Matt Tegenkamp makes USA World Championships Team in 10k

In just his second career 10k on the track, and second of the season, Matt Tegenkamp held off all but one of a large pack over the last mile to take second place at the USA Championships and earn another berth to the World Championships. Tegenkamp took second to Galen Rupp as the began pair to pull away a bit from the field over the last 600 meters or so. Rupp claimed the national title in 28:38.17, with Teg following in 28:39.97, and Scotty Bauhs taking third in 28:40.51. Bauhs is former NCAA DIIer at Chico State and another former DIIer got a mention on the webcast call. Larry Rawson, the long time track analyst, when talking about Matt after the race mentioned a fellow Lee's Summit Missourian and former Central Missouri(CMSU) standout Mark Curp. 


Results:http://www.flashresults.com/2011_Meets/outdoor/06-23-USAChamps/Results13-1.htm

Tegenkamp who's specialty has been the 5k with a fourth place finish at the 2007 World Championships, an Olympic Games final in 2008, a 10th place World Champs finish in 2009 and became just the fourth American to break the 13 minute barrier last year, made the decision to try the longer distance this year with Coach Jerry Schumacher. My guess is that he will comeback tomorrow to try to make the world team in the 5k as well. It was surprising to see Teg actually in the race, even though he entered, many speculated he wouldn't run. My assumption is that he would race a mile or two to get the legs going and experience the feel under the lights at Hayward, step off and come back for the 5k. But he stuck with it and took second. For some reason the schedule has the 10 and 5k in back to back days. Not sure what the World Champs schedule looks like but hopefully Teg can qualify tomorrow and then decide what's best for him come August. What made it even weirder was that Matt's OTC and Wisconsin Teammate Chris Solinsky, the 10k American record holder who beat Teg to the sub 13 club didn't race tonight. Not sure if he's dealing with health issues or if it was just a coach/athlete decision.

Ok, looked at the world champs schedule. The 10k is day 2 of the 9 day meet. The 5k prelims are day 6 and the finals are day 9. So a the 5/10k double is set up pretty well.


Here are Matt's post race quotes from the usatf website:
Matt Tegenkamp, Second Place, Men’s 10,000 Meter Run (Senior)
On the race:“I thought the runners would separate earlier and it would be a fight to the finish. This was a race that was suited to me. I give a lot of credit to Galen (Rupp), he ran a smart race.”

On his performance going forward:“In this situation and the year I’ve had, this is the type of race that will come down to a test of fitness at the World Championships. I’ll definitely be ready for it.”

On the last four laps:“I didn’t notice where Galen was until probably the last 700 meters and I didn’t feel him coming up on me until the last 200. He ran a smart race. I think I’m just coming into my stride after missing last year.”


FloTrack interview:
http://www.flotrack.org/coverage/238236-2011-USATF-Outdoor-Track-Field-Championships/video/498017-Matt-Tegenkamp-2nd-in-10k-at-USATF-Outdoor-Championships-2011