Beasts' Masters in a pickle over heat draw in Albuquerque...
ALBUQUERQUE--The meat of the meet hasn't started yet, but the men's 1500 meter run at the USA Indoor Track & Field Championships has already been a source of controversy.
According to a post by Jon Gugala on runblogrun.com, Riley Masters (left/photo courtesy Brooks Sports) of the Seattle-based Brooks Beasts looks like he will get the short end of the stick, as he's been assigned to the slower of the two heats in the men's 1500 meter run that gets underway at 1:20 pm, local time, with the faster section an hour later on Sunday.
This despite the fact that he has the seventh fastest time entered going into the meet (3:58.35, run at Iowa State last weekend on an oversized track, which does not count as a world championship qualifying mark) and a world championship qualifying mark of 3:56.25, set at last year's Tyson Invitational, which is a 200 meter track.
What gives?
According to this post on letsrun.com, marks made in the 2013 season can be used to qualify for the IAAF world indoor championships in two weeks in Sopot, Poland. However, to get into this year's USA indoor meet, marks must be made this season; however, if you've met the IAAF standard for Sopot, you're allowed into the US nationals, but you're entered with a NM (no mark), which bumps you down in the seeding.
Originally, the 1500 was going to be contested in one section, but the large number of declared entries (19) forced meet management to split the race into a two-section final.
The simple and logical solution to seeding the large field, according to letsrun.com was to put those with the IAAF standard in the fast section, and everyone else in the other section.
If you haven't gotten lost in the myriad of details, the other nine have a distinct advantage over him. All they have to do is run a faster time than him in the second section, and Masters is SOL and won't be going to Poland, even if he wins his heat.
Now this could all be a moot point and have a happy ending, depending on what happens with Saturday's 3000 and who scratches, with several athletes, including Galen Rupp, Ryan Hill, Lopez Lomong, Will Leer, and Masters' Brooks Beasts teammate Garrett Heath entered. I'm speculating that the athlete and/or their coach/agent has them entered in the 1500 as a backup in case they don't make the team in the 3000.
No matter how you slice it, it's a confusing situation for all involved.
In a text to paulmerca.blogspot.com sent by Beasts coach Danny Mackey, "There has been no resolution thus far…it's really frustrating and I highly doubt it was a 'mistake'".
"It's upsetting," Masters says. "I would like to be in the fast heat. I would like to take a shot at making the Worlds team. Someone made the decision to put me in the slow heat, and that truly is unfortunate. I really think I could compete well this weekend."
Stay tuned.
UPDATE: Within five minutes of this being posted, Chris Nickinson of runnerspace.com posted on his Twitter account that the meet management has redrawn the heats and posted it in the meet hotel, and that Masters is in the A heat.
A text from Mackey confirmed that he got the word from meet management an hour ago.
However, the usatf.org web site does not reflect the change as of 8:20 pm, pacific time.
Here is the update, courtesy of runblogrun.com.
UPDATE: Within five minutes of this being posted, Chris Nickinson of runnerspace.com posted on his Twitter account that the meet management has redrawn the heats and posted it in the meet hotel, and that Masters is in the A heat.
A text from Mackey confirmed that he got the word from meet management an hour ago.
However, the usatf.org web site does not reflect the change as of 8:20 pm, pacific time.
Here is the update, courtesy of runblogrun.com.
Dinius, who currently resides in Palo Alto, was the second runner for Team USA at last month's BUPA Great Edinburgh Cross Country race in Scotland, finishing eighth.
Gray, the reigning USATF national club cross country champ who was also on the Edinburgh squad last month where he finished eighth, is coming off a strong performance at last week's USA Cross Country championship race in Boulder, where he placed fourth.
In Pullman, Washington State hosts the WSU Open II meet at their campus facility Friday and Saturday.
While the competition consists of schools from eastern Washington and Idaho, the pole vault fields will be enhanced by the presence of the University of Washington, as they enter Diamara Planell Cruz, Liz Quick and Logan Miller on the women's side in a matchup against Pac-12 champ Kristine Felix, while the Huskies' JJ Juilfs, the 2012 Pac-12 champ jumps in the men's field.
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