Bowerman Women’s Team Throwdown at US XC Championships
What do you get when you take a Marathoner, a Steepler, a “1500m runner”, and two 10k specialists out on some grass? Something special.
Photo by Justin Britton
What do you get when you take a Marathoner, a Steepler, a “1500m runner”, and two 10k specialists out on some grass? Though this sounds like the setup to a comedic punchline, the reality is a dominating expression of Bowerman TC’s belief in finding depth and strength in the team.
BTC fielded a full scoring team of five athletes at the 2019 USATF Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee Florida. Shelby Houlihan, Marielle Hall, Amy Cragg, Courtney Frerichs, and Karissa Schweizer proved to be a formidable quintet of talent against what many called one of the most stacked fields of American distance runners ever assembled at a US XC Championship.
Working together early, the BTC women found strength in numbers.
Photo by Justin Britton
Photo by Justin Britton
With Amy Cragg taking charge, the lead pack broke away and laid down an extremely quick pace over the rolling grass hills in Apalachee Regional Park. Coming down to the final hill however, Shelby Houlihan threw in a dominant move and pulled away with 700m to go, crossing the tape as the National Champion and solidifying her 8th US title in total.
Shelby Houlihan took first in 32:46.8.
What happened next is indicative of the truly special team environment that coach Jerry Schumacher instills at Bowerman Track Club. BTC took five of the top seven spots.
Marielle Hall 3rd in 32:56.5,
Amy Cragg 5th in 33:17.5,
Courtney Frerichs 6th in 33:24.5,
Karissa Schweizer 7th in 33:28.2.
With Molly Huddle (2nd) planning on declining her spot at Worlds, all five are in line to make the team to Aarhus for the World XC Championships. Depending on Jerry’s race plan for the team, BTC has some serious potential to lead the United States to medaling at Worlds.
BTC’s Masters team also had a good showing coming in 4th overall as a team, featuring long-time club talent Mile Blackmore in 8th, Matt Farley in 14th, Michael Gorriaran in 51st, and Steve Kollars in 54th.
High 5’s all around!
Photo by Justin Britton
2018 Tokyo Marathon Preview
Amy is aiming for a new marathon PR in Tokyo. Can she get the win too? Watch her race live at 7:00 p.m. EST
Details
Race Start Time: 7:10pm ET
Viewing: The Olympic Channel and online through NBC Sports Gold
Amy will try to make it back to back Abbott World Marathon Major victories for the United States and BTC today at the Tokyo Marathon. At the last major marathon, we were all witnesses to Shalane’s unforgettable, body chilling victory in New York City. Now three and a half months after the New York City Marathon, Amy looks to keep the United States and BTC atop the women’s marathon elite.
Although Amy ran her first marathon in 2011, she has really flourished over the past two years. In 2016, she won the US Olympic Trials and went on to finish 9th at the Rio Olympic Games. She followed up those performances with possibly the best performance of her career so far at the 2017 World Championships where she won the bronze medal and became the first American to medal in the marathon in 34 years.
Even with all of her recent success, Amy’s marathon PR of 2:27:03 is still from her 2011 debut in Los Angeles (she ran the same time in Chicago in 2014). Amy enters the race this weekend with the 10th fastest PR in the field, but her recent races and training have definitely proven she is capable of running much faster. With Tokyo being is an incredibly fast course, what Amy calls “more of a time trial course”, she hopes to re-write her personal record book. Amy is no stranger to running fast times in Japan. Just over a year ago, Amy set personal best in the half marathon of 68:27 at the Marugame Half Marathon. Combine the fast course and deep competition with one of her most consistent buildups and her love of Japan, and Amy is poised for a breakout performance.
For full race details, check out Letsrun.com’s in depth race preview.
For those of you who live in the United States, the Tokyo Marathon is one of the most viewer friendly marathons in the world. It will be broadcast live Saturday (2/24) starting at 7:00 p.m. EST on the Olympic Channel and online through NBC Sports Gold.
Weekend Recap
Racing season is officially underway and we have you covered. Chris and Courtney both finish in the top five at the USATF Cross Country Championships, while Amy crushes her half marathon PR by over a minute. Read about each race here.
Racing season is officially underway! From Bend, Oregon to Marugame, Japan, we had three professional athletes and many more elite athletes in action this past weekend. Chris Derrick, Courtney Frerichs and the Bowerman Elite teams raced on an incredibly sloppy 10 kilometer cross country course, while Amy Cragg battled her way to a new PR in the half marathon. Race recaps are below.
