and Garrett Heath (Winona), going head-to-head with the likes of Alan Webb and Bernard Lagat.

With 200M left in the race, Leer and Heath both appeared to be in striking distance for the top 6 – and a spot in Sunday’s finals. Coming off the Bowerman curve and into the homestretch, Leer, who currently competes for the Oregon Track Club, accelerated into third place to secure a qualifying position with a 3:44.19. “It was pretty easy,” he said of the effort. Heath, coming off his junior year at Stanford, faded to 11^th, finishing in 3:45.99.

In the women’s semifinals, Carrie Tollefson’s Olympic Trials came to a close. She held on to the pack through the first two laps, but as the pace accelerated over the final 600M, the effort proved to be too much. Tollefson, of St. Paul, came home 9^th in her heat in 4:17.27. “I’m not a complainer. It was unfortunate today, but I’ll be back,” said the ever-positive Tollefson.

Jenelle Deatherage of St. Louis Park survived a scare in the second semifinal, moving up from the back of the pack and securing the final spot in Sunday’s finals with a 4:15.64. She moved into 5^th place before being passed by California prep phenom Jordan Hasay, who set a national high school record of 4:14.50.

Complete results are available HERE.

Kara Goucher photo by Sean Hartnett. Jenelle Deatherage photo courtesy of www.trackandfieldphoto.com.