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Matthew Maton Wins 5000m Junior Title On Home Turf - RRW

Published by
RunnerSpace.com/HighSchool   Jun 26th 2015, 8:21pm
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MATTHEW MATON WINS 5000M JUNIOR TITLE ON HOME TURF
By Chris Lotsbom, @ChrisLotsbom
(c) 2015 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved - Used with permisson.

EUGENE, Ore. (26-Jun) -- Matthew Maton capped off his high school career in grand style this morning, winning his first USATF national championship title over 5000m here at the USA Junior National Championships at historic Hayward Field. Thanks to a 60.92-second final lap, the 19-year-old from Bend, Ore., came away with the win in 14:47.10.

"It feels great, I was real excited to race again," said Maton, speaking to a large group of reporters. "It felt great. I have never won a [USATF] national meet; I've done a lot of things but never had that under the belt so it's good to get that at the end of the year."

Having not raced competitively since becoming the sixth high schooler in American history to dip under four minutes in the mile seven weeks ago, Maton laced up his spikes with a bit of apprehension. A nagging Achilles injury had bothered him since his last race on May 8, hampering his training in the lead-up to today. 

There was no sign of injury or weakness visible in Maton's smooth stride as he circled the oval here at Hayward Field. Through halfway, the entire pack was still in contention, with Oklahoma State's Cerake Geberkidane fronting the charge at the head of the field with Maton tucked in behind. 

The race would rapidly develop with a kilometer remaining, as Geberkidane and Maton separated themselves from the rest of the pack. Stride for stride around the Bowerman Curve with 600 meters to go, the pair appeared to exchange elbows for a brief moment, jostling for the pole. It was Maton gaining the edge, changing gears in the penultimate lap.

"With 1K to go, my plan was 64 [seconds], 63, 27. I didn't quite do it but I got somewhere close to it," said Maton, referencing the strategy him and coach Parker Stinson (the former Oregon Duck now running for Saucony) came up with prior to the race. "My plan was to pick it up a bit each 200 meters."

Crossing the line in 14:47.10, Maton won his first national crown going away, a fitting achievement to cap a historic high school career. With the victory he qualified for the Pan-Am Junior Championships, to be held in Edmonton from July 31-August 2.

"I ran the last race I ran this season here [when he broke four-minutes for the mile and got injured], so it felt good to come back after hurting myself here and running again," said Maton, a future Oregon Duck who already considers Hayward Field his home. "I'm glad I get to come win races here and stuff. Being from Oregon, it's really nice to stay in the state. It means a lot."

Maton stuck to his pre-race ritual of a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich, Mountain Dew soda, and Cheetos snack on the night before racing, a tradition that seems to work for the relaxed high school graduate. In a text message sent to Race Results Weekly, coach Stinson said Maton's been a pleasure to work with (Stinson began coaching Maton after the latter split from his Summit (Ore.) High School team earlier this spring). 

"I couldn't be more happy for Matthew and him achieving his first national title in a very tactical collegiate style race," Stinson wrote. "For him to be able to execute such a veteran savvy race by not getting stressed out in the middle of the 5k and being able to pull off the squeeze over the last K perfectly shows how much of a naturally talented racer he is."

Stinson continued: "I believe that Matthew's potential is hard to know at this point, he hits every workout I ask of him without question and I am looking forward to seeing how he improves when he is no longer having to do everything alone. I can't wait to cheer him on during his collegiate career while he is coached by the best distance coach in the country in Andy Powell at Oregon."

Rounding out the podium, Geberkidane was second in 14:52.87, followed by Butler (IA) Community College's Albert Meier third in 14:55.47.


TEXAS'S REDDY WINS GOING AWAY IN WOMEN'S 5000m

University of Texas rising sophomore Rachael Reddy made a strong-willed move two kilometers from the finish of the Junior Women's 5000m, running alone for the final mile to take first in 16:28.04. Reddy was surprised no one matched the surge, as she distanced herself from North Carolina's Caroline Alcorta and high schoolers Erin Dietz (Bedford, Mass.) and Audrey Belf (Birmingham, Mich).  Remarkably, this was only her second race of the year.

"My coach just told me at 3K I had a little bit more than what they were [running] so I just took that and ran with it," said Reddy, sporting her Texas burnt orange kit. "I just decided to take a chance and go for it... It feels great!"

Dietz's performance was quite impressive considering that a week ago she placed second in the New Balance Nationals Outdoor 5000m, the de facto high school national championships in Greensboro, N.C. The 5000m is rarely run among the prep ranks.

"I was kind of afraid about the short recovery time but I think it worked out fine," she said. "Last week gave me confidence coming into this week because I ran a PR last week."


PHOTO: Matthew Maton after winning the 2015 USA Junior 5000m title in Eugene, Ore. (Photo by Chris Lotsbom for Race Results Weekly)

PHOTO: Rachael Reddy on her way to winning the 2015 USA Junior 5000m title in Eugene, Ore. (Photo by Chris Lotsbom for Race Results Weekly)



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