INDIANAPOLIS - Kevin Castille (Nicholasville, Ky.) has been named USA Track & Field’s Athlete of the Week after setting a masters 40-44 American record in the 10,000m in 28:57.88 at the Stanford Invitational on April 6.
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Castille, who turned 40 last month, finished 19th overall in a field filled with athletes nearly half his age. Castille finished only 36 seconds behind Olympian Dathan Ritzenhein who took first.
The previous American record on the book was more than a minute slower than Castille’s time. Paul Aufdemberge held the previous record of 30:04.43 for seven years. Castille’s time is also faster than the Olympic Trials Provisional “B” standard of 29:00.00.
Even though Castille’s race smashed the previous record, he was still critical of his performance.
“I didn’t have a great race, it was really crowded, but it wasn’t bad for not having done track races in the past two years,” Castille said. “You forget how to race in an aggressive crowd.”
Castille didn’t run for nine years after college, and only returned to the sport in the early 2000’s. Castille moved to Eugene, Ore., trained with Team Eugene and was able to qualify for the 2004 Olympic Trials in the 10,000. Castille now lives in near Lexington, Ky. where he works as a volunteer track coach and personal trainer.
“I am 40, but I had a ten year period where I didn’t run,” Castille said. “It may have hurt me, but I think it helped me. I’m not a beat up 40-year-old.”
Now in its eleventh year, USATF’s Athlete of the Week program is designed to recognize outstanding performers at all levels of the sport. USATF names a new honoree each week and features the athlete on www.usatf.org. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week.
2012 Winners: January 5, Landon Peacock; January 11, Kirubel Erassa; January 18, Shalane Flanagan; January 26, John Nunn; February 1, Gunnar Nixon; February 8, Jenn Suhr; February 14, Jillian-Camarena Williams; February 22, Brycen Spratling; February 28, Chaunte Lowe; March 7, Eric Broadbent; March 14, Ashton Eaton; March 27, Wallace Spearmon; April 3, Trevor Barron; April 9, Kevin Castille
Week in Review - April 2-8
From USATF Statistician Glen McMicken
ARESON GETS OLY A AT STANFORD 5K
Former Tennessee star Jackie Areson knocked more than 20 seconds off her lifetime best with a 15:18.31 to win the 5000 at Stanford on April 6. That time is under the Olympic A standard of 15:20, and it was just one of many highlights at the distance-heavy invitational.
Tara Erdmann took over the U.S. lead in the women's 10K with her 32:31.15 PR win, while Dathan Ritzenhein assumed the men's yearly lead with his 38:21.48 victory.
Brigetta Barrett cleared 1.95/6-4.75 to equal the high jump outdoor world lead, and Erica McLain made one more giant step on her road to recovery with a U.S.-leading 13.96/45-9.75 in the triple jump.
DAY SMASHES HEPT BEST, SUPERMAN EATON DROPS 400 PR
2008 high jump Olympian and 2009-2011 heptathlon World Championships competitor Sharon Day had a couple of days to remember at the Sam Adams Multis in Santa Barbara April 2-3. She added 160 points to her lifetime best in the seven-eventer, tallying 6337 points to move to 12th on the U.S. all-time list and achieve the Olympic A standard.
World indoor heptathlon champ Ashton Eaton notched a 400 PR of 45.68 as a guest competitor. He also zipped to a 10.45 in the 100 and threw the discus and javelin.
4x100H AR FALLS, FREEMAN BLASTS ONTO WORLD STAGE AT FLORIDA RELAYS
Damu Mitchell, Loreal Smith, Tiki James and 2011 U.S. champ Kellie Wells teamed up to give Star Athletics an American Record-setting 4x100H at the Florida Relays in Gainesville, trimming more than a half-second off Texas A&M's old AR with a 52.38. Clemson also dipped under the old record with a 52.87.
UCF freshman Octavious Freeman, the NCAA indoor women's 60 runner-up, ripped to PR's in both sprints and claimed the 2012 world lead in the century with her 11.10. Freeman also clocked 22.80 to win the 200, the fastest outdoor time in the U.S. this year.
Ricky Robertson of Ole Miss tied the outdoor world lead in the high jump and achieved the Oly A standard with his 2.32/7-7.25, and Bershawn Jackson ran to a world-leading 48.49 in the 400H. Ti'erra Brown matched that feat in the women's 400H with her 54.88 victory.
Aided by a 3.0 wind, Ronnie Ash hurdled a 13.10w in the 110's, and Maurice Mitchell of Florida State also enjoyed an illegal breeze en route to a 20.08 in the 200.
