Scott shines again, improving to No. 2 all-time British performer; Cranny and Fisher both achieve second-fastest debut 10,000 performances in U.S. history; McColgan just misses Scottish national record held since 1991 by her mother

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor/Chuck Utash photos

When Elise Cranny and Bowerman Track Club teammate Shelby Houlihan traveled to Southern California in early December to race the 5,000 meters at the Sound Running Track Meet, they wound up being the opening act for one of the deepest 10,000-meter races ever showcased on American soil.

Cranny and several Bowerman athletes returned Saturday night to Orange County to race the 10,000 themselves.

And she wound up being the main attraction at The Ten, joining British athlete and fellow Bowerman competitor Marc Scott in the spotlight at the latest in a series of professional opportunities created by Sound Running in an effort for distance runners to achieve Olympic standards during the Coronavirus pandemic.

RESULTS | PHOTOS | INTERVIEWS

Cranny and Karissa Schweizer benefited from the pacing of teammates Vanessa Fraser and Courtney Frerichs, the latter bringing the pack through the 5,000-meter mark in 15 minutes, 41 seconds, to elevate to the Nos. 3 and 4 performers in U.S. history, both athletes producing 65-second splits on the final lap to mark the first time two American competitors ran under 30:50 in the same race.

Cranny prevailed in 30:47.42 and Schweizer ran 30:47.99, trailing only Molly Huddle (30:13.17) and Shalane Flanagan (30:22.22) among American performers. Cranny also ran the second-fastest debut 10,000 in U.S. history, with only Flanagan’s 30:34.49 at the 2008 Payton Jordan Invitational a faster effort.

Cranny also ranks as the No. 7 all-time American competitor in the 5,000 at 14:48.02 from June 30 during the series of Bowerman intrasquad meets at Jesuit High in Portland, her most significant professional performance before Saturday.

Schweizer, who had run 32:00.55 in 2018, added another exceptional layer to an already impressive resume, ranking as the No. 8 performer in U.S. history in the 1,500 at 4:00.02, in addition to holding the American indoor record in the 3,000 at 8:25.70, along with achieving the second-fastest 5,000 by a U.S. athlete, clocking 14:26.34 on July 10.

Scottish competitor Eilish McColgan, representing ASICS, produced the No. 2 mark in her nation’s history to take third overall, clocking 30:58.94. Her performance trails only the 1991 national record of 30:57.07 achieved by her mother, Liz McColgan, and helped her ascend to the No. 5 all-time competitor in the United Kingdom.

Another Bowerman athlete, Emily Infeld, was fourth in 31:08.57, ascending to the No. 10 all-time American performer, but ninth in a women’s-only race. Kellyn Taylor of HOKA ONE ONE Northern Arizona Elite clocked 31:07.60 in a mixed competition in September.

Marielle Hall, already the No. 8 competitor in U.S. history at 31:05.71, secured another Olympic standard for the Bowerman group by running 31:21.78.

New Balance athlete Kim Conley earned the Olympic Trials standard by running 31:40.25, and Bowerman competitor Gwen Jorgensen clocked 32:39.96.

Scott followed aggressive pacing of 13:47 through the first half of the race from Bowerman teammates Evan Jager and Sean McGorty to lead five athletes to the Olympic standard in the men’s race, elevating to the No. 2 all-time British performer, clocking 27:10.41.

Only the 2011 national record of 26:46.57 achieved by Mo Farah remains ahead of Scott, who covered the final 400 in 57.13 to hold off Bowerman teammates Grant Fisher (27:11.29) and Woody Kincaid (27:12.78).

Fisher, like Cranny, was racing the 10,000 for the first time, also producing the second-fastest debut performance in American history, trailing only the 26:59.60 achieved by Chris Solinsky at the 2010 Payton Jordan Invitational. He elevated to the No. 5 all-time U.S. performer, followed by Kincaid at No. 6.

Ben True, 35, competing unsponsored and racing for the first time since participating in the 5,000 at the 2019 World Outdoor Championships, also achieved the Olympic standard, ascending to the No. 8 competitor in American history at 27:14.95.

Kieran Tuntivate, an All-American at Harvard, lowered his own Thailand national record by clocking 27:17.14 to become the fifth athlete, including a quartet representing Bowerman to secure the Olympic standard.

It marked the first time that at least five athletes ran under 27:20 in the same race on American soil since the 2011 Prefontaine Classic. It was also the first time ever three American competitors all ran under 27:15 in the same event.