USATF Championships preview - Women's 10,000m

EDITOR'S NOTE: AnnGaff and LesleyHiggins are writing these previews for the USA Track & Field Championships, taking place this weekend in Eugene, OR, based on their firsthand Track & Field experience. Gaffigan and Higgins competed against each other in college, with Gaffigan representing the Nebraska Huskers and Higgins representing the Colorado Buffs. Both women competed last year in the 3000m Steeplechase at the Olympic Trials. This year, the two are spectators-from-afar of the USATF Championships/World Team Trials; Higgins is out with a broken foot and Gaffigan gave birth to a baby girl in May.

10,000m Final on Thursday, June 25 at 7:50pm

Top 10 entry times:

Shalane Flanagan 30:22.22
Amy Begley 31:43.60
Lisa Koll 32:11.13
Katie McGregor 32:14.57
Amy Hastings 32:18.72
Magdalena Lewy Boulet 32:33.02
Serena Burla 32:47.48
Katherine Newberry 32:50.97
Sally Meyerhoff 33:14.14
Melissa White 33:15.80

My picks:

1. Shalane Flanagan
2. Amy Begley
3. Serena Burla
4. Katie McGregor
5. Magdalena Lewy Boulet
6. Sally Meyerhoff

Flanagan is hard to not pick for the win in this race, considering that she is the American record holder, last year's Olympic bronze medalist and has a significantly faster time that anyone else in the field. However, she has not been at the top of her game this season and Amy Begley has been on fire, running personal bests in races as short as 800m, while winning the 15k road championships. I think this is going to be a great race between these two and I think they are really going to distance themselves from the rest of the field.

Katie McGregor is a very consistent runner but has never broken through to the level that Flanagan is at. I am actually on the fence a little for the #3 spot, but Serena Burla just ran 33:04 in hilly Central Park on a very warm day, suggesting to me that she can run pretty close to 32 minutes on the track in late-night Eugene conditions. I think it's going to be a good race for 3rd.

Magdalena Lewy Boulet ran 33:32 in the same race as Burla so I think she is in shape to run mid-32s tonight. Sally Meyerhoff has been on a hot road racing streak lately and ran low 33s last weekend just to snag the qualifying time. I think both are set to run in the mid-32s.

Lisa Koll's 32:11.13 was from over a year ago, and after an injury, she hasn't really shown that ability yet again. She was 9th in the NCAAs, and I don't expect a dramatic improvement in just two weeks. And Amy Hastings just ran 34:40 in the same race as Burla and Lewy Boulet, suggesting that another low-32min time is not in the cards at this point. Both of these two runners have shown a lot of promise and talent and I expect great performances from them in future years.

USATF Championships Schedule, Results & Quotes

USATF Championships Day 1 Recap

USATF Championships Day 2 Recap

USATF Championships Day 3 Recap

USATF Championships Day 4 Recap

More USATF Championships Previews:

• Discus
• Hammer
• High Jump
• Javelin
• Long Jump
• Pole Vault
• Triple Jump
• Shot Put
• Heptathlon
• 100m
• 100m Hurdles
• 200m
• 400m
• 400m Hurdles
• 800m
• 1500m
• 3000m Steeplechase
• 5000m
• 10,000m

Watch the USATF Championships:

On TV:

ESPN, June 26, 8:00 - 10:00 p.m. ET
ESPN, June 27, 7:30 - 9:30 p.m. ET
NBC, June 28, 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. ET

Online:

LIVE All Weekend at Flotrack.org

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