Sure, she had fresher legs than her competitors, having chosen not to run the 5,000 meters earlier in the Olympic Trials, but Under Armour Dark Sky Distance’s Weini Kelati exerted her dominance in the final two laps Saturday night in the 10,000 meters, surging at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., and earning a trip to Paris for the Olympic Games.
Kelati did not even need to win the Trials (which doubles as the U.S. title) to make the Olympic 10,000 team, since she was the only runner in the field who had reached the Olympic standard of 30:40. Little matter to her.
But Kelati, a 27-year-old naturalized American citizen who defected from Eritrea in 2014 on the very same Hayward Field track in Eugene, Ore., she competed on Saturday night in the finals, simply would not be denied and certainly would not settle for second place.
She poked along in third of fourth place for most of the race, which went out exceedingly slow, with no other competitors even trying to achieve the Olympic standard. Perhaps that was because it was 79 degrees in Eugene with high humidity, not conducive to fast times.
Kelati, who achieve the standard in March at The Ten in San Juan Capistrano, showed impressive patience in waiting to make her move. In previous races, Kelati liked to front-run and occasionally paid for it in the latter stages.
Not this time. The patience paid off for Kelati, who was an NCAA champion at the University of New Mexico before moving to Flagstaff to run for Dark Sky.
At the bell lap, Karissa Schweizer had the lead, with Kelati on her shoulder and Parker Valby close as well. But, shortly thereafter, Kelati made the first of two moves that would prove decisive. She went around Schweizer fairly early in the final lap to take the lead, but that move did not break Schweizer, who had already qualified for the Olympics earlier in the week in the 5,000 meters.
Schweizer battled back and — briefly — overtook Kelati nearing the last turn. At that point, it looked as if Kelati may have made her move too soon and that she might have to battle Valby for second.
But Kelati, who said after the race that she has been doing a lot of speedwork in Flagstaff under Dark Sky coaches Stephen Haas and Patrick Casey, showed she had much, much more left. Moving slightly to the inside, Kelati surged and passed Schweizer to win in 31:41.07. Valby managed out-lean Schweizer for second place — both running 31:41.56.
The big question afterward is: Will Valby and Schweizer have high enough rankings by World Athletics to fall within the quota of the top 27 runners and gain spots in Paris? There was immediate speculation afterward that Valby and Schweizer had a good chance to slip in. But, if not, based solely off international points, the 13th place finisher, Katie Izzo, would qualify because she compiled places via world cross country.
Whatever the future holds for the second and third spots, there was no doubt that Kelati belonged and was the class of the field.
Interviewed immediately after the race, Kelati told NBC that, “I can’t believe it. I’ve been here so many times and didn’t make it, and it hurt a lot.”
She was ecstatic on this night, though.
Because the pace went out so slowly, there really was not much drama about whether any other runner would come even close to the standard. So, essentially, it became a matter of U.S. bragging rights — with the caveat that others might find a way in via rankings.
Flagstaff’s Rachel Smith went out early in the top five, going as high as fifth at the two-mile mark. But Smith, whose spring racing was curtailed because of a hamstring injury, showed signs of lagging after running the 5,000 earlier in the meet. She pulled off the track with slightly less than 1,000 meters to go.
Other Flagstaff-based athletes who cracked the top 10 were NAZ Elite’s Kellyn Taylor, coming off a fractured leg in February’s U.S. Marathon Trials. Late in the race, Taylor surged as high as fourth, but eventually receded to sixth in 32:12.02, a season best. Elly Henes, trained by Mike Smith, finished ninth in 32:25.17. She, too, had not been at full strength, having lung surgery over the winter.
NAZ Elite’s Stephanie Bruce finished 22nd in 33:32.62.
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