Already the owner of three American records, Shalane Flanagan
added another Saturday night in the women’s 5,000m. The Massachusetts
native already had the indoor 3,000m AR and outdoor 5,000 and 10,000
records, and in Boston set her sights on Marla Runyan’s 5,000m AR of
15:07.33, set in 2001. Paced by Marina Muncan of Serbia through 2,000m
in 5:55, Flanagan took the lead and churned out 3 km in 8:55.5 and 4 km
in 11:54.17, with Senthayehu Ejigu of Ethiopia on her shoulder.
The
duo held that position until Ejigu pulled even with Flanagan in the
final 20 meters. At the tape, it was a photo finish, with Ejigu being
given the nod by five thousandths of  a second as both women finished
in 14:47.62, the sixth-fastest time ever run and a 2009 world leader.
Her record brought Flanagan a $25,000 bonus check of her own, gave her
the lead in the Visa Championship Series (1212 points) and the Team USA
Athlete of the Meet award presented by Visa.

Late-night drama

The final two events of the evening were among the most
exciting. The last race on the track, the men’s mile, featured a loaded
field that included Olympic bronze medalist Nick Willis, his former
Michigan teammate Alan Webb, and a host of sub-4 men. Adam Perkins
paced the field through splits of 57.6 and 1:56.6, with Webb, Pablo
Solares of Mexico and Willis following.
 
Perkins dropped after
1,000m, and the field went through 1200 in 2:56.7. Solares took over
the lead as Webb faded, with Willis and Chris Lukezic in second and
third. At the gun, the race was on, with Willis taking the lead on the
backstretch. Willis went on to win in a world-leading time of 3:53.54,
with Solares second in 3:54.52 and Lukezic third in 3:56.04.

But the meet wasn’t over. Hooker, who last week at the 102nd
Millrose Games broke the meet record and scared the world record, did
more of the same in Boston. The Olympic gold medalist won the
competition over Derek Miles with a clearance at 5.87m/19-3 as Miles
cleared 5.72m/18-9.25. Hooker then raised the bar to 6.06m/19-10.5. He
cleared on his third and final attempt at the height to become the #2
vaulter of all time, behind only Sergey Bubka. Next up was
6.16m/20-2.15, to try to break Bubka’s WR by a centimeter. A
run-through and two solid jumps – and misses – closed out his night.

Gallo sets meet record, world leader

Lindsey Gallo may have been a surprise winner in the Reebok
women’s mile run, but she made sure she made her mark. With Sarah
Jamieson of Australia leading for most of the race and Gallo tucked
behind, Gallo was joined by Mestawot Tadesse of Ethiopia in moving past
the Aussie with 100m to go. Tadesse took the lead, but in the final
stretch, Gallo, the 2006 USA outdoor 1,500m runner-up, sprinted away to
win in 4:27.90. The time was a meet record, and 2009 world leader and a
huge personal best for the 2005 University of Michigan graduate.
Tadesse finished second in 4:28.18, with Jamieson third in 4:29.47.

2006 NCAA indoor and outdoor 200m champion Shalonda Solomon
added a world leader in the Visa women’s 200m dash, winning easily in
23.17.

Goucher takes 3,000; Kipkeyo breaks collegiate mark

In addition to Hooker and Stuczysnki, several other athletes
won their events for the second consecutive week. In the midst of
training for the Boston Marathon in April, 2007 World Outdoor 10,000m
bronze medalist Kara Goucher followed up her win in the mile at the
Millrose Games by taking the women’s 3,000m in Boston. Starting with a
first kilometer of 2:59.99, Goucher passed through 2 km in 5:56.17,
trailing Kenyan Sally Kipkeyo of Texas Tech. Goucher took the lead with
800 to go and sprinted the final 400 to finish in 8:46.65. Kipkeyo was
second in 8:48.7, surpassing Kim Smith’s collegiate record of 8:49.18.
Men’s
Visa Championship Series leader Terrence Trammell logged his second
straight win, taking the Reebok men’s 60m hurdles in 7.53 to easily win
over Aubrey Hicks in 7.68; Michael Rodgers did the same in the Visa
men’s 60m dash in 6.58 over Darvis Patton’s 6.61. Travis Padgett was
third in 6.62.

Renny Quow of Trinidad won the MBTA men’s 400m in much the
same fashion as he won last week’s Mel Sheppard 600 yards – in the
final steps. Quow eked out a win over Michael Blackwood of Jamaica,
running 47.22 to Blackwood’s 47.31.
In the Nutrilite women’s 60m
dash, 2006 World Indoor champion Lisa Barber got out to a quick start
and held off 2007 World Outdoor 100m bronze medalist Carmelita Jeter,
7.19 to 7.20.

Other winners in Visa Championship Series events included
Bekana Daba of Ethiopia in the men’s 3000 (7:41.88) over 2008 Olympian
Galen Rupp (7:44.69); Nick Symmonds coming from behind in the Nutrilite
men’s 1,000m run (2:20.52); Ivory Williams in the MBTA men’s 200m
(20.92); Olympian Alice Schmidt in the METRO women’s 800m (2:03.09),
and Janay Deloach in the women’s long jump (6.33m/20-9.25).

Winners in other events included Jessica Parry of Canada in
the Reebok junior women’s mile (4:51.62), Jeff See of Ohio State in the
college men’s mile (4:01.17), Joshua Brown in the masters men’s mile
(4:34.30), and Dey Tuach of Rend Lake in the men’s college 800m
(1:51.41). The Reebok men’s junior mile provided one of the most
exciting finishes of the meet as Mac Fleet of California went from
fourth to first in the last five meters of the race to win in 4:09.06.
Andrew Springer of Rhode Island was second in 4:09.16.

For complete results and quotes, visit www.usatf.org