![]() Laura Roesler Destroys The Field In An Instant, Captures Women’s 800 Title – Can She Get Collegiate Record Outdoors?2014 NCAA Indoor Track & Field ChampionshipsMarch 14, 2014 to March 15, 2014 Albuquerque, NM by LetsRun.com Albuquerque, NM – Oregon senior Laura Roesler entered the final of the women’s 800 at the 2014 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships as the heavy, heavy favorite, having run 2.81 seconds faster than anyone else in the field. Halfway around the first turn of the bell lap, when Roesler, who started the final lap in third on the rail, allowed herself to get boxed in in fourth by Minnesota’s Alena Brooks, who moved up on the outside, it was fine if you thought to yourself, “What is going on here? Could we possibly be on the verge of a shocking upset?” But the doubt that was creeping into your head was soon instantly erased when Roesler started to make her move after slowing and dropping back so she could move outside to get some space. Her move honestly reminded us a someone playing a video game hitting the “turbo” button. Roesler flew by everyone with breathtaking speed as she’d pour it on all the way to finish and her lead would grow to a dominant 1.68 seconds in the span of about 160 meters. Roesler won going away in 2:03.85. She was so dominant that if you watched it live, you could be forgiven if you forgot there was a second-place finisher in this race. Oklahoma State freshmen Savannah Camacho (2:05.53) and Kaela Edwards (2:05.72) were the only two women in the race to finish within 2 seconds of Roesler. Quick Take #1: What an incredible final 160-170 by Roesler. After running a penultimate lap of 32.08, Roesler picked it up by more than two seconds and ran a final 200 of 29.90. Camacho and Edwards also picked it up a little bit in their last lap (Camacho went 32.05 – 31.79). Everyone else in the field slowed down. Pure domination. Roesler summed things up perfectly on her post-race ESPN interview when she said, “I knew if I went no one would be able to go with me.” QT #2: How fast can Roesler go outdoors? Might Suzy Hamilton’s collegiate record of 1:59.11 go down? Here’s our crazy plan for Roesler to do it. We aren’t ruling out the CR. We started to say, “Get her a lane at the Pre Classic right now.” The problem is Prefontaine is May 31st this year. The NCAA Regionals for the 800 are May 29 and May 30th in Arkansas. We say – do something a little crazy. It will be great PR and raise her marketability a ton. Sandbag the two rounds of the 800 at NCAAs, get on a private plane and fly from Regionals in Arkansas back to Eugene and run Pre in front of the adoring crowd. Is it ambitious? Yes. But she has nothing to worry about in terms of losing NCAAs and the sport needs some craziness. The collegiate record is ambitious but much less so if she runs Prefontaine. Sub-2:00 seems like a formality for the 2:00.23 performer. ![]() Total Domination for Roesler (click for photo gallery) QT #3: The Oklahoma State freshmen might be be NCAA champs down the road but unlikely in 2014 as 2013 NCAA champion Natoye Goule will be in action for Clemson after sitting out a year for transferring from LSU. QT #4: Teammates Savannah Camacho and Kaela Edwards were ecstatic and almost in tears about their 2-3 finish and said they “never thought in a million years” that they would have done that. They both run cross-country, so goes back to the old LRC mantra that strength makes for great mid-d runners. Track And Field At Its Finest: The Greatness Of Phyllis Francis Leads Oregon To Title2014 NCAA Indoor Track & Field ChampionshipsMarch 14, 2014 to March 15, 2014 Albuquerque, NM by: LetsRun.com There is no way it can get any better than this. Final event 2014 NCAA women’s indoor track and field championships. 4 x 400. Oregon vs. Texas. The winner wins the NCAA Championship. Texas anchored by former World Junior Champion Ashlee Spencer. Oregon anchored by Phyllis Francis, who set the American indoor 400m record (50.46)earlier in the meet. They get the baton side-by-side. It is close, but Spencer leads the entire way. She has a couple of meters on Francis even coming off the final turn. All that is left is the short indoor straightaway. Oregon needs Francis to pass Spencer so it can win its fifth straight indoor title. Dwight Stones on ESPN3, “I don’t see it (Francis catching her). I don’t see the gear shift.” 30 meters from the finish, Francis gains a little. 20 meters from the finish. She gains a little more, but she is running out of track. Stones: “It doesn’t (sic) going to happen.” 10 meters. Francis keeps gaining, but she’s really running out of track. 5 meters, 4 meters, 3 meters, 2 meters, they are now neck-and-neck. 1 meter, there is the line. There is a lean. Who Won? Francis by .02 in 3:27.40 to Spencer’s 3:27.42. Oregon wins its fifth straight NCAA title by half a point in the most dramatic fashion. A battle between two 400m legends on a relay with the NCAA title on the line came down to .02 in the final race. A new collegiate record. It does not get better than this in collegiate track. What a meet for Francis. She had never finished higher than third individually before at NCAAs and she leaves as the American record holder at 400, but also the team hero. If you want to watch the race, ESPN3 has an archive of the broadcast. Click Here and go to the 2:55:00 mark. **** LetsRun.com distance fans, take note. Francis was a better 800m runner in high school than 400m. She ran 2:04.83 as a 16-year-old. Mike Fanelli was the only guy who noticed her at the time. Now all of you had better take notice. It was her endurance training that saved her that last 20m tonight, right? **** Spencer was gracious in defeat. “I definitely felt her coming and I just tried to give it my all over the last 50. I really pushed it, I pushed it. I tried and I tried. And she got the best of me. Phyllis Francis is an amazing athlete. