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Late Surges Lead to Personal Bests for Cory McGee and Lauren Paquette, Edward Cheserek Sets Meet Record at Sunset Tour

Published by
DyeStat.com   Aug 23rd 2020, 7:52am
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Cheserek holds off Atkin in men’s 5,000, with McGee securing victory in women’s 800 and Paquette prevailing over HOKA ONE ONE NAZ Elite teammate Taylor in women’s 5,000 at Sound Running event; Johnson earns first pro win in women’s 1,500 and Villarreal achieves outdoor mile personal best

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

When the unique opportunity for racing in Southern California finally opened up Saturday night with the return of the Under Armour Sunset Tour, the Sound Running event showcased five races where impressive closing speed was the common theme.

Cory McGee capped a strong summer with a personal-best 2 minutes, 0.16 seconds in the women’s 800 meters and Lauren Paquette covered the final lap of the 5,000 meters in 66.2 seconds to rally from third on her way to a lifetime-best 15:10.01, with Edward Cheserek, Sinclaire Johnson and Carlos Villarreal also surging late to secure victories.

RESULTS | PHOTOS

After running a PR in the mile July 25 by clocking a world-leading 4:21.81 at Indiana Wesleyan University, followed by a lifetime-best 4:03.64 in the 1,500 to prevail Aug. 15 at the Music City Distance Carnival in Tennessee, McGee ran the fastest outdoor time this year by an American athlete in a women’s-only race.

Chanelle Price clocked 2:00.12 on Friday night at The Big Friendly 5 in Newberg, Ore., but the Oregon Track Elite athlete did so with the help of two male pacers in the race.

McGee, representing New Balance and Team Boss, trailed Brenda Martinez coming through the first lap by a 57.95 to 58.14 margin.

Although she wasn’t able to become the first American female athlete to run under 2 minutes during the outdoor season, McGee had more than enough to hold off Oiselle athlete Rebecca Mehra (2:01.09) as well as New Balance and Team Boss teammate Emma Coburn (2:01.10) on the final stretch.

“Since I don’t run the 800 that much, I knew I had to push, push, push the whole way,” McGee said. “The last 100, I didn’t have everything I hoped I would because I really wanted to try to get under that 2-minute mark. I’m proud of the fact that I didn’t ever feel (my best), but I still held it together.”

Coburn lowered her previous-best mark of 2:09.81, which had stood since her collegiate career in 2010, when Colorado was still competing in the Big 12 Championships, before joining the Pac-12 in 2012.

“I thought maybe I was a 2:03 girl, so seeing 2:01.1 makes me want to go out and run another one (Sunday),” Coburn said. “That race was super fun and I’m really happy for Cory.”

McGee and Coburn returned to assist in the pacing for the 5,000, which eventually became a showdown in the final mile of the established veterans from HOKA ONE ONE Northern Arizona Elite against recent NCAA Division 1 champions and rising young professional talents, Alicia Monson of On Athletics Club and Under Armour athlete Sharon Lokedi.

Trailing NAZ Elite teammate Kellyn Taylor and Lokedi entering the final lap, Paquette covered the last 400 with a split more than two seconds faster than anyone in the field, lowering her previous-best mark of 15:14.45 that had stood since the 2016 Payton Jordan Invitational.

“I was thinking it would be a little bit of a faster pace, but if the pace isn’t what you want, then you just race,” Paquette said. “I’ve really been working on the middle part of the race where it gets really hard and I tend to fall off the pack. I’ve been trying to bridge that gap and still have a kick at the end. If you’re not there at the end, then it doesn’t matter how fast your kick is, so that’s what I’ve been working on.

“I’m happy with a PR, of course I was hoping for a little faster, but I can’t complain because I was able to execute what I’ve been practicing and so I’m just going to take that into faster races.”

Taylor, who edged Paquette and another NAZ Elite teammate Stephanie Bruce by running 15:38.14 at 2,700 feet elevation in her last 5,000 performance July 11 at the KT Tape St. George Showdown, improved on last year’s personal best by nearly nine seconds to take second in 15:11.50.

“It feels great. It’s always fun to PR,” Taylor said. “We haven’t had that many opportunities this track season, if you can even call it a track season, so to be able to come out and actually run a race with other great competitors and have it go well, is really a great thing.”

Monson covered the final 400 in 68.5 to place third in a personal-best 15:14.71, with Lokedi – the leader for the majority of the final five laps after Coburn stepped off the track – still running an outdoor PR of 15:18.03 for fourth, despite struggling with a 75.8-second last lap. Bruce took fifth in 15:19.21.

Cheserek, representing Skechers, covered the last lap of the men’s 5,000 in 57.7 to eclipse the meet record by clocking 13:21.78. Great Britain’s Sam Atkin, who trailed Cheserek by a quarter-second entering the last lap, clocked a personal-best 13:23.38 to also run faster than the standard of 13:25.13 produced by Bowerman Track Club’s Lopez Lomong.

“I always train for the last part of the race,” Cheserek said. “It was important to have those guys up there pushing me. They really made me work for it.”

On Athletics Club teammates Oliver Hoare and Joe Klecker were third and fourth in 13:28.33 and 13:28.98, both personal bests.

“It feels good. Obviously it was tough out there, having to do a lot of leading and trying to push the pace. We were trying to go a little bit quicker than 13:30, but at the end of the day, a PB is a PB, and it was a good experience and good opportunity to race,” Hoare said. “We’re looking forward to moving forward and knocking that further down closer to 13 (flat).”

Both first-year professionals traded leads through 3,000 meters, until Cheserek and Atkin took control entering the final 1,000, both running the penultimate lap in 64 seconds, with Atkin closing in 59.13, as he and Cheserek pulled away from Hoare and Klecker.

“It was good to get back in a race and hurt, and it was good to be out here with Olli and changing leads,” Klecker said. “I think it was just good to get in a race setting and not lose that feeling, because eventually we’ll have more normal seasons where we can run more 5Ks and 1500s, and have more opportunities.”

After an unheralded debut Aug. 7 for Bowerman Track Club at the final Portland Intrasquad meet at Jesuit High in Portland, Johnson was able to showcase a full effort in a race for the first time since Feb. 8 at the NYRR Millrose Games, clocking 4:13.26 in the women’s 1,500 to earn her first professional victory.

Leah Falland, representing On Athletics Club, took second in 4:14.72.

“It was hard, I’m not going to lie. It’s been a while since I’ve run that pace, because we’ve been hitting a lot of strength workouts right now and haven’t really been hitting a lot of fast paces. It was pretty interesting to feel that again,” said Johnson, who produced a 65.3-second split over the last 400.

“It’s my first pro win, so that’s definitely exciting. This year has been so up and down, and it’s been hard to know when we’re going to race or if we’re going to race, so to be able to even race was very helpful for me and getting a win was just like the cherry on top.”

Villarreal, representing On Athletics Club, won the men’s mile in an outdoor personal-best 3:58.64, the No. 6 outdoor mark in the world this year. Villarreal was looking to challenge the 2013 Mexican national record of 3:57.34 held by Juan Luis Barrios, but despite a 56.8-second final 400, he couldn’t overcome a 62.4-second split on the third lap.

“My training ever since I’ve come to Boulder (to work with On Athletics Club coach Dathan Ritzenhein) has been extremely tough,” Villarreal said. “Even though we’ve been working on the second half of the race, it still felt hard and I knew I had to find a way to push through it.”

Obsa Ali, an ASICS professional who won the men’s 3,000 steeplechase at last year’s Sunset Tour event, was second in a personal-best 4:02.17.



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