Weekend Roundup - April 17, 2017

4/17/2017

 

Team USA turns in best overall performance at Boston Marathon since 1985

BOSTON -- USATF athletes put together the best combined male and female U.S. finishes since 1985 Monday at the 121st Boston Marathon.

Rio Olympic bronze medalist Galen Rupp finished second in only his third career marathon, crossing in 2:09:58, just 21 seconds behind eventual champion Geoffrey Kirui of Kenya (2:09:37). Led by Rupp, USATF put six men in the top 10, including Shadrack Biwott (4th - 2:12:08), Olympian Abdi Abdirahman (6th - 2:12:45), Augustus Maiyo (7th - 2:13:16), Olympic Trials fourth-placer Luke Puskedra (9th - 2:14:45) and Rio Olympian Jared Ward (10th - 2:15:28).

Rupp announced during his interview on the NBC broadcast that 2017 would be his last summer on the track before moving full-time to the marathon.

On the women’s side, Rupp’s training partner Jordan Hasay was third in her marathon debut, finishing in 2:23:00 to become the fourth-fastest American marathoner in history. Her time gives her the fastest marathon debut in USATF history.

This is just the second time since 1986 that two U.S. marathoners finished in the top three of the Boston Marathon (2009 - Kara Goucher and Ryan Hall each finished third). Two-time Olympian Des Linden finished fourth overall, crossing in 2:25:06.

Beloved Boston Marathon champion Meb Keflezighi, the 2014 Boston winner, finished 13th in the men’s race, as the 41-year-old four-time Olympian ran Boston for the final time as an elite competitor.

In the women’s wheelchair race, 17-time Paralympic medalist Tatyana McFadden saw her Abbott World Marathon Majors streak come to an end, finishing fourth overall following surgeries for blood clots just a few weeks prior. McFadden had previously won each of the world’s four major city marathons the last four years.

Fans can watch a full event replay of the 121st Boston Marathon on NBC Sports & NBC Sports Gold here.

Deajah Stevens and Clayton Murphy claim victories at Mt. SAC Relays

TORRANCE, California -- 2016 Olympians Deajah Stevens (Westchester, New York) and Clayton Murphy (New Paris, Ohio) gave dominating performances at the Mt. SAC Relays on Saturday. Stevens, who was part of the collegiate record-breaking 4x100m relay team at Florida Relays, was a crucial part of another record-breaking relay foursome. She ran the second leg of the women’s 4x100m relay, as Oregon shaved .22 off their previous NCAA record to win in 42.12. Stevens also set personal bests, despite headwinds, in victories in the 100m (11.00) and 200m (22.31).

Olympic bronze medalist Murphy set a meet record and world lead in the men’s 800m. His winning time of 1:43.60 was also the second-fastest performance of his career.  

In addition to Stevens and Murphy, five other U.S. Olympians won their respective events, including Aries Merritt (Marietta, Georgia) and Vashti Cunningham (Las Vegas, Nevada). Click here for full results.

Ben True breaks his own American road record at B.A.A. 5K

BOSTON -- Ben True (North Yarmouth, Maine) bested his own 2015 American road record in the men’s 5K to win his fourth B.A.A. 5K in 13:20. In a battle against Kenya’s Stephen Sambu, True gained the lead in the final straightaway and completed the course two seconds faster than his previous national record. True’s win signaled a strong start to 2017 following a disappointing 2016 track season that saw him miss the U.S. Olympic Team in the 5000 meters by less than a second. True was the runner-up at the 2016 B.A.A. 5k to Ethiopia’s Dejen Gebremeskel.

Defending champion and two-time Olympian Molly Huddle (Elmira, New York) was overtaken by last year’s runner-up Buze Diriba in a tight finish, closing out the women’s race in 14:56 to Diriba’s 14:54. Huddle was looking for her fourth consecutive win and previously set an American record on the course in 2015 (14:50).