COSBY SCARES HAMMER AR IN ARIZONA
Adding more than a meter to her previous personal best, Jessica Cosby came within inches of the American Record in the women's hammer at the Sun Angel Classic in Tempe. Her fourth-attempt toss of 73.71/241-10 is second only to Erin Gilreath's 73.87 from 2005 on the all-time national list.
Another huge throws PR came from Oklahoma's Brittany Borman, who moved to No. 6 on the U.S. all-time women's javelin list with her 59.42/194-11.
RARE AIR FOR UNM JUMP KING SPENCER
NCAA indoor long jump champ Kendall Spencer of New Mexico showed that his Boise win was no fluke, sailing to a PR and U.S. outdoor-leading 8.16/26-9.25. Not bad for someone with a 23-6 PR out of high school in 2009.
WIC RELAY MEDALIST MITCHELL A 400 THREAT
World Indoor Championships 4x400 gold medalist Manteo Mitchell destroyed his previous lifetime best in the 400 at the Auburn Invitational, running a national-leading 45.25. Aretha Thurmond also moved into the U.S. lead in the women's discus with her 63.33/207-9 win.
HAYES LEAPS TO TIE WORLD LJ LEADER
NCAA indoor runner-up Chelsea Hayes of Louisiana Tech tied the 2012 outdoor world long jump lead at the Mize Invitational in Ruston, spanning 6.62/21-8.75 to equal TCU's Whitney Gipson's global topper.
DEC STAR BEACH TAKES 800 PR DOWN
It wasn't much of a surprise after the stellar 2:23.63 1K that took him to NCAA indoor heptathlon gold last month, but Duke multis star Curtis Beach still turned some heads at his home invitational with a 1:47.99 win the in the open 800 on April 7 in Durham.
WHEN YOUR STANDARDS ARE HIGH...
It stands to reason that when you're one of the greatest one-lappers in history, and you have run under 44 seconds nine times, you might be a tad disappointed with a 45.64. That's how 2008 Olympic silver medalist Jeremy Wariner felt after his season-opening win at the Texas State Invitational in San Marcos.
"I was a little disappointed with today's race," he told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "I can't be too disappointed, but in my mind and my gut I knew I could have run faster," Wariner said.
DUCKS ENJOY HOME SWEEP
Oregon took top honors in both halves of their Pepsi Invitational, downing Texas A&M, Washington and UCLA in the four-way meet. Sam Crouser won the men's javelin at 74.45/244-3 for the Ducks, while Alex Kosinski raced to an outdoor collegiate leader in the women's 5000 at 15:36.90.
2009 World Youth 100 champ Prezel Hardy was a double sprint winner for A&M's men in 10.32/20.60, and he also anchored the Aggies to gold in the 4x100.
BAYOU BENGALS BEST IN BATON ROUGE BATTLE
LSU swept the team titles at the Battle on the Bayou behind collegiate-leading marks by Barrett Nugent in the 110H (13.49) and Charlene Lipsey in the women's 800 (2:02.91).
ARCADIA TOPS PREP WEEK
Traditionally one of the top prep meets in the nation, this year's Arcadia Invitational didn't disappoint. From a surprising 1:49.91 800 by Hector Hernandez of Killeen, Texas, to a 3200 that saw more than a dozen boys run under 9:00, the meet was again loaded with talent.
Ethan Cochran of Newport Harbor HS in Newport Beach picked up a nifty throws double with his 62-10/209-8, the latter being a national discus leader.
The girls' 3200 produced a sterling 10:08.11 by Simi Valley's Sarah Baxter.
Also:
--At Princeton's Howell Invitational, 2011 World Youth 2K steeple 7th-placer Brianna Nerud of Glen Head, N.Y., moved to second on the all-time prep 3000SC list with her 10:24.95. Rudy Winkler of Averill Park, N.Y., who was 9th at the World Youth Champs in '11, went to No.
4 on the boys' hammer all-time list with a 248-5 toss.
--2011 World Youth 100H champ Trinity Wilson of Berkeley's St.Mary's HS improved to 13.41 at the Stanford Invitational, the top prep time of the season.
--Rae Baymiller, 68, set a single-age world record in the New York Colon Cancer Challenge 15 km, running 1:07:36 to smash the previous record by almost nine minutes.
--Team USA won more than 40 medals at the World Masters Indoor Championships. Daily recaps can be found at www.usatf.org
About USA Track & Field
USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track & field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, the World's #1 Track & Field Team, the most-watched events at the Olympics, the #1 high school and junior high school participatory sport, and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States: www.usatf.org.
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