Close Finishes Across the Board Highlight American Middle Distance Depth

By Scott Bush

Competition was fast and furious at the HOKA ONE ONE Middle Distance Classic Thursday night in California, until the skies opened up over the drought-ridden state, first causing a postponement and ultimately a cancelation of the event.

Before weather determined the outcome of results, top Americans and international athletes threw down terrific races, close finishes and fast times, putting on quite a show.

The first heat of the women’s 800m set the tone early. As expected, world indoor gold medalist Chanelle Price set the pace behind the rabbit, and when the pacer stepped aside, Price continued to hammer the pace. With a tight-knit field running right off her shoulder, Price held on gamely heading into the final 100 meters and looked as though she might pull off the win, until Nike Oregon Project’s Treniere Moser came charging in lane three, pulling off the upset in 2:01.67.

Moser held off fellow Olympian Geena Lara, who ran a great race for second in 2:01.87, while LaTavia Thomas edged Price for third, 2:01.89-2:01.98.

While heat one started the fireworks, heat two made them louder. Maggie Vessey, who generally uses a strong kick to win races, surprisingly pushed the pace early and often, leading as the pacer dropped, Messey continued to drive with 200 meters to go, and for a time it looked like she might storm to victor, until Jenny Simpson threw down, nearly pulling off the upset. Vessey held on to run the fastest time of the night in 2:00.70, while Simpson took home an impressive runner-up effort in 2:00.79.

In the men’s top heat of the 800m, Brooks Beast Cas Loxsom led from start to finish. The young pro set the tone and really wasn’t challenged up top at any point in the race. As Loxsom sprinted away over the final homestretch to a victory and top time of the night in 1:46.23, World Championship medalist Matthew Centrowitz ran a two-lap effort with a nice finish, taking second in 1:46.55, holding off third place Charles Jock who finished a slight lean behind in 1:46.58.

While Loxsom was the clear winner in heat one, it was Ryan Martin who put on a show in heat two. Martin, who’s been one of America’s best 800m runners over the past few years, held off a late charge from Canadian Anthony Romaniw, winning in 1:46.37, the second fastest time of the night. Needless to say, the men’s 800m in the United States is incredibly deep.

Next on the track, the women’s 1,500m, proved incredibly entertaining. While the top heat of the event went out with little challenge up front, it ended with an incredibly close finish, as Katie Mackey held off Team USA Minnesota’s Gabriele Grunewald in the final homestretch to take the heat one victory, 4:07.51-4:07.69. Their times ended up being the top two times on the evening.

In heat two, the field remained very close among the top six athletes for much of the race. Emma Coburn took over leading duties when the rabbit dropped and continued to push the field forward until 300 meters to go, when Sarah Brown took over, challenging everyone else to keep up.

Into the homestretch the field came, Brown leading, but everyone charging hard. HOKA ONE ONE athlete Nicole Tully, who ran 15:05 for 5k at the Payton Jordan Invitational, swung wide off the final turn, but got clipped, causing her momentum to stall, but she regained enough form to creep up on Brown, only to be held off in the final strides, with Brown pulling the impressive victory in 4:09.00. Tully placed second in 4:09.10.

Just before the rain came pouring down, event organizers were able to squeeze the top heat of the men’s 1,500m in and fans were thankful they did. While Olympian Andrew Wheating led much of the way, he was overrun by the field heading into the bell lap.

To no one’s surprise, HOKA ONE ONE star Leo Manzano used his patented late-race kick to pull away from a tight field over the final 200 meters, putting on a show for the crowd, crossing the finish line in winning fashion in 3:38.96.

Behind Manzano, Wheating rallied late to run another strong race, finishing second in 3:39.56, while Manzano’s HOKA ONE ONE teammate Kyle Merber ran a tough race with a great final 150m, to place third in 3:40.03, holding off Wheating’s OTC Elite teammate Mac Fleet by .01.

In both steeplechase events, which were the top two events on the season, clear winners prevailed well before the finish line was crossed. On the women’s side, Stephanie Garcia put in a move just past half way and grinded away from the field, ultimately taking home the win in 9:37.19, well ahead of runner-up Ashley Higginson, who finished second in 9:41.27.

Similarly in the men’s steeplechase, Canadian Matt Hughes ran with fellow Canadians Taylor Milne and Chris Winter for much of the race, until he made his move with two laps remaining and never really looked back. Milne gave Hughes a challenge heading into the final 100 meters, but Hughes, who ranked top 15 in the world last year, edged to victory, 8:25.54-8:25.72. American Travis Mahoney ran a terrific final half mile to set a personal best in third with an 8:27.08 clocking.