USATF Cross Country Championships – Bend, OR
Photo: Paul Merca
On a sloppy, what some called “a true cross country course,” Courtney Frerichs made her first cross country appearance since finishing 4th at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in 2015. Saturday also marked the first time Courtney had ever raced longer than 6 kilometers.
The race separated early as Aliphine Tuliamuk broke away from the rest of the field almost from the start. Courtney settled in with the chase pack, completing the first of five 2 kilometer loops in 7th place. Using the strength she has built up as a steeplechaser to trudge through the mud, Courtney found herself moving up through the field each loop.
Entering the final loop 1:24 back of the leader and in fifth place, Courtney was determined to finish strong and move up at least one spot. She closed extremely fast, running the second fastest final 2 kilometer lap time of all athletes. In the process she also picked up a spot, finishing in 4th place in a 10k time of 35:40.
Courtney has had tremendous success in championship races and this success continued on Saturday. Her fourth place finish qualified her for the World Cross Country Championships in Uganda, however she will forego the race to focus on the upcoming track season.
Courtney's top five finish was only the start to incredible day for the Bowerman Track Club. Our Women's Elite team, led by 9th place finisher and World Cross Country Championship qualifier from Emily Pritt, won the overall women's team competition. Carrie Dimoff and Julia Webb finished 19th and 23rd overall to clinch the victory and a 10 point perfect team score. Congrats ladies and we we cannot wait to see Emily represent the red, white, and blue on the world stage!
Unlike the women’s race where there was a lone leader from the gun, the men demonstrated the art of pack running. Seeking his fourth USA Cross Country title, Chris did much of the work at the front of the pack, along with four runners from the U.S. Army’s World Class Athlete Program.
Chris Derrick was one of about 10 runners in the lead pack. The pace was conservative, as is typical in championship races. Chris said he “felt really good everywhere except when we would hit a really sharp uphill.” Despite lacking some power through the muddy, hilly sections of the course, Chris kept fighting his way to the front of the pack.
Photo: Ciarán O'Lionaird
Heading into the fourth loop the lead pack had dwindled to just seven runners, including Chris. All seven athletes looked relaxed and capable of winning.
The final loop proved to be the difference, as the four U.S. Army athletes threw in a surge and separated from the rest of the field. Despite not having the legs to cover the strong move, Chris’s final loop time was still the fastest of his previous four. Chris ended up finishing in fifth place in a 10k time of 30:28.
Like Courtney, Chris qualified for the World Cross Country Championships in Uganda, but chose to forego the race to prepare for the upcoming track season.
Our Men's Elite team finished in second, eight points behind the Hoka One One Northern Arizona Elite team. Behind Chris Derrick the team had solid performances from Jeremy Freed, Jeramy Alkaim, and Brady Beagley.
Marugame Half Marathon – Marugame, Japan
While Chris and Courtney were crushing it at the USA Cross Country Championships, Amy Cragg was across the Pacific Ocean in Japan preparing for the Marugame Half Marathon. It would be her first race of the year, and one for the personal record books.
The race featured the defending Rio Olympic marathon silver medalist and defending Marugame half marathon champion, Eunice Kirwa. Kirwa was on a mission to break the course record of 1:07:26, as she passed by the 10 kilometer mark at 31:37. Despite being 44 seconds behind Kirwa at the 10 kilometer mark, Amy was still on pace to run 1:08:15 (personal record pace).
As Kirwa slowed throughout the race, Amy started to chip away at the lead. By the 20 kilometer mark, Amy had cut Kirwa’s lead nearly in half. Amy continued to shave seconds off of the lead until the finish.
Amy ran to a comfortable second place finish in a half marathon time of 1:08:27, a whopping 1:23 faster than her previous PR. Congrats Amy!
Upcoming
We will have athletes in action this weekend from coast to coast. Colleen Quigley and Shelby Houlihan race the mile on Friday in Boston, Ryan Hill and Mo Ahmed travel to New York to race the 2 mile in one of the most competitive and exciting indoor track meets of the year at the Millrose Games, and Evan Jager and Matt Hughes will be in Seattle racing the mile at the Husky Invite. Check the calendar for more information and links to stream the races.