Navigation
USA Track & Field
USA Indoor Track & Field Championships: Highlights of the Distance Races
All photos by www.photorun.net. Above: Bernard Lagat won the men's 3000m in 7:57.17.
From USA Track & Field
February 28, 2011
Indianapolis, IN
The 2011 USA Indoor Track & Field Championships presented by BMW was held on Saturday and Sunday, February 26 & 27 in Albuquerque, NM. The USA Indoor Championships serve as the third and final event of the USA Track & Field 2011 Indoor Visa Championship Series. Jenn Suhr (women's pole vault) and Mike Rodgers (men's 60m) won the 2011 Indoor Visa Championships Series women's and men's titles.
Through USATF’s partnership with RunnerSpace.com, highlights of the championships and athlete interviews are available at www.usatf.org.
Duane Solomon Wins Men's 800m
2007 World Outdoor Championships team member Duane Solomon grabbed the lead from the beginning and never let go in winning the first USA Indoor title of his career in 1:48.03.
Solomon finished as the runner-up at the 2010 USA Outdoor Championships and was a semifinalist at the 2010 World Indoor Championships in Doha. Solomon entered this season ranked #4 in the U.S. by T&FN. Former UC Santa Barbara standout Tetlo Emmen, who entered the competition with the field’s fastest qualifying time of 1:47.95, was the runner-up in 1:48.35, with Mark Wieczorek, who finished fifth here last year, placing third this afternoon in 1:48.38.
Phoebe Wright Wins Women's 800m
Phoebe Wright led from the gun and ran to her first U.S. national title in 2:02.27 in her debut indoor season as a professional athlete. After walking-on the track team at the University of Tennessee, Wright went on to become a two-time national NCAA champion. Erica Moore ran on Wright’s shoulder throughout the race to take the runner-up spot in 2:02.92.
Jennifer Simpson Wins Nike Women’s Mile
Following up on her win in Saturday night’s 3000m, Olympian Jennifer Barringer Simpson claimed her second national title on Sunday in the Nike Women’s Mile (4:34.96); Heidi Dahl finished second (4:36.35). Simpson is only the fourth woman to win the double at the U.S. Championships; she set the U.S. leading mark (4:28.60) earlier this year. It was the two-year anniversary of her collegiate record of 4:25 set at the Big 12 Championships.
Photo at left: Phoebe Wright won the women's 800m race.Jeff See Wins Men’s Mile
Former Ohio State University standout Jeff See stormed from behind in a mad dash down the final straightaway to win the men’s mile in 4:04.63.
See, who was in third place coming off the final turn, took advantage of an opening on the rail and flew past Aaron Braun and Garrett Heath in winning his first career USA Indoor title in 4:04.63. Braun, who held the lead until being passed with 15 meters to go, was the runner-up in 4:04.83, with Heath finishing third in 4:04.91. The winner of three previous U.S. Indoor 1500m/mile titles, Rob Myers finished fourth in 4:07.18.
Bernard Lagat Wins Men's 3000m
Three-time Olympian Bernard Lagat was the victor in his highly-anticipated Nike Men’s 3000 meter race against 2008 Olympian Galen Rupp
Lagat, who won last year’s U.S. Indoor title in 8:12.60, was even with Rupp with three laps to go before Rupp grabbed the lead with 2 ½ laps remaining. Lagat turned on his patented kick with 1 ½ laps to go and continued to lengthen his lead throughout the remainder of the race, finishing first in 7:57.17.
"I didn't have a lot of strategies,” said Lagat. “I wanted to sit back and watch the race and feel the race. I wanted to stay near the front position so I wouldn't get boxed in. I waited, and then I went. I knew (Brent) Vaughn was a front-runner. For me to race against him was really special. . . I'm not under pressure. I just have to run and run hard."
Rupp, who earlier this month set the U.S. 5000m record for the second time in his career, was the runner-up in 7:59.91. Aaron Braun, who earlier in the race held the lead for a number of laps, finished third in 8:02.59, and 2011 USA Cross Country champion Brent Vaughn was fourth in 8:09.45.
Jennifer Simpson Wins Women's 3000m
Jennifer Barringer Simpson and Sara Hall ran stride for stride through much of the 3000m race on Saturday.
With 100m left to go, Simpson pulled ahead of Hall and headed down the final straight away with a strong kick. Crossing the finish line with her fists pumping in the air, Simpson claimed her first national indoor title in 9:02.20, proving that she is back after struggling with injury during her first season as a professional athlete in 2010.“When I looked at the screen, it felt good. I'm back,” Simpson (photo at right winning the mile) said. “I missed the whole season last year. It was hard for me to go seven or eight months without racing. I needed to get back into the routine of it and show what I'm capable of.”
Hall repeated her runner-up performance of 2010, clocking a time of 9:03.91. After running to a 4th place finish at last week’s NACAC Cross Country Championships, Allie Kieffer made a quick transition to the track to claim third place in 9:35.89.
The Albuquerque Convention and Visitors Bureau, along with the New Mexico Sports Authority, the University of New Mexico, the City of Albuquerque and USATF New Mexico, were the official hosts for the USA Indoor Championships, which were held in Albuquerque in 2010 and will return in 2012.
For more information on the USA Indoor Track & Field Championships, the 2011 Visa Championship Series and USA Track & Field, see www.visachampionships.com.
About USA Track & Field
USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track & field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, the World's #1 Track & Field Team, the most-watched events at the Olympics, the #1 high school and junior high school participatory sport, and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States. See www.usatf.org.