INDIANAPOLIS – Galen Rupp has been named USA Track & Field’s Athlete of the Week after winning both the men’s 5,000 and 10,000 meters last week at the 2009 NCAA DI Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark.
Having already won three NCAA individual titles this school year, Rupp ran the 5,000m prelims on Wednesday, won the 10,000m on Thursday and came back on Friday to win the 5,000m, all in the span of about 45 hours.
In the 10,000m final, Arkansas’ Shawn Forrest and Liberty’s Samuel Chelanga set out on a fast pace but Rupp kept them in his sights the entire way and with 600m to go he passed the duo and then won the race in 28:21.45, his last 800m ran in 1:58.96.
In the 5,000m, Rupp had to stop to fix his shoe on the second lap and ran from the back of the pack for much of the race. With three laps to go, he moved from 11th to fourth place and then surged again with 600m to go, running away with the win in 14:04.12, running his last 1,600m in 4:00.10. Rupp is the first athlete to complete the 5,000m/10,000m double since 2000.
Also in Fayetteville, the Texas A&M women’s 4x100m team of Khrystal Carter, Porscha Lucas, Dominique Duncan and Gabby Mayo set a collegiate record in winning their third consecutive title in 42.36. The previous record of 42.50 was set back in 1989 by LSU. Lucas came back the next day to win the women’s 200m title in 22.81.
Oklahoma freshman Will Claye won the men’s triple jump in American junior record fashion, with a hop, skip and leap of 17.24 meters/56 feet 6.75 inches. Claye broke his own record of 16.94m/55-7 set in May in Lubbock, Texas.
Now in its eighth year, USATF’s Athlete of the Week program is designed to recognize outstanding performers at all levels of the sport. USATF names a new honoree each week and features the athlete on the USATF website. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week.
USATF.org
