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Shelby Houlihan Completes Career Triple Crown, Sinclaire Johnson Achieves Dynamic Double at Sunset Tour

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DyeStat.com   Jul 12th 2019, 12:06am
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Houlihan becomes third American female and 11th in the world to run sub-2 in 800, sub-4 in 1,500 and sub-15 in 5,000; Johnson is second collegiate performer to run under 2:01 in 800 and sub-4:06 in 1,500, first to achieve feat in same year

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Shelby Houlihan joined an elite group of athletes Tuesday at the inaugural Sunset Tour event at Azusa Pacific University’s Cougar Stadium in Azusa, Calif., when she became only the third American and 11th female athlete in the world to accomplish an impressive career triple crown.

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Houlihan ran a personal-best 1 minute, 59.92 seconds, the first sub-2 performance of her career, to place second behind Bowerman Track Club teammate Kate Grace (1:59.58).

Houlihan’s effort, combined with her 3:57.34 in the 1,500 meters and American record 14:34.45 in the 5,000 meters, allowed her to achieve the exceptional trifecta of running sub-2 in the 800, sub-4 in the 1,500 and sub-15 in the 5,000.

“I was really bound and determined to go out and break 2:00,” Houlihan said. “I kind of just wanted to show everybody that I could still rep (my Instagram handle) @shelbo800, and I wanted to break 2, break 4, break 15, kind of the whole thing, and I’ve been wanting to do that for a while, so it’s really nice to be able to come out here and do it.”

Houlihan and Shannon Rowbury, who boasts the American 1,500 record of 3:56.29 along with personal bests of 1:59.97 in the 800 and 14:38.92 in the 1,500, are the only two U.S. female athletes to achieve the feat outdoors.

Regina Jacobs, who ran 3:59.98 indoors in addition to 1:58.08 and 14:45.35 outdoors, is the third American to have accomplished all three performances in the triple crown during her career, although she accepted a four-year competition ban in 2004 by USADA for a doping violation.

Houlihan, Rowbury and Jacobs are joined globally in completing the career trifecta by Ethiopia’s Genzebe Dibaba and Gudaf Tsegay, Great Britain’s Laura Muir, Bahrain’s Maryam Yusuf Jamal, Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon, Germany’s Konstanze Klosterhalfen, Russia’s Natalya Artyomova and Sifan Hassan of The Netherlands.

Oklahoma State junior Sinclaire Johnson, the NCAA Division 1 outdoor 1,500 champion, also achieved a memorable double Tuesday by placing third in the 800 behind Grace and Houlihan in 2:00.43.

Johnson became only the second collegiate athlete in history, and the first to complete the double in the same year, to run under 2:01 in the 800 and sub-4:06 in the 1,500.

Johnson clocked 4:05.98 in the 1,500 on June 8 to win the NCAA title in Austin, Texas, elevating her to the No. 2 all-time collegiate performer based on in-season competitions. In her first race since capturing the championship, she lowered her 800 personal best by more than four seconds from last year’s Big 12 Championships.

“(Tuesday) was definitely a win. I don’t think there was anything I could have done differently in my race,” said Johnson, who now boasts the IAAF World Championships standard in both events.

“I put myself in it and really went for it and third place behind Shelby and Kate is something I can’t complain about. I felt like I was very competitive out there.”

Only Oregon’s LeAnn Warren, who ran 1:59.63 in the 800 in 1981 and 4:05.88 in the 1,500 in 1982, had previously achieved the double. Warren’s times, although both faster than Johnson, don’t factor into NCAA record consideration since they were both achieved in July as part of the annual international dual meet involving the U.S. and Soviet Union.

Johnson joined Grace and Houlihan as the only Americans during this outdoor season to run under 2:01 and sub-4:06, in addition to becoming the ninth female athlete in the world this year to achieve the double.



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