Four Stories to Watch at the USA Track and Field Championships

1. Jenny Barringer and the Women's 5000

The University of Colorado senior is coming off a second consecutive year that could be termed 'breakthrough', and will be a threat in both races she is declared to enter, the 3000 meter steeplechase and the 5,000. It will be interesting to see how she fares in the longer distance race against Olympic and World Championship bronze medallists like Shalane Flanagan and Kara Goucher. Also in the 5k will be 2008 Trials 1500 champ Shannon Rowbury, and 2008 Olympian Jen Rhines. At the Pre Classic, Barringer easily handled Flanagan over 5,000 meters, but I wouldn't expect a repeat of that over three times the distance. The race will be tight - Barringer has already run 15:00 this year, Flanagan 14:59, and Goucher 15:02 - and Goucher is the defending champ. Without Barringer in the 15, Rowbury will likely take the title, but it will be difficult for her to stay up here.

2. Tyson Gay and the Men's 100

The American sprint champion is back for revenge in 2009, and may just be the man that can stop Usain Bolt. Aside from Bolt's wildly off the charts performances at the Olympics last summer, Gay's times are almost identical. So far this season Gay has run huge PR's in overdistance races, including a 45.6 400 meter and a number three all time 19.56 200 meter (faster than anything Bolt has ever done aside from his world record at the Olympics). Bolt has silenced critics of his post-Olympic celebratory period with a world record in the 150, during which he came through the 100 in 9.8. The USA championships will be the first time we get to see Gay run a 100 this year, and his performance should give the world a good preview of just how closely he will be able to challenge Bolt at the World Championships this coming August.

Aside from Gay, the American sprint corps are not exactly lacking. Olympic medallist Walter Dix will certainly be a factor, and a slew of world class talent will be challenging him for the final two spots on the team.

3. Lagat and the Dream Race: the Men's 800

Bernard Lagat will be running the half mile for the first time in recent memory - for that reason, if no other, this is a race worth watching. As mentioned in my previews earlier, the men's 800 is already a packed race, including half a dozen former World or Olympic team members. Up front there shouldn't be anyone that can run with Symmonds, but it's impossible to know what Lagat is capable of. He puts himself in the hunt in every race - but at 34 years of age, I think he knows that a sprint like the 800 is just something done for the hell of it. Still, I can't wait to see how this race plays out. Will Khadevus Robinson find his form again? Has Wheating made the step up as the future of American middle distance, and is he the best already? Can Symmonds repeat against such a quality field, on the tail of his present momentum? Will dark horses Tevan Everett, Duane Solomon, Christian Smith, and Jonathon Johnson play a role in the final 100?

4. Evan Jager and the Schumacher Sweep of the Men's 5000

When legendary Iona distance coach Mick Byrne took over the reigns from Jerry Schumacher at Wisconsin, a slew of top Badgers abandoned the program. To go easy on them, they may have been too naive to know how good a coach Byrne truly is. Evan Jager was one of those runners - a freshman at the time, he left college to turn professional and train with the two best active, American-born 5k runners on the planet right now: Chris Solinsky and Matt Tegenkamp. The trio, along with fellow 3.1 miler Jonathon Riley, followed Schumacher out to Eugene, Oregon, where they established base camp and renewed their assault on the African predominance in distance running. Jager, a 4:08? high school miler, has shown incredible improvement after his freshman year as a Badger. The 20 year old has already run a 3:54 mile and clocked in a 13:29 for 5,000 meters. With that kind of speed, expect him to be in the hunt as a dark horse for that third spot behind obvious favorites Solinsky and Tegenkamp.

Final Predictions
The start lists are finally in - http://www.usatf.org/events/2009/USAOutdoorTFChampionships/startLists/seniorAll.asp - and there are several noticeable changes. Sean Quigley (10k last year) and Anthony Familigetti ('08 steeple champ) are only running the 5k. Jenny Barringer is running the 5k and the steeple, not the 1500. Shannon Rowbury is entered in the 5k as well as the 1500. Kara Goucher is only running the 5k. Andrew Wheating is entered in both the 800 and the 1500. Evan Jager is only in the 5k, German Fernandez is only in the 1500, and Matt Centrowitz is not entered in anything at all.

The World Team
(Lagat won't run the 800 at worlds, only the 15 and the 5, thus letting Wheating on the 800 team, Fernandez will train for NCAA XC instead of running the 1500, getting Will Leer on the team).

Men
800: Symmonds, (Lagat), Robinson, Wheating
1500: Manzano, Lomong, (Fernandez), Leer
5000: Solinsky, Tegenkamp, Jager
10,000: Abdiriham, Rupp, Nelson

Women
1500: Rowbury, Willard, Donohue
5000: Barringer, Goucher, Flanagan
10,000: Flanagan, Begley, Lewy-Boulet
Steeple: Willard, Barringer, Lawrence