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. But it was a great race,” she told the AP. **** This was Francis’ day: “Seeing my teammates’ effort, they were really pushing. I didn’t want to let them down. I totally went for it. I saw my team cheering us on and we just pushed us to the next limit. We won, the men’s team won, the woman’s team. It’s just mind blowing right now,” she told the AP. ura Roesler Destroys The Field In An Instant, Captures Women’s 800 Title – Can She Get Collegiate Record Outdoors?2014 NCAA Indoor Track & Field ChampionshipsMarch 14, 2014 to March 15, 2014 Albuquerque, NM by LetsRun.com Albuquerque, NM – Oregon senior Laura Roesler entered the final of the women’s 800 at the 2014 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships as the heavy, heavy favorite, having run 2.81 seconds faster than anyone else in the field. Halfway around the first turn of the bell lap, when Roesler, who started the final lap in third on the rail, allowed herself to get boxed in in fourth by Minnesota’s Alena Brooks, who moved up on the outside, it was fine if you thought to yourself, “What is going on here? Could we possibly be on the verge of a shocking upset?” But the doubt that was creeping into your head was soon instantly erased when Roesler started to make her move after slowing and dropping back so she could move outside to get some space. Her move honestly reminded us a someone playing a video game hitting the “turbo” button. Roesler flew by everyone with breathtaking speed as she’d pour it on all the way to finish and her lead would grow to a dominant 1.68 seconds in the span of about 160 meters. Roesler won going away in 2:03.85. She was so dominant that if you watched it live, you could be forgiven if you forgot there was a second-place finisher in this race. Oklahoma State freshmen Savannah Camacho (2:05.53) and Kaela Edwards (2:05.72) were the only two women in the race to finish within 2 seconds of Roesler. Quick Take #1: What an incredible final 160-170 by Roesler. After running a penultimate lap of 32.08, Roesler picked it up by more than two seconds and ran a final 200 of 29.90. Camacho and Edwards also picked it up a little bit in their last lap (Camacho went 32.05 – 31.79). Everyone else in the field slowed down. Pure domination. Roesler summed things up perfectly on her post-race ESPN interview when she said, “I knew if I went no one would be able to go with me.” QT #2: How fast can Roesler go outdoors? Might Suzy Hamilton’s collegiate record of 1:59.11 go down? Here’s our crazy plan for Roesler to do it. We aren’t ruling out the CR. We started to say, “Get her a lane at the Pre Classic right now.” The problem is Prefontaine is May 31st this year. The NCAA Regionals for the 800 are May 29 and May 30th in Arkansas. We say – do something a little crazy. It will be great PR and raise her marketability a ton. Sandbag the two rounds of the 800 at NCAAs, get on a private plane and fly from Regionals in Arkansas back to Eugene and run Pre in front of the adoring crowd. Is it ambitious? Yes. But she has nothing to worry about in terms of losing NCAAs and the sport needs some craziness. The collegiate record is ambitious but much less so if she runs Prefontaine. Sub-2:00 seems like a formality for the 2:00.23 performer. ![]() Cheserek, Johnson Earn USTFCCCA National Awards Cheserek is the first freshman to win the award, and the first Duck on the men's side to win since Galen Rupp in 2009. Courtesy: GoDucks.com NEW ORLEANS – The nation’s indoor track & field coaches have voted, and the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) has named Oregon freshman Edward Cheserek the Division I Men’s National Athlete of the Year and Oregon head coach Robert Johnson both the Division I Men’s and Women’s National Coach of the Year. Cheserek (Newark, N.J.) swept both the 3000 and 5000 meters events at the NCAA Championships in Albuquerque, N.M., this past weekend – including taking the 5000 meters crown from The Bowerman Finalist Lawi Lalang of Arizona, the collegiate record holder in the event – to lead his Ducks to the national team title. He outkicked the defending indoor mile and 3000 meter champion in the final two laps to earn the convincing win in 13:46.67 by more than six seconds over Lalang, who had been the winner of the past two indoor National Track Athlete of the Year awards. The next day he defeated Kirubel Erassa of Oklahoma State over 3000 meters with another late-race kick to win by two seconds in 8:11.59. Cheserek is the first freshman to win the award, and the first Duck on the men’s side to win since Galen Rupp in 2009. Johnson claimed both the National Men’s and Women’s Coach of the Year honors after leading his men to their first title since 2009 and the women to their fifth consecutive national team crown. The men outscored 2013 champion Arkansas, 62-54, while the women just barely edged past Texas, 44-43½. While the men’s team title was clinched well before the meet finale 4×400 relay, the women’s championship hung in the balance all the way until literally the final hundredths of a second of the meet. It was at the finish line of the 4×400 where Phyllis Francis leaned in ahead of Texas’ Ashley Spencer to win the race in 3:27.40 by just .02 and the meet by just half a point. Johnson saw a number of his Ducks win national individual titles, including Cheserek (3000/5000), Francis (400) and Laura Roesler (800). Cheserek was named the Men’s Indoor National Field Athlete of the Year for his efforts. This is Johnson’s fourth consecutive year earning the Women’s Indoor National Coach of the Year honor, and he was also named Women’s Indoor National Assistant Coach of the Year in 2010. |
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